LIVING ROOM: LIGHTING THE WAY

One of the useful functions of this blog is to act as a scrap book for design ideas.  Products that I like are collected and posted here and it's funny how visual trends start to emerge.   I've been looking at table lamps to flank either side of the Living Room sofa.  I kind of know what I'd like, but don't know if I can find it out there - which is the common dilemma.  Ideally, I'm looking for that 'I must have that' sensation which should accompany every purchase, but within keeping with the design guidelines: contemporary, clean, modern, stylish, etc.  In addition to this, it has to be cat proof - so delicate, glass lamp bases that can easily be knocked over and smashed are out.   

 

I think one of the obvious rules when furnishing any room is to try to stay within the design style so that the pieces don't appear incongruous: French Provincial rarely works next to Bauhaus unless you are going for that house clearance storeroom look - which I'm sure will one day be a look.  It is always useful to look at photographs of interior designs that attract you and study them to see how they've worked it out.  Most of all, I am a believer that you should surround yourself with objects that you love or that mean something to you. 

 

For our line-up of table lamp contenders so far, here are the beauties:-  

Evidently I have a thing about square shades...

SO WHERE WERE WE?

OK I'll admit it:  I've been a lazy blogger and I didn't post at all in September.  So where were we?

Well to recap, July & August the whole place except the kitchen was re-plastered.  We are still in the process of painting, and a great deal of time has been spent finishing off the new front door.

The Office proved more problematic as some of the old plaster had blown and needed to be removed completely - causing even more dust and mess!

THE NEW FRONT DOOR
As you can see the original front door was quite shabby looking.  It was very drafty too in the winter, with the letterbox flapping in strong winds.

Before

I'd never really liked the painted brickwork surround, so a simple solution seemed to be to have the surround rendered in concrete from the canopy down.

The new front door is a steel security door with a 12 point locking system, and is something akin to a vault door but with a useful spyhole and letterbox.  You can never have enough security in London!

A PIR sensor courtesy light is always a useful fixture to install as it ends the need to be fumbling around on those dark winter nights trying to match the key to the lock.

And finally, a video intercom doorbell is an essential,  especially if you live on the first floor, as it saves you schlepping down those stairs to only find it's a nuisance caller or an Avon lady!  Yes, convenience always wins out in the end.

There is still work to be completed as a black slate door step or tiles, need to be sourced and fitted. 

After

Two big urn style planters at either side should complete the finishing touch.

I'd still like to fill the courtyard with shrubbery in planters so it becomes a sort of secret garden behind the gate.   It's also a great place for the Pepper kitty to run around and she loves to go out there to explore.  Being predominantly a house cat, she's very intrigued by the other house kitty called Lucky that appears in the window adjacent to our Front door.  Cats in windows.

Lucky is a great looking cat with a little zen like beard and tuxedo jacket, he belongs to our lovely neighbour, Marilyn who kitty sits Pepper when we are away for long periods.

RESTORATION MAKEOVER MADNESS

Ecce Homo by Elias Garcia Martinez

I love this true story that appeared in the news a few days ago!

Cecilia Gimenez, an 80 year old Spanish parishioner decided to give a deteriorating church fresco a little 'restoration' after convincing the priest and sacristan.

As a result Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) painted by Elias Garcia Martinez in the Sanctuary of Mercy Church near Zaragoza more than 100 years ago was given a vigorous make-over.

The once classical Christ-like portrait is now said to resemble 'a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic' and has horrified and stunned Art historians throughout Spain.

After Restoration

What was she thinking?  Was she happy with the finished result?  Did she enjoy herself?  Her version is certainly Picasso-esque and would make a great submission for The Turner Prize.

I guess the moral of this story is: Don't over-estimate your abilities and secondly don't make-over things that you don't personally own.
 

To remedy the situation, the Sanctuary of Mercy Church have decided to cover the ruined pimped up fresco with a photographic reproduction of the original painting.

MOVIES: LIFE OF PI

This film looks visually spectacular!  Interesting premise too: A zoo keeper's son is shipwrecked with a Bengal tiger, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan, adrift in the Pacific Ocean.  I haven't read the book that it is based on, so I can't tell you anything else.  The cinematography is stunning and caught my eye.  I'd like to see this when it is released. 

Life of Pi is due to be released in cinemas on the 21st December 2012.

A LIVING ROOM FOR COUCH POTATOES

The Living Room was plastered last weekend and is now looking very sculptural and very much like a modern shrine to television viewing.   We modified the built-out recessed TV surround at the last minute to include two alcoves at either side for CD or DVD storage.  This makes better use of the dead space.  The inside edges of the recess were slightly bevelled as well, as this looked more visually pleasing.  Bookcases and cabinets will be built at either side of the chimney breast which should lessen the impact, and balance the overall effect.

It should look amazing once the plaster has dried and the paint starts going on.  The light colour (Dulux Natural Calico) should bring out the beauty of the angles.  The plasterers also did an excellent job on levelling out the ceiling.

In case you are wondering, the black thing wrapped in cling film at the centre is the bracket for the 42 inch TV.  It's going to be like have our own personal cinema!

 

OLYMPIC PLASTERING

While there is no medal to be won, July has been a month of Olympic effort to progress the house.   With the exception of the kitchen, every wall and ceiling has now been plastered.  Our plasterers, Dave and Rick were poached locally from a nearby construction site and have proved their weight in gold.  Over the course of a few evenings and a couple of weekends, they have left every surface that they’ve worked on flawless and levelled.   It really does make a difference with a 76 year old building giving it a total facelift.     

I’m immensely relieve this stage of the works are over. Plastering is extremely messy and I’m fed up with finding everything repeatedly coated in fine dust.  A big clean should hopefully take care of it.

Our next event will be running the roller ragged in an feat of painting everything. 

Living Room prep work

 

Staircase main wall: Plastered!

 

Office

 

Bathroom Door - prep work

The bathroom door was converted into a sliding door to save space as it will no longer open out in the hallway.  Above the door will be a narrow window with glass blocks inset.

OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY

There is no escaping the Olympics at the moment.  Like the rest of the country we were graced by a token Olympic torch runner trotting past our street.  There wasn’t much chance of missing it, for at 8.45am on a Saturday 21st July morning the bells of St Barnabas Church started tolling at 08:00am and wouldn’t let up.   No chance of a lie in unless you were stone deaf.  In the end, curiosity got the better of us and we went along with the neighbours to lend some community cheer.

BEDROOM ONE: FURNITURE IDEAS

While it may still be too early to be thinking about buying furniture it is good to see what's out there. 

I've always been attracted to Bauhaus & Art Deco design styles which in their era (1920s & 1930s) were the epitome of modern design: Clean sharp forms, economy of detail, functionality, elegance and glamour.  Even today some pieces from that time can look extremely contemporary, stylish and evocative, such as the pair of armchairs below:-

Art Deco Birdseye Maple Leather Armchairs at Regents Antiques

Photographs by Regents Antiques

Available from http://www.regentantiques.com

THE CONVEX RANGE

As an alternative to scouting around antique markets, house clearance sales, Ebay, etc for unusual and striking pieces - CPW Furniture have produced the Convex Range which has a distinct retro but modern feel.  Crafted from Birch wood and stained rich and deep tones, the gently curved fascias and silver handles give it an almost Art Deco-ish vibe.  The Convex comes in a wide range from cabinets to dining tables to bed frames to bookcases - to TV units - the usual components you might need to furnish your living room, dining room and bedroom.

Convex Dining by CPW Furniture

I realise that these unusual hefty looking retro pieces may not be to everybody tastes, but I love them.  For me, they conjure up images of black & white movies from the 1930s.  I will certainly be considering the bedside cabinets, console table for Bedroom One.

Thanks to Ebay I've just bought the CD storage unit (RRP £300) for a steal at £75 ex-display.  How resourceful is that!

The Convex Range available from various retailers.

http://www.cpwfurniture.co.uk/

THE ALTERNATIVE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW

My Jubilee bank holiday weekend is being spent laying down and cementing in the garden path.  There is still a lot of hard landscaping to be finished in the garden, but the garden is coming along nicely.   Year Two in the Garden of Anxiety and lots of plants are in bloom and the roses are running rampant.

Keeping on the straight and narrow

Rose mish-mash

Poundstore roses

Rose profusion

Big fluffy Pink ones...

and Orange ones

and Cream ones

These start off yellow and fade to cream

Sambucus Nigra is just starting to flower

Ceanothus 'Skylark' poking through the trellis

Clematis

You can never have enough climbers.  Incredibly useful for adding height to your garden if you have limited planting space for large shrubs & trees.

Pot bound Rhododendron has flowered

The Garden Keeper

I'm not a big fan of garden ornaments, but instead of gnomes we have this little fellow.  We call him the Garden Keeper or Caretaker and like to think that at night he comes alive and in our absence takes care of the garden for us.  I'm not sure what the bowl is for - watering plants; picking snails?

He currently lives in the undergrowth, between the Japanese Maple and Bamboo.  This shady border, when the path is finished, I'd like to develop more into a Zen garden with stones, ferns, etc.    

COLOUR LIMITS: CHOOSING PAINT

Who would have thought that choosing paint colours would prove to be such a challenge.  I know what I want but I can't seem to find it anywhere.  Furthermore, I've learnt an important lesson: A paint colour swatch and what the paint looks like on the wall seem to be two different realities.  Sometimes it's quite alarming how something called Hay Bale ends up being more reminiscent of a tangerine. That's why it's always best to buy & try a colour tester before you commit yourself to an 10 litres of mistake that you may have to look at for a while.

Not a Kazimir Malevich artwork but the testing wall

 

If you are using wallpaper for a feature wall or a feature colour, you need to think about how this is going to tie in with the rest of your colour scheme and that includes flooring, furniture, upholstery etc.

Beiges, Creams and Hints of White seem to fall into various categories: Red hue, yellow hue, green hue, etc.  Some Off-Whites seem to be very off.  Dulux Almond white sadly seem to be more brown that white.  Overall I'm finding a lot of colours to be darker than they suggest. I prefer rooms to be light, bright and airy or elegantly muted in dusky pales.  B&Q's Soft Cream was really an Apricot trying hard to pass for a cream.  At the opposite end, Dulux Jasmine White seemed to be practically non-existent.  You have to look really hard to work out that it isn't white.

If walls had ears that would blush at the language used...

The bad photograph above doesn't reflect what's really going on here!   I'm hoping for Ivory walls with a muted green - somewhere between moss & olive as an accent colour or maybe something more vivid.  The feature wall will be papered to provide a textural finish.  The black lines represent picture frames.  Woodwork will be brilliant white. Will it work, who knows?

Take the rough with the smooth

Dulux Natural Calico for walls; suede-like wallpaper for the feature wall; with the inset back wall of the TV recess in a vivid purple (which mistakenly looks blue here).  The accent colour is a very small area and will also be echoed in the choice of fabric colours.

It's good to come back to your testing wall at various times of the day so you can see the paint in different light.  You also need to see how it will look at night with electric light.  Most importantly you need to think about the space:  Will it make the space appear smaller / larger / brighter / darker?  How will this colour effect my mood?   The rest is down to personal tastes...