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The Loft Extension – Wk 6/7

Published by Karen Knox

Firstly, i’d just like to apologise for the radio silence over the last week. I think it’s fair to say, this loft conversion is starting to get to me. Like, properly. It’s not the mess, dirt, cold, the fact I can’t walk down the hall without banging my knee on a boxed toilet or the plastic floor covering that crackles when you trot over it. No, not these things. It’s the fact I can’t actually sit down for more than 10 minutes at a time and concentrate on ANYTHING as our front door is moving continuously with various trades coming in and out. I’ve never made so many cups of tea. I’ve also never got through so many bags of sugar. They’re all “two sugar” guys. Two! The other thing my busy mind is struggling with, is the continual trouble shooting. Overall, i’m a negative, pessimistic person. I focus entirely on worst case scenarios which makes me really good at project management. How does that help? I combat anything that might go wrong before it actually …

What i’ve learnt so far. The Loft Extension – Wk 4/5

Published by Karen Knox

We’re at that bit in the project where it feels like we’re moving in treacle. We’ve got a big hole in the ceiling. It’s cold. And we’re waiting. Waiting for windows to be fitted (one more week) and the staircase to arrive (two more weeks). In the meantime we’re at a bit of a standstill and it’s starting to wear us down. So i’m going to take a moment. A moment to reflect on what i’ve learnt so far. Lesson One Any work at home, large or small puts an extra layer of tension in a household. Every day when Charlie gets home from nursery, he asks “is our new house ready yet?” which at the beginning of the project was really cute and hilarious. Five weeks later, not so much. “No Charlie, no. Our house is not finished yet. There is a scaffold up outside. A skip in the driveway, a hole in the ceiling and the heating it set to “tropical”. Then there’s the nightly de-brief of the day’s events between me and the …

A mixed bag. The Loft Extension – Wk 3

Published by Karen Knox

So what’s happened since last week? Well as the title suggests, it’s been a melange of loft extension based events. There’s been a lot of banging. MY WORD. So much banging. But banging means progress, and progress is good. Dormer tiled, old loft boards and joists ripped out, new joists fitted and another steel hoisted up for something or other. Something structural. Whatever. When can I get in? At this point i’m feeling pretty redundant, I just want to get up there and start waving my arms around showing everyone where things are going. So, to prevent me asking “is it done yet?” every 90 minutes, i’ve been keeping myself busy by placing orders for some of the key pieces making their way into our soon-to-be new rooms. Bedroom mood-board recap And my very first piece for the bedroom has arrived. Well apart from the brick wall, that’s already there. See the two ceiling lights either side of the bed? They’re going to be the bedside lights. These actually: Maria 180 lights from Urban Cottage Industries …

And we’re in! The Loft Extension – Wk 2

Published by Karen Knox

So where were we? (catch up on Wk 1 here) That’s it, the dormer was up and the new roof-line was ready to tile. Blimey, so much has happened since then. Come see. Phone pic Ta-da! A newly tiled roof with gable end. Going to take some getting used to the new house shape. The aluminium windows for the dormer have been measured and priced up. Our first quote of over £4.5k made me cry a little inside. Then punch a cushion. I know aluminium is expensive. I do know this. But £4.5k? That’s a car right there. Which reminds me, the quote for the windows came in the day before my car failed its MOT which cost me £700. **sigh** What do they say? When it rains it pours… something like that. The windows, however were something I wasn’t prepared to compromise on (along with everything else). They needed to be big. The bigger the better. And these are going to be just that. Luckily, we got another couple of quotes that came in as …

The Drawing Room – Pre-reveal

Published by Karen Knox

I’m not gona lie, i’m typing like this: And I know i’ve already used that GIF, but I don’t care, it’s frickin funny. And this is how I type when i’m this excited. Before I’ve just got back from a visit to see the Drawing Room project. I started working on this room a few months ago and man alive, it’s changed so much since my first visit. The whole room is not quite finished yet, but I thought, what the hell, I’ll just show you some cool close ups, because if I don’t, I might actually burst! If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen my post earlier this week where the Lines wallpaper by Ferm Living was going up on the walls. I think this photo has had the most likes of all my pics… which kind of sucks as that was taken by the decorator. “Eff you decorator, Stealing my Inta-thunder!” So now it’s time for MY pics. Let me show you some little hints of what’s to come. No …

The Loft Extension – Wk 1

Published by Karen Knox

Operation Loft Extension is now officially GO. Levels of excitement are at an all time high here at Making Spaces HQ. I’m super busy working behind the scenes on this one and i’ll be showing you the whole process from start to finish over the next few months. Here was the space 10 days ago, just before we flew out to New York. The loft just about emptied and ready to rock. You can see it’s got a good head height. 2.9m to be precise with a floor area of around 5.5 x 8m. Spot the rather sexy exposed brick wall in there? Well obviously that’s staying. One week later: Day 1. Scaffold up, kettle on and materials everywhere. Day 2. The framework for the rear dormer starts to go up. Day 3. The new roof steel gets lugged up to the top and positioned to give us the new roofline. We’re switching from a hipped roof to gable end, negating the need for two dormers. Day 4. The roof goes up over the dormer. …

Our trip to MOMA

Published by Karen Knox

Located in midtown Manhattan, the Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1929 as an educational institution. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., its founding director always intended the museum to be dedicated to helping people understand and appreciate the visual arts of our time, providing New York with “the greatest museum of modern art in the world.” From an initial gift of eight prints and one drawing, the Museum of Modern Art’s collection has grown to include over 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, architectural models and drawings, and design objects. Nearly 90 years later its rich and varied collection has established itself as one of the most comprehensive and wide-ranging views into modern art. I just wanted to share with you some of my favourites; some from “famous masters”, some from names you’ll recognise and others from artists i’ve only just been introduced to myself. I hope you enjoy. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos inside the Bruce Conner exhibition, but you can read and see more about it here. Absolutely mesmerised by Munch. As was another …

Gild Hall

Published by Karen Knox

I wasn’t planning on writing a post about our honeymoon. I mean, it’s not really any of your business now is it? But I couldn’t not go on a little bit about how deliciously handsome our hotel was. Especially seeing as I have more photos of the hotel than anything else. Gild Hall “Amid the iconic gold and brass of Wall Street NYC, you’ll find leather and bone of an Aspen country house, by star designer Jim Walrod.” Not only named after its location on Gold Street within the Financial District of Manhattan, Gild Hall opened just before the financial bubble burst on Wall Street which is only a few blocks away. Gild Hall is located in a tall brick building formerly occupied by a Holiday Inn. Not that you’d ever guess when entering the two-story reception. You’re immediately hit with some gasp-worthy design, including an antler chandelier, animal hide rugs, mid-century leather furniture and dark wooden walls lined with vintage photography and books galore. Checking in. Checking subway updates. A reflection into the lobby. And my husbandado waiting patiently whilst i’m faffing about with …

Off Black & Shadow White

Published by Karen Knox

Following on from Peignoir and Worsted (i’ve stopped crying now btw) i’m going to give you a pre “final reveal” peep at how the living room at the Masonic Villas project is looking…. now it’s gone all monochrome on us. Please bear in mind, the room doesn’t have everything in it just yet. Still some pieces to arrive, lighting to fix, shelves to style and lots of artwork to hang. LOTS. But I already love it. Farrow & Ball’s Off Black and Shadow White have given this Victorian living room, bursting with original period features, a real contemporary, Scandinavian edge. Let’s take a look at how colour alone can transform a space. Before After (with barely anything in it yet) I want to live in this room. Before After See how this space has been completely transformed, without actually changing all that much? Same furniture, same curtains, same layout-ish. With those Off Black walls, everything that sits in front of them just looks amazeballs. Shadow White, one of Farrow and Ball’s new colours for 2016 was chosen for the woodwork, …

Peignoir & Worsted

Published by Karen Knox

I could barely contain my excitement yesterday. I was off to visit the Masonic Villas project for the first time since the hallway, stairs and landing were given its new Farrow & Ball colour palette. I won’t lie. I did a little cry when I arrived to finally see it, worse still I found it impossible to leave… I just kept gawping. Truly beautiful. Please bear in mind, we’ve still got artwork and mirrors to hang, brass stair rods to fit and the final finishing touches to sort, but I thought it was only fair you got to see it. I mean, we’ve all been waiting so long to see F&B’s Peignoir and Worsted up on these walls haven’t we? **Major pic heavy post** Before After – Farrow & Ball’s Peignoir and Worsted Everything from the dado rail and below was painted in Worsted Estate Eggshell, including all the door frames, staircase and spindles. Everything above the dado was painted Peignoir Estate Emulsion. I didn’t want lots of fussy colour changes around all the detail like the picture rail, …