All posts tagged: painting

Let’s talk about white UPVC (and how to paint it)

Published by Karen Knox

I know a lot of you guys hate your own white UPVC, because you were all messaging me this week on Instagram when I was sharing my recent DIY project on Insta Stories. I’m not the only hater out there it seems. Once the talk of the town, white UPVC doors and windows revolutionised the whole glazing and door industry back in the 80’s. Maintenance free, double glazed units were fitted in nearly every house and home in the country. However, it seems there’s not a lot people out there that still want their white plastic frames and doors. Not in their current state anyway. Including me. There I am standing in front of my door, fake laughing for a MADE.COM shoot. Praying they won’t use this one as i’m so embarrassed by the front of our house. I’m super proud of what we’ve managed to do inside our little 3 bed semi, but the outside was always last on the list. And this year is the year for that. If you remember, we’d already …

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 …

A mini bathroom update

Published by Karen Knox

Remember me writing about “Where to spend your money at home?” It’s definitely worth a quick squizz if you missed that one. Here, I referred to the fun and frolics of updating something in one room to something more beautiful, practical and functional. Immediately followed by the overwhelming urge to do the same in the rest of your home. “Just be aware that once you update one, you will instantly notice how crap all the other ones are.” I predicted correctly. Our, loft bathroom certainly caused that very problem. Now, when walking into our main family bathroom on the floor below, I was getting annoyed by this.We had a rather large, unattractive and very high output radiator in there which we’d inherited with the house. It didn’t look this white and shiny. It was old, the white was now cream and rust was gathering around the edges. It wasn’t that bad, but in my head it looked like this: For dramatic effect only Why on earth we didn’t update it when we had our bathroom redone four years ago, …

Hicks & Weatherburn

Published by Karen Knox

Hicks & Weatherburn is the oldest manufacturing company in Leeds, trading since 1741 during the reign of George II they’ve been specialising in the manufacture of paint, colour and varnishes. And do you know what? I’ve probably driven past this place about 1741 times during my two decades in Leeds and never knew it was there. How mental is that, for someone who spends most of their day looking at colours and finishes?! So i’m really glad Hicks & Weatherburn got in touch a few months ago and very kindly sent me some sample paints along with their beautiful hand-painted colour chart. And a hand written letter. When did you last get one of those? Valley of Desolation in varying dilutions (bottom) They work with a charity that rehabilitates female offenders at HMP Askham Grange which is where all of their colour charts and cards are hand painted. A brilliant idea. Not just for the ladies that are involved in creating these charts, but it means we also get to see the actual paint colour in real life too. …

Our trip to MOMA

Published by Karen Knox

Located in midtown Manhattan, the Museum of Modern Art was founded in 1929 as an educational institution. Alfred H. Barr, Jr., its founding director always intended the museum to be dedicated to helping people understand and appreciate the visual arts of our time, providing New York with “the greatest museum of modern art in the world.” From an initial gift of eight prints and one drawing, the Museum of Modern Art’s collection has grown to include over 150,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, architectural models and drawings, and design objects. Nearly 90 years later its rich and varied collection has established itself as one of the most comprehensive and wide-ranging views into modern art. I just wanted to share with you some of my favourites; some from “famous masters”, some from names you’ll recognise and others from artists i’ve only just been introduced to myself. I hope you enjoy. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos inside the Bruce Conner exhibition, but you can read and see more about it here. Absolutely mesmerised by Munch. As was another …

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 …

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, …

The Office Refit

Published by Karen Knox

Remember me introducing you to the office refit project i’m working on? Yes, that’s the one. Well things are moving forward rather nicely now. And i’ve got stuff to show you. 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. So swanky in fact, you need a small bank loan to be able to afford the parking outside. Anyway, enough about me and my parking issues… My brief: Personalise the space. Solve layout. Plan an office that can hold 12 desk spaces. Use two existing Ikea desks and office chairs Include space for wall monitor. Add colour. But something light. Scandinavian style seemed to be ticking the boxes. Source affordable lighting that didn’t take up desk space or need wiring in. Add a break out …

Sherwood Forest – Progress Report

Published by Karen Knox

So where were we? That’s right. We were here. Room all emptied and ready for the walls to get their green on. Ta-Da! The decorator is doing a sterling job. The ceiling has had its two coats of Valspar’s “Gentle Shadows” which is warm off white. It actually has a smidge of green in, so it contrast beautifully. It’s a huge space, about 5m by 12m long, so there is a lot of work to do here. Especially with the amount of woodwork that needs sanding, caulking, priming and painting. The dining room walls are now fully initiated into their new role in “Sherwood Forest.” The creams and magnolias of before actually made the space feel cold and a little soul-less. The colour’s added so much warmth and depth to the room. The wood and metal work have been primed ready for their dark green gloss finish. I decided on gloss to add a textural contrast to the room and traditionally, a gentleman’s club would have been soaked in gloss (and nicotine stains, but we’ll be …