Living room before makeover

I started a living room and kitchen makeover waaaay back in January. Whilst most of the big stuff was done by February, after a few crazy DIY weekend sessions, everything started to drag after that due to delays in furniture deliveries, which meant I couldn’t pull the whole room together until last month. However, it is finally done and I love it, which is the main thing. The flat as a whole feels so much more cohesive and fresh now and even more importantly, the room works so much better on a practical level, which makes Jules very happy.

Today, I just wanted to remind you of what the room was like ‘before’ and show you a few snaps mid-decorating and then I will share the full room reveal later on this week, so keep your eyes peeled.

Before

What I didn’t like:

– I didn’t buy any of the furniture for this room; it was all stuff from my previous flat. Therefore, it never felt like it quite fitted and a few of the pieces were too big for this space.

– I got tired of the mish-mash style and craved simplicity and a calmer vibe.

– The teal blue loveseat blocked out too much light from the south facing floor to ceiling window, which always felt a bit criminal.

– From a practical point of view the room did not work. The sofa was too small for all of us (including Otto) to sit on together comfortably (I like to lie out). The rug was being destroyed by Otto as it is so thin and delicate and it showed up his hair really badly. Also, the position of the dining table didn’t quite work because  I would sit at one end and Jules would sit in the middle and because we weren’t directly facing each other it wasn’t very conducive to chatting or lingering after eating.

– There was very little storage.

What I sold:

– Teal loveseat

– Sofa

– G-plan sideboard

– Hanging pendants

– Wall mirror

– Lloyd Loom chair

– Large ceramic table lamp

– Retro yellow table lamp

– Gave back my mum’s school trunk to her and kept the kilim rug for the future when I have a house big enough for a dog-free room 😉

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Open plan dining_sitting room

During decorating

I packed Jules and Otto off for a week to stay with his mum so that I could paint the living room, kitchen and re-paint the floors white (they were pale grey). Big clumsy dogs and paint don’t mix very well so I had to get it all done before they came back. By this point I had sold most of the furniture, which made it so much easier on a practical level, but once I had cleared out the remaining few bits I had a blank canvas to get started on the paint job.

After attending the preview for the nine new Farrow & Ball colours I fell in love with Peignoir and decided that it would be the perfect colour for the living room. I have to say, after using quite a few different brands of paint, that using Farrow & Ball paint is a completely different league. The ease with which if goes onto the walls and how smoothly it dries is something else. I really believe it is worth every penny, especially if, like me, you do the decorating yourself. I only had to do two coats and even Jules was pleasantly surprised at how professional the finish was when he returned (I am a bit notorious for rushing jobs like these so he was anxious that I wasn’t going to do a good job of it!).

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Normally, I would have started by ‘cutting in’ but for some very good reason, which escapes me right now, I had to start by rollering the walls. It all worked out well in the end though. These are terrible snaps that I kept on sending Jules as he was anxious about Peignoir being too pink. It is very grey a lot of the time so he really likes the colour.

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Once I had finished the walls I re-painted the floors white as grey floors with Peignoir felt a bit muddy and crisp white woodwork and floors helps to keep it feeling fresh and modern.

So, I will be back later on this week with the final reveal of the room and the new furniture and accessories that I have chosen for this space. The week after that I’ll show you the kitchen makeover, which goes off the living room to the right (as you can see in that picture above).

Katy x

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11 Comments

  1. 17th May 2016 / 7:19 am

    Love the during shots, although I have to say the before was lovely too! Looking forward to the big reveal x

  2. 17th May 2016 / 7:20 am

    Nooo it’s a cliffhanger finish…you tease us!
    Can’t wait I want to see more!
    I am so impressed with your skills, even taking the radiator off. Of course it is going to looking amazing!

    Ashley
    Xx

  3. 17th May 2016 / 7:57 am

    Can’t wait to see! I wish I’d been around when you were selling that stripy sofa though!!

  4. 17th May 2016 / 1:03 pm

    Ooooo this looks so good! Can’t wait to see the finished rooms. 🙂 x

  5. 17th May 2016 / 4:44 pm

    Love your place! Cannot wait for the reveal! 🙂

  6. 18th May 2016 / 11:18 am

    It was beautiful before so I can’t wait to see the finished room! xx

  7. 18th May 2016 / 4:22 pm

    IN love with the wall colour! wish my guy let me paint walls with a lovely shade of “pink”

    can’t wait to see the reveal!
    J

  8. 18th May 2016 / 4:51 pm

    Well done on all that painting – I started painting my tiny flat but it almost finished me off so I got someone from Taskrabbit half way through! Totally worth it!

    Looking forward to the big reveal!

  9. 18th May 2016 / 8:55 pm

    So, hold the phone?! What have you got left?!!!! He he!!! Can’t wait to see the finished room with all the new furniture in it!!!!! xxxx

  10. 18th May 2016 / 9:37 pm

    The room looked gorgeous before but I totally understand what you mean about having a room full of furniture that was intended for another space. The more I see Peignoir being used the more I absolutely love it. Your room is going to look fantastic and I can’t wait for the full reveal.

  11. 10th June 2016 / 4:00 pm

    I love seeing your home makeover posts. We are currently buying a house which is just dirty cream EVERYWHERE! No personality whatsoever. Can’t wait to put my stamp on it. Getting lots of inspiration here 🙂

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