Advice please on new driveway for Edwardian country property.
browners1974
9 years ago
It would be great to hear opinions on which Is the most appropriate type of driveway for a large semi detached (country) Edwardian property. We need to re design and lay a new driveway as the large landscaped front garden does not provide enough parking space and driveway width. Any advice?? Many thanks
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browners1974
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Garden advice please
Comments (34)Hi I would put a planted green screen of a nice flowering hedge which also has berries in the winter like Berberis. It will give you privacy and its not totally solid as a fence or wall would be and will give a much softer look. It also gives security as it has small prickly barbs You say your window sills are too narrow to take window boxes so why not put a nice long wrought iron planter under the full width of the window, attach to the wall, (It looks like the windows are quite low) or if not put a free standing planter under the window. I would not get rid of the front lawn and just have concrete slabs as you already have all the drive paved, it will just look like to much concrete and harsh unless you add some plants or create maybe a circular flower bed Too much concrete prevents good drainage too Adding a porch would be a great idea, perhaps just glass which will give a modern contemporary feel Also once you have changed that paint colour it will look a lot better...See MoreAmtico flooring in period property?
Comments (20)I'm also extending a listed period home (modern extension granted!) and wanted to re-floor the existing kitchen so that there was a good visual flow. Long story short, to put the 22mm engineered wood flooring into the kitchen would have necessitated either raising all cabinets to sit on it or some rather inelegant cutting around the cabinets. So I've gone for a mixture -Karndean in the kitchen and engineered flooring in the new extension - I managed to get quite a good match. Key factors for me were that the kitchen (albeit a fair size at 5m X 5m) is north facing so doesn't have great natural light, and the visible floor space once the table and chairs are in place is pretty small. The new extension has big windows and good natural light owing to a south-facing return and I don't plan to fill the floorspace with stuff so the flooring will be more apparent. I agree that in a period home, where you've taken pains to be authentic a wooden floor would be more in keeping and attractive to potential buyers with an eye to period detailing. Having said that I'm finding the Karndean easy on the eye and easy to keep! Cost-wise it works out similar to the new wooden flooring because I had to have the old kitchen floor ripped up and screeded to level it. Here are some images, the second one shows Karndean has a wood effect texture....See MorePlanning a new Bathroom
Comments (0)Oxfordshire’s exciting new Bathroom Company Vision Design are one of Oxfordshire’s leading bathroom, kitchen and bedroom designers and installers. Vision is based in Abingdon, just a few miles from Oxford and serving the towns and villages of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and the Cotswolds. This bathroom buying guide will give you some important tips and help you to plan your ideal bathroom, but if you really want excellent personalised advice please come and visit us in our extensive bathroom showrooms in Abingdon. We have years of valuable experience and expertise to share with you in a friendly, non-pressured way. Your bathroom is an important space in your home. Granted you won’t spend as much time in there as you will in your kitchen or your bedroom but nevertheless the bathroom will be both a functional and practical room as well as providing that sanctuary space where you can properly unwind and relax. Bathroom Design – first considerations When planning your new bathroom there are a few key things that you should consider first; Who will be using the bathroom? Is it going to be a functional family bathroom or much more of a luxury relaxation and pampering space? Will it be used for other things such as a make-up and dressing room for example? If it’s a family bathroom you should be considering storage space and the practicalities of multiple users. For that extra luxury and relaxation experience look at free standing baths with easy to reach storage for candles, bath oils and magazines. If you are planning to use the bathroom as a dressing room as well you need to give thought to the lighting and mirror space. Shower or Bath or both? What is your preference – will you only ever want to shower – if so that will make a significant difference to planning your ideal bathroom. But if your preference is a bath over showers then clearly the bath becomes a key element of focus. If you want to incorporate both the bath and shower options how much space do you have? Enough for a separate shower and bath – or will it need to be a bath and shower combination? How much Bathroom space? This is clearly going to be the major design limiting factor in your bathroom planning equation. But before you start just consider whether there is any opportunity to expand your available bathroom space. Can you steal some under-used space from an adjoining room perhaps or is there an option to extend in some way? If the existing bathroom space is all the space you have– and it’s not as big as you’d like – don’t despair! These days there are many clever design tricks and options that you could utilise to maximise the available space. Just talk to bathroom design experts and they will be only too happy to share their knowledge and to help you. What is your budget? Along with the bathroom space available the amount you are willing and able to spend will be the other major factor when planning your ideal bathroom. You need to be realistic about the budget and bear in mind that typically people will overspend on that budget as they apply the extra unplanned touches to their dream bathroom – such as taps upgrades and higher grade flooring, not forgetting the post installation decorating costs. What is your style preference? Ok so let’s get back to the fun stuff! What bathroom style do you want? In this regard you will have a huge range of choice from the traditional to the ultra-modern. It may be that if you are in a Victorian or Edwardian property you want the bathroom to be in that recognised, well-loved traditional style or maybe not – perhaps behind the bathroom door you envision an uber-modern cutting edge bathroom. Just a quick tip – if you are in an older property the existing bathroom wall tiles might be very difficult to remove without causing significant damage and taking a sizeable chunk out of your budget. If that is the case you might be better advised to keep these tiles and make them a feature of the new bathroom – designing a look and style around them. Thinking about who will use the bathroom and also how the bathroom is to be used, will provide you with a list of essential and nice to have features and requirements which should be kept in mind as you move through the bathroom planning process. We would be delighted to welcome you to our extensive bathroom showrooms in Abingdon. We are less than 10 miles from Oxford and parking is free just behind the showrooms. You can browse our ranges of bathroom suites and see for yourself the outstanding quality of these products. Our experienced, friendly staff will be available to chat through your requirements and pass on their extensive knowledge if required....See MoreNew ground floor plan, please criticize my indecisiveness..
Comments (23)I have had time to digest what you all said. Yes, that's a hallway. ... I caved! haha ... but at least it's not a pointless one at 1.8m we currently bear. We like our open central living area, and dining at the back of it, and will do so while ever there is no "upstairs". I have drawn in where a bedroom used to be in the living room. I've slimmed the bathrooms right back, to one with a bath, one with a shower, distributed the sizes to not interfere with the laundry door being opened up if the second bathroom was removed, and lined up the "supporting" walls between the bathroom and "our room". The hallway will offer the privacy for the end room that opens onto the garden, and at the same time it can be seen as the master with en-suite... not that we will use it for that. The location of the bathroom is and has always been awkward to get to, requiring a long walk... but at least there will be TWO... but I may very well continue to place the door off the living room and not the hall due to wishing to make the access easier for guests and the 3 bedrooms it serves. All this does bear resemblance to the original layout, but should stick with what works and not fight this awkward house too much. The additional bonus is it is the minimum building cost and effort entailed. I believe it scratches some itches in regards to better bedroom sizes, segregating the placement of bathrooms a little more, and the future flexibility of moving the living area towards the garden end of the house....See Morebrowners1974
9 years agobrowners1974
9 years ago
PROGranite Transformations Hinckley & Market H'Boro.
9 years agoHi
We also have an Edwardian property ( see picture ) and have a gravel driveway which we think suits the property and easy to maintain.
Any questions please get in touch.
willowmead