The house when purchased was very dated by my tastes, with brown stain doors and woodwork. The window frames were a matching brown; the entire house was covered in flock/embossed wallpaper. Unfortunately I don't have photographs. What followed was a period of sealing then painting all woodwork white - it took a year and numerous coats - then removed the awful single lights in each room. All the lights were slap-bang in the middle of each ceiling and each room had only one powerpoint each. So the house was rewired after the wallpaper was taken off and extra powerpoints added to each room.
Dichroic (Halogen) downlights were added (the preferred type then as they give a light nearest to natural daylight) and a light sensor placed in the main room. For some reason no light switch is by the entrance door, so now the lights come on as soon as the door is opened. I've found that adding dimmer switches to be very effective as it allows a softer ambiance at night, when table lamps are also in use. Once finished all the rooms were painted with the exception of the living/hall areas and the main bedroom. I used wallpaper from Osborne and Little (living room etc) and Laura Ashley for the main bedroom. My choice to do this was to fit in with the Mews-style townhouse that's often seen in England, (which is where I'm from) and I'm familiar with London-style houses. At night the living rooms have a wonderful warm glow that works well in both Summer and Winter. All the windows and frames were replaced with tinted glass and aluminium frames that were colour co-ordinated with the new exterior colour for the house. I chose to go with Alto paints - their pigments and colour range are wonderful and I'm still enjoying the changing shades the house shows in different lights.
Once the windows were in the exterior painting started; quite a job as all the exterior woodwork had to be sanded back and because of the height, scaffolding was necessary for access as well as Health and Safety of the painters. Just after this, a terrace was laid to the rear of the property - again colour-matching Italian tiles were used. Following that a retaining wall was put in. The garden slopes upwards at the back so rather than ignore that I decided to make it a feature by adding steps in a half-moon shape that curve and lead up to a small hexagonal deck. And the work goes on....the driveway was uneven and the front courtyard was a horror, so brick tiles were laid on the driveway and in the front courtyard, with a similar edging design to try and link the two. Both these areas needed a new coarse base etc. Following this, the old deck was ripped out and a new timber deck went in with a 'floating' step design. I used a wood called Vitex which is a New Guinea hardwood (ecologically sourced) which has a lovely honey colour and finish; the same was used on the small deck at the rear of the garden. Putting all this in print makes me realise all of the work that was done, albeit over a year to 14 months.
I can remember the concrete going down for the rear terrace and the mess it made, then the tile-layers who being Greek thought they didn't need any shade - they lasted 20 minutes. It's good but I hadn't factored in how tiles compared to grass reflect heat. The terrace now is a sun-trap which for me is good for breakfast but after mid-morning..phew! Now, onto those photographs..
No comments:
Post a Comment