Monday, June 06, 2011

House Renovation - half way point?

So as you can see, I'm spread pretty thin with this house renovation lark, but for anyone interested, here's where we're at...

  • ground floor extensions (family room / utility) - built, roofed, waiting for concertina glass doors
  • ground floor lounge extension (moving bay) - just getting the ceiling the right height
  • kitchen - specified, beautiful bespoke solid oak (Plain English, but better) kitchen painted an (undecided, possibly Clunch, Farrow & Ball colour), with kashmir white granite and faux-limestoneish porcelain tiles, and the reclaimed original kitchen tiles in the fireplace behind the range
  • family bathroom specified - timeless white suite with carrera marble (60 x 60 on the floor, 30 x 60 on the walls, possibly in a metro pattern)
  • master bathroom specified - off-white crackle glaze metro tiles (in walk-in wet-room-style shower and waist height everywhere else), slipper bath with chrome feet, traditional pedestal basin and toilet, CP Hart Empire fittings...
  • all electric points and radiators decided
  • reclaimed oak parquet floor sourced

Currently all about light fittings. Keep changing my mind. I obviously don't want the house to look like a period piece: I'm always slightly drawn to the occasional Sunday magazine article about someone living the total 50s/20s/whatever lifestyle, down to the clothes and the kitchen, but it always feels a little... odd. Sure, I like deco/20s stuff, and I'm a sucker for period (minimal) oak, but I don't want our house to be a museum, I want it to reflect the history of the (Edwardian) house, while having a light, contemporary feel, and being liveable. So though I'm going for quite a few period light fittings - not least because I have lots of my grandma's - I'm seeking something quite modern in the hall to make the statement that it's a real house, not a BBC drama setting.

Any feedback gratefully received. I don't actually have anyone to discuss this with, so I really mean it....

1 comment:

Rachel Selby said...

Sounds wonderful but I need pictures I'm afraid. Good luck with the next bits.