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GROHE Sense – The Water Detective

Published by Karen Knox

What would you say the biggest risks to your home are? Fire? Burglary? You’d be right. They come in at one and two. Any idea of what’s third on the list? Water? That’s right. Good ole H2O. My other half is very handy around the house, he can turn his hand to most things, joinery, bit of building, DIY, electricals, but the one thing he always leaves to the professionals is plumbing. Because the damage water can cause to a property is not easy to a) diagnose or b) rectify. GROHE have spent the past two years researching and identifying a major gap in the consumer market which has resulted in the development of a new, exciting product. First of its kind and one that fullfills all of their core values: “Quality, Technology, Sustainability & Design” The GROHE Sense detects flooding, frost and humidity. It’s your diligent water sensor working 24/7, responding to the presence of water where there shouldn’t be any. Your very own in-house water detective. The H2O Hunter. All of us will have clocked the …

The Loft Bathroom – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

It’s here. It’s flipping HERE! Week 20 or something are we now? I dunno, I stopped counting after 17… My ideas for the bathroom are finally up and at ’em and I can’t wait for a sit down and a biscuit. I don’t think i’ve had a day off since September. God, I need a day off. Anywaaaay, here was the vibe I had in mind for the bathroom. Strictly monochrome, in keeping with the loft bedroom. If you haven’t seen that yet, I reckon you should have a quick pop over here so you can see how the two spaces connect. Our new bathroom was going to be 2m x 2m. So, small, but a good size for a second bathroom i’d say. These tiny spaces are certainly not easy to plan at all. And i’ve lost a fair amount of beauty sleep over this space, i’ll tell you that for free. Here’s where we were at the beginning of December. Before And here’s where we are now. After We have a bathroom! I …

The Loft Bedroom – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

We did it! We have our new loft bedroom, all done and ready to rock. Four months after we started our build, i’m finally able to share the final reveal photos with you. I’m going to warn you right now, this post is PIC HEAVY. Initially I took about 70 photos. I know. That’s ridiculous. I’ve managed to whittle it down to about 30. Still far too many, but ya know what, just scroll along if any aren’t floating your boat. Here’s where we were back in September 2016: And here was my plan for the bedroom: Ok. So here we go. Do come in… The view from the landing into the bedroom. Gets me every time. Chooch the cat, can not get enough of this room. Mainly because she’s got a load of new rugs and blankets to paw at and ruin. We had to be clever with space here as we were limited with how much width we had with the two chimney stacks bookending each side of the bed. The Factorylux Maria Banjo wall …

Faffing with furnishings

Published by Karen Knox

Since my last post, where I gave you a little peep at the pre- final reveal for the loft extension, quite a few of you asked where the throw on the bed was from. Nice init? Twas my Christmas pressie from the brother and sis in law. At £39.99 from Maisons Du Monde it was a steal, however, i’m afraid to say it’s now sold out. And i’m not surprised, as all things Moroccan, ethnic or tribal are hot to trot this year. EVORA blanket – Maisons Du Monde At 160 x 210cm it’s plenty big enough to sit across the entire width of the bed and hang over the sides. Really don’t like it when they come up too short and simply rest over the top. But that’s me, being fussy. They had (yes, past tense) matching cushion covers too. Also now sold out. Gah! Although they do still have the MAKASSAR black and white blanket available at £34.99 if you’re looking for a similar style and size. MAKASSAR blanket from Maisons Du Monde As i’m gassing on …

The Pre-reveal – The Loft Extension Wk 16

Published by Karen Knox

Week 16? Is it? I’ve lost count now to be honest. It feels like we’ve been living in another universe where time as we know it doesn’t exist. We were hoping to be done for Christmas. And we should have been really. Easily. But we weren’t. And it was fine (it wasn’t, but you know what I mean). So the project continues into 2017 and every time I think we might have just one more week left to wait, something crops up. I’m fed up of waiting for the final reveal post now, so i’m going to have to write this Preveal post, just to satisfy myself really. Oh and to keep you guys up to date too I guess. And if i’m being totally honest, to thank all the brands that are working with me for being so patient throughout this whole project. I’ll be giving them a little shout out so you know who they are… First off, some slightly better photos of the staircase. Instead of a landing balustrade, I really wanted boxed in …

Where to start…? (a guide of what to spend your money on at home)

Published by Karen Knox

Happy January 2017 everyone. We made it! I enjoyed my week away from work, writing, interiors and all things loft extension, but it’s now time to crack on with life again. And i’m ready for it. It’s at this time of year, after taking the Christmas decs down and giving the house a good clean we start thinking about making home improvements and giving our homes a bit of love. My inbox has been rammed since December with people wanting some help, advice and design work done in January. Which is brilliant of course. Home Office in a Day My first day back at work in 2017 was a full house consultation in Manchester. The homeowner had been working really hard to save some money in order to give her family home, a lovely 3 bed, pre-war semi an update. When you’ve got several rooms to tackle, each room with its own issues and problems, it’s hard to know where to start. The last thing you want to do is go about it the wrong way, and …

2016 – The Best Bits

Published by Karen Knox

Where did 2016 go? Seriously, where? I can’t believe it’s been 365 days since I wrote my best bits from 2015. This year has been all kinds of bonkers. So what’s happened then? 2016 End of Year Report Written 105 blog posts (about 80,000 words) Styled and photographed over 2000 photos Completed ten interior design projects Collaborated with over 25 brands Introduced “Making Spaces Remote” for those of you that aren’t lucky enough to live in Yorkshire. This has really taken off, and since its launch i’ve worked with clients in Cumbria, Warrington, London, Bristol, Manchester… Appeared in Real Homes, HomeStyle Magazine, At Home Magazine, High In Style, Yorkshire Living Featured on Houzz, Wayfair and Swoonworthy Nominated for an Amara Interior Blog Award Got married (whoop!) Went to NY on our honeymoon Started our long awaited loft extension, which is sooo nearly ready for its final reveal and i’m so frickin excited I could burst. Roll on January! Huge thanks to everyone who has been reading and following my progress since setting up Making Spaces back in …

To ply or not to ply – A floor quandary

Published by Karen Knox

We’ve uhmmed and ahhed about what to do with the loft bedroom flooring for ages now. As i’m going all out Scandinavian for the bedroom design, a blonde wood floor seemed the obvious choice. But then, to save some money and get this room finished in time for Christmas, we played around with the idea of simply painting the chipboard subfloor black (to which the builder just sighed and shook his head). After going around in circles for several weeks, mentally noting the pros and cons of both options, we finally decided on floor boards. Done. Having an actual floor laid meant I finally got to work with my fave joiners again, Bare Joinery. Which is always a pleasure, as they’re always up for a challenge and happy(ish) to experiment with materials, the design, the process, and most importantly, they don’t sigh and shake their heads at my less than conventional ideas. Not within view anyway. Our plan to lay floorboards sounds pretty standard, apart from the fact I didn’t want them to be actual floorboards, as …

#Stairporn in da house – The Loft Extension Wk 13/14

Published by Karen Knox

Anyone who knows me or has bumped into me for the past week will know that they have not been allowed to mention the ‘S’ word. Anyone who has dared, has been given this face: I think it’s fair to say, at this point, the builder and I have no secrets about not enjoying working together. I’m not really that bothered by this. I’m not here to make friends, i’m here to get this build done and finished at some point in my lifetime. As you all know, the one piece of the puzzle we’ve been waiting for it the ‘S’ word. Maria Prästgårdsgata 43 – Styling: Thomas Lingsell, Photography: Andy Liffner I wrote a post months ago full of inspiration for our soon to be staircase. We loved the idea of a simple white stringer with blonde timber tread. Specifically birch plywood. If you like a bit of #Stairporn like me, I’d highly recommend a read of the post here. There are some beautiful flights of fancy to ogle. Geddit? Back to our slightly less glamorous interior: What should have taken 2-3 …

My week with Factorylux

Published by Karen Knox

In a weird twist of fate, it’s a been a full on week of Factorylux lighting goodness. If you remember, we’re working with Urban Cottage Industries on the lighting for our loft bedroom. Urban Cottage Industries design and produce their Factorylux lighting range, and we’ve been working with their modular range which comes with fun stuff like conduit and pattress boxes. Think of it as Pick n Mix but for lighting. Design your own lights basically. Well, as we’d finished sealing the brick wall, the electricians were now ready to rock and roll and start piecing the puzzle together. I asked if they minded me taking some pics whilst they were fiddling. They didn’t. I managed to take a couple and then, ya know it felt a bit weird and I was kind of getting in the way. So I only got a couple. All the Factorylux conduit is pre-cut and threaded so it was just like a big metal jigsaw. They only needed to chop off the end pieces that ran down into the floor and up …