Room design

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Why would you ask us that? Are you mad? You'll get all sorts of answers! Next time, just PM me, for a whole load of sensible suggestions! ?
Dulux light and space frosted dawn is a lovely matt white paint which bounces light off the surface. I would agree grey for the dado rail.
This is my favourite thread on here at the moment!

My wife is currently noting this down…and she’s just looked it up online and it gets good reviews ?

We will avoid what we did in our halls…a very flat Farrow & Ball Matt. A lovely colour but marks so very easily. A big mistake.

 

[Bratty]

My wife is currently noting this down…and she’s just looked it up online and it gets good reviews ?

We will avoid what we did in our halls…a very flat Farrow & Ball Matt. A lovely colour but marks so very easily. A big mistake.

I've done my whole house, walls and ceilings in it and it's amazing.

 

[Beezerk]

So living room walls, one colour throughout or different colours?

 

[Bratty]

So living room walls, one colour throughout or different colours?

Mine are all one colour, and I've got one long room of dining, living and kitchen. I might have gone for different colours in separate rooms, but I just found it really nice as all one colour and then add other colours with curtains, cushions and pictures.
All depends on how big the living room is (yours is around 3x3 from memory), what you will use it for (snug vs formal) if you want to make a feature of the chimney wall, if you're going to use the alcoves for some storage solution or not, etc.
I've always been a fan of one colour, but I've seen some lovely split colours too. Usually in larger rooms or high ceiling rooms with a picture rail.

 

[Neilds]

Mine are all one colour, and I've got one long room of dining, living and kitchen. I might have gone for different colours in separate rooms, but I just found it really nice as all one colour and then add other colours with curtains, cushions and pictures.
All depends on how big the living room is (yours is around 3x3 from memory), what you will use it for (snug vs formal) if you want to make a feature of the chimney wall, if you're going to use the alcoves for some storage solution or not, etc.
I've always been a fan of one colour, but I've seen some lovely split colours too. Usually in larger rooms or high ceiling rooms with a picture rail.

You would have loved military married quarters - magnolia throughout

 

[Beezerk]

Mine are all one colour, and I've got one long room of dining, living and kitchen. I might have gone for different colours in separate rooms, but I just found it really nice as all one colour and then add other colours with curtains, cushions and pictures.
All depends on how big the living room is (yours is around 3x3 from memory), what you will use it for (snug vs formal) if you want to make a feature of the chimney wall, if you're going to use the alcoves for some storage solution or not, etc.
I've always been a fan of one colour, but I've seen some lovely split colours too. Usually in larger rooms or high ceiling rooms with a picture rail.

The room is 3m x 4m, we will be using at least one alcove for some form of feature (maybe my turntable/amp setup) but we aren’t sure yet.

 

[Tashyboy]

The room is 3m x 4m, we will be using at least one alcove for some form of feature (maybe my turntable/amp setup) but we aren’t sure yet.

Have a look online at some of the company’s and ideas that folk have to build a custom made entertainment area for telly etc in alcoves. ?
google entertainment alcove ideas and look on images ?

 

[fundy]

Another vote for taking the paper off

Another vote for light and space paint, especially in hallway or rooms that dont get that much natural light


Meeting with Kutchenhaus later to see what plans theyve drawn up for our kitchen, hopefully something different to the very samey ones weve seen so far. Anyone used them?

 

[BrianM]

We've done Ancient Artefact in our house then a feature wall, painted or papered.
Bowler Hat goes well with the Ancient Artefact.
Dulux Trade Paint.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I've done my whole house, walls and ceilings in it and it's amazing.

We will certainly look at this paint as we want something that can be wiped (as one area to be painted is kitchen and utility)…but we need a paint that has good reflective properties without necessarily being too ‘sheeny’ in its finish. And we will most likely be going a single colour throughout the quite spacious kitchen-living-dining area.

We have a traditional two colour lounge as we have a picture rail. Darker below the rail, white above to flow across the white coving into the white ceiling. In our Victorian house in Bristol we had high ceilings with picture and dado rails and IIRC we had different colours above and below dado rail and white above picture rail (as was coving and ceiling)

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Have a look online at some of the company’s and ideas that folk have to build a custom made entertainment area for telly etc in alcoves. ?
google entertainment alcove ideas and look on images ?

Great suggestion as we’ve been wondering what we do in a lounge alcove to accommodate my turntable and at least some of my albums.

 

[Bratty]

The room is 3m x 4m, we will be using at least one alcove for some form of feature (maybe my turntable/amp setup) but we aren’t sure yet.

If you are doing something in an alcove, work out what colour it will be, e.g. natural wood, painted wood, glass, etc, as that should dictate what colour the feature wall becomes. I've seen too many people do the feature wall first and then struggle to match furniture going right against it.

 

[Bratty]

Great suggestion as we’ve been wondering what we do in a lounge alcove to accommodate my turntable and at least some of my albums.

I can't help but wonder if you and Berserk are using turntables in a different way! ?

 

[fundy]

If you are doing something in an alcove, work out what colour it will be, e.g. natural wood, painted wood, glass, etc, as that should dictate what colour the feature wall becomes. I've seen too many people do the feature wall first and then struggle to match furniture going right against it.

Part of reconfiguring our place is creating a new office for mrs F, the simple plan was to block up the door to the kitchen thats no longer needed. Turns out thats far too simple and Ive now got to remove where they filled part of the opening before, stud the bottom part out and then integrate book shelves above. Turns out were tiling (patterned metro tiles the current thought) not painting behind them too

Oh and what was a serving hatch is to become hidden storage at the back of the wardrobe

Not an alcove/niche fan currently lol

 

[Bratty]

Part of reconfiguring our place is creating a new office for mrs F, the simple plan was to block up the door to the kitchen thats no longer needed. Turns out thats far too simple and Ive now got to remove where they filled part of the opening before, stud the bottom part out and then integrate book shelves above. Turns out were tiling (patterned metro tiles the current thought) not painting behind them too

Oh and what was a serving hatch is to become hidden storage at the back of the wardrobe

Not an alcove/niche fan currently lol

? Just count yourself lucky she didn't want access to Narnia! ?

 

[fundy]

? Just count yourself lucky she didn't want access to Narnia! ?

dont give her ideas..........

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Major reconfiguring of our downstairs ongoing and with extension being built, into month 4. I knew it would be messy but oh how I could do with the mess being over…yesterday the electricians were at it…creating clouds of dust as they hacked off plaster and dug into walls - and yet another layer of dust settles throughout the house.

And they had to have our kitchen emptied and all units removed - of course we knew that was going to happen but had rather hoped in a few weeks time and so we‘d have time to empty it in an orderly way. Instead with my Mrs away I had to evacuate the kitchen in a few hours. The rest of the house is in chaos.

But of course…it’ll be worth it in the end…won’t it…

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Our electrician had informed us that because we have an open fire in our lounge (it could equally have been a gas fire or wood burner), we have to have a carbon monoxide monitor/alarm installed in the room. He advises this is recent legislation but I can only find where it applies to rental properties.

He also advises that all smoke and co monitors/alarms have to be mains powered, battery powered no longer allowed, and that they are all interconnected - one goes off they all go off. I am assuming he is correct in all of this. Requires a fair bit of cabling up as well as us having a co monitor/alarm on out lounge ceiling…something not exactly fitting with our design concept.

Maybe all of this comes about as he is basically rewiring as well as extending most of the downstairs; doing a couple of additional sockets upstairs as well as the smoke monitor, plus changes to the cabling for our garage and garden studio which was piggy-backing off what was our immersion fuse. And to accommodate all or this he is having to put in a new and larger consumer unit.

 

[Fade and Die]

Our electrician had informed us that because we have an open fire in our lounge (it could equally have been a gas fire or wood burner), we have to have a carbon monoxide monitor/alarm installed in the room. He advises this is recent legislation but I can only find where it applies to rental properties.

He also advises that all smoke and co monitors/alarms have to be mains powered, battery powered no longer allowed, and that they are all interconnected - one goes off they all go off. I am assuming he is correct in all of this. Requires a fair bit of cabling up as well as us having a co monitor/alarm on out lounge ceiling…something not exactly fitting with our design concept.

Maybe all of this comes about as he is basically rewiring as well as extending most of the downstairs; doing a couple of additional sockets upstairs as well as the smoke monitor, plus changes to the cabling for our garage and garden studio which was piggy-backing off what was our immersion fuse. And to accommodate all or this he is having to put in a new and larger consumer unit.

I think he’s getting a bit confused with private residence and the social sector…

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...e-private-rented-sector-landlords-and-tenants

However it’s all good advice and there to protect you and yours. Ask if he can go for the radio linked type, it cuts out all the interlinking wiring.

Re the consumer unit, make sure he fits a surge protection device (SPD) that IS legislation, and ask for a RCBO type board, much better than the dual RCD type.

 

[backwoodsman]

Our electrician had informed us that because we have an open fire in our lounge (it could equally have been a gas fire or wood burner), we have to have a carbon monoxide monitor/alarm installed in the room. He advises this is recent legislation but I can only find where it applies to rental properties.

He also advises that all smoke and co monitors/alarms have to be mains powered, battery powered no longer allowed, and that they are all interconnected - one goes off they all go off. I am assuming he is correct in all of this. Requires a fair bit of cabling up as well as us having a co monitor/alarm on out lounge ceiling…something not exactly fitting with our design concept.

Maybe all of this comes about as he is basically rewiring as well as extending most of the downstairs; doing a couple of additional sockets upstairs as well as the smoke monitor, plus changes to the cabling for our garage and garden studio which was piggy-backing off what was our immersion fuse. And to accommodate all or this he is having to put in a new and larger consumer unit.

He might also be confusing things with Scotland - where I think new regulations came in meaning all homes have to have alarms, and which have to be interlinked.

Am sure our friends from north of the border will clarify as necessary