All posts filed under: Building

The Coach House – Phase 2 – Open Plan Kitchen Diner

Hello summer 2023! (it’s raining today). You may remember a couple of years ago, I shared the completed living room at The Coach House project in Harrogate. Here it is… Before, this room, along with the rest of the house was rather dull and uninspiring. Having been recently “flipped” by  a property developer, it was presentable enough to sell, but in order to make it feel like home for its new owner, it needed a little love and inspiration. Before – 2020 And now in July 2023 Before During phase two of the project, the glazing throughout the house was upgraded to black Crittall style frames. Much more in keeping with the period of this property and newly updated interiors. After If you’d like to see more photos and read about the process behind this particular room, head over to the designated final reveal post. But to continue reading about Phase two, scroll on down… In March 2021, Niche Design Architects began working on plans for a modest extension and remodel of the rest of …

The Harrogate Master Suite

The Harrogate Master Bedroom – (very nearly) Final Reveal

Hello everyone, how’s your August going? Today I’m sharing a (very nearly) final reveal of the master bedroom at the Harrogate project. It’s the last room to be completed after a four year long renovation of a large, five bedroom Edwardian property. I’ve learned and gained so much from working with Vanessa and Andy and it feels quite emotional knowing this will be one of the last rooms I share from their house on these pages. Anyway, moving along… First Floor Floor Plan – Before The first floor is the one that had the biggest layout change, with only a few walls remaining where they once were. The first floor layout as it is now. As you can see, the first floor is where the Upper Brook Street Guest bedroom is, probably one of my most shared and liked projects to date, winning the best bedroom tour on Houzz in 2017 – that was really exciting! Today’s master suite is across the landing at the back of the house in what was this space: It …

Next Door @ The Old Forge

The Old Forge York – Two Years in the Making – Final Reveal Part 2

Hello hello, how are you all? Thanks to everyone who read Part 1 of final reveal for The Old Forge. I’ve heard from Karen (the owner) that bookings at the newly renovated holiday cottage have been going swimmingly since its launch with Next Door @ The Old Forge now being fully booked until the end of September, so get your skates on if you’re looking to book a break in North Yorkshire over the October half term or fancy an autumn/winter break. So, where was I on the final reveal tour? I think I was about here… Corten steel cladding with a slither of hallway peeking through By their very nature of generally being long and narrow, hallways are spaces where people don’t tend to push the boat out design wise. However, a hallway is a place (much like a downstairs loo) is a place you can have plenty of fun. It’s somewhere you pass through fleetingly on the way from one place to another, not often somewhere you hang about for shits and giggles. But …

The Old Forge York

The Old Forge York – Two Years in the Making – Final Reveal Part 1

And so, today’s blog is partly an opportunity to emotionally offload (when isn’t it?) and more importantly celebrate over two years work. I’m very pleased to be able to share the news that after approximately 698 days since my first consultation at The Old Forge, it’s finally time for the official opening of Next Door @ The Old Forge; a two bedroom, family and dog friendly holiday cottage in the pretty village of Sand Hutton, just 8 miles outside of York. Kettle on – it’s final reveal time! Before – My first visit, March 2018 I introduced you to The Old Forge back in May 2018 where I was completely inspired by the ramshackle buildings, excited by their potential and eager to get stuck into creating the design concepts. Since then there has been a relentless amount of work going on behind the scenes to transform an old Victorian blacksmith’s cottage and its outbuildings into a beautifully unique yet sympathetic two bedroom holiday cottage. Architects plans with suggested layout I could write a book about the problems, nightmares, …

The Colour Blocking Project

The Colour Blocking Project – A complete house refurb in West Leeds

Hello there! Firstly, I just wanted to say thank you for all the very kind comments, emails and messages I had after my last blog post. They were very much appreciated and meant a great deal. Thank you!! It’s less about me today and back to interiors (yay!). Time to introduce you to a new project, one that’s been simmering for over a year. My role for this project has been a combination of sense checker, sounding board, design consultancy and some good old fashioned interior design. I certainly can’t take credit for all of the incredible work that’s been undertaken by this family, but I have managed to add some design details that I think have really helped pull things together. Let me walk you around the kitchen as it was back in August 2018… Estate agent photo Quickly after moving in, the new homeowners had architects plans drawn up to completely remodel the downstairs, upstairs, plus extend at the back. Budget constraints meant they had to park the first floor remodel and put …

Abigail Ahern Poppy Seed LImewash Paint

The Harrogate Kitchen Design – Pre- reveal Post

Hello hello everyone! I know, it’s a rare occurrence for me to post twice in one week, but am so excited to share the updates from my recent trip to the Harrogate kitchen design, I just couldn’t wait. If you’re not familiar with this one (it’s been a long term project)  you can catch up on everything in this previous post.  Dining Room – Before (Estate Agent Photo) There are a few tiny things left to sort, some shelving, a TV and coffee table (and a bit of faffing of course) but that’s about it. So you’re getting the very nearly final reveal post today. Nothing has been styled properly yet but I wanted to show you the completely amaaazing transformation of this open plan kitchen/dining family space. It’s not your average kitchen knock through. During Now It’s breathtaking. It really is. That full height, corner glazing the diagonal floorboards, the artwork, it’s finally all come together to create my client’s dream kitchen. Let me show you are few more before and afters, because they’re oh …

Exterior House Project

Our outdoor space – Final Reveal

When we bought our little house nearly seven years ago. It wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but in terms of its location and the surrounding area, it gave us everything we actually needed. Or should I say, it had the potential to. Our house, 2012. Estate agent’s pic Earlier this year I wrote a post showing you all of the rooms inside. What they were like when we moved in and how they look now. You can have a nosey inside here if you like. The one space we’d never tackled fully was the outdoor space. A front and rear garden with a long driveway connecting the two. Pretty standard for a 3 bed semi. Rear garden, 2012 – Estate agent pic We had done plenty to the rear garden over the past six years but never dealt with any of the building work and nitty gritty. Our driveway was a crumbling mess, drainage being a real problem, the front garden was on a slope and retained water like a sponge and the steps to our …

Georgian Apartment

The Georgian Apartment – New Project Time

Time to introduce you to a new project today. It’s a two bedroom apartment situated inside what was once one of the many impressive mansions built in Leeds, 300 years ago. This Georgian property certainly has the scale and proportion you would expect from this period. Just looking at this photo from the recent sales listing, you can see there is a real gem waiting to be loved, revived and restored. The new homeowner is VERY keen to get the works done as quickly as possible, understandably. But as ever, i’ve had to put the brakes on a little in order to give this special building what it deserves. Because, whoever fitted this kitchen was clearly high on solvents: Who on earth would fit a blue formica kitchen in a Georgian mansion? Definitely someone from the late 80’s early 90’s me thinks…. Here’s the apartment’s original floorplan to give you an idea of what rooms and spaces we are working with and how they all relate: As you can see, the floorplan suggests there would have …

DIY Garden Building

How to build your own garden building – aka ‘The Manporium’

Hello everyone, apologies for the radio silence this week, it has been a ridiculously busy week AND i’ve been waiting for my husband to pull his finger out and finish writing something. Yes, this week everyone, you will get to read the design ramblings of him indoors (or should I say, “him outdoors”). He’s finally sent in his homework…. i’ve had a good read, and actually it’s really good (she says begrudgingly). It’s about how he made his own garden workshop which is perfect if you’re someone  looking for inspiration on how to build your own garden building/workshop/man cave/she-shed/home office/garden pod…. so many names for these additional rooms. So without further ado… Iiiiiiiit’s Mr Making Spaces! **crowd goes wild** ” What’s that…you didn’t sign up for this? You didn’t. Sorry to invade this sacrosanct space of beautiful interiors, design and styling. I’m here to talk about anti-style. Yes…it’s the world of sheds. During my 39 years on this planet, I’ve learned a few things about life. Here are some: Men like a bit of solitude now …

Harrogate Project

The Harrogate Project – Ground Floor Progress

I took a trip over to see my Harrogate project last week. I was so excited to see the progress that I posted a pic on Instagram before it even made it onto the blog. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karen Knox – Making Spaces (@makingspacesnet) The space has officially been transformed thanks to this rather spectacular glazing. Remember it’s on two floors? Running up from this kitchen/diner up to the master bedroom suite: A bit of the master suite on the floor above It’s actually an industrial glazing system that you’d usually find in offices. My clients had originally looked into residential glazing options, but due to the height & scale of the glass, they ended up going with an industrial curtain walling system in black aluminium. Looks fab doesn’t it!? Ok, back downstairs for today… Ignore that light – it’s not staying This is where there’ll be a sofa and TV and a bit of fancy paint work. I know those walls looks lovely as they are, but the …