All posts filed under: Painting

An Introduction to Project: Bedroom 4

Published by Karen Knox

I’m back with a new project to share with you guys this week, at a property you will have probably seen before a fair few times. The Drawing Room – December 2016 Directly above this room is this room: Upper Brook Street Project – May 2017 And directly above this room is this room: Yes, we’re now onto the top floor of this Edwardian home. The homeowners are tackling bedroom four and five, plus what will become the main family bathroom, with a bit of help from me again. Be rude not to eh? Bedroom five, as shown on the floorplan below is kind of done, except for lighting, window dressing and the final faff. So i’ve been asked to help with the finishing touches for that space. More on that room coming in another blog post soon. For today i’m focusing on bedroom four as that space has proved to be slightly more tricky to sort. It’s pretty large but there are plenty of angles in this space with the ceiling being pitched on …

Living Room Update – Pt 2 #styleitdark

Published by Karen Knox

Ok, if you didn’t read Part I, then this post might not make that much sense. So you might want to pop back a couple of posts and catch up so you know what the heck i’m going on about today. Or just keep reading… you’re in charge. I think it’s fair to say I wasted spent a week painting various sections of this room. This bit that colour, that bit this colour. There are some sections of wall that have been painted four times over the space of a fortnight, I swear the room is smaller. https://www.instagram.com/p/BTRQx3RA0GD/?taken-by=makingspacesnet As much as I loved the tone of Dulux’s Rich Praline 3, it just did not work with our oak furniture or pine door. It was also a perfect match for the carpet (which I don’t like) making the room feel a bit “blah”. Not exactly the look I was going for when I started this room update. So after, repeatedly telling my hubster how the room would’t work unless I painted the door in with the …

A living room update – Pt 1 #styleitdark

Published by Karen Knox

Ok. First off. Massive thanks for the ace feedback from my last post. It seems like I have unleashed some design demons, which makes me smile very much indeed. So pleased to hear some of you guys have been trying out my online tutorial on how to create your own mood boards, had a few PM’s and DM’s since last week letting me know how helpful it’s been, including this message: “Just thought i’d let you know, i spent the afternoon at work doing your step by step mood board! For work purposes obvs, but found it really useful!! Im defo guna become a bit addicted. Just need to get myself a Mac book for home now. Cheers!! X” And that’s what I like to hear. People sacking off work to design room sets on a work computer. My work here is done ladies and gentlemen. (**disclaimer – Making Spaces does not condone idle mood board-ery at a place of work or during work hours. Proceed with caution**) Ok, onto today’s topic. Our living room. I’m not going …

What’s going on with paint? Water based? Solvent based?

Published by Karen Knox

I’ve been planning to write this post for months, but wanted to collate as much info and evidence as possible before shooting my mouth. I haven’t seen anyone else tackle this issue yet and it’s about time someone did. **Serious face** Over the past few years, there’s been a huge shift in the paint industry. Read this: “Since the latest Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) Regulations came into force in the UK back in 2010, many paint products containing high levels of VOCs – the solvents that determine a paint’s viscosity, flow and drying time – were no longer be able to be manufactured.” Dulux Ok, that’s very interesting, Karen, but what does this actually mean? I’ll tell you. It meant the paints we’re used to painting our wood/metal work with have had to change in order to comply with the new VOC regs. Oil or solvent based paints as we knew them could no longer be sold because of environmental reasons. You know how old school gloss paint stinks and takes ages to dry? It’s also …

The Upper Brook Street Bedroom – Pre-Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

I can’t actually speak right now. I drove over to my Upper Brook Street project this morning, first time i’ve seen it since it’s been wallpapered. I always knew it was going to be a special room, but I never quite expected it to look this good. After measuring up for some final pieces, I was given free reign to start styling the space and take some pics. I’ve just uploaded about 56 photos to my Mac and spent the last hour almost flipping crying (happy tears, don’t worry). I’m overwhelmed by how this room has turned out so far. So forgive me, i’m just going to post pictures and some details about what’s from where and then i’m going to go and buy a bottle of something cold and fizzy to celebrate this evening. Goa Four Poster Bed from Maisons Du Monde This picture makes me soooo happy. Upper Brook Street Minuit wallpaper from Little Greene This room really wouldn’t be the same without it. Hemnes Bedside Tables from Ikea updated with Brass Drawer Pulls Futurist …

The Loft Landing – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

There’s just one space left to reveal now from the loft extension. You guys will have seen the open plan landing/office below with the staircase leading onwards and upwards to our new second floor. Open Plan Office Space But what you may not have worked out just yet is how it all connects together. Designing individual rooms can be tough, but designing rooms and spaces that connect with one another, not just physically but aesthetically, that’s a real challenge. Especially transitional spaces like hallways and landings where walls and levels connect over several floors. How do you make these work? This is the view standing at the bottom of the staircase. Remember i’m in my office here too. The element of shared space which works so well here, the office enhancing the staircase and vice versa. Here is the floor plan of the second floor. I saw the landing as another room in itself. They’re often neglected spaces, quite narrow and can be dark. I didn’t want any of these things to be the case. …

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, …

Masonic Villas goes Monochrome

Published by Karen Knox

After dealing with the trauma of the landing chandelier being fitted (after a month of set backs and six fairies – you kind of gotta read the post to understand what i’m on about there) this is going to be a nice and simple blog post. Oh good. See, now the light is up, it means we can get on with the fun stuff. Fun stuff like getting paint on the walls and seeing the backdrop for our new rooms. You can read more about the colour palette for the whole project here, but for today i’m just going to show you what a difference colour can make to the overall feel of a room. Farrow and Ball’s Off Black and Shadow White The last time I walked into this room, it was like this: The only progress we’d made at this point was updating the ceiling light. And let me tell you, that was one million times more simple than fitting the light on the landing. Fo sho. On my next visit, we’d made great strides. Well, …