Tag: hobbies

Bringing joy home through the rise of at-home hobbies

Bringing joy home through the rise of at-home hobbies

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in how we approach leisure and personal development. With the rise of technology and the growing trend of working from home, many people are turning to home-based hobbies to relax, unwind and even discover new skills. The idea of spending more time indoors, especially during the unpredictable UK weather or periods of lockdown, has made these activities more popular than ever before.

Whether you’re an experienced artist, a DIY enthusiast or someone simply curious about new activities, there’s no shortage of opportunities to explore hobbies from the comfort of your home.

Why at-home hobbies are gaining popularity

The surge in at-home hobbies can be attributed to several factors. First, the convenience of participating in activities at home removes the need for travel, making it easier for people to find time to engage in their passions.

Another critical factor is the cost-effectiveness of home-based hobbies. While some activities require an initial investment in equipment or materials, many hobbies are inexpensive.

What is clear is that there’s no shortage of hobbies you can begin in the comfort of your home. Here are some of the easiest and most fun ones to try in 2025.  

Gaming

Gaming has long been a popular hobby, but the rise of online platforms has opened up new ways for people to engage in this pastime from home. Whether it’s a casual mobile game, an immersive RPG or exploring trustworthy iGaming options, gaming provides endless entertainment.

For those who enjoy casino gaming but prefer to avoid the constraints of local options, there are plenty of casino sites, no verification required, that offer players more control and freedom. These sites usually include niche offerings like fast payouts and bonuses and of course, offer easy registrations without ID document uploads to further engage players.

While gaming can often be seen as a passive activity, it can also be highly engaging and stimulating for the mind, providing a sense of achievement through progression and challenges.

Arts and crafts

Creativity is also one of the biggest draws of home-based hobbies. From knitting to painting, crafting activities offer a productive and calming outlet for stress. Many people find that working with their hands, whether making a piece of pottery or creating a new artwork, helps them unwind and brings a sense of peace and satisfaction. Plus, you get to enjoy the end product of your work, whether it’s a beautifully designed scarf or a painting for your living room.

DIY projects

On the other hand, home improvement and DIY projects have become immensely popular, especially as people have spent more time at home. Whether refurbishing furniture, updating your décor or trying out some simple carpentry, DIY projects are a fantastic way to get creative and improve your living space. Not only do you end up with something practical, but making it yourself gives a sense of accomplishment that can be incredibly fulfilling.

Cooking and baking

Cooking and baking at home provide both enjoyment and a valuable skill. More and more people are turning to cooking as a hobby, experimenting with new recipes and ingredients. Baking, in particular, has seen a significant rise in popularity, with bread-making and cake decorating becoming particularly trendy. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced cook, home-based culinary pursuits offer endless opportunities for exploration.

Gardening

Gardening is another hobby that’s seen a resurgence, particularly as people spend more time at home. Whether you have a small balcony or a sprawling garden, growing plants can be incredibly therapeutic. Nurturing plants and watching them grow can be meditative, while increasing your vegetables or flowers can be deeply rewarding. Plus, it’s a hobby that brings the outdoors in, creating a sense of connection to nature even when you’re indoors.

Conclusion

Home-based hobbies are more than just a trend – they’re a meaningful way to explore creativity, learn new skills and improve your well-being. Whether you’re into arts and crafts, gaming or gardening, there’s no shortage of options to explore, all within the comfort of your home. As we adapt to modern life and its demands, embracing these activities can provide much-needed relief, creativity and personal growth.

So, whether you’re indulging in DIY, experimenting with new recipes or enjoying a game from a trustworthy online casino, remember to prioritise balance and responsibility in all your hobbies. After all, the key is to find joy, not just entertainment.

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From chaos to calm: How to keep your home tidy with multiple hobbies

From chaos to calm: How to keep your home tidy with multiple hobbies

Having a range of hobbies can be incredibly fulfilling, but when you’re passionate about multiple activities, it’s easy for clutter to pile up. Whether you’re into painting, knitting, gaming or even gardening, the materials and tools for these hobbies can quickly take over your home. The challenge then becomes finding a way to enjoy your passions without letting them overwhelm your living space. Fortunately, with a few simple strategies, you can keep your home tidy and organised, regardless of how many hobbies you have.

Designate specific spaces for each hobby

One of the most effective ways to keep your home tidy when you have multiple hobbies is to designate specific areas for each activity. This creates a sense of order and ensures that materials are stored where they are used, reducing the likelihood of clutter spilling into other areas of your home.

If possible, allocate a room or a corner of a room to each hobby. For instance, if you love painting, set up a small studio space with a table, easels and paint supplies. If you enjoy knitting or sewing, organise a cosy nook with a comfortable chair, storage bins for yarn or fabric and a small side table for your tools. If you enjoy playing online games like blackjack, roulette and poker, consider setting up a dedicated area for your casino gaming hobby. Think of a corner or a small games room. Luckily, the best new casinos UK players are visiting can be easily accessed using a device from anywhere, which means you don’t need a lot of space to play the casino games you enjoy most. You can dedicate a comfortable chair in your favourite room with a good internet connection, and you’ll have all you need to game online.

Even if you’re limited in space, you can still dedicate a small area, such as a corner of a living room or an unused cupboard, to your hobby. The key is to keep each hobby’s items in one location, making it easier to keep track of your materials and preventing them from spreading around your home.

Use storage solutions to keep supplies organised

Storage plays a crucial role in maintaining order when juggling multiple hobbies. Investing in practical, easy-to-use storage solutions can help keep clutter at bay while ensuring that your supplies are easily accessible when you need them. The right organisational system will save you time, reduce mess and even encourage you to enjoy your hobbies more.

For smaller items, such as knitting needles, paints or crafting tools, clear storage bins, boxes or drawer organisers are perfect. Label each container to make it easier to find specific items. For larger supplies, like books, sewing machines or equipment for outdoor hobbies, consider using vertical shelving or tall cabinets that make the most of your available space without overcrowding it. Multi-functional furniture, such as coffee tables with hidden storage or ottomans with compartments, can also serve as stylish yet functional storage for your hobby-related materials.

For a more streamlined approach, opt for modular storage units that can be adjusted as your collection grows or changes. Floating shelves are an excellent way to keep things organised without taking up valuable floor space. You can even incorporate decorative baskets or stylish boxes to hide clutter while keeping it easily accessible.

Declutter regularly and prioritise items

With multiple hobbies, it’s easy to accumulate materials you no longer need. Old supplies, tools and unfinished projects can quickly add to the clutter. Regularly decluttering your hobby areas is key to maintaining a tidy home.

Every few months, go through your materials and ask yourself if you still use them or if they’re simply taking up space. If you haven’t used something in the last six months, or it no longer fits your current interests, consider donating or selling it. For unfinished projects, assess whether you are likely to finish them soon or whether they can be repurposed or gifted away. By minimising the number of supplies and materials you keep, you’ll create more space for the things you truly use and enjoy.

You can also get into the habit of cleaning up after each session. Whether it’s putting your paints back in their containers or neatly folding up your knitting, taking a few minutes after each session to tidy up will prevent the build-up of clutter.

Make use of hidden storage

Not every item needs to be on display. For some hobbies, such as gaming or model building, you might prefer to have your equipment easily accessible but out of sight when not in use. Hidden storage is a great way to keep things tidy while still having everything at your fingertips when you need it.

Consider using furniture with built-in storage, such as a storage ottoman or a sofa with under-seat compartments, to keep hobby-related items out of view. You could also use decorative baskets or stylish boxes to keep materials tucked away in plain sight. If you have shelves, place baskets on the lower levels to hold your hobby supplies, keeping your upper shelves for decorative items or books.

Additionally, wall-mounted cabinets, hooks or pegboards can offer space for tools or craft supplies while keeping them neatly stored and easily accessible. For gaming enthusiasts, gaming consoles and controllers can be kept in closed cabinets with cable management solutions, keeping wires organised and out of sight when not in use.

Incorporate your hobbies into your home decor

Instead of hiding all your hobby-related items, why not incorporate them into your home’s décor? If you’re an artist, display a few of your paintings or sketches on the wall. For those who love gardening, a few indoor plants can be a beautiful and functional addition to your space. Creating a display area for your hobbies can prevent clutter while showcasing your passions in a way that feels integrated into your home’s overall design.

If you have a collection, such as vintage board games or musical instruments, consider using shelving units or glass-fronted cabinets to display them neatly. For hobby materials that you use regularly, such as knitting yarn or craft supplies, use decorative baskets or jars to keep everything tidy but still easily accessible.

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7 fun ways to get creative with SVGs

7 fun ways to get creative with SVGs | H is for Home

SVGs or ‘scalable vector graphics’ to give them their full name are easy and convenient to use in crafty activities of all types. They’re especially suitable for designs that incorporate simple line drawings and text.

Many of the popular (and some free!) design programs can handle svgs, including Photoshop, Illustrator and Inkscape. They are also compatible with crafting software such as Cricut, Silhouette, SCAL and Scan N Cut.

An svg is scaleable, i.e. the image can be created to be as small or as large as you need it to be and it won’t loose any of its detail and definition. There’ll be none of that unattractive pixelation or fuzziness in your finished product like you do with jpeg or png files. So, whether you’re doing something small-scale or need to blow it up to billboard poster size, this is the type you should use.

SVG files can be viewed and downloaded from the internet or sent and received as an email file attachment. Compared to the aforementioned jpeg and png, an svg is a smaller file

They’re the ideal starting point for creating personalised gifts for friends & family and decorative items for yourself and your home. Here are just a few of the ideas that we’ve come up with for using svg files for your inventive projects.

Card making

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Blue Penny Custom Creations (@bluepennycustomcreations)

Celebratory events such as birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas are often marked with the sending or exchange of cards. You can produce your own with that extra special, personal touch. Also, they’re perfect for designing DIY wedding, party and shower invitations – business cards and flyers too.

Framed wall art

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Love Sophie (@lovesophieuk)

Do you have a favourite quote or are you or someone you know famous for your catchphrase? Create an artwork incorporating this or an inspirational phrase or saying. And then there are word clouds which could be devised via a favourite subject. Print them up and pop them in a frame to make a great wall display.

Stamp making

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Labiri ラビリ (@laabiri)

Carving your own rubber stamps is a great way of creating bespoke designs. Think of those regular multiples such as manually printing your logo on business stationery or stamping your return address on the outside of envelopes and packages.

Fashion & textiles

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Evelina Londoño (@_evylondono_)

The scope of fashion and textile items that can be transformed by embellishing them with svg illustrations is almost endless. Add decals produced using svgs to T-shirts, baseball caps, tote bags or baby clothes. Aprons, tea towels and cushion covers can be customised to coordinate with your décor.

Journaling

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Celestial Savagery (@celestialsavagery)

There are some beautiful examples of Bullet journals on Instagram. Some journal-keepers are blessed with a talent for calligraphy and drawing freehand images. But what if you’re not that lucky and you want to start your own journal? You can decorate it beautifully with colourful washi tape, stickers and paper-cut SVG illustrations.

Embroidery

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Bee Cardamomo (@apiculae)

SVG image files are perfect for use as patterns for creating intricate decorative embroidery hoops. If you’re an embroidery newbie, you can learn by starting with a simple monogramming SVG image template.

Body art

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Kareen Singh (@kareen_sing_h)

Tattoos are incredibly popular; have you been inked? If you’re not ready to commit to a permanent tattoo, you can toy with semi-permanent henna. Find a SVG file you like and use it as a stencil for your one-of-a-kind henna body art.

Can you think of other projects in which you can use svgs to create something attractive, imaginative and custom made?

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3 Home projects that can make your life a lot more interesting

3 Home projects that can make your life a lot more interesting

Basically, everyone wants to have an interesting life and to be able to find pleasure, entertainment and insight in their everyday routines, hobbies and practices.

After all, how often does anyone really daydream about doing a boring office job that they hate and that seems about as exciting as watching paint dry?

Depending on your particular interests, engaging in different DIY and decoration projects around the home may or may not seem particularly interesting or fun. But, you may be surprised to discover that when you actually apply yourself to various home improvement tasks, they can truly become really enriching.

Here are a few home projects that you can do, that can make your life a lot more interesting.

Pile of magazines and periodicals

Try to set it up so that every room has a particular, meaningful function

It’s already obviously the case that the different rooms in the average home do actually have set ‘functions’, right? After all, the kitchen’s for cooking, the bathroom‘s for ablutions, the bedroom is for sleeping and so on.

In practice, though, we often end up using the different rooms in our homes in a more general kind of sense. We’ll nap in the living room, surf the web and watch TV in the bedroom and just treat most of the home as one general and undefined space for hanging out in.

Making an effort to actually set it up so that every room in your home has a particular and meaningful function can be a really enriching and positive exercise to undertake.

The key here is that you’re going to actually try to structure the different rooms in your home so that you use them in a unique and engaging way, rather than just for the usual, necessary, everyday functions of cooking, eating etc.

Instead of just setting up your living room as a place where you can relax and watch TV, make a point of trying to turn it into the best possible place for having meaningful conversations and social interactions with your guests.

How about including interesting picture books and magazines on the coffee table, keeping a chessboard set up for an impromptu game or keeping a record player and vinyl collection in the vicinity; just to make things a bit more interesting?

Eaves bedroom with a woodland cabin theme

Set yourself an ideal home template, and work to transform your home in line with that ideal, room by room

Setting yourself an ideal home template can be a great thing to do, because it gives you an interesting and exciting goal to work towards and helps you to direct your home decoration efforts in a meaningful way.

When you’re setting your ideal home template goal, make it really big, bold and ambitious. Take the time to look through different home design magazines and let your imagination run wild.

If you could have your fantasy dream home tomorrow, would it be something like a romantic French castle, a rustic cabin in the woods or a hyper-modern apartment in the heart of a bustling city?

Once you set yourself this goal, work on transforming your home in harmony with that ideal; room by room and stage by stage. Don’t expect to have these home projects completed in the near future – but treat them as an ongoing adventure. Look for discount deals for furnishings from websites such as NetVoucherCodes.co.uk, visit antique centres and second-hand shops and take pleasure in the process of transforming your home bit by bit.

Simply having a big and ambitious target like this to work towards can make your life significantly more interesting and can give you a fun hobby in which to engage at the same time.

Sewing room

Use your home as the setting for more ‘Do It Yourself’ hobbies

Thanks to the abundance of entertainment options available to us all today – ranging from Netflix to on-demand TV – it’s a bit too easy to spend all our free time idly amusing ourselves and passively absorbing information rather than actively creating things.

One great thing that you can do with your home to make your life more interesting is to turn a spare room – or even just a corner of a room – into a setting for exploring a DIY hobby that you’d be interested in adopting.

This could mean having a room in your house dedicated to woodworking, sewing, creating artworks or even recording your own music in pursuit of the ambition of becoming the next rags-to-riches DJ sensation.

When you have an area of your home dedicated to some hands-on pastime like this, all sorts of doors can open up to you and things can get a lot more interesting.

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