All posts filed under: Interior Design

Our Bedroom Plans – The Nude Room

Published by Karen Knox

I’ve finally decided on plans for our bedroom. If you remember, I mentioned the bedroom was the next room i’d be switching up, here in this post where I showed you before and after pictures of our whole house. Our bedroom has always gotten lovely feedback, being featured in Real Homes magazine, by Abigail Ahern on MADE.COM and Apartment Therapy. So you know, this little room has certainly earned its keep. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karen Knox – Making Spaces (@makingspacesnet) It’s been like this for over three years now, which is a long time for me to not fiddle with a room. But the one thing i’ve always found about this space is that it was a bit of a black sheep alongside the rest of the house. Or teal sheep. Our home is “Monochrome and Materials”. It’s Scandinavian design inspired with a large helping of mid-century (because it’s a mid-century house). Whilst being neutral there is plenty of colour added with artwork, plants and accessories but for the fundamental scheme …

Project in progress… The Mulberry Red Room

Published by Karen Knox

Hello there, wasn’t sure if i’d make it onto the blog this week, but i’ve managed to squeeze a little one in. I’m catching you up on another project. It’s the master bedroom of a house i’ve been working in for about 10 months now. The homeowner moved from a flat into a four bedroom Georgian property. The plot this beautiful stone built house sits in had been bought by developers, the property then chopped to make three individual houses. From the outside it’s beautiful and full of character, but internally, it was somewhat lacking so we’ve been working hard to bring it back to life. Living Room in Little Greene Grey Stone We’ve just about completed the living room (still got to take proper photos of that) and made progress on the stairs, landing and guest bedrooms but now we’re onto the top floor. This is (was) the master suite, on the second floor set in the eaves of the house. Can you see what would have originally been the real height of the ceiling …

The Victorian Cottage Kitchen – Pre-reveal

Published by Karen Knox

It’s been a long time coming but the Victorian Cottage Kitchen project has been ticking along nicely (and sometimes not so nicely) in the background. If you remember we were “faking it until we could make it” by reusing all of the existing cabinets and updating lighting, wall coverings, worktops and appliances. You can read all about the plans and where all of the new elements are from here in this post. A quick reminder of the kitchen as it was on my very first visit: All of the next set of photos have been kindly sent by my client (last night at 9pm in fact) she sent me a tiny pic at about 8pm and I was like SEND ME MORE, I NEED TO SEEEEE! I honestly get so excited when one of my rooms comes to life in someone’s actual house. Especially when the client keeps telling me how much they love it. Makes all those sleepless nights worth it. Just. During So here we are, very nearly at the end of the project. …

MAKING SPACES WORKSHOP - Setting up an Interior Design Business

Workshop at Making Spaces HQ – How to set up your interior design business

Published by Karen Knox

Exciting times ahead! I’m finally doing something i’ve been planning for well over a year. Planning logistically and also planning in terms of getting Making Spaces HQ (my house) fit for paying guests (new patio door, kitchen update, updating front door, landscaping… ) Every month I have several emails from people who are wanting to “meet up for a coffee” or “pick my brains” about how I got started with Making Spaces. And whilst i’d love to be able to help as many people as possible, the reality is I don’t have that time. Some weeks I barely get to see my own husband! So, from January 2019, i’m running workshops at mine for five people at a time where I will answer ALL of your questions and share my experiences and all i’ve learned over the past four years about setting up a business in the interior design industry. No waffle, no bullshit, just straight up, down to earth, honest advice. In my former life, you may already know, I was a dancer (nearly 30 …

The Victorian Cottage Kitchen – Part 2

Published by Karen Knox

I tootled over to east of York this week to check in on the Victorian Cottage Kitchen project. Work has been coming along nicely since I last shared this project with you guys (read the intro over here). This is where we were before any works began; a pretty traditional set up for a cottage kitchen. And here’s where we are now… The green, glazed tiles from Mandarin Stone with brass trim have transformed this side of the kitchen. Tiles are primarily specified for areas that get wet; bathrooms, kitchen splashbacks, floors, but they can be the perfect solution to create feature walls in alternative spaces. Tiling across the width of this wall gives the illusion of space and the rippled, gloss surface of the tiles helps to reflect the light in what’s a pretty dark part of the house. The homeowner’s love of green had been set aside for many years, fearing that green would clash with the family’s beloved blue Esse range cooker. “Do you think I can have green in here? Won’t …

‘Fake it until you can make it’ – What do you do when your budget won’t stretch?

Published by Karen Knox

You may (or may not) remember I started working on a rather big and exciting project earlier this year. The Old Forge The plans for this cottage renovation and soon to be holiday let are all pretty much sorted and despite a slight glitch with planning (which was super annoying and dished out but a week before the build was due to start) it’s looking positive we can get started within the next few weeks **crosses fingers**. During the wait for all the faffy paperwork to be shuffled, signed and filed, we’ve been chugging away with the family home instead. They sure do love a project! The floorplan below gives you an idea of their home, how the nooks and crannies of the cottage fit together and how they’re used. The sections marked in red were the bits to be demolished ready for Phase 2 of the big build. You can see how small and quite fiddly the kitchen/dining space is, there are seven doors in and around the heart of the home, along with beams, …

Planning a build? When do I get an interior designer on board?

Published by Karen Knox

I’ve always hated the job title, interior designer, most people still don’t really know what we actually do, but as i’ve mentioned before, paint colours and cushions really are about 0.6%. Cushions in the Upper Brook Street Project I’ve noticed more interior designers referring to themselves as ‘interior architects’. I can’t class myself as that by any means, i’m certainly no architect, but I do make decisions around spatial planning, flow, lighting plans, first fix wiring and plumbing… Here’s what Google has to say about Interior Architecture V’s Interior Design: Interior architecture is the balancing of the art and science of designing an interior space taking into account all elements of the build. Interior design is a broad ranging profession taking into account all aspects of planning and designing interior spaces in the built environment. I kind of see myself as being somewhere in between the two. One of the things I get BIG kicks from is solving layout problems. It might be as simple repositioning a dining table so it runs lengthways instead of horizontally, …

How to Connect your Rooms – Choosing a Colour Palette

Published by Karen Knox

Hello everyone, I’m back this week with a little look at how to connect your rooms at home. What does that mean exactly? One of the keys to a successful home interior is having a sense of cohesion and “flow”. The rooms and spaces between should connect with the surrounding ones. For example, let’s say you’ve got three bedrooms on a floor, like most people and you want them all to have their own identity but also not look like a patchwork quilt from the landing, it’s good to consider how these spaces connect as a whole. Often, people run the flooring throughout to make the overall space feel larger. We all know that the less breaks in a colour or pattern, the better, as the eye continues further along the space. Flooring continues on from our loft bedroom to landing with no threshold to break the line’s eye. Another way to do is is choose a colour palette, and stick to that for a floor, even better, a whole house if you’re being really clever. …

The Copper Bedroom – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

Just like buses, you wait for ages, in the rain, getting puddle mud on the back of your skinny jeans, standing with damp denim stuck to your leg… then three of the double-decker blighters come all at once. My third final reveal post in as many weeks. That’s got to be some kind of record. The Monochrome Family Bathroom, then the Aquamarine Guest Bedroom and now the Copper Bedroom. That’s how it goes sometimes. Co-ordinating several projects at the same time can be a bit of a nightmare. But then you get a triple whammy of interior eye candy to gorge on. Before Today’s it’s the Copper Bedroom. The bedroom on the 2nd floor of the Edwardian property i’ve been working in for nearly the last two years now. Blimey! You can catch up with all the befores for this latest project, here and here. Drawing Room | Upper Brook St These are the two rooms that sit directly beneath the Copper Bedroom. On the ground floor it’s the Drawing Room and the floor above …

The Aquamarine Guest Bedroom – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

Oh how i’m going to enjoy writing this post, firstly because I love a final reveal post. And secondly, this one will mostly be a cathartic rant about my self-titled “WORST CLIENT EVER”, with some tiny pieces of info about interiors in and amongst. This was the second bedroom of a generously proportioned 1930’s house. It was being used as a guest bedroom and home office, but as i’m sure you will agree, it needed some work. I’m going to skip the whole process which you can catch up on here and here and just get on with the before and after photos, interspersed with more cathartic ranting. The brief for this room was… let’s say, “fluid”. Needs to be a guest bedroom with double bed Bed needs to have drawers underneath for storage Bed needs to have a comfortable, upholstered headboard Needs a wardrobe for guest hanging space Needs a chest of drawers for storage and a TV on top Needs an office space with lots of storage and all cables hidden away Definitely plants …