Makeover - Lounge Transformation

September 01, 2014



The lounge was one of the first rooms that we set to work on and a fairly easy transformation compared to some parts of the house. You can see from the before photos below that it was in need of redecorating with the yucky yellow walls and red carpet. We couldn't wait to get the keys and rip all the old light fittings and curtains down. 
Before Photos:




During Photos:
The original fireplace was too big for the room and not to our taste so Ben sourced a smaller, Victorian style cast iron fireplace on eBay that he spray painted with black fireproof paint. He took out the old fireplace and plaster boarded over the bare bricks ready for wallpapering. We were careful to save the green tile hearth which would have been original to the house. 



We painted the walls in Homebase Sanctuary Range 'Cosy', my ultimate favourite cream {I can't even find a Farrow and Ball one that I love more} and I chose Cole and Son Cow Parsley wallpaper to wrap around the chimney breast. I love this wallpaper so much, I'd cover my whole house in it if I could! I debated for ages which colour-way to get it in. Black wallpaper was a bit of a gamble but I love the overall effect with the taupe to tie in with our sofas. I also loved it in bright yellow but with the fireplace the black seemed to suit the room more.


We got new carpets and set about getting our furniture and accessories in.



We purchased floating shelves from Homebase for the two alcoves and painted them the same colour as the walls to blend in.



The mirror above the fireplace was a Car boot sale bargain which was a great size and the colour miraculously was the perfect shade to tie in with the wallpaper and cream walls. 


We had collected lots of penguin books from eBay and Sunbury Antiques Market, buying box loads at a time. I arranged them by colour and displayed them on the shelves along with various photo frames and ornaments from our travels.


The other alcove, above the TV sitting on an old wooden blanket box picked up from an antiques shop in Berkhamsted, houses a selection of candles, photos and vases.



We stayed in the Soho Hotel around Christmas time in 2010 and in the lifts they had pictures made up of Penguin book cover postcards. We loved the idea so ordered the box of postcards from Amazon here and bought two large frames from Homebase, choosing our favourites. We arranged them, blue tacked them into the frames and hung them on the wall of our flat above our dining table. When we moved to this house we hung them here in the lounge. I love how you can see them reflected in the mirror too.




We got our chimney swept and padded out with fireproof rock wool insulation last autumn and loved having fires through the winter. Not only are they warm and cosy but you can't beat snuggling up looking at a real fire. We keep an old French oyster basket, {purchased from Sunbury antiques market} filled up with logs for the winter and a galvanised coal scuttle next to the fire.



We had our Christmas tree in the bay window of the lounge this year and looking back at this photo is getting me excited for 18 weeks time. Don't get me started on the Christmas posts just yet though. I go crazy for it come November time {actually make that October...}


Finally, we replaced the ugly old lead effect plastic window with a bespoke wooden sash style window, to match in with the original style of the house and the two Victorian terraced houses next to ours, from a local joiner. And had a new wooden window sill fitted last summer when we had building works done. We had plantation shutters made which arrived in January and really finish the room off. I got the sewing machine from a car boot sale for £10, it's got a plaque saying Peter Jones Sloane Square on it, I guess coming out of a factory there at some stage and sat it on an old wooden tool box picked up at a junk shop and an East of India 'All you need is Love' cushion, my favourite proverb - available here.


After Photos:



All finished!

R <3 xx

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2 comments

  1. Really love the shutters and that you put back the sash windows - its a beautiful tranquil space, you must be very pleased with your hard work, xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the Penguin postcards in the picture frames - Such a nice idea :)

    ReplyDelete

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