London 1930s semi renovation
Discussion
Dining area (formerly crappy conservatory) to kitchen - before (after knocking through wall, but before building the new room) and after.
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on Flickr
Untitled by baconrashers, on FlickrUntitled by baconrashers, on FlickrHorrible news, hope things get better for you both.
House is looking fantastic! Live some of the design details, especially the basin units and granite worktop choice, still yet to be convinced in the tray space gaps on the tall housing.... but love the colour and use of the timber ends!
Keep your chin up and the pictures coming.
House is looking fantastic! Live some of the design details, especially the basin units and granite worktop choice, still yet to be convinced in the tray space gaps on the tall housing.... but love the colour and use of the timber ends!
Keep your chin up and the pictures coming.
Harry your house looks amazing. Your taste is exactly what I always would like to achieve, you just have the space (and $$$). I am envious.
Not that I know you from Adam, I was thinking about you yesterday, regarding your other thread, hope you've made the best you can of the new year, throwing yourself into housework is a good idea.
Not that I know you from Adam, I was thinking about you yesterday, regarding your other thread, hope you've made the best you can of the new year, throwing yourself into housework is a good idea.
Thanks for the kind comments all - we'll get there one day, on house and baby (hopefully)!
I've done all of the design, with Lady F on veto duty really. So far we've agreed on almost everything, and where we have not have both been perfectly happy with the compromise position, which is good.
Regrets so far?
- The orange tiles in the family bathroom - they were really meant to be more mustard yellow in colour, and don't really suit the colour of the vanity unit: it all looks a bit childish (although it is meant to be a bathroom for kids one day, so this may work). I'll probably change them to something more neutral at some point. But as we never use that bathroom at the moment, I'm not too fussed.
- Kitchen colour; whilst lovely, I would have preferred a deep forest green or indigo blue with old-school brass handles, with white marble worktop. Lady F vetoed the colour, saying that something more neutral would have more universal appeal. She wanted white/cream, which I really do not like at all. She also didn't want it to be too country-kitchen and old school, so vetoed the cup handles and knobs I would have fitted. So we settled on that lovely mushroom colour and modern stainless steel door handles between us - not as dark as I wanted, not as light as she wanted but we are both pretty happy with how it looks (but I still intend to repaint the damned thing to my tastes in a few years, when we refresh it). it's a solid oak kitchen, so updating it by painting the doors and changing door furniture is relatively easy in future...
- as a couple of folk on this thread have mentioned, there are a lot of cupboards. I would have liked open shelving with nice pots etc on it but Lady F hate the idea of these gathering dust/grease and constant cleaning. We should have fitted some glass fronted cabinet doors to display some nice crockery in there somewhere - will get to that one day. Easy modification to make. I also need to get the carpentry done for the chopping board voids - at the moment the boards just sit in the gaps, looking a bit sad.
- Not really a regret as I love the volcanic granite worktop we eventually got, but we changed the worktop from white marble to the volcanic granite as I thought that marble, whilst lovely, may be a bit of a now trend, and also horribly impractical (it stains/etches really easily). Shame, as I would have loved the marble: but on close inspection of several slabs, realised that I would become incredibly irritated over the years with the etching of the surface cased by soap or anything acidic, and stains like red wine making their way indelibly into microfractures in the stone. So granite it was, and as all the light granites I have seen look dreadful, and many of the darker patterned ones like something from an American rental home, we went for something with a visibly volcanic pattern as a centrepiece for the room. Close up, that stone is beautiful - I often end up staring at it under the lights!
- Parquet: it's a natural oak, and very nice in real life. However, I would like it stained a deeper walnut colour, but again Lady F was worried about that being a bit trendy rather than timeless. Again, she probably made the right call if we have to re-sell one day.
I've done all of the design, with Lady F on veto duty really. So far we've agreed on almost everything, and where we have not have both been perfectly happy with the compromise position, which is good.
Regrets so far?
- The orange tiles in the family bathroom - they were really meant to be more mustard yellow in colour, and don't really suit the colour of the vanity unit: it all looks a bit childish (although it is meant to be a bathroom for kids one day, so this may work). I'll probably change them to something more neutral at some point. But as we never use that bathroom at the moment, I'm not too fussed.
- Kitchen colour; whilst lovely, I would have preferred a deep forest green or indigo blue with old-school brass handles, with white marble worktop. Lady F vetoed the colour, saying that something more neutral would have more universal appeal. She wanted white/cream, which I really do not like at all. She also didn't want it to be too country-kitchen and old school, so vetoed the cup handles and knobs I would have fitted. So we settled on that lovely mushroom colour and modern stainless steel door handles between us - not as dark as I wanted, not as light as she wanted but we are both pretty happy with how it looks (but I still intend to repaint the damned thing to my tastes in a few years, when we refresh it). it's a solid oak kitchen, so updating it by painting the doors and changing door furniture is relatively easy in future...
- as a couple of folk on this thread have mentioned, there are a lot of cupboards. I would have liked open shelving with nice pots etc on it but Lady F hate the idea of these gathering dust/grease and constant cleaning. We should have fitted some glass fronted cabinet doors to display some nice crockery in there somewhere - will get to that one day. Easy modification to make. I also need to get the carpentry done for the chopping board voids - at the moment the boards just sit in the gaps, looking a bit sad.
- Not really a regret as I love the volcanic granite worktop we eventually got, but we changed the worktop from white marble to the volcanic granite as I thought that marble, whilst lovely, may be a bit of a now trend, and also horribly impractical (it stains/etches really easily). Shame, as I would have loved the marble: but on close inspection of several slabs, realised that I would become incredibly irritated over the years with the etching of the surface cased by soap or anything acidic, and stains like red wine making their way indelibly into microfractures in the stone. So granite it was, and as all the light granites I have seen look dreadful, and many of the darker patterned ones like something from an American rental home, we went for something with a visibly volcanic pattern as a centrepiece for the room. Close up, that stone is beautiful - I often end up staring at it under the lights!
- Parquet: it's a natural oak, and very nice in real life. However, I would like it stained a deeper walnut colour, but again Lady F was worried about that being a bit trendy rather than timeless. Again, she probably made the right call if we have to re-sell one day.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Wednesday 4th January 19:04
E36GUY said:
Sorry to hear you news. We lost two before the first one came along. Best wishes.
House is looking fantastic!
Thanks mate, and really encouraging to hear that you have had a healthy child after hiccups. House is looking fantastic!
Honestly, your lights are a big part of how the house looks. People don't believe they are LED, so warm and even is the glow. Lighting is a huge part of getting a look right. Lady F and the builder both questioned spending on premium lighting units. No one's questioning me now that they are in!
Harry Flashers, house looks good fella. Managing expectations of each party is always a challenge but you have (both) done well.
On the procreation front, it is always a minor miracle that any baby gets born. The odds against it are massive. My first wife had our son when she was 39. We lost two in the following three years but eventually she carried to term and delivered a beautiful baby girl who is now 23 and musical theatre performer (west end dontcha know!). Keep yer chin up as these things will work out but patience is, particularly in the case of baby making, a virtue!
JM
On the procreation front, it is always a minor miracle that any baby gets born. The odds against it are massive. My first wife had our son when she was 39. We lost two in the following three years but eventually she carried to term and delivered a beautiful baby girl who is now 23 and musical theatre performer (west end dontcha know!). Keep yer chin up as these things will work out but patience is, particularly in the case of baby making, a virtue!
JM
Harry Flashman said:
Honestly, your lights are a big part of how the house looks. People don't believe they are LED, so warm and even is the glow. Lighting is a huge part of getting a look right. Lady F and the builder both questioned spending on premium lighting units. No one's questioning me now that they are in!
Never gets tiring to hear that. Delighted you're happy with them!!Harry Flashman said:
- as a couple of folk on this thread have mentioned, there are a lot of cupboards.
How did you 'stack' the cupboards on top of each other? I notice there is a gap with some wood looking element followed by the next set of cupboards above. Reason I ask is that I have a kitchen which has a very high ceiling 3-3.3m and want to do something similar.RockyBalboa said:
Harry Flashman said:
- as a couple of folk on this thread have mentioned, there are a lot of cupboards.
How did you 'stack' the cupboards on top of each other? I notice there is a gap with some wood looking element followed by the next set of cupboards above. Reason I ask is that I have a kitchen which has a very high ceiling 3-3.3m and want to do something similar.The end panels are pretty thick too, maybe 25mm?? Toungue and groove panels are 18mm I think.
dirty_dog said:
I've fitted a few kitchens from SWCC now so I reckon full height end panel (I think 3m as standard) with cabinets fixed from the inside and into adjacent cabs by the larder unit.
The end panels are pretty thick too, maybe 25mm?? Toungue and groove panels are 18mm I think.
This - the end panels are solid oak and thick, so you can hang the cupboards on them. They also fix to the wall behind - in this case that vertical run of cabinets hides a protruding stub wall, the counterpart to the pillar in the island, where a wall was knocked through.The end panels are pretty thick too, maybe 25mm?? Toungue and groove panels are 18mm I think.
I need to sort out the gaps - those wooden things sitting in there are chopping boards, that need to have an end trim and handle fitted so that they appear to fully fill the gap currently visible.
Pheo said:
Looks awesome - would love to see a cost breakdown - potentially starting our own 1930s semi project and this has some great ideas. Particularly like he parquet!
Pheo - happy to send you a copy of the detailed spreadsheet if you would like? Full costs breakdown. Not for the faint hearted - currently at GBP210k. We have done a lot of work, and not stinted on materials. You could definitely do it cheaper. The house is 2800 square feet, 5 beds, 4 baths, which gives you an idea of the cost per square foor and work involved.
Electrics and plumbing were particularly expensive, and our electrician has been appallingly bad, which is galling. He still fails to turn up and misses things. If my job goes wrong, I am going to re-train as a spark and provide a proper service in London! Plenty of money to be made, plenty of lazy, incompetent competition around.
RoverP6B said:
There's not much I can add on the baby front - still, you have my sympathies.
I do note that you seem to have gone for much lighter colours than you originally planned - will that Watts & Co Voysey wallpaper not now be making an appearance?
Haven't started decorating yet! Some rich, dark colours will be used in some rooms...and hopefully some of that gorgoeus wallpaper you suggested.I do note that you seem to have gone for much lighter colours than you originally planned - will that Watts & Co Voysey wallpaper not now be making an appearance?
We are using Sugar Skull wallpaper in the downstairs cloakroom - already bought.
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