Blog — galway

1. WEATHER – CONSIDER MOTHER NATURE What better way to not succeed with painting the exterior of your home than running a foul of the infamous Irish weather (even in sunny Kilkenny). The last thing you want to have to do after buying your exterior paint is to have to take a rain check. So it is important to select a dry time of the year when there is little rain. This is easier said than done here in Ireland. The Homevalue Exterior Painting Guide - Top Tip - Accu weather app is very useful as it updates the weather in real time....

There are a whole lot of reasons to build raised vegetable gardens — the kind that sit above ground within a frame made of wood or other material. If your land has sandy, clay-like, or hard-packed soil (or if you don’t know and don’t give a hoot about the difference), you can provide perfect conditions for whatever you’re keen on growing. Plants are lifted out of the way of rowdy pets and little ones, and your soil warms up earlier and stays that way longer, extending the growing season and providing gentler conditions for new seeds and delicate transplants. Fruits, veggies, and...

Colour of the Year 2019: Spiced Honey Marianne Shillingford is a great friend of the National Design Academy and was kind enough to not only inform us of ‘Spiced Honey’ in her new blog, but to show us all the ways that this colour can be used. Dulux say that Spiced Honey captures their ‘let the light in’ theme. It is considered “calm and nourishing, or stimulating and energising depending on the light”. And we couldn’t agree more! The versatility of Spiced Honey is its biggest strength, as it can be adapted and used to tell a variety of different stories. And Dulux...

  Now, let’s take a look at the paint-ability of certain high performance sealants based on their technologies: Polyurethanes: High performance polyurethane sealants provide a tenacious bond with great tear resistance while maintaining elastic properties. Once cured, these sealants can be painted with high quality acrylic latex paints.  What to Keep in Mind When Painting High Performance Polyurethane Sealants It is recommended that a high performance polyurethane sealants cure for at least three days prior to painting. Additionally, these sealants are moisture reactive. As a result, it’s important to not introduce copious amounts of water (from the paint). Doing so...

A good looking fence can make all the difference. Your grass can be perfectly cut with luscious green stripes, and your flower beds can be pruned and colourful, but if you’ve a fence with faded or peeling paint then the garden just won’t look its best. Here’s our 5 Top Tips for painting the garden fence this Spring. Just like any good painting job, preparation is key. Make sure that the fence is free of dirt, grime or algae before painting. This can be done either with a pressure washer or simply with water and a hard bristled brush. In the case...