House with ugly boveda ceilings
mhgoeg
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I am considering buying a house that has many advantages, but I don't like the ugly boveda ceilings (the short wavy brickwork with visible metal beams) in almost every room. It feels like moving into a basement. Any suggestions on how to either make these ceilings flat or otherwise invisible? Personally I don't care much for exposed brick in a house (it's the basement feeling). And to just paint brick white is not very appealing either. I am attaching a SAMPLE PHOTO FOUND ON GOOGLE IMAGES since I don't have a photo of the actual house on hand. Any suggestions?
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Please help us turn this house in a home for Christmas
Comments (45)Hi, there! What a great start to this room and a great friend you are for helping this gentleman. 1) I agree with what others have said about placing the two sofas facing each other perpendicular to the fireplace, with the coffee table in between and turning the rug. 2) I also agree that the artwork is what should go above the fireplace, not the tv. Then I think the tv could go on the wall opposite the fireplace, if there is enough room. But if placing the tv in the room with the artwork above the fireplace is difficult, then the tv could go above the fireplace. 3) It's hard to tell where the chandelier is located, but if possible, I'd swag it to be centered over the coffee table and centered with the fireplace. 4) I'd place a large tufted bench with roll arms and small side table or floor lamp in the bay window. This can easily be moved aside or in front of the fireplace during Christmas to make room for a large Christmas tree. 5) I'd go with a medium to dark grey on the walls, leaving the moulding white and LOVE the idea of the accent color of purple on the fireplace wall. I'd also paint all the radiators in the same color as the walls to "hide" them a bit. (You can also have boxes built around the radiators to make it look like a piece of furniture.) 6) If you move the artwork, you will have a blank space between the wall sconces. If those are permanent fixtures, you could place an assortment of mirrors on this wall arranged like artwork. 7) I would find a nice buffet (maybe something like this: http://www.westelm.com/products/parsons-mirror-console-g199/?pkey=cconsoles-buffet-tables&cm_src=consoles-buffet-tables||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_--_-) to place under the sconces, then you can place the chairs to either side of the buffet. It would be a great counter to have for entertaining purposes, to put out an assortment of appetizers. And a design like this, you don't have to be too concerned with covering up or getting too close to the radiator. And the chairs can be stored to either side, but be brought out into the main area for entertaining. Alternatively, you could place a large decorative floor mirror leaning against the wall between the sconces (with the chairs on either side) and place a nice buffet console table behind the couch across from it. 8) To either side of the fireplace in the "nooks", I would put some wood console tables or cabinets (they don't have to be a matching set) in a deep rich java. On top of those, I'd place a tall buffet table lamp and place either one nice piece of art on the wall above or an arrangement of smaller art. You could also do one piece on one side and an arrangement on the other. 9) I would straighten the back couch cushions to make them look more streamlined and place the accent pillows against the back in somewhat of a line, rather than haphazardly. So, there would be one small accent pillow for each of the back pillows or at least evenly spaced out. Golds and bronzes would also look lovely with the greys and purples and I like the idea above about adding something zebra print, too. You have such great pieces to work it, I think most of it will just take rearranging and adding a few things here and there. Good luck! I would love to see the "after" photos!!!...See MoreCovering an ugly fuse box
Comments (2)You can't go far wrong with mdf, because it's easily painted.. When Electric or Gas meters are close to the floor, you can build a frame around them with battening then clad with mdf and add skirting around that, but make sure you have a removable top or cupboard door at the front, for access. You can also make a similar frame and clad with mdf (if you eyesore is close to the ceiling) where you can go, just about anywhere for the cupboard doors to front it. Make a feature out of it, or make it disappear.. The choice is yours....See MoreHow to make this 1950s house less ugly?
Comments (2)What this house needs is a great front garden. The 'desert' of plain paving makes the house look worse than it is and adds to its flat appearance. A new porch would not solve this, but the addition of greenery, structure and form that a well planned small garden space would give, would transform the look of the house. Innovative solutions need not be high maintenance nor would you have to lose your off-street parking....See MoreHelp to change the front of my ugly 80's (infill) house?
Comments (31)Hi Malley. Thank you for asking my advice! For what it's worth here goes; I agree with you that no extension of the front window is needed, the oak framed porch with A frame exposed, extending further out as per celery girls input with wisteria and box plants looks great. Regarding colour, I'm afraid I disagree about the brown windows, to me they scream 80's developer taste and are very dating and clash with the red. If you are going to go to the expense of replacing the windows to enlarge the apertures I would consider grey or grey/green grey/blue, these will all tone nicely with the red brick, white would be too harsh. Love the idea of the juliette window BTW. Do a search in Houzz for red bricks and grey windows, you will get a lot of images to think about. I'm not sure I agree that adding solar panels to the roof will be an improvement, yes they will break up those tiles, but they are not a thing of beauty are they, could they be on the rear instead? If budget did allow, after you have done your extension, windows etc I would look into the cost of replacing those roof tiles with slate as again I think they are dating, but agree with Daisy that it would probably be expensive and would not increase value on the house. Best of luck!...See More
mhgoeg
7 years ago
PROHal Forsyth
6 months ago
Consider doing a wash treatment on the brick instead of painting. It will lighten the tone of the room and elevate the ceiling while still keeping the detail work of the brick
Kay p
6 months ago
PROHALLETT & Co.
6 months ago
bunnyllg