Our renovation story Part 4 - Inspiration

I think I have moaned enough about expensive surprises, and the difficulties of managing tradesmen for now. Although I am sure I could moan a bit more I figured it would be nice to share a bit about the type of look we are going for and what inspires us. 

We have been watching Grand Designs for far too long, and consequently have developed quite an architectural taste. Our new home is a Victorian property, quite traditional end-of terrace, which has unfortunately been slaughtered by a series of incompetent and marauding home "improvers" over the years. Much of the original features have been lost in the process, which is a real shame. 

Our dream would be to combine original Victorian features with some simple modern touches. Overall we are going for grey and white in the bedroom and in the kitchen, and bedroom can have a bit of pop in colour (blue, green, and berry). I wanted to have one of the bedrooms yellow, but couldn't find the right cold, citrusy pale yellow I had in mind, so a gorgeous berry came to replace that. 

We are big fans of white and whitewashed wood features, so that is the look we are going for. For the floor we chose bamboo - cheaper than traditional wood flooring and excellent durability. For the stairs we have gone for whitewashed plywood, and are planning on leaving the "stacks" in show, so you get these funky architectural linings. We were drawn towards glass instead of banisters, but as that is the (very) expensive option, we decided to go for something interesting, funky, and cheap... Thin banisters all the way to the ceiling!

For the kitchen we are going ultramodern. No handles, gloss graphite grey and white, stainless steel Neff appliances, and stainless steel worktops with a welded in sink. So excited about the whole thing! Especially my sink. I am also planning on painting the whole wall in dark grey blackboard paint to act as a giant art wall for us, and potentially installing a little bookcase for my ever-expanding cooking book collection.

For the entrance hallway I want us to get caustic tiles. These tiles then would be used in front of the fireplace for a visual reference. As we just can't afford and don't have the energy to do the fireplace at the same time as the rest of the renovations we have decided to do a quick fix, box it in, and just put candles inside for the time being. Hubby bought a reclaimed wooden mantelpiece for a fiver, which will be a project to restore and install once we move in. 

So many ideas, so little time! And I am getting so excited about the final result - it will be a huge transformation for the whole place.


What do you think of these ideas?


Check my renovation series here:
Part 1 - Our new home
Part 2 - Surprises
Part 3 - Project management






Comments

  1. I love the idea of white and grey in the bedroom - will look fab. Good luck! #HomeEtc

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    1. Thank you! I think it is a really good looking combination, grey and white :)

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  2. It's going to look AWESOME!!! Just you wait and see!! All the mess, stress, expense and dust will be so worth it! You'll end up with SUCH a beautiful home at the end of it :) I look forward to seeing the transformation :) Thanks so much for linking up with #HomeEtc — hope to see you again next week! x

    Caro | www.thetwinklediaries.co.uk

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    1. Ha, I am already planning our house warming parties and the grand reveal post on the blog - getting so excited about what it will look like once properly finished! :) Will be a HUGE transformation. Thanks for hosting :)

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  3. Aww!! That sounds lovely, I bet Caro could have sorted the yellow shade you were after, she is a genius with colour. Ii can't wait to see your reveal picture, it sounds like it's going to be gorgeous. Good luck with it x

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    1. Ha ha, I probably should have gotten some tips from her then :) We already got the berry paint, but I am now thinking of driving my hubby crazy and ordering yellow after all... We shall see :)

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  4. I think it's great to mix old and new, that's what we're hoping to do too. The plans for your kitchen sound fantastic X #HomeEtc

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    1. The kitchen will be really fab, I am already looking forward to baking and cooking in it - will be a lot better than our current kitchen, much bigger and more work space.

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  5. Sanna, this all sounds fab. I like the sound of the banisters and the tiles too. It will be amazing when it is finished, I'm sure of it.
    #HomeEtc
    Fionnuala from www.threesonslater.blogspot.com

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    1. The banisters will be funky - and the exposed plywood I think will work really nicely with it. We got a local carpenter to do it, and they said they have never done anything like this and were really into the whole design of it :)

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  6. It sounds wonderful! Old and new work perfectly - Victorian terraces are so versatile. #HomeEtc

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    1. They so - I love period features mixed with some modern touches and modern furniture, just looks fantastic.

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  7. I love your plans for the kitchen - especially turning all the wallspace into a blackboard. Xxx

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    1. I think it will be quite a statement once it is up - still not sure if we will go dark grey or black... Or maybe another colour?

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  8. Grand Designs is a very naughty programme isn't it, but one that you just can't help loving ;) I think it makes a lot of sense to have an overall colour scheme for the house as that unifies the rooms and I think makes the house seem larger - and your colours sound fab :) #homeetc

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    1. Yeah that was our plan as well - the kitchen is also greyscale so will fit in with the living room, and the grey will go up the stairs too to provide that continuation. The bedrooms will have a bit of colour to make it a bit more interesting :)

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  9. Glass instead of banisters always terrifies me for some reason, I imagine myself falling through! I love grey and white, you colour combos all sound fab x

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    1. Yeah I can see why but I do still love it, it just gives it such a a light and airy feeling and makes it a lot more light as well as banisters won't block the light. But oh well, it was a bit too pricey for us!

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  10. LOVE the sound of that staircase! And I'm with you on Grand Designs - makes for some very expensive ideas but it's great for learning what styles you're drawn to. Grey/white is a lovely classic combo and you can add pops of colour to change the look over time. #HomeEtc

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    1. I've really enjoyed the 100k House and the Charlie Luxton series as well which both provide a bit more budget tips than Grand Designs. We've for so much inspiration from all those series. The white and grey combination too I suppose :)

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  11. Sounds gorgeous! Am very pleased that you got your house & am looking forward to seeing pics of the finished product. (Or "finished" - I guess these Victorian houses are an endless workcamp.) :-) Are you still going to keep the lovely grey tiles on the hall (?) floor? A word of warning, by the way: someone was cursing that big blackboards, when used a lot, release an awful lot of chalk dust. Just in case you are a very tidy person. ;-)

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    1. And endless work camp - a great way to describe them! We definitely have LOTS to do still - the side lean-to, the garden and possibly the roof :( Not sure about the tiles yet, I am not sure they can be saved. They are in the lean-to and appear to be outdoor tiles. Whatever monkey built the lean-to, didn't bother building a floor but just put the carpets on what used to be their garden tiles....

      Btw, thanks for the warning! I think I still have my heart set on it though :)

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