I always thought something like this would work, but would look janky as hell. Confirmed on all accounts, but looks fun.

As someone who rides an escooter daily all I have to say is...

This. It’s called “overdye” sometimes.

As a bonus, you can invite your friends to dye stuff at the same time. Do it in a bucket. Got something that’s stained? Dye it!

https://duckduckgo.com/?ia=web&origin=funnel_home_website&t=h_&q=Cobbler+near+me&atb=v547-3

I'd totally pay a repair shop to do it for me (even though we're on diy here), if I could find one - they're kinda rare. I actually remember buying some shoelaces at a tiny shoe service booth in a mall - but I doubt they would offer things like dying canvas shoes. Will try to call them though and ask, thanks for the tip!

You should bring them into a mom and pop shoemaker/repair shop if you have one in your area. Shoemakers are generally very wonderful and very crafty people (not just when it comes to shoes). They'll probably be more than happy to give some recommendations for diy if you're strapped for cash, but the amount they charge for their services are usually so low that I'll try go give them at least double.

I've never tried this, but looks fun:

https://www.wikihow.com/Dye-Canvas-Shoes

Looks like your outsoles are darkish rubber, so I wouldn't worry about the dye staining them.

I would remove the laces and insoles first, and you'll want to wash thoroughly after. You probably won't want to wear white socks with them for a while.

You could use a typical natural fiber dye (Rit is the only brand I know, but claims to be all-purpose) or indigo dye. Indigo dying is a bit more involved from what I've heard, but can get much darker and lasts longer.

If you use a dye that is designed only for natural fibres, it shouldn't affect the sole. The insides will end up blue too though. Be careful of common dyes like the Dylon range, they're designed to work on synthetic materials too, so they'd probably stain the soles.

my big worry is that cats are liquid, i'd want the netting to be like twice as dense..

To be fair excess fats are bad for the normal drain too. Temperature is a good point, my initial idea was that the channels would be along the grass paths so if a bit of grass dies by the opening it isn't really a massive concern. By the time it soaks in any real distance it should be cooled by the surrounding soil.

Bath/shower usually is the cleanest source to go for first, the pipes are next to each other for me. Either way I would set it up so that they can be easily removed when I don't need the water going onto the garden.

Do need to check how flat the area is, exit point from my house is pretty close to the ground so a slight elevation change could be a problem.

Sounds good. Yes, I wouldn't want to use toilet water, but bath and shower water would be ok. Just remember when you're cleaning the bath with bleach or similar, send that water back to the normal drain!

Kitchen water from washing up should be fine, just watch that you don't put too many fats down the drain, as it could smell and attract rats etc, possibly (just guessing, but I would think it would be a bad idea).

Also, i guess you need to think about the temperature - you don't want hot water near your plants!

Next year I should think about doing the same thing with shower/bath water at least, that is probably the cleanest waste water.

If you just want to use an earth channel or similar, maybe have a look at "Field Drains", eg: https://store.jdpipes.co.uk/land-drainage/ ? although you might have to get access to them now and again to clear the holes.

Reed beds are an interesting idea, I had initially thought of having it poured directly into an earth channel or two along my garden so it soaks in almost immediately and avoids having any standing water as I had heard storing greywater can rapidly get unpleasant. I suppose as long as it is filtering more than it goes stagnant then it should be alright.

Collecting it should be ok, got 2 pipes going out the house, one from the bathroom and other kitchen and they are next to each other. I think bathroom (not toilet, that is separate) is probably cleaner and contains less soap. Realistically it would only be necessary during times of drought anyway, now we are going into autumn there is already enough water from rain. Which should also help flush out anything that could build up from the greywater.

Fair enough, and with underground tanks you need a way of getting the water out again, which usually means pumps, which adds expense and maintenance, and you have to make sure the water is really clean.

Using greywater is sensible. Switch your soaps to nature-safe ones to help - https://www.faithinnature.co.uk/ make some good hand, shampoo and dish-washing soaps. I really like the solid shampoo bars from here: https://www.soapnuts.co.uk/products/bulk-mixed-shampoo-selection too.

You can also get filters to help get rid of the impurities. One system is using a reed bed if you have space: https://www.reedbeds.co.uk/

https://www.hockertonhousingproject.org.uk/ has such a system as part of their pond system. We went on one of their open days a few years ago, which was really interesting.

I'm sorry if my comment came across as disparaging to your build - that was not my intention! It does look very sturdy. My former roommate had two cats that were absolute balls of chaos, one of them would almost certainly be trying to chew her way through the screen. My dog is way too big for something like this, but her personality would cause her to launch herself full-force into it at the first sight of motion outside.

I'm sorry to hear she has taken a fall in the past, it's good to see that she seems to have made a good recovery and isn't afraid to still enjoy windows.

The netting is reinforced with wire, purpose-made for protecting cats and the most robust product I've found in this category. In the two years I've had it, my cat hasn't made a single attempt at damaging it, but she wouldn't stand a chance. P.S. you were probably confusing the thinner netting (that is for flower beds) with the actual protective one. The thin stuff is only placed in there to make it look & feel more secure for her, which actually worked. She was very cautious initially, but I realized the board also had a slight slope outwards, which I corrected by putting thin boards on the holders underneath.

Why though? She does love it, and it's a very secure build - I spent a lot of time and effort making sure. She has fallen out from a window before, it was terrible and I'm not risking that again.

I would replace the bird netting with a metal equivalent like chicken wire or deer fencing. It'll last longer and but have the risk of you furry friend falling.

That's awesome! Thankyou for sharing :)

You have far more faith in your pet's instinct for self-preservation than I ever could place in any animal. Lol. Very cool, and I'm sure they love it

She has phases of using it daily vs completely ignoring it 🙂 But apparently the most recent addition of the mats/carpets made it much more attractive to her (also easier to walk up and down the ladder - the bare wood was a bit too slippery).

My own house sadly is a run-down, never-been-repainted shade of grey, but on the plus side, I mostly don't have to look at it. Am also pretty happy with the renovations done across the street (the whole building used to be a brothel before, now they have apartments with a shower in each bedroom 🤗 and in the ground floor is a halal restaurant 😂). Some pastel shade of yellow is pretty common here, but I don't know if the city has rules for it (if anything the pastel seems to be a rule). The tiles on the wall are photo prints of street art - the photographer sold them at an arts & crafts fair.

With this camouflage-colored set of brackets (is that what you call them in English?)

Tbh I'm kinda proud of how I made the board fit between the upper and the lower window 🙈 although now I can't open the upper one anymore (but I unhinge it during summer)

These nets would be poorly suited for that purpose. They're for the cat

It's for the cat not the human

Why does your apartment/condo have anti-suicide nets? Do you live in a factory in Shenzhen?