living room and fireplace update

As a little reminder to you and to us, this is what our living room looked like when we moved in. The sculpted artex walls, stone fireplace and dark wood all seem like a distant memory now. We've been living without a living room since the plasterer's visit in early December. Jeezo, plaster/plasterers makes an almighty mess.

before

after

We've been painting like demons til our fingers bleed and finally the walls and ceilings are done. New lights have also been fitted and all (all!) that is left to do is fit the laminate flooring. As you'll see we've gone mad with white, top to toe. The chimney breast wall is painted grey however. It turned out a bit curvier than anticipated as those pesky stones were very lumpy indeed and although perfect straight edges would've been sooo good, we didn't want the fireplace to get any bigger that it already was. I felt that we couldn't go for white here as although I do like interior design from the northern snowy fringes, igloo was not really the look I wanted. However, until we have new heating, I'm sure an igloo would probably be warmer. I'm not caring though as I can see the end in sight for this room and I am very excited about that. The walls will need jazzed up by some artwork but that can happen later. Soon, we'll be able to relax on our couch again and watch the TV. Bliss....
Ok. That's that thought over with as there is still far too much to be getting on with.

Since we're here I also thought I'd include some photos of the old bookshelves that is also a recipient of the white (and grey) treatment. I've painted the shelving white and their backing grey to give them some interest. That's saved me a trip to IKEA for a billy bookcase!

Back to the Living room and the fireplace dilemma

In the living room we firstly decided to start at the top by tackling the oppressive wood lurking above our heads. It seemed that the easiest thing to do was to paint the ceiling white. Turns out, four coats and multiple hand blisters later, this wasn't going to be such a simple fix after all. We did it though (but please don't make me do it again).

Next we moved on to the walls. Removing the artex was far too scary an option so we've gone mad with the plasterboard. As you can see from the photo, Craig works at a super fast speed. We are now proud owners of smooth walls. It's the small things in life that make you happy...

Now what to do with the most dominant feature of the room, the fireplace? Do we go with the stone clad countryfied look?  Perhaps paint/limewash it? Or more plaster to make it nice and smooth? We could even grab a sledgehammer and take out some of life's frustrations on it? After our rough road recently the latter quite appealed to me but in the end I was too worried that I would bring the whole house down crashing around my ears. It's been a tough call to know what's achievable here, so I turned to the net for inspiration and advice.

Source: alifesdesign.blogspot.com via Audrey on Pinterest

Source: style-files.com via Audrey on Pinterest

Note the common themes here - chunky wood and antlers! I might keep this in mind. Well, it would be interesting to know which one you prefer, but we've cracked on deciding that the stonework really must go. We then made the wise move (not like us, I know) and decided that this was a job for the professionals. The plasterer is currently busy at work but here is a wee taster of how it looks so far. I better go and make him a cup of tea -'three sugars please'.

the living room

No this is not Santa's grotto. This is our living room which must win some sort of prize for having crammed so many bold textures together into one little space. You are of course missing the full effect as Craig was that quick in ripping up the spirally carpets I hadn't even unpacked the camera. I'm sure the photo doesn't do it justice in showing off the sculpted walls. The artex has fairly been slapped on and it feels like being on the inside of a christmas cake. The fireplace is clad in sandstone and the look is completed by the orange pine ceiling.  Strip lighting is the only light source concealed above the windows and the buzz is deafening. Speakers have been built into the walls and were hidden behind rather drab greeny brown curtains (quick to make their way to the skip). The previous owners built the house and no doubt would've been very proud of this look back in 1971, so much so they kept it forty years. We now need to decide what to do with it. I have to admit it is so wacky I almost like it!