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The Pre-reveal – The Loft Extension Wk 16

Published by Karen Knox

Week 16? Is it? I’ve lost count now to be honest. It feels like we’ve been living in another universe where time as we know it doesn’t exist. We were hoping to be done for Christmas. And we should have been really. Easily. But we weren’t. And it was fine (it wasn’t, but you know what I mean). So the project continues into 2017 and every time I think we might have just one more week left to wait, something crops up. I’m fed up of waiting for the final reveal post now, so i’m going to have to write this Preveal post, just to satisfy myself really. Oh and to keep you guys up to date too I guess. And if i’m being totally honest, to thank all the brands that are working with me for being so patient throughout this whole project. I’ll be giving them a little shout out so you know who they are… First off, some slightly better photos of the staircase. Instead of a landing balustrade, I really wanted boxed in …

Where to start…? (a guide of what to spend your money on at home)

Published by Karen Knox

Happy January 2017 everyone. We made it! I enjoyed my week away from work, writing, interiors and all things loft extension, but it’s now time to crack on with life again. And i’m ready for it. It’s at this time of year, after taking the Christmas decs down and giving the house a good clean we start thinking about making home improvements and giving our homes a bit of love. My inbox has been rammed since December with people wanting some help, advice and design work done in January. Which is brilliant of course. Home Office in a Day My first day back at work in 2017 was a full house consultation in Manchester. The homeowner had been working really hard to save some money in order to give her family home, a lovely 3 bed, pre-war semi an update. When you’ve got several rooms to tackle, each room with its own issues and problems, it’s hard to know where to start. The last thing you want to do is go about it the wrong way, and …

2016 – The Best Bits

Published by Karen Knox

Where did 2016 go? Seriously, where? I can’t believe it’s been 365 days since I wrote my best bits from 2015. This year has been all kinds of bonkers. So what’s happened then? 2016 End of Year Report Written 105 blog posts (about 80,000 words) Styled and photographed over 2000 photos Completed ten interior design projects Collaborated with over 25 brands Introduced “Making Spaces Remote” for those of you that aren’t lucky enough to live in Yorkshire. This has really taken off, and since its launch i’ve worked with clients in Cumbria, Warrington, London, Bristol, Manchester… Appeared in Real Homes, HomeStyle Magazine, At Home Magazine, High In Style, Yorkshire Living Featured on Houzz, Wayfair and Swoonworthy Nominated for an Amara Interior Blog Award Got married (whoop!) Went to NY on our honeymoon Started our long awaited loft extension, which is sooo nearly ready for its final reveal and i’m so frickin excited I could burst. Roll on January! Huge thanks to everyone who has been reading and following my progress since setting up Making Spaces back in …

To ply or not to ply – A floor quandary

Published by Karen Knox

We’ve uhmmed and ahhed about what to do with the loft bedroom flooring for ages now. As i’m going all out Scandinavian for the bedroom design, a blonde wood floor seemed the obvious choice. But then, to save some money and get this room finished in time for Christmas, we played around with the idea of simply painting the chipboard subfloor black (to which the builder just sighed and shook his head). After going around in circles for several weeks, mentally noting the pros and cons of both options, we finally decided on floor boards. Done. Having an actual floor laid meant I finally got to work with my fave joiners again, Bare Joinery. Which is always a pleasure, as they’re always up for a challenge and happy(ish) to experiment with materials, the design, the process, and most importantly, they don’t sigh and shake their heads at my less than conventional ideas. Not within view anyway. Our plan to lay floorboards sounds pretty standard, apart from the fact I didn’t want them to be actual floorboards, as …

The Edwardian Bedroom(s)

Published by Karen Knox

The last time I wrote about this project, we were round about here: The entire room had been ripped out, wallpaper stripped, carpets ripped up, radiator removed, floorboards being repaired. Technically a building site. The room was about to be skimmed from head to toe in preparation for its new look. What I didn’t tell you, is that the homeowner, in her excitement to see her own bedroom transform, also began ripping out another two bedrooms. In for a penny… This the the second double bedroom after prising off years of wallpaper and flooring . Alas, I didn’t get proper before photos of the room, as this and the third bedroom were originally planned for 2017. Every square inch of wall, floor and ceiling needed work. Not to mention new radiators, sockets and switches. Here is the same room after it’d been skimmed with its new matt black radiator (from Screwfix of all places) leaning precariously against its new home. The magic of freshly plastered walls never fails to fill me with joy and happiness. And I say …

The Office Refit – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

Remember the office refit I was working on? Here’s a lil recap: “I’m working with Visibilis, an Integrated Digital Marketing Agency. It’s my first dip into working in a commercial premises, but it’s good and am enjoying the experience of scaling up! The team of staff has reached capacity at their current office space prompting the move to a new, larger purpose-built office space in a swanky part of Leeds City Centre.” Before And here it was in March. A huge empty space, ready and waiting for its lovely, new residents. A month later, the layout had been solved, colour scheme decided upon, furniture had been ordered… You can read more about the project brief, colour scheme, layout and shopping list here if you’d like to check out the finer details. But to catch you up quickly i’ll post a few pics to give you the low down. Lots of paint + A load of brushes…. …. + Frogtape… + A design from inside my busy mind = Turned out pretty good. If I do say so myself. **performs frilly bow** At …

The (not so great) Outdoors

Published by Karen Knox

There’s one bit of our house that we’ve just not really tackled yet. It’s our awful outdoor space. Not all of it horrendous by any means, some of it is pretty nice actually. See. The offending area is our driveway and rear patio. Ya know, the non green areas. If I have just one more tradesman knock on my front door and ask “do you want your driveway doing love?” I am going to lose my bloomin rag. Mark my words. (But actually, yeah, I really do want my driveway doing.) A photo of our gross driveway from last year So why haven’t you done it then? It’s not because we’re lazy arse sods, it’s because we were going to have an extension down the side of the house, so it didn’t make sense to spend time and money on a space we were planning to build on. So we’ve just put up with the concrete/tarmac/slab disaster and focused on all things indoors. I honestly need a medal for putting up with this ^ We did make some …

Pantone Spring Colours

Published by Karen Knox

Remember I introduced you to Pantone’s Colours of the Year in January ? Since then i’ve seen Rose Quartz and Serenity popping up everywhere. From artwork to marketing, interiors and fashion, even influencing a current Making Spaces project. Pantone have since released their “colour report” for Spring 2016. A palette chosen by top industry experts to compliment and contrast both the blush pink and iris-y blue. “Like a serene sunset, flushed cheek or budding flower, Rose Quartz reminds us to reflect on our surroundings during the busy but lighthearted spring and summer months.” “Weightless and airy, like the expanse of the blue sky above us, Serenity comforts with a calming effect, bringing a feeling of respite even in turbulent times. A transcendent blue, Serenity provides us with a naturally connected sense of space.” The “Transporting and Transformative”optimistic palette is no shrinking violet. This ten strong colour canvas is rocking some real stand out colours, ready to add a spring to your step this Spring 2016. As you probably know, I’m not the biggest “brights” fan for interiors. I love colour, but …

The addiction is real…

Published by Karen Knox

…But at least this addiction is affordable. Ish. I’ve been spreading the love about Netto, for a few months now over on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The Danish discount food store might not be the first place you might think of when it comes to design, interiors or home decor, but after flicking through my Instagram feed i’ve realised just how many amazing finds i’ve had from there. Some for work and some for home, either way, it seems i’ve found a lot of lovely pieces. I’m lucky enough to have a Netto about a mile away, so I pop in every week for a hunt. They have new pieces come in store each week. Once they’ve sold out, that’s it. If they’ve not sold that week they’re discounted by 50%. So you can get some ridiculously good prices if you drop in at the right time. Let’s have a peep. Instagram pics first: Scandi framed alphabet picture £2.50 (I got a couple of different designs). It’s currently in the “Holding Area“, Destined for a project. …

Mid Century Score

Published by Karen Knox

Today has been a bit of a mixed bag. I found out I didn’t make it to the shortlisted stages in the Amara Interior Blog Awards this morn. 🙁 I wasn’t really surprised as i’ve only been blogging for six months or so, so to be nominated at all was an achievement indeed. But admittedly I was a bit bummed out. So to cheer myself up, I ate some chocolate and decided to have a drive out and hunt down some bedroom furniture for a project i’m working on. Retail therapy in other words. Only three miles from home, I quickly indicated right and parked after spotting a few chest of drawers outside a house clearance business in North Leeds. Let’s have a look-see then. Hmmm… Yeah I like those. Battered step ladder come stool. Perfect for industrial style interiors. Yep. Mid century chest of drawers that would look pretty cute after a good sanding to get rid of all that orange. But they were a little boxy for me and i’m looking for something with legs …