Struggling with terminology

4 years ago

Ok, so my wife and I are in the process of buying a new house and are looking to make a few minor modifications. Trouble is, we‘ve seen a few things on here we’d like to do but we’re not quite sure on how to describe those things or what kind of supplier / trade we’d need to help us do it.

The first is this his kind of ceiling lighting, where there’s almost a ’shelf’ around the perimeter of the ceiling with uplighters built in.

Country Home Kent · More Info

Then we’ve got curtains that run wall to wall and appear to run completely flush to the ceiling.

Ratho, The Elliot · More Info

We also love this kind of herringbone flooring, but haven’t seen anything with eother grout or a grout effect between the wood. Where could we find this?

Stunning Bathroom with Vola Fittings & Beautiful Details · More Info

Finally, we’d like to have a TV above the fireplace but recessed into the wall. How would we do that, and who would do it?

Warm Tones · More Info

Sorry for the noob questions, but any advice appreciated!

Featured Answer

PRO

Sara Slade Interiors

4 years ago

Hi Jonny,

The ceiling is a called a coffered ceiling with LED lights installed within, you will need a good electrician along with a builder or carpenter to install the dropped section. It can be quite costly in man hours!

The lined curtains you are looking at are on a WAVE heading which is offered by many curtain companies, the use a Silent Gliss 3840 white track, which you have to buy with the Wave 80mm gliders to create the effect you cans in the image you have shared. The track is fitted at multiple points along the length. We call this a wall-to-wall curtain.

Have a look at one of our projects for a shoshone we did a couple of years ago to see exactly the same type of curtains -

http://saraslade.co.uk/home-page/collection/beacon-rise-apartment-cambridge/

With regards to the Chevron flooring you are looking at, there are a few companies that do this. Amtico do this and provide the grout lines in a number of different colours -

https://www.amtico.com/flooring/products/laying-patterns/designers-choice/pleat/

As do https://www.karndean.com

Or there are many porcelain tile companies who will do a wood effect plank in the chevron shape , for example

https://totaltiles.co.uk/chevron-oak-mix-wood-effect-porcelain-floor-tile.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIx-zD_Y3b5wIVRLTtCh1nzAFbEAYYAyABEgL2M_D_BwE

For your TV, we have recently completed exactly this for our client. We had our carpenter build the structure to then enable us to create a recessed section, the whole thing was then plastered and decorated. Be mindful of the fact you may want a larger TV in the future and creating a space for a specific TV could be limiting.

I hope this helps!

Sara

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Comments (19)

Sam Potter
4 years ago
The curtains at that height could just be on a track mounted high on the wall, in the same way that tracks are installed above window frames, just higher. But there are other more sophisticated options. Get a curtain specialist on for a discussion/quote, though a simple tracker is pretty easy to install. If you can hang a heavy picture, you can hang a curtain.

The wood floor is actually wood effect tiles. You'd need a tiler for this.

And the TV isn't built into the wall, a false wall is built to make it appear that way. A joiner, then plasterer, then decorator can do this for you. With an electrician or TV installation specialist for the TV.

The false ceiling with led lighting would involve the same trades as the TV wall.

You can also hire a general builder who will sort out the separate trades themselves, but make sure they've done similar jobs before. Ask for photos and ideally get personal recommendations from friends and family.

If it's a high end job you might want to involve a interior designer, who may also be able to project manage it all for you.

Good luck. Post some 'before' pics on here and you'll probably gets lots of free advice from specialists too.
rachelmidlands
4 years ago
No specialist I’m afraid but I think that ceiling effect is referred to as a dropped ceiling or coffer. More info here: https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/how-to-create-beautiful-lighting-with-drop-ceilings-and-coffers-stsetivw-vs~69553461 Basically a false ceiling built for decorative and lighting purposes. In the US I believe they use the term ceiling soffit. Be sure to include a lip on the inside so the led light strips are diffused.
The curtains are almost certainly wave headed pleat and you get tracks that can be wall and ceiling mounted for them. If you’re planning a dropped ceiling then you could include a recessed curtain track for a really neat finish.
As said the wooden floor pictured is a wood effect porcelain tile but you might be able to get Lvt flooring to give a similar effect.
For the tv and fire a false wall is built out to accommodate the recesss, fire and electrics. I would certainly advise a professional to do this as I wouldn’t like the thought of melting electrics😮.
For this kind of work I agree with Sam Potter that getting an interior designer on board could be well worth it to coordinate things bring in the right trades.
Hope this helps a little and best of luck with your new home.
Victoria
4 years ago
There are special covings you can buy that let you run an LED strip above them.

https://www.oracdecor.com/en_gb/coving-lighting
Victoria
4 years ago
Curtains are just on a thin ceiling mounted track. You can also hide this behind coving.
Emma Lamb
4 years ago
Another option for your curtains is a track/pole from a company called Bradley's. I'll find a pic and post it for you. But they must be tracked for a wave curtain. You will need to get a curtain specialist in to work out the spacing etc and have them made to exacting measurements.
jonny63 thanked Emma Lamb
Emma Lamb
4 years ago
Here's an example for you.
jonny63
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks everyone for the information and advice - some really, really helpful stuff there and I mean it when I say I appreciate the time taken to help.

Just another question relating to the false wall. If we were to do this, we would definately want to integrate a fire within it, although possibly something more traditional with a fire surround. Are there any fire risks to be aware of with integrating a heating appliance within a wooden structure? Presumably, if we wanted to go down the route of a wood burner then we would have to build more of a brick 'false chimney breast' (the property has no chimney)?

For a wooden false wall, what sort of build cost would we be looking at?

Thanks!
Emma Lamb
4 years ago
If you went down the route of a wood burner you would need likely to a) use metal studs for the breast, but not necessary depending on the cavity size/distance from the flue, b) pink boards and c) insulated 916 grade stainless steel flue pipe sections. you get double walled ones for this purpose, probably a good idea to fill the cavity with iso wool/Rockwool as that doesn't burn either. Maybe a couple of grand, it depends on what fire you buy and materials used and how big it's going to be. It'll probably be going up 2 floors I would guess. Little disclaimer...my OH used to be a builder and fitted a flue and wood burner in our house. So thought it best he type the reply. ;-)
jonny63
Original Author
4 years ago
Ha ha - thanks Emma! As it happens, Rockwool happen to be a client of mine so I'll see if I can score a discount!
PRO
Law Unto Ren Designs
4 years ago
Hi Jonny

Depending on what size the space is you would be looking at it could cost between £300 - £500 to create this 'wooden false wall' this is referred to as stud wall/boxing. Essentially this would be done by a carpenter who would use wood batons (studs) and plasterboard fill-in around the space for the TV.

An open fire place needs an actual brick chimney and if you wanted a wood burning stove with any kind or surround this would need to be brick. You cannot build wood around a fire at all and you cannot build around a stove without a brick barrier between its flume and any surround as the heat will warp the wood and destroy your electrical appliances.

To put a fire of any kind you need planning and a certified builder/carpenter and a certified installer for the type of fire place/stove you're putting in.

Whatever you decided you will need a brick barrier which the stud will need to be fixed to. It makes sense to do this slightly bigger than the TV you currently have and stud up to the edge of your TV. That way if you change the TV later you can cut into the stud wall and make it bigger relatively easily.

In reference to the recessed curtains you can also use a metal recessed track that can be easily hidden in the ceiling. This will give a much cleaner look.

https://www.justpoles.com/Curtain-Tracks---Valance-Tracks-/Metal-Curtain-Tracks-Uncorded/Renaissance-Metal-Project-Double-Curtain-Track--Recess-Fixed--White__p-86-89-25844.aspx

The flooring is not Amtico it is a wood effect porcelain tile in a chevron cut/style - porcelain tiles are great if you are doing under floor heating. You will find it very difficult to find an Amtico flooring with a grout line effect that comes in a light colour like the one you've got pictured.
PRO
Law Unto Ren Designs
4 years ago
You can also get recessed options for blinds and other styles (except ring) of curtains. Here is a picture so you can get an idea of how this is done and the finished product.
jonny63
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Thanks again for the advice. I'm definately steering away from a wood burner - it sounds like a lot of hassle, effort and cost to make it work. In Googling false walls, I actually came across the below. Slightly more modern than I had in mind, but retains a bit more of a traditiona / country feel with the log inserts at the bottom. Looks a lot less hassle.
jonny63
Original Author
4 years ago
One question that's always bugged me, is how you manage to hide all of the wires for the TV and connect it to Sky boxes, etc. I sure there's a really simple answer to this, but it's always baffled me.

Similarly, how easy is it to change hardware in the future thereafter? Thanks again!
PRO
Law Unto Ren Designs
4 years ago
If you put the TV somewhere else you would not need a brick barrier for a stove like this.

But if you want the TV above you will need a brick barrier and still need planning. Here is some faux wood burning stoves which are actually electric insets.

Electric inset fires have the benefit of being able to control the temperature by remote and don't need you to buy and store wood. You can also still have a log store as a decorate feature to make the fire place look more authentic.
PRO
Law Unto Ren Designs
4 years ago
*decorative
PRO
Sara Slade Interiors
4 years ago
Hey Jonny,

If the wall is built as we have done previously the wiring is all inside, we have always put a discreet access panel in for any future proofing. I saw a comment about a Bradley track but this is more expensive than the track I mentioned, although it does look very smart.
PRO
Law Unto Ren Designs
4 years ago
You don't need an access panel, you can just change the AV plate for one with more sockets or add a new one. You just run additional wiring through the false wall as you did the first time.

This is what it would look like behind the TV
PRO
Law Unto Ren Designs
4 years ago
Or you can go for other options like this:

https://www.sparkswarehouse.com/products/kb-netbrush4g-4g-letterbox-style-faceplate?variant=1233235267&currency=GBP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwqT65dve5wIVieFRCh3ylweHEAkYASABEgJ2FPD_BwE