Wednesday 1 October 2014

Bringing serenity to main bedroom - renovation part one...

 

You may recall that when I moved into this house, the main bedroom was a questionable shade of pink. How anyone found this a calm and restful space I'll never know, but each to their own...



I had long planned to paint the room, but was holding off until I could have a builder undertake some work in this room. After months of trying, I finally had a builder come last weekend to quote, and even he can't undertake the work for several more months. Coupled with the fact that my sister was coming from Sydney to visit, I decided to at least make a start on making this room much more my style.

A week of painting everything in the room (walls, ceiling, woodwork, door and even the radiator), and things are altogether far more calm and serene...
 The walls are painted in Shadows (223) Little Green intelligent eggshell. Everything else is brilliant white.

 I've also had shutters installed at the window - I was somewhat restricted to a cafe-style of shutter (rather than full window), to reflect those downstairs in the bay window.

 The robe hooks on the back of the bedroom door are now very pretty silver and faceted glass (from Laura Ashley).

The new curtain rod also has lovely faceted glass balls on each end. Obviously, the curtains are still to be made!

The new chandelier light - Bryony flush-mount chandelier from BHS - a bargain at £60.

There is still quite a bit of work to do in this room (a little by me, and the rest by the builder):
  • Make curtains - I will be doing this, but I can't just quite decide what fabric to choose. I am thinking of a white linen/cotton mix as I already have some mixed patterns on the bed linen (ticking and toile). But I need to make a selection soon, as curtains will be essential once the weather starts to become cooler.
  • Artwork - I have yet to hang many of my paintings/artwork in the house - and none in the bedroom. I think I'll wait until the builders are finished before I make some choices of what to put in this room.
The list of work I have requested of the builders...
  • Reinstate Victorian cast-iron fireplace. I have managed to purchase a beautifully restored original fireplace on eBay...which is now waiting patiently in the garage.
  • Install built-in floor-to-ceiling wardrobes on each side of the chimney breast.
  • Install coving/cornicing all around the room - the house has most of its original skirtings, but no coving in any of the rooms...I must check it this is how the house would have been constructed, or if they have been subsequently removed. Either way, I'm planing to install a simple period coving around the room perimeter - to also help the wardrobes blend in more seamlessly.
Hopefully, I'll have a date for the work to be completed sooner rather than later...but in the meantime, it is a much nicer room in which to relax and rest.

1 comment:

  1. What an improvement! I agree with you about that pink, the colour you have chosen is so restful....Little Greene has the most beautiful shades doesn't it?! We are doing much of the same work as you in our house, as well as adding a loft & a kitchen extension....it never ends does it?!

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