All posts filed under: Mood Board

Making Spaces with Rebel Walls – The Snug

Published by Karen Knox

It’s new project time today. Yay! And it’s twice as exciting as normal as it’s in collaboration with Rebel Walls. Yay yay! Let me set the scene…. Before – July 2019 I was invited to a lovely house in North Leeds a few months ago to tackle the design of the family room which links directly off their kitchen diner. It was a lovely but rather awkward space set on two levels. Before On the lower level there was a large white leather corner sofa facing a large wall mounted TV and sound bar, along with large French Doors into the garden. The top level was a play area where the kids toys and games were kept. There are also three doors in this area, one off the kitchen, one into the garage and one to the outside. So it was mainly used as a walkway, resulting in the middle of this upper tier being left unusable except for passing feet. View walking in from the kitchen As their two children had now grown and …

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

Published by Karen Knox

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 …

The Georgian Apartment – Progress Update

Published by Karen Knox

Hello hello! I’ve been away for a wee while after struggling to find the time to wash my own hair, never mind time to sit down and studiously write a blog post. I think three weeks has been the longest hiatus I’ve had since starting this blog back in 2015. And I suspect my posts from now on will become a little more sporadic than usual (especially over the school holidays – 7 weeks!!). Anyhooo, I’m back today with an update on one of my projects after a site visit on Friday morn. Remember the Georgian Apartment I was working on…? This be the one – read part 1 here if you like With the f’ugly blue kitchen My previous visit Well progress has been going swimmingly since my last visit, so much so that I wanted to show you some photos, because now one room in particular has been painted, it is looking rather special. And now The walls and woodwork are all in Paint and Paper Library’s Masque, the palest of greys. In …

New Project – The 70’s Flat

Published by Karen Knox

Another project, another two bedroom flat and another excitable homeowner who’s desperate to finish all the works by this time last week. Let me show you around this 70’s apartment. The Floorplan The flat is a great size for this young professional. There’s a lovely long hallway with two good sized double bedrooms off to the side, at the end there’s a small but functional bathroom with large storage cupboard, and to the right the hallway leads into a large open-plan living space with small kitchen just off the dining area. In terms of any structural changes, there’s no scope due to the agreements and clauses in the leasehold (which sucks as I had some ripper ideas) but there’s certainly plenty of opportunities to turn this tired flat into a very cool new home. I’m going to share the plans for each room so you can get a feel for the place. Let’s start with the open plan living space: Estate agent pics A lovely large, light and bright, dual aspect, L-shaped room. Ample space …

The Georgian Apartment – New Project Time

Published by Karen Knox

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 …

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 …

Thinking of converting your integral garage?

Published by Karen Knox

Happy New Year everyone! Did you have a lovely festive break? I hope so. Have you taken your decorations down yet? Are you looking around the place desperately wishing you had more room? I know I am. But as buying and selling is becoming more and more costly, not to mention slightly impossible given the current climate (**coughs – Brexit**) more of us than ever are extending, expanding and increasing the square footage of our existing homes. A lot of us already have the space we need, we just don’t use it too wisely. Cue the introduction of a recent remote project i’ve been working on: A familiar sight if ever I saw one. The integral garage. The garage with the car parked outside on the drive. Who actually parks their car in garages anymore? Nobody. Apart from my father in law who swears his car will rust and explode if it’s left outside in the mizzle. Anyway – i’m sure the next picture is what a lot of you are more used to seeing in …

‘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, …

Bedroom 4 – Pre-reveal (aka The Copper Bedroom)

Published by Karen Knox

Remember this room? The Bedroom 4 Project. Yes, that’s right. This one. Well you may (or may not) remember it’s been going through a long and winding renovation. Mainly because period properties treat you mean to keep you keen. Whatever looks like a simple job of, “just a lick of paint” becomes a whole heap of pain. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karen Knox – Making Spaces (@makingspacesnet) Good pain though, the pain that’s totally worth it when the transformation is as good as this. Once all of the re-wiring, plumbing, new wall was built, old fireplace ripped out, original tiles around the hearth uncovered and a reclaimed cast iron one fitted, the room was put back together and all re-plastered. A blank canvas. This is what we were aiming for: And do you know what, it’s almost flipping there. I drove over last Friday to unload just a few bits. I just about fit in myself! So are you ready for some pre-reveal pics? For those not familiar with how …