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Making Spaces in Print – Pt 4

Published by Karen Knox

This time last year, I was ripping out this fireplace. Very cathartic indeed. And one year later i’m sharing the latest magazine feature for Making Spaces. Come and see the very same fireplace and the room it’s sat in, in this month’s edition of HomeStyle Magazine. The Sherwood Forest Project in print Doesn’t it look great? My very wonderful client agreed to be in the pictures, sit still and even wear shoes. She is not a fan of shoes at all. The room may look a little different in the feature as things were moved around for the shoot. The left hand alcove was fiddled with a fair bit. Magazines don’t like to include TV’s in shots as they’re so f’ugly and a complete arse to make look good in photos. Annoying if you’re looking for cool ideas of how to incorporate them into your home though. Kind of does my head in that they insist on taking them out, I mean, we (nearly) all have one. So here’s a shot of where it actually …

Hicks & Weatherburn

Published by Karen Knox

Hicks & Weatherburn is the oldest manufacturing company in Leeds, trading since 1741 during the reign of George II they’ve been specialising in the manufacture of paint, colour and varnishes. And do you know what? I’ve probably driven past this place about 1741 times during my two decades in Leeds and never knew it was there. How mental is that, for someone who spends most of their day looking at colours and finishes?! So i’m really glad Hicks & Weatherburn got in touch a few months ago and very kindly sent me some sample paints along with their beautiful hand-painted colour chart. And a hand written letter. When did you last get one of those? Valley of Desolation in varying dilutions (bottom) They work with a charity that rehabilitates female offenders at HMP Askham Grange which is where all of their colour charts and cards are hand painted. A brilliant idea. Not just for the ladies that are involved in creating these charts, but it means we also get to see the actual paint colour in real life too. …

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 …

#IKEAatmine

Published by Karen Knox

If you’re not familiar with at{mine} then you really need to get on board. It’s a place for interiors junkies to share images of their home, work spaces, beautiful rooms, vignettes, super cool styling and photography. It’s a real treasure trove of interiors goodness. You could easily lose an hour on there just ogling the most beautiful images. Each month, at{mine} introduce a different “Style Story” curated by a guest brand, designer, writer, photographer, interiors icon… and this month it’s Ikea. I’m sure you’re already aware how big a fan I am of Ikea. If you just search the word Ikea on my blog, there’s over 55 mentions. Not bad going Ikea, for a blog that’s about 18 months old. So what’s #IKEAatmine all about then? Show us how you live with IKEA: It’s the Living Room for October! IKEA UK in collaboration with at{mine} is introducing the brand new community hashtag #IKEAatmine. Every month we’ll invite you to share a different room/theme containing at least one item from IKEA using #IKEAatmine and we’ll feature …

Lighting at M&S – A/W 2016

Published by Karen Knox

A little interiors inspo for you today. All visual. No chit chat. Well not much. Whenever I say no chit chat, I normally managed to chuck a few words together and ramble on more than expected. See, i’ve already started. Let me show you my fave finds from M&S lighting department for this A/W 2016. I think you’re gonna like ’em. Madison Cluster Light Beautifully simple way of adding a touch of “boho glam” to your ethnic interior scheme. Doesn’t come with bulbs so don’t get caught out with that one. Add some to your basket. Mila Chandelier Wanting to channel your inner Abigail Ahern with an oversized beaded chandelier, but can’t quite afford the price tags? M&S are onto a “winner winner chicken dinner” with the Mila chandelier. At £299 it’s just about do-able, but obviously wait until one of their discount weekends where they offer 20% off. Don’t forget Topcashback too. If you’re savvy you might be able to own this corker of a light for about £220. Paloma Pendant Coming in three distinctive shapes …

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 …

Time for bed

Published by Karen Knox

Am currently working on a bedroom re-design, not my loft bedroom, another new project. The room is crying out for an upholstered bed. You know when a bedroom is big enough and the space luxurious enough for a real feature bed? Like a proper boudoir. I’ve been looking online for a bed that’s just a little bit different, for this rather special space. Cue Button and Sprung, a bed company with a difference, specialising in stunning handmade upholstered beds and mattresses. They promise to make buying a new bed or mattress as simple as possible with everything coming with a 10 year guarantee. They’ll even give you 100 nights to “sleep on it” so if change your mind they’ll arrange collection and a full refund. How good it that? Let’s take a look at some of their beds then… The Peony Button and Sprung’s beds are all hand made in solid beech with their bed styles ranging from the traditional and romantic to mid-century and modern. The Rose “Rose’s rococo curves make bedtime fun. Distinctive, elegant …

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. …