It’s been a while since we spent a LOT of money on this house, and it’s time we did so.
Our floors are in dire need of some love. The previous owners skimped on everything they did with the house, and the tiling was not properly done at all. We have so many broken tiles in the lounge and passage area, and it’s looking pretty horrific and we cannot hide them anymore.
The kids bathroom and guest bathroom are also a little shabby. The toilet and basin are ancient, and replacing just the loos will save us money on our water bill!
For the last few weeks, since we’ve decided to renovate, I’ve been building a new board on Pinterest so that we can quickly show the builder what we’re wanting.
Basically, this is what we’re planning…
In the lounge, dining room and passage to lighten and brighten and modernise:
- Replace the tiled floors with screed
- Paint the walls throughout the house a grey/beige colour very close to white
- Paint the ceilings  as well as the dark wooden beams white (throughout the house) so it’ll look similar to the first photo.
- Replace the light fittings in the entire house because the light in our house is non-existant at the moment.
- Replace all the inside doors with more modern doors and handles.
- We may also replace the sliding doors in the lounge
In the kids and guest bathroom:
- Replace the loo and basin.. and all other accessories (I definitely want a big round mirror in the bathrooms).
- Replace the light fittings
- Tile the walls with white subway tiles. Here lies one of the dilemmas… whether to tile the shower area with blue/turquoise mosaics orstick to the white.
- And the other dilemma is the floors in the bathroom, we can’t decide between screed or tile
I was at home today because I’m not well, and the builder came to chat to me about timing etc. He can start next week!! Holy moly!! I better get my ass in gear and start buying stuff! We can’t even decide on some things, let alone find them. So we’re going to be spending every extra hour scouring websites and shops!
There is a problem though… looks like we’re going to be homeless for 2 weeks while the floors get done, but there’s no easy way around this. Our floors are so bad, that the tiling has to be removed, and the base resceeded anyway… and the colour hardener we want will take 2 weeks to set properly. So that’s another thing to find 😉
We do have another problem… our pipes in the bathrooms are galvanised, and not copper which means we can’t get the mixers we wanted, and to change the pipes would cost too much and we reckon it’ll be a nightmare with the layout of the house and where the pipes are probably routing! So, we’ll go the easier route and find other fittings rather!
We recently painted and got advise from plascon at design quarter – highly recommend them. Our house is a colour called Plaster and it’s a grayish colour. It’s fantastic!!!
My opinions on ur bathroom: tiles floor and blue mosaic contrast. U didn’t mention a chandelier but that’s always a resounding YES!!!
Good luck, have fun and show is before and after pics!
Agree with the blue mosaics!
LOVE all the pics – I’m going to live vicariously through you 🙂 I love love love spending money on the house – it’s so nice to enjoy the purchase every day.
PS I used to have a thing bookmarked on the perfect grey. But which colour undertones did you want – purple, green, blue?
Probably blue thinking about it.
I love the after effect of renovating but not the process. Hope the builders stick to schedule!
I battle with decision making because everything always seems to look good. The blue mosaic tiles look good and would make a good contrast
I also learnt about galvanised and copper pipes recently!
You’ll stay with us! But what about the dogs?
I have ALWAYS wanted screed flooring in my house – so easy to maintain, clean, etc. When we eventually buy property to build on, I plan on having screed flooring in most of the common living areas and wood in the bedrooms. I do believe screed floors can be VERY cold, though. I’m thinking clever laying of hot water pipes…?
I ache for a home building/decorating project of my own. Probably only because it’s something I’ve never done before… 😛
Good luck! I hope everything goes to plan (and budget!) and that your contractor is a decent, knowledgeable guy!
Love the blue mosiacs and rather go for tiles in the bathrooms – the screeded floors are very slippery if water falls on them and is a risk to fall in bathrooms and kitchens . I think especailly with kids. Plascon has a lovely colour called Tranquil – just off white to the grey/blue side. It changes colour as the light catches it.
I love the screed flooring and the white wooden ceiling beams. It’s going to look fantastic Jeanette!