All posts tagged: blue wall

The 50/50 Room.

Published by Karen Knox

Want to see the quickest and easiest way to update and redecorate a space? It’s bloody perfect for a bank holiday weekend spruce. Come on, have a look! My son’s bedroom needed a bit of touching up. I stupidly painted this room all white when we moved in 3 years ago. Matt, non wipeable white. Nice move. I really couldn’t be bothered to paint the whole room again. To be honest, most of it was still clean and tidy as furniture had kept his grubby hands and toys away from most of the walls. But the entry wall on the right and sections around his bed were a little worse for wear. So here’s what I did. Tester of Crown Easyclean – City Blues, in a scrubbable matt finish. Masked up with Frog Tape the section I was going to paint. Use a spirit level, but also go by eye as some bits of wall that were bang straight looked off against the floor and ceiling. Just make sure the entire line looks straight in …

The Blue Room – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

This time last month, I had a consult for a loft bedroom. It lacked storage, colour and personality. There was some serious problem solving and creativity needed. You’ve probably caught a couple of my posts since then about how it’s been going and what I’ve been purchasing so I won’t chat too much. I shall fill your eyes with lovely visuals instead. I finally get to share with you all the finished room. And i’m so excited I could burst! **POP!** A reminder of where we started four weeks ago. Four weeks later, here is The Blue Room. The room has seen a total transformation in four weeks. Everything was taken out, the room re-designed and updated. The only things that remain are the carpets and window blinds. You can see some of the pieces from the Ikea shopping list here. Other pieces were sourced from charity shops, second hand furniture shops and Gumtree for next to nothing. The dressing table being the most expensive at £70. Plus, a couple of treat pieces to add …

Thrifting, sourcing, hunting and finding.

Published by Karen Knox

My love of charity and second hand shops is a fairly new one. With vintage, up-cycling, mid-century and Scandinavian design being so on trend, there are SO many amazing finds. And whilst the Great Ikea Haul gave me some great pieces for The Blue Room, I needed a bit of “old and borrowed” to go with the “blue and new”. Remember the chest of drawers I picked up from Gumtree for £10? Before. After. Don’t they look amazing? I spent no more than two hours bringing them back to life: Fixing the drawer runners, cleaning, sanding and waxing the wood grain and updating the handles. They certainly look better than a set of £10 drawers. And so, I went on a charity shop hunt yesterday to try and find some accessories to dress the room, vintage style-ee! I made it to 10 charity shops across Leeds. Here are some of my best finds. A mid century storage stool. Really cute little piece for £25, but it needed a bit of work to stabilise the legs. So this stayed in the shop. Rule number …

The Equation

Published by Karen Knox

This. + this + this + this – this = This. = 🙂 (Still loads to do here, a shelf, pics and mirrors, but how could I not show you that stool at home?!?) Alcove before Alcove after. I know that was a quickie. I’m honestly not neglecting you. I’m preparing ya for the enormous epic War and Peace blog post that is bubbling away right now. Which may include these bad boys if i’m lucky. Habitat Metal Storage Trunks in Blue and Grey YUM.

A Sneaky Peak

Published by Karen Knox

Still so much to do on this project, but I managed to take this yesterday, so wanted to share quickly. The bed from UK Bed Store is now up and at ’em and is super sturdy and looks great against that dark inky blue. A great find at £143 with free delivery. And a courtesy call the following day to check all was well. How nice is that? The chest of drawers were bagged for £10 on Gumtree. I gave them a good sand to remove bits of paint and the like, and they’ve had some new drawer knobs fitted (which were left over from my recent Ikea Hemnes furniture update).  They just need a light wax now to bring the grain back out and seal the wood. They were originally destined for a paint job, but you know what, the client loves them au natural. And so do I. They looked ever so orange when I picked them up. But, after a sand to get rid of the thick varnish and against that blue wall it …

The Blue Room

Published by Karen Knox

Sorry peeps, i’ve been awol this week. But for good reason I promise! I’ve been working on a complete redesign of a client’s loft bedroom. And it’s going to be amazing once it’s done. I’m well excited. Eeeee! Here are some before photos so you can get a feel for the space. And see some of the issues. Estate agent photos. It’s easy to see there is a serious lack of colour or much personality to the room. It’s a lovely big space, but over time storage became an issue and boxes of shoes and “stuff” accumulated.  Doesn’t that always happen? The bed was rather overpowering for the space and didn’t reflect the client’s style any more. The Ikea Malm furniture purchased in later years to house some of the extra “stuff” wasn’t really floating her boat either. So what did we decide to do? The tallboy was re-homed in the living room where there was nowhere to shove paperwork, mail, magazines or DVD’s. That’s all been put away now and has really cleared that …