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Welcome To The Dark Side!

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This is my middle living room.  We are fortunate to have three, each one having a different feel and mood. This blog post is about how it was transformed into a dark and brooding boudoir, with a video of the room at the bottom and a load of pictures and info between now and then. For many years this room was purple, teal and mostly cream as it is a very dark room anyway. A couple of years ago I was sitting here and suddenly thought I should embrace the darkness and go darker to create a little cocoon. Lovely and cosy in the Winter. At the time there wasn't any black interior paint around apart from gloss or chalkboard paint. I rummaged around in the garage and found some matt black masonry paint which I slapped on the walls. Its coverage is brilliant and only two coats required over the cream coloured walls. Hardwearing and wipeable. There was one wall around the window which was still cream but I didn't want to paint it black. I chose  Crown paint called Addiction, which it c...
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Transforming our loft into an oasis of serenity

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When we bought this house 16 years ago the previous owners had converted the loft into a living space. When I say 'converted' I use this term very loosely! OK, a static staircase was put in with, yes a handrail! But from there on it went pear shaped. The floor hadn't been strengthened, the Velux window was too high to climb through in case of an emergency and one wall had been removed to create a mezzanine with awful spindles, some of which were missing. These were here to create an edging.  The whole thing was a disaster waiting to happen. We put in another Velux window to create a fire escape onto the roof, a fire door was installed and the floor joists were strengthened. That was fine for the practicalities, but I wanted to create a calm retreat away from the rest of the house.  I found it really hard to come away from my comfort zone of very strong colours and create a neutral palette. Normally the words neutral, tasteful and beige make me want to run away to the hills!...
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Izaak's boutique-style bedroom on a budget

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My eldest son, Luke has just fled the nest.  It's a very weird feeling which I think most people will get. He's moved into a lovely open plan new build. His living room is navy blue with accents of mustard. He has also got a lovely little Russian Blue cat called Teddy, they both appear to be very settled. My youngest son, Izaak is still at home and always wanted his brother's bedroom as it is a lot bigger than his. Initially the move was to take place last July but with Covid there was a massive hold up with the construction industry.  Virtually the day Luke moved out, the paint and brushes came out to start decorating Izaak's new bedroom. Funnily enough Izaak wanted navy blue as well, the same as Luke, but with more of a boutique element. We painted over the cream walls with an undercoat and topped this off with two coats of of Dulux Sapphire Salute in a matt finish. Skirting boards, architraves and ceiling were painted white. I sourced a lovely French style bench from...
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