Summer Terrace - Days 13-21 - big change

In my last post I talked about the dark corridor and opening it up to let more light in.  I still wasn't completely happy with it.  I also wasn't happy with the bedroom next to the corridor, it was ok, but it was an odd shape and meant that furniture wouldn't really fit.
As you can see on the picture below, the top (as you look at the diagram) bedroom isn't furniture friendly.  The bed in the diagram is up against the window and radiator - not ideal - and it doesn't fit anywhere else.

To solve both problems, I decided to move the bedroom door - it's pretty drastic but it will make the house so much more user friendly.  In the picture below, you can see the other problem with moving the door, the stairs are in the way.  So in a major change, having taken the wall down to open up the stairs, I changed the layout of the bottom of the stairs and the moved the door to the bedroom.

So...the changes....

The new stair layout.

Look how much space it saves!  They are still really big steps, I was worried but I've run up and down them many times and not missed the turn at all.

The result - extra light and a better layout. I'm really pleased.

before plaster

I've lost track of days now, I'm not completely sure what day of the week it is, but here is that same view after plastering and a first coat of paint.  It will have spotlights when it's done to add even more light when required - previously there were only 2 wall lights for this whole corridor area.  It feels much wider now.

Look at all that light!

looking up to the top floor (the loft floor)

looking down from the top floor 

I can't find a 'before' for this angle, but believe me, it was very dark with the solid wall and very little natural light coming in.


The bedroom which had the door moved has completely changed too, but that room is currently full of bathroom furniture and tiles so I'll have to wait to add photos of that change.

Summer Terrace - Day 12 - Opening up the corridor

I think I have mentioned before that there is a dark corridor in the property created by the layout of the staircases.
This is a terrible photo but shows the corridor, without the wall light being on, it really is completely dark.

 I'd love to add a window at the end, but it would really ruin the look from the outside, so to open it up, I have started by taking out a lot of the wall and replacing it with a bannister.  This is how that changed the look.

I may also be adding a velux window or sun tunnel to add some more light to this area - tbc depending on budget.

Now i just can't wait for all the plastering to be done and get rid of the terrible artex.

Summer Terrace - Day 11 - Wood Burning Stove

Before you say anything - yes, a wood burning stove is expensive, an off the shelf electric wall mounted fire would be a tenth of the cost.  This is a decision I have battled with long and hard, but this falls into the category of adding saleability rather than adding value.  

I have asked lots of opinions, and wood burning stoves are a 'must have' for quite a lot of people now.  It is also important to take into account the area the property is in - where 90% of the surrounding houses have open fires or wood burning stoves.

So this is how it began...

First job was to get rid off the existing and make the new opening - I got a little frightened at this point that it was too big.

 And the finished (undecorated) result.  I'm really happy with it,

Disney Its a Small World ride inspired room

Having themed some rooms on Characters, I thought about the parks and all the amazing theming there that could be brought home.  I decided to start with a classic....It's a Small World.

I hope you have got the song in your head now :)

I took reference from the pastel colours and geometric designs and found a pastel geometric pattern which would be a great feature as a fabric or wallpaper (in moderation).  I also think pastel painted furniture would look amazing and accents of gold to complete the look referencing the gold face and other details.

These pastel shades would be best suited to a pale or white wooden floor, although they could look quite dramatic against a dark wooden floor too.  I'd definitely leave the walls very pale to let the details do the talking.

For a truly authentic look, you would need an industrial tiled ceiling........ok, tI'm being mean, but it really bugs me on Its a Small World in Disneyland Paris - it will probably bug you now I've pointed it out too!!  I guess you aren't meant to look up, but I can't help it, I'm a 'details' girl.

Donald Duck Inspired Bedroom

After the Daisy Duck inspired bedroom, I was asked for a Donald Duck scheme.  

This is designed with a boy aged 11+ in mind, requiring lots of storage space and a place to do homework.  This scheme has to be long lasting, which I think it is, to make it longer lasting, I would change the wardrobes to white ones.  Obviously art and bedding can be changed quite cheaply and easily for a quick update.

So here it is....

Again, like the Daisy room, I started with a white background and white fluffy rug, lots of people say white isn't practical for walls, but I think it is easier to touch up than other colours so I like it.

I added blue wardrobes, a yellow desk and since Donald is a sailor, a nautical themed blue white and yellow bedspread.  For the hint of red, I included a red desk land and floating shelves.

The hint of black comes from black photo frames, as you know, I love photo frames because you can so easily change the images to keep with a theme and change the room.

I also want to point out, these schemes I am posting are my own, using images of items available online.  I am not promoting any of the items, but if you really love something, contact me and I will  do my best to tell you where to find it.

Also, these schemes are first drafts or just schemes I have put together for myself, when I am putting a scheme together for a client it would be totally unfair to put the final work online because they have paid for it and it is no longer mine to share.

A Disney Distraction - Daisy Duck inspired Bedroom

I had an unusual request over the weekend for a Daisy Duck bedroom, but not a 'character' bedroom but a less obviously themed room - that hopefully will last longer than a character bedroom for a tween/teen.

I love, love, love DisneyBound so using inspiration from there created a simple room scheme using the colours from Daisy Duck.

Here is a very quick first draft of some ideas.

I chose to leave the walls white, the floor would most likely be wooden/wooden effect with a large white fluffy rug, and white furniture as daisy is mainly white.
The bedding and curtains would pick up the purple fabric of her dress and bow.  Then accessories in purple and a hint of yellow to finish the look.  A further nod to the bow would be a photo/drawing of a bow in one of the picture frames.

Who says you are too old for a themed bedroom?

I really enjoyed putting this scheme together (although I have a lot more work to do on refining the details) and I think I'll choose some more characters and do more soon.

Comment below if you would like to see me try any particular characters.

Summer Terrace - Day 10 - making a room bigger

**Disclaimer - it really isn't day 10 - this project is taking a really long time.**

Todays activity has followed weeks of estimates, misunderstandings, despair and frustration.

As you can see from these photos, there was a chimney breast running up the back corner of the house, originally from the kitchen right up to a chimney.  During previous work before I bought the house, the chimney breast had been removed from the kitchen, leaving it up through the 2 upper floors.  

 

My original plan was to remove the chimney and chimney breasts right through, as most other houses in the row had done.  It turns out I had underestimated the cost of this, this is something I hadn't done before so my cost was an educated guess and turned out to be about 1/3 of the prices I have been quoted.  I had to decide to either go over budget or make a compromise.

I decided on the compromise.  As the chimney is structurally fine and not leaking, I decided to leave that (save on the scaffolding costs) and as the chimney breast on the top floor is quite small because of the pitch of the roof I decided to leave that too.  However, the chimney breast in the other bedroom, although not huge (about 35cm x 80cm) took up a lot of useful space in terms of furniture arrangement, so I wanted to take that out.  I also couldn't see for sure that it had been safely supported when the chimney breast was removed from the kitchen underneath.

So the upper chimney breast was propped up and the demolition could begin,  it turned out it was a double chimney breast so there was an unexpected extra row of bricks and went out to the outer skin of bricks meaning it needed bricking back up afterwards.

So here it is, bricked up, floor replaced and steel in place ready to be boarded and plastered.

Steel plate in detail

I've found this particular job really frustrating for a few reasons, firstly because it was so expensive for what it achieved and also because I feel like any other developed would have left it as furniture position isn't their problem and buyers probably wouldn't realise the potential issues until they had moved in.  That just doesn't sit right with my conscience, but it impacts my bottom line.

In the end, I am happy with my decision, it definitely makes the bedroom more usable, and feel a bit bigger.  I am also confident that it is now properly supported (the previous support looked a little dubious).

Back to work now - no doubt there will be more tough decisions ahead...