Original Kitchen
I’d been lovingly doing up the house for a couple of years and apart from a lick of paint, I had consciously not touched the kitchen. You see it just didn’t work. It was a big open space but not big enough to include a dining table or anything substantially functional. And it was cut off to the deck which is where I did so much entertaining. A renovation plan had been brewing… Continue reading
The old laundry door – had to go!
The vestibule area was an unusable space. I had grand plans to eventually re-work this whole space so all I could try to do was lighten and brighten and make its usability more friendly. The previous owners had built a single bi-fold door for the laundry area that, would flap around should there be a window or door open. It was bulky and well, ugly don’t you think?!
I think the picture speaks for itself. It wasn’t pretty. The skirting boards, door jambs, picture rail and timber fret work had the same maroon treatment plus there was the added bonus of a wallpaper freeze. I left Mum to tackle the removal of the wallpaper as I just didn’t have the time (or the patience) to give to that joyful job. Continue reading
The bricked-up fireplace had been opened up again, the hole in the floor covered and the wall patched but my work here was just beginning. The trims needed to be freed of the hideous maroon stain/paint and the ceiling and walls were flaking. Oh and a cast-iron fire surround and mantle needed to be sourced. Deep breaths…
Continue reading
Time is a precious thing and certainly if I had more time, the second bedroom would have received much more love than it did. But with a move in date looming, I stuck to the basics and made it as habitable as possible. It is what it is and sometimes, you’ve just got to go with it. Much like the dining room, it really needed complete stripping back. But aside from re-plastering a patch of wall where the coat rail was stuck (it removed the plaster back to the bare brick) and replacing a rotten floorboard, my main tasks were stripping back the trims and painting.
The dodgy (and sticky) coat rail.
The stud wall had left its mark on the ceiling but it survived relatively unscathed. What it did reveal was the original (?) paint work. Someone had painstakingly painted each of the raised plaster grapes yellow and every vine leaf green. That person would have had a) a very stiff neck, and b) a lot of patience and dedication, and maybe c) too much time on their hands?? They are 12ft ceilings!
Trail of liquid nails on the ceiling where the stud wall was attached
Although the removal of the wall had let in much-needed light and created a more open space, the room was still dark and dingy, mainly due to the black trims and dark paint colour.
THIS IS WHERE THE HARD SLOG BEGAN…
girl up a ladder 