The one thing this owner was sure about when she and her husband were looking for a bigger home? She didn’t want another Victorian house. ‘I’ve always hankered after a mid-century style house and really thought that’s what we would find when we moved,’ she says.
‘At the time, we were living in a nice area of Brighton, close to a park in a typical property for the area. It was a tall, thin Victorian town house, which was a bit top heavy, with a postage stamp size garden. But, with three boys, we knew that quite soon we’d need more living space inside. Plus a larger garden,’ says the homeowner.
Also on their check list was a village location, a property with four, possibly five bedrooms, and a garage. ‘Our search area was ridiculously large, and we ended up looking at loads of real homes. Nothing felt right, until we saw this one. The house was on the outskirts of a village, in a plot of just under two acres with a wraparound garden. In fact, we knew it was right for us before we walked through the door… despite it being Victorian!’ she says.
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
With the search and purchase finally over, the family were able to move into their new Victorian house, which felt strangely familiar. ‘Although I’d had a hankering for a very different style of property, there was something almost comforting about being in another Victorian house,’ says the homeowner. ‘If felt like our old home, but bigger.’
The new property didn’t need any structural work and they were able to concentrate on getting the interiors exactly as they wanted. ‘The downstairs rooms physically flow easily from one to another,’ the homeowner says.
In the big open-plan living room, two rugs and two pendants are used to zone areas for a more intimate feel. The Mobile chandelier is from West Elm and Multi vintage rug from Louis De Poortere.
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
‘We liked the wood flooring downstairs, but decided to spruce it up by having it resanded and varnished,’ says the owner. At one end of the sitting room, she chose Civic Bee wallpaper by Timorous Beasties, which is a piece of artwork on its own right.
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
The bay area of this room makes the perfect spot for a formal dining table. ‘It was tricky deciding how best to delineate which areas were to be used for what,’ the homeowner says. ‘But in the end we were able to create a dining area at the far end of the sitting room.’
As well as having a different layout from their previous house, this the scale of their new home was much larger. ‘Because we decided to leave most of our furniture behind, we were able to choose the correct scale of furniture for these rooms. We knew what we wanted, but were also able to find similar and cheaper products on eBay. I would say, though, that it’s worth investing in good quality furniture that gets a lot of use,’ she says.
The owner mixed four Wishbone chairs and two Kartell Louis Ghost Armchairs with the Extra Large Conker Dining Table from Loaf. The blind fabric she chose is Shima in Turquoise from Designer’s Guild.
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
This large kitchen is the ideal space for the family to gather. To create a sense of continuity throughout the house, the owner referred to tear sheets from magazines that she’d collected over the years.
‘I realised that just because a scheme has been planned, it doesn’t have to match – it can have a theme of a colour or style,’ she says. And, having already had experience of using stronger colours, she wanted to give this house a more dramatic feel. ‘I’ve always loved strong colours and wanted to try out some more here, particularly from a blue palette,’ she says. The blue touches add interest and energy to the grey kitchen ideas.
Geometric tiles give the Shaker units a modern edge. The bar stools are from a selection at Rockett St George and the Concrete Hanging Lights with Gold interior from Gant.
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
In the main bedroom, the walls are painted in Peignoir Estate Emulsion from Farrow & Ball. The floorboards were painted white to add to the airy feel in here with a sheepskin rug from Habitat to make sure it feels cosy underfoot.
Image credit: Robert Sanderson
The homeowners liked the bathroom as it was, so didn’t feel the need to change the pink bathroom ideas. For a similar coloured bath, try the Duke Blue range at Victorian Plumbing.
The house is now finished, and the experience has made the couple feel a little more confident to be bolder with colour and furniture choices. ‘If we ever moved again, I’d be tempted to go even bolder,’ says the homeowner. ‘I might even be tempted to use a green palette next time, but if history is anything to go by, the property will probably still end up being Victorian again!’
Original feature by Penny Botting
The post Discover the sparkle of a detached Victorian house in the country appeared first on Ideal Home.
Is your bathroom a little lacklustre? Does it need a little bit of love? Do you want to know how to paint a bath? Then get ready to become your very own DIY designer, as we talk you through how to transform your bath in just an afternoons work.
Our bathrooms have a hard task to fulfil, they need to be practical, they need to be comfortable but they need to be attractive too. We use them everyday without fail, and as we’re spending more time at home than ever, they are understandably feeling the pressure to stay looking fresh.
One way to show your bathroom some love, it a complete colour refresh and there are plenty of bathroom colour ideas you could choose from. But if your walls don’t need the attention and it’s that lump of metal in your bathroom that does, then painting your bath could be the ideal solution.
“Colour blocking is a simple, contemporary way to introduce colour to a small space, without it being overwhelming. Pair contrasting shades for an interesting combination and a striking finish that really frames the features of a space. The bath itself is a wonderful place to add a burst of colour,” says Ruth Mottershead, Creative Director at Little Greene.
Image credit: Future Plc/Colin Poole
Now we promise it’s easy to transform your tub, but don’t go grabbing that paint brush just yet, before you’ve read through our guide of what you’ll need first. Bathrooms get hot and steamy so you want to make sure you’re using the right materials to cope with the moisture and humidity in the room.
Whether you have a classic freestanding, cast iron bath, or a fitted, plastic one, both can be painted and both can benefit from a lovely lick of paint. Ideally you would paint your bath before being fitted and plumbed into your bathroom, but they can also be painted retrospectively too.
Before you start, put down your newspaper or plastic sheeting to protect your floors. Next check the surface of your bath for any dirt, dust or scuffs. It might just need a quick clean with a damp cloth, or if it’s been previously painted, a quick sand with a fine paper.
Patrick O’Donnell, Brand Ambassador for Farrow & Ball advises, “If you have a cast iron claw foot bath, you can give it an easy makeover but don’t skimp on the preparation! Firstly, sand back the original paint colour and then wash clean with warm, soapy water.”
Using a good quality paint brush, apply a thin layer of primer all over the outside surfaces of the bath you want to paint. With roll top baths, just paint up to the ‘lip’ but not over it and for baths without a lip, just paint the outside to the edges, being careful not to paint inside.
Image credit: Farrow & Ball
Once your primer has dried for at least 4 hours, you can apply your chosen paint colour. Patrick advises, ‘”Apply one coat of top colour in your chosen colour and finish – we would recommend Modern Eggshell for the task. Allow to dry as per manufacturer’s instructions and give the bath another light sand with fine grade paper. Apply a second coat and leave to dry.”
It’s personal preference whether you paint your feet in the same colour, or paint them white to match the inside of your tub, or even another shade entirely! This is your chance to get creative, and as you’ve seen from our simple guide above, it’s so easy to paint your bath, that you can change the colour whenever it takes your fancy.
Image credit: Little Greene
Depending of what sort of finish you want, we’d recommend an eggshell paint. This will give you a soft, low sheen, thats not too shiny. If you prefer the more glossy look, then opt for a paint with a mid to high sheen, like a satin or gloss paint.
Ruth Mottershead, Creative Director at Little Greene, offers this advice, “There are two bath types which we are often asked about decorating the exterior surface of – cast iron & fibreglass. Application of paint is the same for both, but priming and preparation are understandably subtly different. If in doubt, use a small magnet to check if your bath is plastic or cast iron (the magnet will stick to cast iron). Prime and undercoat to form a tenacious bond with exposed metal and compatible existing coatings, then finish with two coats of our Intelligent Eggshell or Intelligent Gloss paint.”
Yes, absolutely! It’s super easy to paint your bath, even if it’s already plumbed into your bathroom. Just make sure to remember it’s all in the preparation and also its worth investing in a really good quality paint brush to give you the best finish possible.
If your bath isn’t freestanding, but is fitted instead, you can still have fun painting the front panel. Whether it’s a smooth plastic front, a wooden panelled front, or even a tiled surface, all of these can be painted to give your bathroom a new look and feel.
“Fibreglass bath panels are typically produced with a gel coat finish. To ensure adequate adhesion a specialist primer should be used before finishing with your colour choice. Make sure bathroom door is left open during all painting and drying stages to provide ventilation and correct drying conditions, ” says Ruth.
The post How to paint a bath- a step by step guide appeared first on Ideal Home.
