Suggestions for renovations
25 days ago
last modified: 25 days ago
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Living in tiny studio in London. Any ideas to renovate cheaply?
Comments (8)Let there be light. It does depend on the look you want. But artex eeck! If you have high ceilings you can put in a false ceiling and put in downlights. LED strips are amazing and you can highlight the smallest area. Go for daylight bulbs too. Mirrors also reflect the light back into the room. As for deco, If you want to get at least 8 people in. Something modular and that clears the floor. Think Japanese, to zone off areas when there are a group of people use screens, free standing or drop from the ceiling, from the void where you have the downlights. Where there are stud walls you can create storage in the stud voids. Choose bright and white colours. If still not sure support up and coming young designers by giving the brief to the amazing, St Martins, London Guildhall, or London College of Printing, Westminster .... Have fun !...See MoreRenovation Renovating a kitchen with difficult layout
Comments (8)Hi Ingrid, I really like the way it looks. Not sure if it's the wood panelling in the kitchen or the cosiness of living room. However, I'm guessing the house is old, and given all the blankets in the living room, you mum sitting in doors with a jumper on, the log burner, and electric radiator I'm going to assume it gets very cold in there! So I would reconsider going open plan. I think, unless you have a healthy budget for thermal upgrades, the log burner will struggle to heat the bigger space and electric heating will work out expensive. I would instead just replace the pocket doors with bigger ones so that your mum can have them open in warmer weather and close off the living room in colder weather. I would flip the kitchen door so that it opens into the entrance or replace it with a pocket door. Then I would swap the dining area over with the sink area, by raising the window ledge slightly, giving you mum a much more efficient L shaped kitchen. The fridge I would bring round to the pocket wall door and I would put the sink under which ever of the two windows has the better views. I think this layout would allow your mum to have a nice open plan kitchen/diner/living area in warmer weather and keep the cosy living room in colder weather. It would be achievable quite easily on a modest budget....See MoreNeed Suggestion , comment on new Renovation Plan
Comments (8)Love the revised plans! Personally, I’d be worried about heating such a vast open space, especially with a wall of glazing. I would consider including an option that would allow the family area to be opened up or closed off the with some partitions or maybe a log burner? I agree with Jonathan, I think the family room is large enough to accommodate a play area for the kids, just need to zone separate areas with storage, rugs, etc. If you bring the sofas in closer to the dining area the kids can have a play area with storage running along the lounge/family wall. Maybe consider reducing the base units in the utility room to just a straight run of units against the window? You’d have more room to manoeuvre, have better access to the washer /dryer and a little bit of space to hang up items that can’t go in a dryer. Can’t quite make out the measurements but maybe a tall 30/40cm cleaning cupboard in a corner, baby Belfast sink in the middle and washer and dryer either side. Wildcard - laundry hatch from the upstairs landing to the utility!...See More1960s open tread staircase renovation suggestions please
Comments (14)I agree with you 100%. Design is all well and good but if it doesn’t function well then it soon loses its appeal and for me if it means more cleaning then forget it! The images on the blog look great though I notice that the treads are also ply. Like you I am not entirely convinced ply will work with teak. I think it would be a shame to paint the teak so could you do the reverse of what you propose, keep the teak and have painted the rails? Another consideration is painted rails will stand up to wear and tear much better than painted treads. Wumis suggestion to use metal is good though I would prefer something softer such as laser cut metal panels which come in all sorts of patterns. The coppery colour of Corten steel might look good. They would also create patterns from the light shining through from the roof light. Good lighting might be another consideration. Box in the treads and use strip LED lights hidden under the treads. Not quite the same but once the children are grown you could remove the risers. These could be painted to match the rails. I expect the teak is slathered in a hard varnish that crazes and scratches easily and cannot be repaired. It would be nice to take it back to the wood and finish it in something that is easier to maintain. I used Sikkins on new oak window frames which was a doddle to maintain. Mind you it won’t be so much of a doddle to strip the varnish off the teak! A job not for the faint hearted but, none the less, worthwhile....See More- 24 days ago
Thank you for the suggestions on this, I like the idea of having a separate lounge and a utility, and the idea of the sliding doors. But I am no entirely set on having to walk through the utility into the open plan space i.e. kitchen. I have sketch below some alternatives and open to suggestions
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