Spurred on by your suggestions in my plea for ideas post, Karl and I have set about hacking at the living room this week.
We’ve pulled off 90% of the paper, started removing the hideous and uneven polystyrene coving, and replaced the skirting that was — for some absurd reason — nailed to the wall nearly an inch higher than the rest. I’ve bought two boxes of Dylon to attempt to recolour the big curtains (see messy room 3 picture) as we’re doing this on a strict budget (curtains are bloody expensive!) and we’ve decided on “Mushroom” for the wall. Which looks nothing like mushrooms. But was on buy 1 get 1 free at Homebase.
Of course, as with all projects, once started we realised it was going to be more work than originally anticipated. There’s great big holes all over the walls from various nails, screws, etc. The old doorway into the kitchen that was boarded and replaced with the serving hatch (you can just see the edge of it in the top right of this picture) was so badly constructed that chunks of plaster fell off as we removed the paper. There’s random misc. old paper underneath the coving, behind the radiators, etc. Tiny hairline cracks in the plaster that will easily cover with a layer of paint but were covered in great splodges of filler. Remnants of old damp on the back wall. 2 inches of yellowing gloss paint above the old skirting boards and behind heating pipes because the previous owner had obviously never heard of masking tape.
I could go on, but probably best I just let these pictures do the talking…
Still. At least it’s nearly ready to paint.
29 Aug at 7:34 pm
so it’s going to be ready when we visit next month? or is that your cunning plan to get help with the painting….
29 Aug at 7:37 pm
I’m hoping it’ll be done by the end of the week as the mess and dust is driving me insane!
29 Aug at 9:19 pm
You do know that we are happy to lend a hand where it’s needed. Once the walls are ready to paint it won’t take too long.
30 Aug at 11:15 am
Have you given any thought to making your own curtains? Buying the material and sewing it is a lot cheaper (albeit more time consuming). But that is what we did for our new curtains when I bought my condo. Regular slips only require you to hem 2 sides, tab tops are a little more time consuming, but you can add cute little additions to the tabs (example: http://www.savingbymaking.com/2011/12/make-your-own-tab-top-curtains/)
30 Aug at 8:04 pm
If the dye job doesn’t work, I will probably have a go at making my own. It’d certainly be a good reason to use my new sewing machine!
30 Aug at 11:31 am
Ahh, decorating. Always so much fun!
What colour have you picked for the curtains?
30 Aug at 4:29 pm
I remember when my bedroom was like this, but its worth it in the end. :)
30 Aug at 7:59 pm
I’ve not tried it, but supposedly you can use a table cloth as curtains. Here’s a link to a tutorial: http://christopherandanne.blogspot.com/2011/03/tablecloths-for-curtains.html
I don’t know if you do Pinterest, but it’s really great for super-cheap decorating ideas; that’s where I saw this, and I’ve done a few DIYs from there to decorate my apartment, like wrapping styrofoam blocks in fabric to use as wall hangings and such. There is a lot of inanity and stupidity, but if you follow the right people, it isn’t too awful :)
30 Aug at 8:05 pm
Ta chuckie
I am on pinterest but always forget to use the bloody thing… http://pinterest.com/jemjabella/
Quite a bit of painting done today, so it’s starting to come together :D
30 Aug at 8:00 pm
Also, please keep us updated as the room comes together! I’ve love to continue suggesting ideas ;)