Ashley East Shore Home

Ashley East Shore Home Home, garden & DIY. Intelligent home improvements, making the most from my home. Shop my home below, check captions for links.

12/06/2026

I can’t believe this started with a few IKEA Mosslanda shelves… 🤯

What if I told you this high-end feature wall is actually an IKEA hack?

I flipped the shelves upside down to create a hidden channel for COB LED strip lighting, used textured wall panels to conceal the wiring and add depth, then colour drenched the entire wall for a seamless built-in look.

The result? A bespoke designer feature wall that looks far more expensive than it really is.

✨ Hidden LED lighting
✨ IKEA Mosslanda shelf hack
✨ Textured wall panels
✨ Budget-friendly feature wall
✨ DIY home decor upgrade

Proof that you don’t need a huge budget to create a luxury interior.

Want the links to what I used? Comment links down below.

09/06/2026

Cheap, cheerful and perfectly functional… well on a sunny day anyway! Here’s a flashback to this cute solar powered water feature I created last summer using a planter from and a water fountain from Want the link? 🔗

07/06/2026

Ad The show home that made me want to redecorate everything ✨

I don’t know what it is about show homes, but I could spend hours wandering around them picking up ideas.

From clever storage solutions to styling tricks and layout inspiration, there’s always something to take away and recreate at home or maybe even convince me to move 👀

This is the Sanderson 4 Bedroom detached by

📍Ashwood Grange, Middleton St George, Darlington

06/06/2026

Want your garden to look as good at night as it does during the day? ✨

The secret isn’t adding more lights, it’s knowing where to place them.

When planning garden lighting, think in layers:
💡 Uplight trees and feature planting for depth
💡 Wash fences and walls with soft light to create ambience
💡 Highlight architectural features like pergolas and seating areas
💡 Use pathway lighting sparingly to guide the eye, not overwhelm it
💡 Mix different light sources to create contrast and interest

One of the biggest mistakes I see is placing lights everywhere. The best outdoor lighting schemes use light and shadow together to create atmosphere.

Save this post for your next garden project and follow for more modern garden design, outdoor living and garden makeover inspiration.

01/06/2026

I waited 5 years to do this… and now I wish I’d done it on day one.

When we built the pergola, I left the roof off because I loved the open feel.

Fast forward a few years and the reality was:
☔ No shelter from the rain
🕊️ Constant bird mess on the furniture
🧽 Endless cleaning
🙄 A space we rarely used

Adding a polycarbonate roof has completely changed that.

The best garden upgrades aren’t always the biggest or most expensive. Sometimes it’s the small tweaks you make after actually living in a space that have the biggest impact.

This one simple change turned our pergola from something nice to look at into somewhere we genuinely love spending time.

Would you add a roof to your pergola?

31/05/2026

It’s finally time to unpack the bbq and pizza oven for the first time this year! The outdoor kitchen will get so much use over the coming weeks especially the pizza oven. When I built the outdoor kitchen I cleverly designed it with two areas, one to hide the gas bottle and one to use as storage. The storage space houses the protection covers and other garden bits when not in use.

Already suffering those holiday blues! What a fabulous week we’ve had with friends. The was fabulous for the kids and t...
29/05/2026

Already suffering those holiday blues! What a fabulous week we’ve had with friends. The was fabulous for the kids and the food was brilliant. Our favourite hotel so far in Turkey and would definitely recommend.

For the kids: the biggest kids club I’ve ever seen with play park, indoor play area, free arcades, bowling, water park, mini disco.
For the teens: darts, water games, bigger water slides, PlayStation room, arcades, bowling, football.
For the active ones: gym, padel court, outdoor gym, tennis, Olympic swimming pool.
Food: lots of à la carte restaurants, buffet restaurant, Italian snack bar with pizza oven, beach snack bar, jacket potato bar, waffle bar, 3 patisseries.
Entertainment: weekly white/black party with fireworks, nightly shows with acts, live music.
I could go on! It’s a brilliant all inclusive family hotel.

Now to crack on with the washing 😭

24/05/2026

Turns out… pergolas are much more enjoyable when birds can’t poo directly onto you.

This was probably my biggest day-to-day frustration in the garden.

It looked great in photos…
but in reality we barely used it.

Adding a roof has completely changed how the space feels and we finally have shelter without losing all the light.

Such a simple change… massive difference.

23/05/2026

Ad pigeon p**p and cherry blossom have absolutely trashed the decking and furniture so I upgraded my pressure washer to the new K5 comfort premium pressure washer and wow! The 10m premium flex hose and 4-in-1 jet lance made the job a breeze!

Now the deckings sorted, I can tackle the roof!

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