the one… with a gallery wall

I've made a start on the gallery wall for the dining room.  First thing to do is pull together all of the prints and picture frames I have tucked away in various places around the cottage.  Next thing to do was take over the dining room table.

I want to pull everything together and then work out placement on the table before they go up on the wall.  I'll have to use the sticky tabs with the velcro to put the frames up because the walls are masonite and your regular picture hook don't go in the wall 

I seem to have lots of small frames of various colours and shapes but I will need to look out for larger frames.  I'm thinking of white, black, grey and bronze frames - I just need to a few A4 and larger frames to get started.

I few of the images you can see like the spot shoes is something I found online but I can't remember where I found it and then printed it out at high quality on the printer and then cut down to size.

I've even got a few prints that I've purchased over the years that are still rolled up waiting… and waiting…  I promise to have you up on the wall before the end of the year.

Lisa xo

the one... with the dining room wall

This is a 'before' photo of the middle room of the cottage before I moved in - can you see the lovely green entry on the left.  Thank goodness that's gone... what was I thinking??

The space was a nothing space really.  A room to walk through but it had no real purpose.

Now the space contains the kitchen - on the left is the main part of the kitchen and on the right is the desk, pantry and soon the fridge will be in its new home.

At the very end of this space is the dining room and I'm thinking about painting that wall at the far end in a dark grey/almost black.  I have a large gold/silver mirror which would be a real feature and bring extra light into the space.

I've been over on pinterest (of course) looking at different options.

I had a little play around in Photoshop to give me an idea (remembering the walls and ceiling are white and the doorway on the right has been opened up.

I quite like the dramatic look but I'm not sure if my dark brown dining table and chairs with cream suede cushions will work.

Oh well something else for me to think about!

Just a quick thought.... if I go with the dark wall I would go with the white tiles with grey grout in the kitchen.  The grey gloss tile would clash with the feature wall.

Decisions...

Lisa xo

the one... with a wall be gone

Wall be gone!

The project of removing the internal wall that separates the lounge and dining rooms has been on my to-do list since I moved back into the cottage.

The doorway was originally a large framed opening and I'd say a previous owner closed it in and hung a door to create a second bedroom.

I removed the door some time ago and it now sits in the garage while I think of something else for it to do.

The first job was to remove the skirting board from both sides before removing the door frame trim.  These both cleared the way to remove the plasterboard (actually I don't know what material the wall was made from but I can tell you it was clearly stamped to say it didn't contain asbestos - good to know).  I did have to snap the board into lots of small pieces to fit into the garage bin.

I'm now left with the frame which unfortunately I can't seem to remove on my own.  I've put the call in to Dad for some muscle power.

What a difference removing the wall has made, the space feels open and brings more light into the dining room and new kitchen.

Lisa xo 

the one... with the mess

This is how I have been living for the past few days.

I've had a big weekend of moving furniture from one end of the room to the other.  This was all done because the kitchen is about to happen.

Yep, I got the call late last week to say it will be delivered on Friday and then installed on Saturday.

SOOOO there is lots do between now and then.

First, I started taking things out of the hutch and placed them in the kitchen.  The desk was moved down beside the dining table and the hutch and pantry were moved away from walls and into the centre of the room - there really isn't anywhere for them to go, unless I take them out of the cottage.

I then moved on to remove the skirting boards and wall trims from where the new cabinets will go, otherwise the new cabinets won't sit flush against the wall.

The history of the cottage has it built with recycled material which I love and it always surprises me what you find when you remove things like the trims.  Underneath trims I found several different colours of paint, including a mauve (being a purple girl, I loved this discovery).

The new kitchen space was not the only room to be attacked over the weekend.  I then moved on to the laundry.

The laundry now has a newly painted floor, cabinets and a bench top.  All waiting patiently for the plumber to do his thing.

You see all the work actually flows together.  The old kitchen currently holds the washing machine which needs to moved and refitted in the laundry and the existing plumbing needs to disconnected and refitted in the new space.  With the plumber coming to do the kitchen, I figured I would get him to fit out the laundry at the same time.

The kitchen countdown has begun!

Lisa xo