My Own Home - Guest Bedroom

This room really had no redeeming features and was long overdue.  Fortunately, I couldn't find a photo of this room before we started, so there's no before and after!   

As with all the other rooms, we had the ceiling plastered to banish the Artex, put up coving and replaced all the skirting boards.  Our house was built in the early 80's and it had glass panels above all the upstairs doors.  I understand why, but it's not something we had ever liked and we'd often talked about removing the glass and filling in the sections of wall above the doors.   Because we knew that we would be tackling the hall, stairs and landing after this room, it made sense to remove the glass and have the walls plastered over - it's almost the best thing we ever did, and much easier than we thought it would be (I can say that, because I didn't actually do it!).

Maybe it was to do with the time of year that I was planning this room (spring), but I wanted it to look much fresher and I was drawn to shades of green.



As usual, I got more than a few samples!

Final Choices

So, my final choices were Zoffany Vervine (Flat Emulsion) for 3 of the walls and Threads Raindrops Champagne wallpaper for the wall behind the bed.  The ceiling was Zoffany Quarter Linen (Flat Emulsion) and the woodwork was Quarter Linen Acrylic Emulsion.  Quarter Linen looks white when it's on the ceiling but is just a bit softer.  A similar Farrow & Ball colour would be Pointing.

Zoffany Vervine

Threads Raindrops Champagne by GP&J Baker

Zoffany Quarter Linen

For the Roman blind I chose Threads Meander in Celery, bordered on 3 sides (and piped along the top) in Zoffany Linens in Olive:

Here's a close up of the Roman Blind ......

As we've done with all the other rooms, we replaced the ceiling rose with a chrome one and silk braided flex rather than plastic.  The pendant lampshade is from an online lampshade shop called "Shady Lady Lampshades" run by a lady called Jo.  I sent her the fabric and she laminated it - adding a diffuser gives a softer light and hides the bulb!  The fabric on the lampshade was Threads Circles Celery / Dove (now discontinued unfortunately but may be available on eBay).  

Shady Lady Lampshades can be found at http://www.shadyladylampshades.co.uk/

Our upholsterer at work made the headboard.  I chose Travers Arden Chevron in Fawn which has an irregular chevron design with an ombre colour effect. The bed valance was also Zoffany Linens in Olive.  Putting a tailored bed valance on a bed makes it look really smart and much nicer than one made of sheeting! 

The bedside tables are Tuvan Bedsides from The Dormy House and I had these painted in Stone. 

I bought the lamp bases from The White Company but the shades which came with them were too white so I changed them for cream oval shades from OKA and gave the white ones to the local charity shop.

I'm well aware that I'm too old for soft toys, but I can't part with a well-loved, somewhat faded, rabbit from my childhood called Pancho.  Taking the orange of his trousers as inspiration,  I found a gorgeously soft faux mohair throw in OKA which adds warmth in a lovely burnt orange colour, together with this simple vase .......

I'd been looking for ages for a mirror to go on a narrow piece of wall next to the wardrobe and finally found this one at Cox & Cox:

Colette Mirror from Cox and Cox

Anyway, here's a (not very good) picture of it all put together ...........

One last thing, the current cushions (which are trimmed with Kate Forman Pom Pom Trim in Charcoal) are just all looking a bit green so I'm looking at alternatives in orange at the moment (favouring the Kravet which is the darker one) - watch this space!

"A good house is never finished!"

My Own Home - Conservatory

Quick one this time!  I don't have any before photos, but this is what it looks like now ......

We had Karndean put down on the floor (replacing the old sheet vinyl which had seen better days).  

The dhurrie was from OKA (now discontinued but they have a similar one here (although only in extra large!):  http://www.okadirect.com/masai-dhurrie-cotton-rug-large.aspx?vid=tfu003bld-0

I wanted some cushions for the new sofa and chair - Romo Dune had the perfect colours!  See the full range here:  http://www.romo.com/collections/plains/dune

This was finished about 2 and a half years ago and the cushions are a bit faded now (might just have to replace them with new ones!).  The furniture is the New Hampshire range, also from OKA and is still available.  

Further details are available here:

http://www.okadirect.com/new-hampshire-2-seater-outdoor-sofa-rattan.aspx?vid=xoc016gyl-0 

It's now a much more sociable space and many weekend mornings are spent drinking coffee in here before the weather's good enough to venture out into the garden for coffee!

The next project was the guest bedroom which had been crying out to be done for about 10 years ..... 

Thanks for stopping by!

My Own Home - Kitchen

As promised, here is the first of a few updates!  The first room we tackled was the kitchen, and that was prompted by a new (and relocated) boiler which left a hole in the wall - how convenient!

So, as a reminder, this is what it looked like .....

A new kitchen wasn't on the agenda at all but when we returned from Kefalonia, we were greeted with what we thought was a leaking boiler (and a drawer full of water!).  It turned out to be the hot water tank which was leaking in the airing cupboard above but as the boiler was almost 30 years old we decided to replace it and had it moved into the airing cupboard, freeing up that corner of the kitchen.

Conveniently (!) we couldn't find any cupboards to match the old ones so had to have a new kitchen!

We had to remove all the wall tiles and flooring but the rest came out in less than a day - perfect excuse to eat out!

Within a week we had a new kitchen and once it was in I could start thinking about the best bit - choosing the fabric for the blinds and the paint colour .......... 

I chose Romo Tulipa for the blinds - on seeing the pattern book with this fabric, one of our clients said "it makes your heart sing doesn't it!"

I then had to choose the colour - red or blue??

I loved the blue but just felt that the red worked better with the French Grey units. I contrast lined the blinds with Ian Sanderson Pippi Stripe in Lime (now discontinued but there will be an alternative). We do this quite often - lining curtains and blinds with a contrasting fabric rather than plain lining means you have something nice to look at from the outside too!

For the walls I chose Zoffany Mist and the wall tiles are Retro Metro which have a lovely crackle glaze (by Fired Earth). 

Zoffany Mist 

And here's the finished result ........

Of course, as we all know, a room is never really finished, 

so now I'm changing the fabric on the chairs .......

I whittled it down to 2 - Jane Churchill Gable (the zig zag fabric above) in either the red or leaf colour and Romo Kahlo in redcurrant.  In the end, I went for the Romo Kahlo - it was just slightly better with the Tulipa,  The fabric has arrived and I'm just waiting for the upholsterer to have a slot to schedule them in - watch this space!

That's all for now - the next room to benefit from a bit of love and attention was the conservatory, so that will be the subject of the next update.