Before and after: Living room gets a new lease of life

They say that when you first move into a house you should do nothing but familiarise yourself with the space and consider its best use. It's very easy to rush into decisions and purchases that you might later regret. We failed to heed this advice and bought a sofa too big and bulky for our sitting room. I also had shelves put up. The shelves were perfect, but they were in the wrong place, diverting attention away from the antique fireplace we later installed in the gap where one once sat.

While Eoghan was away on a worktrip, I finally decorated the bedroom. It was also the week where I had a few jobs done on the living room too. With the help of Painter Dublin, I took down the shelves and repainted the floor and walls in the same colours we had painted ourselves a few years ago; Dulux Light and Space Moonlight White on the walls (turned out a little yellower than I had predicted when contrasted with the new Dulux Brilliant White on the ceiling and woodwork) and Farrow and Ball's Downpipe on the floorboards.

AFTER: The Eames rocker by Vitra (purchased at Arnotts) perches on the floor freshly painted in Farrow and Ball's Downpipe. The painting is from Decor, Camden Street, Dublin 8.

Another job was to have period-style cornicing reinstated. Our house was built in the 1860s but other than the lovely wide floorboards no period details remained in the living room when we moved in. We had previously put in a Victorian-style four panel door from Victorian Salvage (especially important as we didn't notice the lack of a door until we sat down in the room for first time) and an antique fireplace (a design common to the area) from the brilliant Sugan Antiques. I had plaster cornicing made by the excellent Dublin Mouldings on Parnell Street and it has made the room complete.

Other than wall shelves and book-ends from IKEA, I didn't buy anything else for the room. Instead I moved things and changed around artwork by bringing some pieces that were hanging elsewhere in the house into the living room.

AFTER: New storage comes in the form of four white Lack wall shelves from IKEA, featuring nerdy colour-coordinated books. The period-style door came from Victorian Salvage. The space to the right of the door originally featured my two Panoramic Dublin prints by Andy Mac Manus which have now moved to the right of the fireplace

AFTER: The Billy bookends are also from IKEA, while the Flower Blossom lampshade is by Orla Kiely while the brown glass lamp is from Hicken Lighting, Lower Bridge Street, Dublin 8.

AFTER: Soppy 'E' and 'S' letters from Urban Outfitters. The S keeps falling off the shelf and scraping the floor whenever I bang the door!

AFTER: These were made by the father of a very good friend mine, Aoife, who is a wood-turner extraordinaire

AFTER: This curvaceous retro-style sofa was bought in Belfast (in Dekko, which sadly is no longer operating) a few years ago. Eoghan still mourns after the bigger yet bulkier sofa we originally purchased, which we now visit in Conamara. The grey cushion is by Donna Wilson, a lovely gift last Christmas.

AFTER: The G-plan coffee table makes the room seem bigger and came from the treasure trove Table Lighting Chair, located on Pleasant's Place (behind Camden Street near Cake Café), Dublin 8.

AFTER: The red cushion is by Ben de Lisi for Debenham's is inspired by the designer's own French bulldog Ella (not sure if it's still in stock) and the Multi Stem square lampshade is by Orla Kiely.

AFTER: I got this little side table for a song in TK Maxx about two years ago. It matches the floor. The clear glass ball lamp is from Hicken Lighting, Lower Bridge Street, Dublin 8.

AFTER: A close-up of one of our two Panoramic Dublin prints by Andy Mac Manus, featuring views of O'Connell Bridge

BEFORE: Too much to distract the eye with the shelves on either side of the fireplace. We put the mirror in our bedroom where the ceiling is higher.

AFTER: The removal of the shelves and mirror results in the less visual clutter, allowing the eye to focus on fireplace.  The new plaster cornicing by Dublin Mouldings helps the room to look its age.

AFTER: The antique fireplace from Sugan Antiques is simply adorned with just a pair of candlestick holders, which were a present. Having a working fireplace reinstated back in the room is a real privilege, especially on the cold winter nights. I was delighted when a friend mentioned that her parents' house in nearby Inchicore has the same fireplace surround.

BEFORE: No plaster cornicing. Another job I would like to get done in the future is to have the window shutters reinstated as per the other houses in our terrace.

AFTER: The view from the sofa. Waffles the cat is at his television - he spends hours looking out the window.

AFTER: Waffles on guard cat duty. If you like the owl cushion resting on the Eames rocker, check out my previous post.

Home-owners with telly vision

Sky Plus has been my enabler for the past three years as it cleverly records every home renovation programme I can get my hands on.

I love the 'before and after' fixes provided by the likes of recent Ch4 offering The Renovation Game (surprisingly good daytime TV) and RTÉ ratings winner About the House (worth watching for architect Dermot Bannon's moments of pure petulance along with his stunning designs).

Despite its focus on house-buying rather than renovations, bar the odd re-visit (easy way to make a one-hour show by adding five minutes of new footage to an old episode), Location, Location, Location is still one of the best homes programmes on the telly after 11 years.

DIP INTO THE PROPERTY MARKET: Toby outside the home he found with partner Nadine on Location, Location, Location. The photo is from the couple's new renovation website,  The Shop Window

A new series kicked off last week and featured designers Nadine and Toby, searching for a non-traditional home. Their wish-list included a house that was wreck, ideally with a flat front (I presume this means no bay windows, etc), a 60ft garden and a 'good narrative'. The budget was £350,000 (approx €422,000) and the hunting ground was south-east London.

True to the 11-second rule, Nadine and Toby fell head over heels with a three-storey over basement (I think) commercial building which had been used in recent times as a place of religious worship by a group called the Universal Brotherhood of Speculative Mechanics. It was the first place Kirsty and Phil showed them and nothing else could compare.

Happily, the couple (whose previous home was testament to their skill and vision) are the now the owners and are documenting their renovation efforts on their brilliant website, theshowwindow.org

KNOCK KNOCK-OUT: Nadine and Toby have chosen Farrow and Ball's Downpipe shade for the front door, which looks great on the historic building. We have used this shade on our old floorboards in our sitting room and hall.
Photo: The Shop Window

It's a website I will be keeping an eye on as Nadine and Toby turn the historic building into a beautiful home.

Location, Location, Location, Thursday, Ch4, 8pm.

Going grey: My bedroom makeover

Decorating our bedroom was never top of the priority list when we moved in three years ago. The walls and floorboards (mostly original) were painted an inoffensive cream (with a purple feature wall that was our reference point for the place when house-hunting). Anyway, we plumped for the 'purple wall' property. Temporary wardrobes took residence and two years ago we bought an antique mantle to compliment the original insert. But that was it.

The installation of our new wardrobes, along with the wall lamps purchased many moons ago, last month prompted me to try and *finish* the room. With Himself away on a work trip for a week, I brought in the team at Painter Dublin to help me out. Tomas and Michael did an excellent job and I am really happy with the results. A new wall shelf from Ikea and a bit of tidying has also helped to transform the room.

I've tried to support local and city centre businesses when decorating the house. The paint was bought at MRCB Paints, 12-13 Cornmarket, Dublin 8 (one of the friendliest paint shops in Dublin). The wardrobes are from Bedroom Elegance, 55-56 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1. The wall lamps are from Hicken Lighting, 17 Lower Bridge Street, Dublin 8. The ceiling lamp shade was bought for just €8 in the very lively (and Christmassy) Liberties Market, Meath Street, Dublin 8. The rug is from The Carpet Mills, 42-26 Thomas Street, Dublin 8. The antique mantle surround is from the very knowledgeable Brian at Súgán Antiques, Rathmines, Dublin 6. The leaning wall shelves are from The Conran Shop at Arnotts, Henry Street, Dublin 2. The large mirror is from Clery's, O'Connell Street, Dublin 1. The blinds are from Apollo Blinds, Capel Street, Dublin 1, and the bed came from Diamond Living, which unfortunately went into liquidation earlier this year.

P.S. I hate when design magazines say that things were 'sourced' at particular stores. This implies a level of intrepid adventure that doesn't quite match the experience.

Wall paint: Dulux Easycare Washable Matt in Modernism
Floor: Ronseal Diamond Floor Paint in White
Ceiling: Dulux Matt in Brilliant White 
Woodwork and radiator: Dulux Easy Care Satinwood in Brilliant White


Here are the before and after photos. The before photos were taken on a particularly untidy day so as to illustrate the transformation at its best.

BEFORE: The temporary wardrobes resembled a disaster zone.

AFTER: Floor-to-ceiling custom wardrobes from Bedroom Elegance, Dublin 1, make the most of the high (and sloping) ceiling.

BEFORE: Boring cream on the walls and wall lamps which were accidentally installed upside down.  The previous owners had ugly wall lamps installed which we removed upon moving in. However, it took us a long time to get around to replacing them.

AFTER: Grey walls compliment the wall lamps (now hanging the right way up) and shades from  Hicken Lighting, Dublin 8. 

BEFORE: The purple feature wall was painted by the previous owners. I hated it! We added a Victorian mantle to the original inset two years ago but never got round to painting the white inset to match.

AFTER: The grey helps the (much tidier) leaning wall shelves from The Conran Shop stand out. Also gives me a place to store/display design magazines, two Etsy artworks, a jewellery box I got in my teens and tea lights from Meadows and Byrne. The lime green of the tea lights provides a nice punch of colour.

AFTER: Fireplace mantle from Súgán Antiques, Dublin 6.  Mirror had been hanging in the living room and looks a lot better here as the ceiling is higher. I got it for €50 in a Clery's sale. The candlestick holder was my first home decor purchase, I think I was 13 when I got this at a store in Stillorgan.

BEFORE: This lovely Buddha picture from Thailand was let down by its surroundings

AFTER: The grey helps to highlight the picture on the wall. A black Lack shelf from Ikea creates storage for books.

AFTER: This lampshade was just €8 from the Liberty Market on Meath Street, Dublin 8.

AFTER: Mustard rug from The Carpet Mills, Dublin 8, and Eileen Gray-inspired table from a now defunct store in Belfast

AFTER: Three coats of brilliant white floor paint has made the room much brighter

A Quarter Compounder: Proposed Asian Quarter on Parnell Street

I recently attended a lunch-time talk at darc space on the report 'Parnell Street East: A Vision for an Historic City Centre Street' by the Dublin Civic Trust (a brilliant organisation). I know this part of the city pretty well and love the community feel, which is embodied at Ozanam House on Mountjoy Square.

It would be great to see the recommendations of the Dublin Civic Trust report (commissioned by the Dublin City Business Association and Carroll's Gifts and Souvenirs) carried out but in these gloomy times the prospect of even widening the footpaths or tree-planting, let alone large scale refurbishment of the historic buildings and redeveloping the scarred sections of the street, seem unlikely.

GLOOMY: The Georgian architecture of numbers 76 to 78 Parnell Street East is almost hidden under layers of plaster and unsympathetic shopfronts.

Image from the Dublin Civic Trust.

VISION OF THE FUTURE: How the report has re-imagined the three buildings, restoring them to their former glory complete with original door.

Image from the Dublin Civic Trust.

The Asian businesses that have sprung up on the street have brought life and colour to the area, making Parnell Street East a culinary (and karaoke!) hotspot. The area would benefit from being designated as a quarter (not everyone likes the idea of having specific designated quarters in the city, but I believe it has worked well in the case of the Italian Quarter), but should it be an 'Oriental Quarter' as envisaged by the report?

A lady who attended the event suggested that, as Smithfield is set to become a food destination and there is no guarantee that the Asian community will favour the Parnell Street East location in the long-run (Capel Street is another growing centre of Asian cuisine), perhaps we should focus on making it a Literary Quarter instead, given the street's proximity to the James Joyce Museum, the Dublin Writers' Museum, Fighting Words, etc. Indeed, both Asian businesses and literary centres can happily co-exist. Whatever happens, I hope that Parnell Street East will be renewed in the not too distant future.

The report makes for an interesting read, great for a large-scale 'before and after' fix too.

http://www.dcba.ie/public/news/parnell-street-east-report/

http://www.dublincivictrust.ie/news.php

http://www.darcspace.ie/

Optimum options

Some day, hopefully in the not too distant future, we will knock down the horrible 1970s/80s ground floor extension (which houses our kitchen and bathroom) and build a two-storey extension (we're in so much negative equity already so will be staying here a lot longer than planned) with a larger kitchen and WC downstairs and a bedroom and bathroom above.

I will be getting in touch with Optimise Design, a consultancy that specialises in architecture, interior design and project management. Their 'no job too small' and focus on budget, along with an attractive portfolio, has helped them find success after setting up in 2007.

They also have a Before and After section on their website blog, which is great for when I'm looking for a fix. I particularly the Portobello house (below), which I think I remember being for sale in its original state a year or two ago.

DELICIOUS DESIGN: Optimise Design worked on this house in Portobello - love the black contrast with the white cupboards. Image from www.optimise-design.com

http://www.optimise-design.com/
http://optimisedesign.wordpress.com/

Before and after: My bedroom wardrobes

Creeking, screeching and a sudden crash... the temporary canvas wardrobe just couldn't cope with the weight of clothes. Then another Argos number took its place. Ultimately the ambition was to get fitted wardrobes, as the sloped ceiling, hot press and pipes couldn't be concealed by an IKEA wardrobe, though I would have loved something like...

Black-brown Pax Wardrobe with four doors (€490)

LIGHTS OUT: The panelled four-door Pax wardrobe from ikea.ie

 

Or... the White Pax Wardrobe with Sliding Doors (€485). 

BRANCH OUT: One of the Pax combinations available from ikea.ie

However, the only option for us what to have something custom-made, so as to hide all the pipes and hot press.

Here's what our 'wardrobe' arrangements used to look like:

THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES: Our previous bedroom storage arrangements

 Note the pipes running across the top left-hand corner and top right-hand corner. The doors to the right cover the hot press. As you can see, the rail in my wardrobe in the middle had long given up the ghost, meaning my clothes were scattered here, there and everywhere.

We went to Bedroom Elegance on Dorset Street, Dublin 1, about two years ago on a fact-finding mission but it wasn't until the likelihood of being crushed by a canvas wardrobe began increasing rapidly that we forced to take action.

Another visit to Bedroom Elegance was required last month to finally decide on a design. A very simple white door with minimal detailing that suits sloped ceiling was chosen, along with 'fridge' handles. I think it looks a bit 1950s, which I like. There was a quick turn-around time, with detailed measurements taken the following week (lasers were involved, important given the uneven old walls) and fitting about a week or two later. Everyone we dealt with from sales to measurements to fitting was very friendly and helpful, excellent customer service.

ALMOST FINISHED: The inside of the wardrobes, with additional shelving to be added

And now we have wardrobes that we're really pleased with and that make the most of the high ceiling.

Now there's just the rest of the room to decorate!

Front runner

Maybe it's because I used to watch BBC's Changing Rooms obsessively during my teens, but I love a good set of 'before and after' photos. I will be posting up some of my new wardrobes in the coming days.

Via the Guardian, I love how the architect and clients of this London home eschewed re-creating a pastiche of the original Victorian home that stood on the site and instead took direction from its '70s reincarnation to create a sensational 2011 home.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: The house was rebuilt in the '70s

HOUSE ABOUT IT: How it looks now

I particularly like the lower ground extension at the front of the house, with its huge sunlight and grassed roof. My own (much more modest) home sits on a slope, maybe the solution would be to extend front and under, rather than back and above?

See all the photos (interior and exterior) at the link below:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/oct/28/ugly-house-modernist-beauty-in-pictures