Home - Lounge before and after

Its seems fitting to be sharing my first before and after post a year ago exactly to viewing and offering on the house. Our lounge was the very first room to go under renovation and in comparison to the rest of the house it needed a bit of tlc rather than anything structural. I didn't take as many during steps as I was busy doing but I'm going to talk you through the best I can. 

There was rising damp in the front bay so putting in a damp course was the first big job that we had to pay out for.  Once that was completed, I think it took about a week, the first decorating step was taking off the board covering the fireplace. Much to my delight this beautiful fireplace was underneath, all the other fireplaces have been ripped out throughout the house which breaks my heart - all I get is the odd glimpse of  dusky pink or duck - egg tile, I try not to think about it too much as it makes me really upset. 

The second job was removing the hideous smelly carpet,  the previous owner had smoked in here and it stank, really stank, it was so gross.  I think it took me about 10 minutes to take that carpet up, I couldn't wait for it to be gone. I also cleaned the windows which took my mother-in-law and I a full day to get through the grime and nicotine - another delightful task. 

Once the room was clean I could finally get decorating, I replaced a panel of wall paper that must have had a piece of furniture in front of it and painted the ceiling, which took about three days in total and four coats of paint - it was grim and smelly up there. I then painted the walls in Dulux Brooklyn Nights 6. Lilac isn't a colour I'd normally choose but I wanted a colour to set off the green of the fireplace. 

Ever since my first trip to New York, I've had a dark wood floor on my home wish-list. The floor-boards in the lounge were in pretty good shape so we hired a sander and stripped them back. Because of the age there is quite a bit of 'cupping' to the boards so the finish is a little uneven which I like but if you're someone who likes things to be smooth and straight then it might be worth getting a professional in, I have done some research and its not as expensive as I thought it'd be and would save you two days work. Once the floor was varnished we painted the woodwork white, which made everything so fresh. 

We also had a couple of extra plugs put in as there was only one socket for the whole room and also moved the radiator to under the window, the electrics and plumbing were part of a bigger job but you should allow about £400 for a radiator (this includes a new radiator) and about £200 for electrics. These things cost so much more than you think. 

 There are still bits I want to do/ add (like find something to put DVD's in) but I do love this room, its perfectly sunny in the morning and cosy at night. I can't wait to get the chimney swept and a grate for the fireplace so we can have open fires in winter.

I furnished the room with mainly second hand finds, the sofa and chair we already had and the rug is from Made.com. Everything else has either been given to me or from various charity or junk shops. I think the best find was this chandelier for £45. 

 My mum is a very talented painter, she painted this especially for the room and I just love it -it's so special. It looks tiny in the photo's in real life it really fills up the wall.

The bookcase was an existing piece of furniture, it used to be so crammed with stuff. I'm only just getting used to seeing it empty again! The sofa which you can just see is another junkshop find - it's Ikea Erktop which I just replaced the covers on. I'd like to change it to something velvety in the future but for now its just right.

I'd be lost without a fireplace, I've kept this quite paired down for me. I've had the beautiful birdcage (from Rockett St George) stashed away for a few years, I'm so excited to finally have a spot for it.

As there has been so much to do I have kept this and all the other rooms really simple, we're over the half way mark on decorating now so I'm looking forward to adding bits and pieces to make the room feel more homely over time. I hope you've enjoyed this mammoth post, there is so much more I want to share so expect to see more home posts around here.