Office progress

The trouble with restoring an old house is that you can spend weeks working on a room, stripping it right back to bare bricks and building it up again, only to have a room that looks like it's only had a lick of paint. Very frustrating!

So just to prove that a lot has happened in the office (although it's not 'dressed yet') this is what we've (i.e Andrew) has done.

All the plaster came off ( & I broke my toe)

Old fire out

We debated about keeping the old open fire, which was a 1930's tiled one, but it was a step too far even for a retro theme. We then debated about another log burner but couldn't justify the cost. So in the end we decided on a modern electric one (no mains gas here). I don't usually do fake fires but decided if I was going to, it was going to be a fire that wasn't pretending to be something it wasn't. As you will see later!

Anyway back to the rebuild.

Insulation going in

Plaster mix

Andrew put the plasterboard up and then decided to tackle the plastering himself. After advice from YouTube - and better advice from my father - he was off.  I was the able bodied assistance with the main job of bucket washing.

Looking professional

Just get on & wash the bucket instead of taking photos!

New coving

I wanted the coving and picture rail reinstated so that I could have a large white space above the coloured walls. Oh a designers tip! You may have noticed in all the rooms I decorate, large pieces of coloured paper taped to the wall. These are my paint swatches. Never put the paint directly on the wall, particularly if there is already a strong colour as it will throw the colour out. If you have two or three you're trying they will act against each other and confuse the eye. To be really sure use a black or dark grey frame to isolate the colour from it's surroundings. The other benefit of them on paper ( I keep a roll of wallpaper liner for the job) is that you can move it around the room and see how the colour is effected. And as long as you write  the paint colour & manufacturer on the reverse you can use them at a later date. In the end I chose Farrow & Ball Light Blue, a soft blue-grey.

First coloured coat (my job)

Forgot! another tip. Always keep a clean rag tied to the top of a stepladder, then when you lean it against a wall (and we all do) it won't leave a mark.

Once I'd finished painting, the carpet went down and Andrew was called back for a very exacting job. We're fortunate to have a large bay window in the office but are a little security conscious because of this. I didn't want to cover the whole window so we thought we'd try the self adhesive film. It took quite a while for Andrew to do but it looks really good and is very effective.

Smoothing it down

Creating a border

It's all in the detail

I've still got to sort out window treatments, art for the walls and a door probably wouldn't go amiss! and I still need storage for fabric samples etc. so I'm looking out for some vintage luggage I can put on top of the bookcases. Andrew shot a panorama for me.

Nearly finished

Details

And Mortimer likes it!

Note the very fake fire!

Until next time




Sharon

Chasing my tail

My desire to embrace Slow Living just doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Every time I strike something off my "To Do" list, two more things appear at the bottom. The biggest project at the moment is the office, I'm desperate to get that finished so I can reclaim my dressing table back and have all my design stuff back in one room. And I'm sure Andrew would like to stop sharing his space with the laundry. Now I would show you progress photographs but I haven't downloaded them from the camera yet (along with the past three weeks of happenings). Instead, partly to help me refocus, here are the images from the concept board for the office. Key words for this room are "Calm and Inspirational".

Do you know what I'm going to do now? It's early on a lovely Sunday morning I'm still in my dressing gown but I'm going to take time for a Magic Moment. I'm going to join Mortimer in the garden and take ten minutes to catch up with some blog reading.

Mmmm. Much better.



Until next time



Sharon

Peterborough Antiques Fair

I hadn't had a good rummage round a boot fair, charity shop or antique fair for ages and was getting severe withdrawal symptoms and so last weekend we took ourselves to the Peterborough showground for the twice yearly event. We hadn't been to this one before so weren't sure what to expect. It was a glorious day and everyone was out.

Spot Andrew treasure hunting

We had a bit of a wish list and headed first to the outside stalls, usually best for furniture and house clearance stock. It may be this particular fair but there wasn't much of the clearance stuff about, I think that with auction fees being so high and pitches at fairs being quite expensive a lot of these dealers now go to boot fairs. I was particularly looking for a long foot stool, an office chair and a bedroom seat, all to re-upholster. Sadly everything I found had already been restored and so was over budget.

More tat treasure

It's amazing what you see for sale. Some people just have a bit of everything while some specialise, like this stand

Spotlight collection

Celebrity spotting

With so many antique programmes on television it wasn't long before we saw our first T.V crew, this one was filming 'Bargain Hunt' with Tim Wonnacott and Thomas Plant.

Tim Wonnacott

A lot of stall holders didn't want to be filmed as it could take up to 45 minutes to shoot just a minute or two of t.v. time and that's a lot of missed selling opportunities.

Anyway Andrew found our first bargain of the day with some vintage light shades. We always look out for lighting as it can really bring individuality to a room. Andrew spotted three very grubby glass shades on the grass and after some heavy negotiating (40% off the asking price) they came home with us.

They're a very fine ribbed glass in a golden yellow colour and are destined to go over the island unit in the kitchen.

Before

After

 Next purchase was a whole £3.00! You may remember I collect Observer pocket books and found one, Zoo Animals, that I didn't have. I really must do something about selling my duplicates.

Our final purchase caused much deliberation. We inherited a very heavy 'Wise Man" that has sat on the floor for the past two years as we hadn't found anything suitable for him. Walking around we both spotted an early 20th century Anglo Indian table. This was quite unusual as it had a flat back and a five sided front, I assume it could sit in a corner if you wanted. Beautifully carved and with no damage it was perfect but the price tag, although not expensive, was higher than we had wanted to pay for a stand. So Andrew started negotiations.

A tip about negotiating -smile and be nice. I had an antique business for several years with my father and there is nothing more irritating than people saying:

'well there's one nicer than this one over there' - well buy that one 

'it's not really want I want" - so don't buy it then

'my Grandmother had one just like this and threw it out' - as did every other Granny which is why they're now rare


'I bet you bought it for nothing and are trying it on' - sometimes but rarely, dealers would rather take a small profit on lots of items than hold out

and please don't start to negotiate unless you really want to buy.

You will get a much better price if you are seen to genuinely like the item. If it's over your budget then say so, most dealers do want to sell and actually appreciate objects that they've chosen  going to someone who will enjoy them. We did love the table, it was worth the asking price, but with so much to do on the house we had to stick to a budget. This is what we told the stall holder who asked what we would be prepared to pay. Andrew acted flustered and said he couldn't possibly say because he didn't want to offend the lady (he can have a charming smile when he wants!) but she insisted and so he gave a price of 50% off the asking price. She agreed it was too low but was prepared to drop - 25%. Andrew looked at me and I did the old tight purse strings bit, muttering about how much I loved it but would also like new plumbing in the bathroom. Andrew went up a bit and the deal was done at a third off and everyone was happy.

So here it is, not yet in the right place but...

At last a resting place

Detail of carving

And just in case you think that we've just been out enjoying ourselves, I give you....

The Office

Until next time




Sharon

Pins

Now I've got a bit of a thing about pinning. No not like these

but pinning as in Pinterest.

For those of you unaware, Pinterest is an online pinboard where you can pin images from the internet, or upload your own, to personal boards. It's a great way of collecting inspirational images or products and the bonus being the source of the photo stays with it. 

Most users seem to have house or personal style related boards although there do seem to be a lot of photographs of cup cakes. And tattoo designs. Some are just plain weird, I came across one woman who had a board called 'My future' and it had lots of photos of babies & cute toddlers. As I said, weird.

My boards are nearly all related to interiors and I have a board for each room of the house. At the moment we're focusing on the study (our next big project) so I've been keeping an eye out for ideas.

For example I ordered a sample of this wallpaper but as the suppliers website  gave a good visual I pinned.

possible study wallpaper

If you want so see more on the study/office then go here. Andrew came up with a new design style as I was trying to explain my concept for the office during a recent dog walk (so without any visual aids). He called it ' vint-o-funk'. He got it when he saw the pin  board.

Now the alert of you will have seen two little boxes in the top left of the photo. When you put an image on your board it puts 'repin' & 'like' buttons. So if you want to 'copy' the image you just repin. If you like it, but don't actually want it then hit the like button. Am I getting too complicated?

The best bit for me, and what makes it mildly addictive, is that if you get a like or a repin,an email is sent to you and you can look who has pinned what. I find it fascinating to see what really rocks peoples boats. I have a board called 'French Style' which is very popular and has it's own followers. But yesterday I had the most repins I've ever had for just one image.

Source: delightbydesign.blogspot.com

Everyone just loved the zebra wallpaper. What do you think?

Until next time

Sharon

About the house

The house is a bit like an ageing super model - the bones are good but it doesn't do to look to closely! The previous owners had lived here for 28 years and although left it immaculate and newly decorated there's a lot of work to be done. The house was originally  four room square, two rooms at the front & two at the back. A hall & staircase in the middle with a small bathroom between the two back bedrooms. Alterations have been made in the past which include a front & a back reception room being knocked into one with a very 70's arch. Upstairs the bathroom has been moved into one of the bedrooms and the original knocked into a bedroom. Sadly not a full en-suite just a lonely basin at one end of the room.

 So today I'll take you through the downstairs.

Now when we bought the house the hall, sitting room and dining room ( now the office) were carpeted. We'd owned the house for 36 hours when these all came up so that the new damp proof course could be injected. And because we didn't want to get too cosy they didn't go back down except in the office.

Original tiles & missing border

Under the hall carpet was the original tiled floor but it's all a little strange. The pattern includes a border but not all the way round, it disappears into the under stairs cupboard, but we can't see any evidence that the stairs have been moved. At the bottom of the stairs there is a very unattractive internal window which was once the doorway to the front parlour. This will have to go. The front door is fairly new, double glazed and nice & secure. Unfortunately it opens the wrong way, if you want to open it and let someone in, you have to reverse up the stairs!

Internal window as seen from sitting room

We have wall lights to match!

Didn't take us long - day 2

So wrong! Artex ceiling & mean skirting boards

 The sitting room floor is solid concrete and so we sealed it to stop the dust and installed some furniture to have somewhere to sit. The house is single brick so one of our first jobs is to add insulation to the walls. There are only two radiators in this space, which is approximately 7.5m x 4m, and an electric fire. So plans are to increase & improve the radiators and put in a wood burning stove.


The office will also need insulation, something doing with the open fire and updating the radiator. The problem with this room is that we both have to work here and so there will be huge disruption when work starts.

Office fireplace

Next, at the back of the house is the kitchen diner. Originally there was a pantry here but this was removed to give more space. It's a reasonable size and currently has fitted cupboards. But. Big but. The cupboards are dark and falling apart, the new work surface (put on to help the sale no doubt) is a wood effect laminate which doesn't look good at all &  the floor is dark. I have no oven, no hob, no fridge but a freezer and a very nasty smell from under the sink! So we went out and bought a cheap microwave but I think the next few weeks are going to be hard for a couple who love to cook.

Dark

Missing oven

Shiny new microwave

Now the last 'room' we have great plans for! This is the lobby that links the kitchen with the original outhouse, now a loo and a small utility space. Henceforth this is to be known as 'The Orangery', not at all pretentious!

Loo & utility

The Orangery!

Hate that brown paint!

I can dream! Source: Art et Deco

Next time I'll show you upstairs.

Sharon