Over this past week, I should either have been finishing painting the spare room OR tackling another weekly mini-house project. But as it happens sometimes the other jobs get in the way and with a full-time job plus running DaisychainBaby I can’t always fit in as much as I want to (although there is an exciting project in conjunction with Wayfair that has been taking some of my attention too, take a peep at my Instagram feed for some preview pics).
So instead this is a mini post with a little catch up on the office which we started renovating back in May 2014 and is almost, finally finished (this is why the house is a 20 year project, it takes us a long time to get stuff done!). We’re just waiting for the shutters which should be any week now and a couple of bits for the wall and then it will be done, done, DONE and I’ll do a proper little room tour.
For now, here’s a catch up! When we moved in, it looked like this. 1970s woodchip wallpaper, a green carpet. One electricity socket. Technically this is the 4th bedroom and there was a bed in here. There’s not enough room to swing a mouse let alone a cat.
Nonetheless we soon filled it with crap very important and valuable possessions.
Then we got fed up and decided to renovate it. Which involved stripping the walls, which took us both pretty much an entire day and pulled off all the plaster work.
Eventually we got the room re-plastered and extra sockets added. We needed a new floor too but because I’m me, this meant the skirting boards had to come off too (I refuse to even acknowledge the existence of beading, I will never let a floor be laid if it’s not finished properly. Anal much? Yes!)
Then, finally, it looked like this and I did a little dance of joy. I started to see what we could achieve with the entire house if we just persevered and did projects when we could afford them.
And now with the new windows and our furniture in, it looks like this – from a dingy cramped old-fashioned tiny bedroom to a modern, stylish his ‘n’ hers office. There’s just enough space for a little desk each for us so it’s perfect. There’ll be a lot more piccies once it’s finished but it’s definitely love. Sometimes I just open the door as I walk past and peep in 🙂
What projects are you working on? Does it take you forever to get things done?
Wow, what a lot of work and what a fab job you have done – a total transformation. I absolutely love the dark walls, and it’s funny, because just two minutes ago before reading your post I decided on such a grey for a project I am working on.
Look forward to seeing more photos.
(And yes, it does take me forever to get things done!)
Ah thanks Molly, I totally recommend dark grey. Far from worrying that it would make the room seem smaller, it actually makes it feel bigger than the previous white wallpaper did! Look forward to seeing how your grey turns out 🙂
Oh I love this! The colour of the wall is perfect and the dark colour just enhances where I’d had advised against if you’d have asked. Where did you get those little pots on the shelves? #homeetc love it
Funnily enough I got the dark grey inspiration from Pinterest, I’m such a colour lover I could never have imagined loving grey as much as I now do. We had 3 different shades and the other 2 were much paler, so we decided if we were going to go grey we had to really go grey. It works so well. The pots were from Waitrose and housed little hyacinths earlier this year, so I rinsed them out for the office when the plants were done X
Oh I love it! The colour is beautiful and I love the strip at the top of the walls. That window lets so much light in too. Just from this post I’m imagining that you live in a victorian/period property x
Thanks so much Donna, I couldn’t have imagined ever loving grey as much as I do. I really wanted a Victorian house, we were renting a little Victorian terrace before buying this, but they proved just too expensive so I had to concede with a 1930s house instead. I soon got over it, we have about 4 times the amount of space and garden than our previous home and still a good build quality 🙂 x
What a transformation – it looks great, and it’s so nice to finally get things finished isn’t it? Actually I’ll get back to you on that one 🙂 #homeetc
Haha yes it is although definitely worth the wait! x
Oh that looks great! A real transformation. It is a pain when work gets in the way of stuff – I feel your pain xx
Wait, you have a full time job, run your own company AND find the time to do up your house and blog about it?! Seriously impressive! Your office looks absolutely lovely, I don’t blame you for having a peep when you walk by. The paint colour is ace x
Haha Lucy yes! I don’t know how to rest I don’t think, my Mum is still working at nearly 66 so she always instilled a very hard-working ethic in me. Keeps me out of trouble 😉 X
It’s looking so, so good. I can’t believe how much you’re doing to your house at the moment as well as juggling everything else. You’re amazing! xx
Aww it’s only because I’m so inspired by others (including you!) – there’s such a fab network of lovely supportive bloggers out there and I’m so glad to have finally joined the blogging world. Thank YOU! X
Wow it looks fab, I love the flooring and the colours you have chosen.
Becky x
#HomesETC
Thank you Becky, it’s been so reassuring to see how it looks now, and know that the rest of the house could one day look like this! X
WOW! That preparation looked horrendous….I have spent many an evening doing that! But look at it now! Love, love, love that colour on the walls. And the shelving is so practical but really stylish. Great job.
Thanks for linking up – much appreciated. Jess x
#HomeEtc
Thanks Jess, ugh it’s exhausting work isn’t it but so worth it once finished. We’re thrilled with how that colour turned out X
It’s a lovely room! I am very envious as I’d love my own little office space. We use our spare bedroom as a clothes airing place – not very exciting! #HomeEtc
Ha yes Lizzie us too! The room which will eventually hopefully be a guest bedroom is currently home to junk and our clothes airer! X
Oh wow!! what a transformation. Love it. I so enjoy the sight of perfect plaster on walls. It means the fun part of painting and decorating is about to begin. Really like the colour choice!
Going to peruse around the rest of your website too! 🙂
Thank you Saskia yes I agree, definitely something lovely about new plaster, a totally blank canvas. We’ve also learned there’s an order to these things – plastering the walls and then getting new sockets fitted is NOT the way to do it! X
Fab office space.. mine currently looks how yours once did, only smaller and with more junk everywhere. We are due to be moving soon and I am so looking forward to a better, larger (if only marginally) office space. So I’ll be back to take another look for inspiration
by the way, I nominated you for Sisterhood of the World Blogger if you fancy taking part … http://ourdalylife.co.uk/2015/08/13/in-the-sisterhood/
Gorgeous, I love the matching desks! What a transformation. Becky x #HomeEtc
Thank you, we really love this room now. If only all the others looked like this… X