Category: bathrooms

Update x

Interesting fact: Six different tiles have been used in the making. It adds a certain charm. The marble tiles were from Topps tiles and were cursed for being of different thicknesses – it’s taken longer to get them up and they are darker than they look on the website, but as they actually match well with the wallpaper it’s been a win. And the price point – £49.93 precisely a sqm made them the obvious choice: A compromise on pushing the budget on a smaller area where the hit is less but the effect is more.  Now work is starting on the floor.

The study has moved from this……

To this: The beading is nearly up in the study and is fab – These cupboards are actually the only thing that remains of the house from the time that we bought it 14 years ago when this study was originally a kitchen. During it’s following incarnation the room was a nursery for Bella then Charlie and this cupboard became their wardrobe. Now the wardrobe rail has finally gone, the space filled with shelving and the doors have now been trimmed down to accommodate our printer which was too big for the doors to close –   I think the cupboard deserves and is loving its makeover.


The 99p fireplace from Ebay is being given a bit of love: a box of beading is going to be added to the middle section to balance out the proportions, also Victorian style tiles recycled from the bathroom are going to line the inside: waste not want not.

As the room is going to be painted darker, the window is having a subtle treatment – the blind is going upstairs to replace the one in Bella’s room and being replaced with a cream rollerblind (approx £46) which will be hidden in a pelmet box above the window, freeing up all the glass to maximum light. It means we will still be able to use the room as an extra spare room as and when, but the emphasis will be on the window and light rather than fussy dressings.

Work has also started on the floorboards in the upstairs hall: I love our original floorboards, but they did have big gaps and a few dodgy bits.  No longer. new life is being breathed into them.

 

It’s happening.

Laters, Kate x

Progress x

It’s all happening at Chez Bentley.

The bathroom suite is still in our bedroom!

But the carpet in the study is gone!

But I’ve managed to eek out a workspace…

For now.

 

Laters, Kate x

The builders are here..

We’re in a little bit of chaos.  Our lovely builders who did our kitchen texted on Monday to say ‘we have a slot free starting tomorrow, so would you like us to do all those other little jobs you’ve made a list of?’ Which is great in one way, because we were just about to decorate the study (although we were in that phwoo phwee stage of ‘should we do this just before a Christmas that we’re hosting? It’s going to be tight and I’m not sure if we should lose the present cupboard just yet’)…Except they will help make the study really special by fitting the fireplace, making new shelves and giving us the kick up the backside to get started.  It was panic stations yesterday.

It’s all cleared now.  And the spare room looks like a reclamation yard again.  Which is a shame…

Because that’s where we’ll be sleeping for a while as the family bathroom suite is now in our bedroom…another one of those ‘little’ jobs on the list is to replace the bathroom floor.  We converted the bathroom from a bedroom eleven years ago and whilst most of it has stood the test of time – I still love the Cole & Son wallpaper –  the floor hasn’t.  It looks tired and because the house is old, tiles have cracked so it’s farewell horrible floor, you’ll not be missed.  And hello wooden floor when you come! Yup, as a huge fan of my wooden floor in the kitchen – best decision EVER. We’ve made the potentially impractical decision of having similar herringbone parquet but on a smaller scale in the bathroom.  Except the kids are now older and to be honest…and boats are made of wood…..and the joy of wood is a) it doesn’t show the dirt and b) it’s flexible. Win bloody win.

We also made the mistake of scrimping on the taps and shower and ordering from Bathstore. Never again.  They need to be replaced as well. Sigh. Most of the tiles will remain, although the ones around the bath will go.

I’m hoping to keep the Victorian style tiles to the left of the bath, whilst the rest will be replaced with white/grey marble.

The final job on the list is to plaster and skim the backdoors into place that were retrofitted on the ground floor.

 

There’s not a space untouched..

 

 

Laters, Kate x

Old and New x

Kasia Zareba designed the Fossil porcelain collection based on inspiration from the imprints of fossilised plants .  The deceptive simplicity, the lack of symmetry and the feeling of movement all lead to a bullseye hit in the design stakes.

(All pics from Pinterest)

Definitely one for the lust list.

Laters, Kate x

Sliding doors..

An object of beauty: This converted Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, built in 1896 and imaginatively, cleverly, lovingly restored..

(All pics Strutt and Parker)

And your’s for just £1.5 million..

Laters, Kate x

Pure Moss x

‘Picture a summer night when it goes silvery-blue from the light of the moon’ Is how Kate Moss describes the inspiration behind the wallpaper for her bathroom.

Based on silver-tinted anemones symbolising luck in Greek mythology and interspersed with shards of solar radiance, the wallpaper is the creative result of a collaboration between Moss and De Gournay, the bespoke wallpaper house.

(All pics Architectural Digest)

The hall is now proudly adorned with the daybreak version. ‘I like the feeling of when the sun is just coming up at a festival and you have that glowy light.’ It’s all pale pastels and bright, in your face neons.

 

A match made in heaven.

Laters, Kate x

Great Granby x

How do I love Granby? Let me count the ways..

I love it because it’s a creative company that has grown out of a community-led re-building of a neighbourhood in Liverpool.

I admire it because it’s products are made by many hands.

I adore it because it invites chance and improvisation as a friend.

So every product, and every product of a product, is different.

(All pics Granby)

What’s not to love?

Laters, Kate x

Smallest Room Part 2

The wallpaper we made over the holidays? 

Despite just using the basics: Lining paper, leftover emulsion paint and cut up sponges – has worked a treat.

(Even though it meant embracing chaos)

This was the before state of the downstairs toilet. A mini dumping ground of DIY and general clutter.

First step was a deep clean of the tiles.  Vinegar, though powerful on the nostrils did the job.  A little bit of re-grouting was needed – and then I was going to dye the grout a dark grey, but I was concerned the new grout was of a different consistency –  less chalky, more rubbery so would they dye the same colour? It was an easier decision to not risk it. Besides the new pristine white of the tiles was impressive. Finally, paint – white on the ceiling and the Little Greene Paint Company’s French Grey Dark on the woodwork which is a soft, pinky grey that seems to blend with any thing.  A continual stream of Radio 4 plays on the ipad helped the process along..

The wallpaper went up easily: The lining paper was one of the thickest available and was aided by both pasting the wall and paper, and leaving the paper for a few minutes to fully soak up the wallpaper paste.

The randomness of the print meant there was no problem on the join – second piece went up where it went up.  Bliss.

The finished job.

Except there’s always one thing left to do…a fitted mirror over the sink. Sigh.

Better get ordering.

Laters, Kate x