Victorian knocked through living and dining room design same or diff?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi everyone,

I am loving this site and have had some excellent help already! We recently purchased out first home; a big Victorian semi; that unfortunately stank up a storm thanks to some big soggy collies, some damp and chain smoking.

The list of decorating/renovating priorities fell to bits as a result as we have spent the past few weeks ripping up carpets, stripping walls and disinfecting like it's going out of fashion.

One bone of contention (I have many) for me is that the wall that would have originally separated the living and dining room has been removed to create a more open plan space (it had glass doors for a time, but the previous owners removed those as well).

It's currently "liveable", and by that I mean it has a relatively inoffensive paint on wallpaper that we can just freshen up with a new coat of magnolia now it's been sugar soaped and I've started removing the floral wallpaper that I so hated and we have bare floorboards (decent condition but not yet sanded/treated).

The issue I'm having, however, is that because I'm now seeing it as one big room it's slipped majorly down the to do list to a "some time in the future when we get some money". In reality, what we'll probably need to do is sand and treat the floorboard, skim/replaster the walls, remove gas fire in one and poorly blocked up fire opening in the other and then think about decorating, but instead we're thinking about "for the time being" type decorating.

However, my more long term question is about whether you would treat it as one big room decorating wise, two separate rooms, or try and have something different but matching (ie, different shades of the same colour). I'd like painted feature walls in both, but probably on the wall opposite the chimney breasts/alcoves as the colours might then seem more separate?

I'm probably planning too far in advance, but at the minute I'm looking at timescales/budgets etc and it's hard to do that without even a vague "vision" of what I want.

Featured Answer

mrsmcee74

8 years ago

Absolutely get it colour matched, my friend just used a Dulux match and it looks great. As others have said, I would treat the two rooms as one space with flooring and paint. If you wanted to go down the feature wall route you could always use wallpaper but choose different complementary colours in the same pattern to define the spaces.

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Lyndsey P
Original Author
8 years ago
Pictures:
Lyndsey P
Original Author
8 years ago
Anyone?
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Carole Wood
8 years ago
I would have to treat both rooms as one. I currently have a similar arrangement but have painted the arch between the rooms in the "feature" colour (in my case Pale powder F&B which is a subtle contrast) with matching chimney breasts. The other walls are all ivory. You may be more adventurous! You could have a large rug in the sitting end which would make it different and maybe blinds/shutters at one end and curtains at the other. Lots of options. Good luck.
minnie101
8 years ago
I'd treat it as one room so same floor, curtains and majority of ŵalls. You can use different accent colours, so choose colours that complement each other ie red and green. You can then tie it in by using rugs which have a little of the same colour for example (will also help zone each area). If you are using pattern also make sure the patterns complement. For the walls, you could use a darker shade on the alcoves and maybe a wallpaper for the dining end? Personally I'd probably choose a neutral for the walls as its then easier to choose accent colours!
Lyndsey P thanked minnie101
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GuigsART
8 years ago
Hi.

Have you ever considered a real interesting eye catching piece of art work to really brighten up an area I think a select piece of art would really make the space stand out, add interest, colour, texture and add a great talking point to the room....

Please check out my website if like the idea and please get in contact, commission work is also welcomed so if you like a particular style I can do in a select colour palette and size but with this it can only be done as a original piece and not a print.....but all prints i can do to the same size or smaller than my original paintings, so lots of options.

Www.GuigsART.co.uk
lorrainert
8 years ago
A former house of mine was similar. But it was painted red and yellow! And the carpets a carnival of brown swirls....We reinstated bi-fold doors but still treated it as one room. same flooring, paint colours, lightfittings, window treatments and even wood feet to the furniture. It was much easier than trying to ensure things in each room didn't clash and carrying around swatches. Good luck with it all! And please post photos when it's done. Even if it's in months or years.
Lyndsey P thanked lorrainert
Lyndsey P
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks all. It looks like it'll be another white room then haha. At the minute everything seems to just be getting white on decent walls and lumpy bare plaster on the rest....what I wouldn't give for lumpy bare plaster to be a trend for 2016!
Jonathan
8 years ago
Again I would treat this as one room. However magnolia and white are not your only neutral options and may not be the best with your floor.
I would try to find a grey with brown in it, or a pale colour with a green tone. Two examples would be F&B hardwick white and old white (neither of which seem white).
For interest you could add a darker colour to the chimney breasts.
Lyndsey P
Original Author
8 years ago
Do you know if F&B do tester pots? We can't afford to buy F&B, but may be able to stretch to having it mixed (or mixing something similar ourselves using cheap paints).
minnie101
8 years ago
They do testers. Take it to a Johnstone Leyland decorating centre and I think they can match either identical or close enough. The finish won't be the same though if you wanted the chalky finish. Or alternatively look at craig and Rose's chalk paint period range. Some of the colours are very similar to f and b
Lyndsey P
Original Author
8 years ago
I think we'll be probably go with a soft grey like in the photo above when we get round to doing the room and than perhaps have a darker toned grey on feature walls.
mrsmcee74
8 years ago
Have a look at Dulux Dusted Moss in that case, it comes in 6 different shades (Dusted Moss 2 very similar to F&B Cornforth White).
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Ensign Accessories
8 years ago
Treat as one room. Is there any way that you could knock down the two small walls either side, and then it would be one room, and would look more co-herent. They look as though they are just internal walls from the photos. I also think you need to have a concrete plan. Write down everything that has to be done, and in which order, and start on a room, and stay in that room until it is finished. It is better to have 3 rooms finished, than 5 unfinished rooms. Also desperately hoping that you were joking regarding magnolia colour paint. It is really the worse colour. There are so many beautiful colours around. Again, with each room, choose your furnishings together, rather than add a bit here and there. Good luck.
Lyndsey P
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks Ensign!

The magnolia comment was just about a temporary measure as the majority of the room is already magnolia and we have some leftover from recent touch ups to our rental. Definitely won't be magnolia long term.

We originally had a room by room plan, but got waylaid as we had to rip out carpets and wallpaper from upstairs immediately to get rid of smells. Downstairs we haven't touched the kitchen/utility, although we have had to strip both halls, again due to smell.

With the exception of dealing with the floor, our bedroom will be finished first as it doesn't need any tradesman input. Everything else will have to be done in bits and pieces as and when we can afford to get trades in to plaster/ deal with pointing outside causing damp and so on.
Lauren
8 years ago
One other recommendation would be to add trim/architraves around the opening, it'll help it feel much more cohesive and intentional, especially in a period property.

In our house there's a large arch separating the living and dining room, it was part of the original property rather than a knock through but adding flexible trim round to frame it made such a huge difference to how it's integrated with the rest of the space now.

Victorian knocked through living and dining room design same or diff?

mrsmcee74

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Lyndsey P
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Victorian knocked through living and dining room design same or diff?

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