All posts tagged: paint and paper library

The Victorian Kitchen and Dining Room - the one with the yellow ceiling

The Victorian Kitchen Dining Room – the one with the yellow ceiling

Published by Karen Knox

Jumping back onto the blog today to share a recently completed project. I’ve been working on this one since the beginning of the year, the final piece of the puzzle going in just last week. With a last minute visit earlier this week to see it all finished and capture some photos, it’s time for a new project reveal! Welcome to the Victorian kitchen and dining room… the one with the yellow ceiling. Before Here’s the kitchen side of the room as it looked when the homeowners had moved in. The cabinets were actually good quality solid timber and were in good nick, but this kitchen needed some TLC . Namely: a new cooker extractor worktop over the island (as it was rotting around the sink) The lighting needed addressing too, these 3.3m high ceilings were not happy with this naff Ikea paper shade nearly 2m above the bloomin’ worktop. The room’s overall colour scheme also needed a good talking to. The brief (which i’ve edited to make a nice paragraph): “We’d like a room …

The Georgian Apartment – Open Plan Living Space Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

Well it’s been a while since I posted about this one hasn’t it? A project I introduced back in June 2019; ya know, the one with those ceilings. It’s time for the final reveal of The Georgian Apartment. Whoop! Before – May 2019 All the major works for this room were completed in time for Autumn 2019 with a list of smaller, fiddly jobs left to sort before it was #instaready. Then 2020 arrived… say no more. Before Back in June 2019, it all kicked off with the wall coming down between the tiny kitchen and the main living/dining space. This really opened up the space, creating a greater sense of width whilst allowing light and views from the wrap around gardens to enter from two aspects. During As the works were already underway during my initial consultation, I had a week to come up with the design, specification and plan for first fix electrics and plumbing for the living space and kitchen. The new homeowner, let’s call him Mr B, was set to move in …

The Georgian Apartment – Guest Bedroom and Hallway

Published by Karen Knox

Hello all, another look at how the Georgian Apartment is coming on this week, with the focus being on the hallway and guest bedroom today. But before we start looking at the other spaces, a quick update on the open plan kitchen/dining/ living space: Here’s a pic from a visit a couple of weeks ago of the Quick Step Old Oak Grey flooring going down. This has now been fitted throughout the whole room leading in from the hallway. Having no thresholds or breaks in floor coverings is a great way of achieving a sense of continuity and flows between spaces. On my last visit the kitchen was very nearly fitted and the new radiators were in! I had just over a day to design the entire open plan living space so didn’t really have the luxury of time for kitchen research. The timescales of the project are very tight due to the homeowners’ urgency to get moved in (which I think he is doing this BH weekend). For the kitchen I was given the …

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 …

The Garden Room

Published by Karen Knox

I’m sure you’ve caught a glimpse of the Victorian property i’m working on already, either on here or Instagram. But there’s another space i’ve been working on that leads off from this cottage kitchen. Before Through that stable door, there’s The Garden Room. You can just about see it through the window. As i’ve already mentioned, this single skin, timber built conservatory will be knocked down to make way for the big extension in the next few years. But until then…. we are making good, using every trick in the interior design book to transform this unused space into a room that can serve many purposes, whilst the homeowners save up for the dream kitchen, diner, family room. Let me show you the floor-plan, so you can see how this large, previously unused Garden Room will be given a new lease of life, function and purpose and some of the tricks we’re using to disguise the quirks imperfections. The Garden Room is built off what was originally the external wall of the house, which means all …

Colour Consult – Inspiration for your walls with Paint & Paper Library

Published by Karen Knox

I did a colour consult yesterday for someone that’s recently bought their own home. They’d always rented previously, so painting walls wasn’t an option and therefore not a concern. Now he’s got a four bedroom, three storey house to decorate and furnish, it’s not surprising he’s overwhelmed. We’ve already worked on his living room and it’s been completely transformed by choosing the right paint colour. I’m not exaggerating either. Will share some photos with you guys when the rest of the work is done. The Brits’ fear of colour Most people’s homes are off white, cream, ivory, dare I say, magnolia… there might be a feature wall somewhere or a splash of jazzy wallpaper in the downstairs loo, but generally us Brits are pretty scared of living with colour. I don’t just mean dark colours, but richer colours and pigments. Dulux nailed the Brit’s fear of colour with their infamous, still going strong, Natural Hints collection. Apple White, Apricot White, Jade White… see where i’m going with this…? We like colour, but only a little bit, …