27 April 2020
Fantastic Home Improvements & how to Clean up After Them
Read Time: 4 mins
Whilst we’re all spending more time in our homes, it seems that DIY projects and home improvements are having a huge hike in numbers. A report carried out by Drapers Tools (and featured in House Beautiful) reported that 1 in 10 people wanted to tidy their garage or their shed, with 1 in 20 wanting to fit a brand-new bathroom.
More importantly, the report states that 31% of Brits use DIY as a way to switch off from the stresses of everyday life. So with that in mind, here are the most handsome home improvement projects which could come out of your lockdown, along with how to remove the rubbish after them. With a little help from Clearabee, of course.
Upcycling the Unwanted
If your the one in those ten people for whom tidying out the shed or garage is a priority, then there are sure to be plenty of items hidden away which you can reuse to make improvements to your home, whilst helping you to hit two birds with one stone.
Pallets have become increasingly popular over the past few years and have been used for everything from decking to makeshift bars to homemade gym equipment. However, they’re not always the easiest for everyone to get their hands on. Especially in a usable condition. The good news is, there are plenty of other bits and bobs which can make a huge difference to the overall aesthetic of your garden.
Old bed headboards or unused bars from the baby’s cot can easily be spruced up and used in place of a pallet for creations such as upright planters, shelving units or water walls (which are also great for getting rid of all those old plumbing odds and ends).
Practically speaking though, there’s no way (or time) that you can reuse everything that you no longer want in your shed or your garage. And that’s where Clearabee can help. Our man and van rubbish removal service can provide a same-day collection of any of your unwanted items. And because of our pledge to divert from landfill at least 95% of all that we collect, you can still rest easy that you’re doing your bit for the environment too, even though you’ve not been able to upcycle. Have a look at our Man and Van FAQ page to see how we could help.
Rebranding your Bathroom
Should you be the one in twenty that have the inclination to renovate your bathroom, then there are plenty of upcycling opportunities to be had from all of the old fixtures and fittings before you think about throwing them away.
Converting your old bath into an outdoor sofa sounds like an adventurous idea that will have the neighbour’s curtains twitching due to envy and intrigue. Old sets of drawers can double up as foliage features and there’s even been plenty of toilet bowls which have been repurposed as planters or drinking bowls for dogs (after a good clean, hopefully).
Of course, projects of this nature do require a certain set of skills, along with the specialist tools to utilise them (especially in the case of the bath sofa). Hiring a skip is a great solution for all of the waste which can be produced during a bathroom renovation: the usual skip hire period is 14 days, which should hopefully give you plenty of time to get your project turned around, although this can usually be extended upon request.
Here at Clearabee, we can make the skip hire process easier for you by advising on the size of skip needed for the job in hand, arranging skip permits if and when necessary and making sure you know exactly what can and can’t go in a skip. Our handy skip hire FAQ should answer most of these questions for you but if not, feel free to get in touch.
In some cases, our flexible Skip Bag service might be more suitable for your needs. You can order today and receive your bag tomorrow and start filling it straight away. You can organise your collection at any point within a six month period and Clearabee will still ensure a diversion from landfill rate of at least 95% as well as supply a Waste Transfer Note so you know just where your waste has ended up (which we do as standard).
Say Sayonara to your Sofa
Speaking of specialist skills and tools, it might be a stretch to suggest that upcycling your sofa is an achievable task. If getting rid of your sofa feels like defeat, then you can rest easy; just because it’s the end of the line for you and your sofa, it doesn’t mean that someone else can’t make the most of it.
There are charity shops across the nation which will accept sofas as long as they’re in good condition with the fire label still attached. These sofas are often redistributed to the needy or sold to raise funds and can be collected from you inside of a week or so. However, if you’re getting a replacement and you don’t want to have the old model hanging around for too long, then Clearabee can help remove your old sofa for you.
Our fixed-price sofa removal service is often available on the very same day and will still ensure that your old three (or four) seater is recycled wherever possible. This should leave you plenty of room for your new (possibly upcycled) sofa. And what better way to unwind after all those home improvements than by sitting down and putting your feet up?
About Clearabee
Centralised in our Birmingham Head Office, Clearabee operates a nationwide on-demand rubbish clearance and waste removal service. Over 120 vehicles and 300 directly employed staff make up our man and van, Skip Bag, skip hire and sofa removal services which operate in London, Bristol, Leeds and all across the UK.
For 3 years running, Clearabee has ranked as the fastest-growing waste management company in Europe and featured on The Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track for the last two years.