Fascinating to watch this transformation. I would suggest removing the wall from floor to cill level from below the old living room window opening to create a more open plan and wider feeling space. Obviously this would mean moving the radiator as well but it may help with the flow from living to dining room (difficult to tell if this is definitely the case without floor plans so this is an assumption). It would also make the living room much lighter.

Hello folks! I haven't disappeared, just had whooping cough (yes, seriously!) with a garnish of gastric flu and torn muscles from coughing fits. So that has severely impeded our efforts (hubby's had it too, and it lasts around 3mths so we're not out of the woods yet!) with our new house (which I now describe as semi-derelict before we bought it) and so had no time/mental energy to properly get updated on what's been happening with you guys. Truth be told, I've started reading a few times & either got interrupted (mummy-ness) or fallen asleep, without finishing. I've missed this, but u guys, esp Monica & RoRo have been in my thoughts. Where to start?! I think I've taken in all that's happened in this thread since I went AWOL but might have missed some finer points. Monica, I'm so sorry to hear what u'v been through, with the RTA & the cowboy tiling / wallpapering on top! (& work always picks worst times to intensify - I just started on a Task Force this week, when shd really still be on sick leave). I mean, a marker?! Seriously?! Isn't it common knowledge / common sense to use a lightly applied pencil? Sounds like u r doing best thing by looking at it as a learning experience. Still, he deserves an honest review somewhere. Anyway, onwards and upwards, I'll look at the lounge link when I've finished this post. BTW I LOVE your artwork. Vivacious, bright and deep - is there an insight there? ;-) And RoRo, wow you've got a lot on your plate! We've been so frustrated with being held back on our projects by health, but u have taken on a bigger scale of project altogether, sounds like it's verging on municipal! U guys inspire me. :-) Thinking of starting a thread on our living room, it's the most 'civilised' room of the house so far, but I didn't take the north-facing position into account when I decided on a colour scheme of turquoise, grey and lime. (Doh!) So far I've made some headway on a concept I'm excited by, but it needs some tweaking so it doesn't feel 'cold' with the blue tone of the natural light. Are you up for sharing some of your thoughts on this??? Hope so. :-)

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the comments and input, it was great to see so many of you get involved! The competition is now closed, and any winners should have received an email from us confirming their prize so get checking. Happy New Year and here's to the next one!

Houzz competition I know the deadline has passed but I would like for you to see this. (The photos are not uploading properly) As embarrassing as it has been for myself and my mum; over the course of my life, I have lived in such a beautiful neighbourhood in the Blackfriars area for over 22 years and the only renovation or decoration that was done was in our kitchen by the council which was lovely. We also got a really nice gentleman to fix our blinds in the kitchen for us however only one side was done because he mentioned that the measurement was not accurate for the other window area so for months one side has been an open view which at times I don't mind, but everyone loves privacy from time to time. When it comes to the rest of the house - 1. The corridor - the walls are damaged by paint and mould so the walls feel quite rough with cracks which at times Ive hurt myself with small scratches... the corridor is sky blue but I also imagined my corridor in a yellow/magnolia colour with white borders and my mum even bought the paint but till now it was not done. 2. The doors in the corridor that lead to each room are off white and the doors don't shut properly anymore. 3. The toilet is separate to the bathroom it's really old and green colour is very boring, the toilet itself is faulty, the wall between the toilet and bathroom by the window is quite thin so it has ripped a little bit. The pipes are cracked and the mould is showing and I was thinking to get the council to wrap it up in some kind of polystyrene wrap. 4. The bathroom has ABESTOS around the window area as the ventilation is so bad and because the window is high up it is quite hard to reach to always open and close it. The bathroom was repainted white at one point but the colour didn't stay for long. Now it's mouldy and black. The pipes are bad and mouldy and the sink area is cracked around. I had an idea of painting it with the theme white and gold accessories or blue white and gold (which my mum purchased blue paint) but we never got around to doing anything. The bath itself sounds like it's about to fall through and many times there have been leaks downstairs into my neighbours flat. The council just used a cardboard/wooden barriers to cover the bath. 5. The front room had wallpaper before and was painted over. Now, on one side of the room a little bit of the wall paper is coming off very randomly as if it's shrinking (I don't remember taking off anything). The carpet was taken off completely but nothing was done to it. This area has become store space too (due to clutter and books). We have some nice brown/gold curtains which I visualised my living room to have a boutique type elegant brown/gold/cream theme. 6. Bedroom no. 1 has not been dealt with for years and so it has become a clutter room for clothes as well as the corridor. The room colour is sky blue but would love for this room to be an elegant green theme something classy for a mother. 7. Bedroom no. 2 is a baby pink room with the intention of painting the room white with splashes of colour. I started taking some things out and taking out my bed area but it's not complete as you can see by the photos. Overall this interior design is definitely needed because of how long it has taken for the decor process to be done. This is the conundrum that is needed to be solved.