There are so many incredible home renovation and interior pages to follow on instagram, Facebook & Pinterest and depending on what titillates your interior style there is definitely something for everyone to enjoy.
Attempting to delve into blogging and sharing our home renovations/interior decorating & styling etc is a little nerve-racking, like the first time meeting someone new, you want to make a good impression, hope that people like you and you don't embarrass yourself, so here goes.
Moving into our first home together just on the brink of epidemic, certainly made things interesting in many respects, like trying to fill our empty shelves with essentials supplies, never thinking we would struggle to find an allusive pack of loo roll, or be dramatically jumping out the way of people who dared come to close whilst browsing the tinned goods.
But that said, I ended up having to lock myself away due to medical conditions rendering me as "clinically extremely Vulnerable". (Although I must admit, I am rather suited to being a hermit with Chris). So with lots of time on our hands, a big house to renovate/decorate we had to start somewhere, and where better than the living room.
(Above Right Christmas 2020/Above Left Just after we moved in)
Everyone has their own style, likes and dislikes, It's what makes us all so different and it was part of the fun of mashing both our personalities and tastes together. We both have a love for antiques, rich colours and comfort, although I am a bit more eccentric in tastes/ideas. Chris is definitely more practical and paired back in his tastes/ideas, which is why we work really well together, by balancing each others ideas. (Well in the exception of moving things around, then the house is filled with lots of frightfully fancy..... expleetives)
We discussed at length what colours we envisaged in different rooms, more or less settling on several rooms before we even moved in. Quickly and unanimously we decided that a rich green was the colour for our living room, the challenge was going to be finding the right one. After searching through what seemed like hundreds of sample cards/swatches of GREEN, we decided to visit the local faithful B&Q, where we delved into their Valspar range, where we found "THE ONE" named "Bohemian Bliss". (Lovely name, but we did wonder how they managed to pick different names for hundreds of colours)
Now most people strip the room right back and get everything done first time, HA not us. We were (Well I ) was desperate to get the living room injected with colour to banish the fifty shades of beige vibe going on and things like replacing the fire insert with a more period insert that compliments the surround, along with new flooring and stripping the door, bay window back to wood and new curtains could all be done later.
Masking tape up, surfaces covered it was time to get painting, which went on beautifully, partly helped by choosing Valspar's premium mix that has a built in primer, ensuring great coverage. However despite using a well known brand of masking tape, there was a huge amount of cursing on removing it, taking large chunks of paint with it, revealing more shades of beige. The only saving grace was it didn't remove any of the green and it hadn't bled.
That said, the room looked fantastic, the warmth of the green created a beautiful ambient, calming feeling, perfect for spending months housebound in. Knowing that we still had lots of things we wanted to do and find for the living room, we knew that it was going to be an ongoing evoling development to get it to exactly where we envisage.
For example, now that we have lived with it for a while, we want to take the colour up to the coving, and strip the skirting boards back to wood now too. It is definitely a good way to get a feel for a space, living with it for a time and introducing accessories and furniture as and when you find it. We are all constantly evolving as people, why not our interiors too?
We wanted to create an dramatic atmospheric gentleman's parlour evoking a vintage/period vibe, after all we may be two chaps so frills and frou-frou aren't our thing. Although I am a bit of a curiosity/clutter hoarder much to Chris's dismay, who whines a bit when it comes to dusting, whereas when I dust I tend to take delight in rearranging everything again.
The room has evolved so much in less than a year and there is more work to be done yet to get it
where we want. One of the biggest delights was having our first Christmas in the house, and dressing the living room took it to a whole new dimension. Evoking a beautiful sense of vintage Christmas nostalgia.
Well, I think for now it is where I should probably stop waffling and go have a nice cuppa, Hopefully you have enjoyed our first main 'interior' blog post, If you want to know anything please feel free to ask, feedback also welcome. (Please be kind in regards any spelling/gramma errors my dyslexia gets the better of me some times)
There is a gallery of images below for you to browse and I have put some links of key bits we have found too.
Have a great week everyone,
Nick, Chris & Bailey
Extra Large footstool Barker & Stonehouse
Large ornate Mirror Simply Dutch
Large Bureau from Teeside hospice
Chandelier from Wayfair
Paint by Valspar from B&Q
Leather sofa & chairs gifted
Other bits and bobs from numerous vintage and antique shops nationally.
Hi, loving that I found you, adore reading your blog and following you on instagram!
can I ask about your fireplace, we have a very similar gas fire and I want to remove it and open the fireplace as you have done (we live in a 60’s bungalow) how easy was it to do, I’m bothered that if we remove the gas fire it will cost alot to reinstall an open fire? Any advice appreciated. Thanks Martin
I love your style!