We are living in a world of wallpaper samples at the moment. Despite us saying all last year that the kitchen was going to be our next project we have changed track and have decided to do the lounge instead. Our reasons are plentiful. The other month, whilst we had a house full of friends there was a big bang in the lounge, the room shuddered and a two inch gap was suddenly visible between the skirting board and carpet. A joist had dropped beneath the floorboards.
Added to the floor issues, there is a patch on one of the walls where Orla peeled away the wallpaper in a toddler fit of decorating. All in all, the front room is looking rather shabby and seeing as we spend most of our time there, we have decided to take the plunge and redecorate.
We have a builder coming in a couple of weeks to lift the floor and see the damage. We can’t really do much without the floor being right so for now we are in planning mode.
Here is what the room looks like now:
The pros: Decent size, high ceiling, perfect bay window for the Christmas tree, some nice features: original stained glass window, fireplace tiles and picture rail and ceiling rose are all in keeping with our style.
The Cons: The wall paper is too busy, there are actually four different wallpapers going on in here. The room only gets direct sunlight in the morning so the red colours make it quite dark, no storage, and the previously mentioned problems of the dropped floor and tatty wallpaper.
And here are our thoughts for the future look of this room.
Our Inspiration: The fireplace tiles have some lovely colours. The previous owners clearly matched the wallpaper to the red leaves, but Rob and I love the teal and green colours here, so we are going to try and use that as our inspiration.
Wall Colours: I want the brightest most brilliant white I can find to paint the woodwork and walls. We visited our friends at the weekend and they have painted their house white throughout and the place felt so fresh and clean, it was beautiful! Now, I love bold rich colours, but I think having white as a backdrop means I can still use darker colours without the room feeling gloomy.
Wallpaper: This is our current dilemma. We like the idea of having a rich teal/green wallpaper along the fireplace wall, hopefully with a touch of gold in it. Rob’s favourite so far is the middle option, but mine is the one of the right. I love incorporating elements of nature in our decorating so I would love to have hedgehogs and rabbits on our walls.
Storage: We grossly underestimated how much room we would need for toys when having a kid. Orla’s toy box in the lounge is overflowing! Our plan is to install storage in to the two alcoves flanking the fireplace. We want cupboards at the bottom, a stand for the TV and shelves going up to the ceiling for books and knick-knacks. Rob showed me some pins where the shelves are floating so that a dramatic wallpaper is visible underneath, and I love it. So I think we will be DIYing these units to match what we have in our head.
Furniture: For about six years we have been in love with this Tetrad sofa. It’s big and comfy and very pricey. We will consider getting second hand but this is probably the sofa for us. We would also like a love seat type chair but haven’t decided on one yet.
Carpet: Most likely a very plush grey with a faint blue or green tint. Grey is my go to carpet colour for every room. I can’t explain why. I’m not a fan of grey on walls but I do love it in carpet form.
And that is as far as our plans have gone. I will hopefully be able to update you in a couple of weeks on how it is going.
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