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Friday 27 February 2015

Hallway Decorating Ideas

This is the entrance to our house.

We haven't yet decorated our hallway, it is exactly as it was when we purchased the property.


When we first viewed this property I immediately fell in love with the Victorian charm, the beautiful stained glass in the front door, the cornice detailing and the decorative wall paneling.




Cornice & Decorative Wall Paneling



I also quite liked the traditional wallpaper, but since having lived here for awhile now, the hallway is looking a little tired and much too yellowish beige for my liking.


It's definitely in need of a freshen up.




 This is the upstairs landing and is completely covered with the same traditional wallpaper as featured downstairs.


I went to my go to design idea source Pinterest & started my Hallway Ideas board.



I loved the look of these two hallways as they are both quite modern & fresh looking.


Although I still love the idea of wallpaper & wanted something a little more bold.

I first looked at this tree wallpaper by Cole & Son (as I have a couple of rolls left over from our previous property) & I am still obsessed with it.



I also really liked this striking Black & White graphic wallpaper
'Minaret' by Osborne & Little



However these bold graphic wallpaper designs really don't work with the decorative wall paneling which features throughout our entire hallway.

Therefore I started searching for less graphic designs.

I ordered loads of swatches (I could probably wallpaper an entire wall out of patchwork wallpaper with the amount of swatches I have!!)


I quite liked the above 4 designs so I painted the decorative wall paneling white to see how a contrast would work (it didnt!!).

I then painted a section to match wallpaper 1 - didn't like that either!! 

We've finally decided on the below option no. 4

It's from Cole & Son, Albermarle Collection 'Baudelaire'



It has a nice neutral background with a metallic print.

It's bold yet still traditional so works perfectly with the decorative paneling


We've decided not to wallpaper the entire hallway, as that would just be replacing one traditional wallpaper with an updated version.

Instead we'll make a feature of this wallpaper & only paper the left hand side of the hallway & the entire way up the stairs / landing area.

This will give a more modern feel.

The decorative wall paneling will be painted in a matching colour to the background of the wallpaper.

Will update you once it's done!!







Thursday 19 February 2015

DIY Project - Bedside Tables

Renovating is expensive and as much as I would have loved to buy brand new bedside tables there was no budget for new ones.

I also love up-cycling and putting life back into an old piece of furniture.

These are our plain, boring laminate bedside cabinets.



I did some research on pinterest for inspiration on new looks - link below



I researched online on how to paint laminate, the advice I found was to clean the laminate first and then paint the furniture with a water based primer.

I used Zinseer 123 as below which you can buy on Amazon or Builders Depot.






I applied the primer to the units & drawer fronts with a paint brush.
The primer dried very quickly, I painted approx 2-3 coats to give good coverage.




I then started to paint the units with the chosen colour.

I used a small roller rather than a paint brush as the roller gives a nice smooth finish (no brush marks).



The paint I used was a wall paint - matte finish. 
CROWN INDULGENCE - 'CITY LIFE' - it's a dark grey / midnight blue.



I was planning to use new handles on the drawers so I filled the existing holes with poly filla, I then sanded a little to give a smooth finish ready for painting.




I managed to paint both units, only using 2.5 small tester pots (125ml each).

Both units were given approx 2-3 coats of paint.



The holes were then drilled for the new crystal handles.

I already had these handles as I'd removed them from a previous project.

I think they were originally from Homebase or Builders Depot in a pack of 6pcs.



As you can see the bedside cabinets have been totally transformed and look much nicer & a lot more modern.


I also purchased new taller lamps from TK MAXX which match the paint colour perfectly



Below are a couple of photos to show you BEFORE & AFTER the bedside cabinet revamp.


 BEFORE


AFTER

I hope you like...

LATEST UPDATE:

After finishing my bedside tables I decided to add a marble top to finish them off to a higher standard.

I went to my usual Marble Supplier - 'Planet Marble' in Bounds Green / N11 and found an off cut that could be used.

It's always inexpensive to choose from off cuts as they're just left overs that the suppliers generally don't end up doing anything with & are always happy to sell them off at a great price.


This is the marble I found that they could easily cut out the 2 x tops from.
They cut them to the required size & polished all fours edges.


I paid £80.00 for the 2 x finished marble tops

I'd say the entire project cost me around £100.00, much cheaper than buying new side tables & they're completely unique & have a much more expensive look.


Here's the final look