All posts tagged: project

Project in progress… The Mulberry Red Room

Published by Karen Knox

Hello there, wasn’t sure if i’d make it onto the blog this week, but i’ve managed to squeeze a little one in. I’m catching you up on another project. It’s the master bedroom of a house i’ve been working in for about 10 months now. The homeowner moved from a flat into a four bedroom Georgian property. The plot this beautiful stone built house sits in had been bought by developers, the property then chopped to make three individual houses. From the outside it’s beautiful and full of character, but internally, it was somewhat lacking so we’ve been working hard to bring it back to life. Living Room in Little Greene Grey Stone We’ve just about completed the living room (still got to take proper photos of that) and made progress on the stairs, landing and guest bedrooms but now we’re onto the top floor. This is (was) the master suite, on the second floor set in the eaves of the house. Can you see what would have originally been the real height of the ceiling …

The Victorian Cottage Kitchen – Pre-reveal

Published by Karen Knox

It’s been a long time coming but the Victorian Cottage Kitchen project has been ticking along nicely (and sometimes not so nicely) in the background. If you remember we were “faking it until we could make it” by reusing all of the existing cabinets and updating lighting, wall coverings, worktops and appliances. You can read all about the plans and where all of the new elements are from here in this post. A quick reminder of the kitchen as it was on my very first visit: All of the next set of photos have been kindly sent by my client (last night at 9pm in fact) she sent me a tiny pic at about 8pm and I was like SEND ME MORE, I NEED TO SEEEEE! I honestly get so excited when one of my rooms comes to life in someone’s actual house. Especially when the client keeps telling me how much they love it. Makes all those sleepless nights worth it. Just. During So here we are, very nearly at the end of the project. …

Thinking of converting your integral garage?

Published by Karen Knox

Happy New Year everyone! Did you have a lovely festive break? I hope so. Have you taken your decorations down yet? Are you looking around the place desperately wishing you had more room? I know I am. But as buying and selling is becoming more and more costly, not to mention slightly impossible given the current climate (**coughs – Brexit**) more of us than ever are extending, expanding and increasing the square footage of our existing homes. A lot of us already have the space we need, we just don’t use it too wisely. Cue the introduction of a recent remote project i’ve been working on: A familiar sight if ever I saw one. The integral garage. The garage with the car parked outside on the drive. Who actually parks their car in garages anymore? Nobody. Apart from my father in law who swears his car will rust and explode if it’s left outside in the mizzle. Anyway – i’m sure the next picture is what a lot of you are more used to seeing in …

‘Fake it until you can make it’ – What do you do when your budget won’t stretch?

Published by Karen Knox

You may (or may not) remember I started working on a rather big and exciting project earlier this year. The Old Forge The plans for this cottage renovation and soon to be holiday let are all pretty much sorted and despite a slight glitch with planning (which was super annoying and dished out but a week before the build was due to start) it’s looking positive we can get started within the next few weeks **crosses fingers**. During the wait for all the faffy paperwork to be shuffled, signed and filed, we’ve been chugging away with the family home instead. They sure do love a project! The floorplan below gives you an idea of their home, how the nooks and crannies of the cottage fit together and how they’re used. The sections marked in red were the bits to be demolished ready for Phase 2 of the big build. You can see how small and quite fiddly the kitchen/dining space is, there are seven doors in and around the heart of the home, along with beams, …

Time for the BIG garden overhaul – The landscaping has finally begun!

Published by Karen Knox

It’s time. Finally! After 6 years of being in our normal, average sized, 1960’s semi-detached, family home, we’ve done all of the big building jobs inside. Which can only mean one thing; it’s time to tackle the outside! And it couldn’t have come at a better time as our driveway was falling apart. Let me walk you through some of the garden projects we’ve done to tart up the space whilst eagerly awaiting the big overhaul. Back in 2015 You can see what a bad state the driveway was in then, another three years on and it was becoming, well, embarrassing. Summer 2015, The Chalkboard Wall The outdoor blackboard worked a treat to disguise that ugly concrete brick wall for a few years, but after the loft extension in December 2016… … our outdoor space took a hammering and was completely neglected during the epic 17 week build. I gave it a little budget revamp as part of the #UKHomeBlogHop in Summer 2017. It got us through Summer 2017, but 2018 was the year we …

Why consultations are REALLY important – New project time!

Published by Karen Knox

Earlier this year, I wrote a post about when to get an interior designer on board which went into some detail about what we do and why we really should be involved from the beginning of a project. If I had a pound for every person emailing me to say they’ve just completed a build and now want some help with the interior design, well i’d have at least £100 by now. Not a lot of money admittedly, but that’s a lot of people thinking I just do sofas and paint colours. Incorrect. This brings me onto a consultation I did at the beginning of July at a beautiful, five bedroom, double fronted, 1930’s house. Original ground floor-plan The homeowners had been there for about four years already and had made a brilliant start at putting their stamp on the place. With most of the messy, building works already done, I was asked to go over for a consultation for the hallway, stairs and landing. Always the last place you should decorate peeps, because they …

New Project – Next Door@TheOldForge

Published by Karen Knox

Sometimes a project lands, and it’s almost too good to be true. This is one. When someone contacts you to design the interiors for what will become a unique, interiors focused, two bedroom holiday let in North Yorkshire AND gives you carte blanche to push yourself with the overall design, you know you’re going to have fun. This won’t be just any old holiday let, it’s being converted and remodelled from a Victorian cottage and outbuildings, attached to what once was a forge. The Old Forge, which is next door is now the homeowners’s family home. They bought these most wonderful buildings set in a large plot and enormous gardens five years ago and it’s literally dripping in history and period features. Their 10 year plan is to renovate the main family home, which they have nearly finished (bar a large extension for a kitchen/diner family room) and to convert the rest of the attached buildings to a holiday rental. So here are the bare bones of the cottage and remaining outbuildings, soon to become: …

The Aquamarine Guest Bedroom – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

Oh how i’m going to enjoy writing this post, firstly because I love a final reveal post. And secondly, this one will mostly be a cathartic rant about my self-titled “WORST CLIENT EVER”, with some tiny pieces of info about interiors in and amongst. This was the second bedroom of a generously proportioned 1930’s house. It was being used as a guest bedroom and home office, but as i’m sure you will agree, it needed some work. I’m going to skip the whole process which you can catch up on here and here and just get on with the before and after photos, interspersed with more cathartic ranting. The brief for this room was… let’s say, “fluid”. Needs to be a guest bedroom with double bed Bed needs to have drawers underneath for storage Bed needs to have a comfortable, upholstered headboard Needs a wardrobe for guest hanging space Needs a chest of drawers for storage and a TV on top Needs an office space with lots of storage and all cables hidden away Definitely plants …

Monochrome Bathroom Final Reveal by Making Spaces

The Monochrome Family Bathroom – Final Reveal

Published by Karen Knox

Oh how I love a final reveal post. I get all bubbly in my tummy when I get to share something i’ve been working on for months. I really hope you enjoy today’s post as much as i’m enjoying tapping away on my keyboard right now…. Let’s start with the before pictures from my first visit in October 2017. Before I wrote a whole post about the plans for this room, which included some mega important info about what to consider if you’re planning a bathroom. So, if you want to jump back one, then come back for the eye candy afterwards it would certainly make more sense. But if you can’t be bothered, suit yourself. You’re in charge. After The brief: Can you design us a Scandi inspired, monochrome bathroom, with some wood in? We need lots of storage, we’d like good quality fittings, we like minimal… but it still needs to be family friendly? Paraphrasing of course. It took a while to consolidate all of their ideas, needs and wants, but we finally …

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 …