Okay so I am still keen to do up some old furniture in the French Provincial style. It will save me a lot of money as I have discovered that if it's French Provincial it's expensive to buy brand new : / We have a tiny budget so the cheaper the better. Plus I find that old furniture seems to be built better and I know it will last as it already has. There's also the benefit of it being more environmentally friendly to upcycle!
So anyway I have already started collecting pieces. I'm picking up an 8-seater dining set next weekend. Solid timber and cost half as much as an 8-seater set from a discount furniture store!! This is not the orangey one I talked about in the last post which turned out to have a large, badly repaired crack underneath. Pays to closely examine the furniture you wish to buy when buying secondhand! And I have put a gorgeous bed on lay by at the local City Mission. It was very cheap and will look gorgeous done up:
My plan is to paint it in Limed White quarter strength with Limed White full strength on the little carved details and then lightly distress it. I cannot wait and also cannot believe my luck at find it so cheap! I'll post progress pics when I pick it up.
As I mentioned in my last post I have decided to keep an eye out for furniture to paint up and look nice. In Tasmania it's so hard to buy brand new pieces of French Provincial looking furniture. There's not a lot around and what is around is expensive. You can get it a lot cheaper on the mainland but by the time you freight it here the cost is the same as buying an expensive Tasmanian piece!
So yesterday I ducked down to the local City Mission shop to see what they had. Some of their stuff is brand new and expensive which is not what I was after. However i did find a few really great pieces that I am going to go back in next week and lay by.
One is a large timber table which would seat at least 8 people. It has gorgeous carved legs and they are only asking $120. I reckon it's been looked over by a lot of people due to the fact it's an ugly orange-y pine colour. However with a paint and the top stained I think I can make it look as nice as some of the tables I have been looking at that go for $1500+
The second is a dressing table with mirror. It's pretty ugly superficially but with a lick of paint and some new handles it has a lot of potential.
The third one is a lounge suite. It's already in great nick but it's an emerald green colour which I think is why it hasn't sold. Given our house will be very neutral I think the emerald green might give a nice punch of colour. I'm planning on putting some neutral coloured cushions on it too to help tone down the vibrancy a bit. It's really green! But the fabric is in mint condition and is a lovely soft velvet. The couch, two armchairs and 2 footstools are under $300 which is a bargain given similar lounge sets brand new are in the $4-5k range.
I'll take some before and after photos when I do them up and you can see what you think :) I'm actually quite excited to have some new projects to work on.
Also I have decided to go with light grey curtains and sheers on the windows instead of wooden shutters. I still love the idea of wooden shutters but they are sooooooo expensive. I figure curtains will be a cheaper option for the immediate need of privacy and then later on we can always get wooden shutters.
I know I have been very slack about writing in my blog. I got really busy doing a Cosplay project (our group won the group section at our local convention- yay) and working and kids. Excuses, excuses I know! Mostly I have only being planning our finances lately so not all that interesting. Though a couple of days ago I found another kit home I liked the look of. It was very similar to the one we had chosen except cheaper so I asked for a look at the plans. Turns out the layout was pretty bad though so we are still sticking with the original.
I have found some new paint colours I like though (of course). The new colour I like for the Master Bedroom/WIR/Ensuite is Dulux's French Limestone. I absolutely adore this colour. I am thinking full strength on bottom and full strength and quarter strength stripes above the chair rail. And for the main areas I like the colour Limed White also by Dulux with the same deal of full strength on bottom and full and quarter strength stripes above the chair rail. Very French Provincial colour being a lovely taupe/grey/beige colour.
Most excitingly for me though I have discovered a blog which has gotten me excited about doing up a lot of our furniture to give it a new lease on life and make it fit the new house. I had forgotten how much I used to love it until this lovely woman's blog inspired me. It's called Lilyfield Life and is well worth a look. Lot's of gorgeous furniture that she has painted up and plenty of great tips to do it yourself. So hopefully if I can find the time and money I will be able to do some before and after photos for you of some of our furniture :)
It's hard to know exactly how the bedrooms will be decorated entirely as the kids will have some input too (I imagine the floor will also become storage judging from their current room). However they will have the same stripes on the walls as we will in our Master Bedroom except instead of grey and white they will have grey and a colour of their. My eldest has picked British Paints Hot Pop Blue and my middle son has picked Hot pop Green. I've chosen these light fittings from Ivory & Deene; still provincial looking but simpler:
They will both use their current beds which are bunks but can be separated into single beds. We will separate them and then I am planning on sanding them back and painting the frames white:
I also have two little identical side cupboards that I am planning to sand and paint white with striped doors for the boys bedside tables.
Lastly for now, I've given them some pictures of rugs to look at and this is the one they both wanted which comes in both the blue and green which works nicely. It's from Rugs Direct
:
I'm going to do the master bedroom in two parts, so this half will be the actual bedroom half and tomorrow I'll talk about the retreat half.
The bedrooms are where the painted walls will change a bit. We will still have the chair rail and darker grey at the bottom but in our room, I'm planning on painting white stripes on the light grey above the chair rail. Here's a pic of grey and white stripes on a wall just in case you don't know what that looks like haha:
I would also like to have a chandelier above the bed though not quite as huge as the Living room one. I decided to go with the 5 arm version of it though from Ivory&Deene:
The bed has given me the most trouble. There are so many gorgeous French Provincial beds I love but the thing I am noticing about my love of French Furniture is how expensive it is (´；Д；｀) I have finally found a bed I love though that costs a reasonable amount that I can actually afford. It's the Queen Size Brittany Bed by Early Settler. It's stunning:
I really love the turning on the legs!
For side tables that will complement the legs I think I will go for two of these ones by Mint Black
I think they should go beautifully with the carved bed. I also quite like these bedside lamps from eBay seller sparklez128:
I am also considering having a dressing table against the wall at the foot of the bed. It should fit nicely if I have done my measurements correctly and the one I found also by Mint Black is gorgeous:
It's just so, so beautiful and again very reasonably priced! (‘∀’●)♡
My husband hears this a lot when I talk about the house, and it will probably get written here a fair bit too - I've changed my mind. Originally remember I said I was going to use Roman Blinds on the windows? Well I have since discovered shutters and fallen in love with their simplicity, aesthetic and low maintenance-ness (｡’▽’｡)♡ I also think they will help with the period feel. I discovered Victory Curtains & Blinds who cover our area and have beautiful plantation shutters like I want:
So, now that we have that cleared up haha, on to the staircase and hallways. There's not a lot I really have to say about the hallway except what lighting I like and the linen cupboard I plan to have. I have decided to use a Bunnings pantry with the provincial doors and antique birdcage handles as a linen cupboard. It will go at the end of the Hall on the ground floor against the wall. That way it's close to the main bathroom and most of the bedrooms.
The lighting I have chosen for the two hallways are these great cage balloon pendant lights that I found on eBay by a seller called duckfat:
There would be 3 in the long hallway on the ground floor and 2 along the upstairs hallway. I love how they mix the old and the new looks to make a funky looking hanging light. They also make a nice contrast to the ornate chandeliers whilst still having a period feel.
As for the staircase I have had a couple of ideas for the balustrades. I love this look:
I really like the black stair treads and black wooden handrail mixed with the white staircase and balustrades.
I also really like this:
I just love the wrought iron balustrades. I am thinking maybe I will do the white staircase with black treads and some white wooden balustrades like the first pic and the black wrought iron balustrades and hand rail from the second pic. So sort of like this:
For lighting it will get a lot of light from the lighting in the Living, Dining, Kitchen area, so I figure it won't need much more. I was planning on maybe putting one of these wall lights from Ivory&Deene on the landing wall (though not 100% sure yet):
And also placing down lights on the wall just above each third (or something like that) stair tread. So like this:
I think that should make sure the staircase is well lit enough that no one goes tumbling down it if they use it at night (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))
I have decided I'd really love an electric fireplace on the wall between the Living area and the Dining area. Fireplaces can make a space seem so cosy but a real one isn't overly practical for us (and to be honest I'm not keen on hauling wood around). I have found some gorgeous electric fireplaces at Early Settler that have a beautiful period feel. I love this Regent Electric fireplace (｡♥‿♥｡):
Which I would pair with this beautiful Richmond mantle:
You can also buy black granite or white marble hearths to go with it. I am thinking a black granite hearth would look stunning against the limed bamboo floorboards:
Hopefully having it on that dividing wall will make it well positioned to warm up the main living areas. We are intending also to have double glazing on the windows as well which should help with keeping the heat in, in the winter and keeping us cooler in summer. Our current house gets hotter in Summer and even colder in Winter ＼(>o<)ノ
I'd also love to use the little area in front of the fire to create a little division between Living and Dining/Kitchen. I am thinking about doing this just by placing a chair facing the fireplace and maybe a little lamp table depending on how much room I have (I don't want to make it look too cramped). I think this chair from Freedom is perfect. Both modern and period looking with its black metal frame and black and white striped cushion:
I'm still looking for a side table/lamp table that I like. I want it to be white and have the French Provincial look but I want it to have a round top. All the ones I have liked so far have square tops so I guess I will have to keep looking!
*Update* I have found a side table that I love and would work perfectly!! It's from eBay by a seller named milkcart900:
So gorgeous!!
Last thing for the Living area apart from decorative furnishings is an area rug and an entertainment unit for our television to sit on. As per always I have found a few different rugs that I like (〜￣▽￣)〜
Top of my list at this stage is probably this rug I found on Ebay under a seller called dealsdirect:
Black and white stripes scream French to me and they also suit a more modern look too. I'll be having thick even stripes elsewhere in the house as well and I'd like a cushion with some on it so I think it would fit in nicely.
The other rug I am looking at is also from Ebay by a seller called onlyonline:
Again I am planning on having some black and white damask decor throughout the house so this rug would also match beautifully. However I am thinking that maybe this would suit the Master Bedroom more than the Living area.
As for TV consoles again there is a choice of two at this stage. I want a TV entertainment unit that is white, elegant and fairly low as we have a very large TV (I swear it looked smaller at the shop @.@) so it needs to be able to all fit. One I love but it might be a bit more than we can afford which is this one from Mint Black:
I'm definitely leaning towards this one as though even though it's a bit more than I should probably spend it's actually really cheap for what it is. I love all the beautiful detailing and given we are going for fairly simply design armchairs and sofa I think it would be nice to mix it up with a bit of decorative furniture.
The other one is about half the price and I do still really like it just not quite as much. It's this one from the Elegance range at Fantastic Furniture
I do still like this piece. It's not as fancy as the other one but it's still elegant in its simplicity. It also has a price tag of about half as much as the other one so we'll see!
I've changed my mind a million times about what sort of sofas and armchairs I want and I'm still not 100% sure yet. I really want to make sure I get the balance of period and modern right because like I said last post, I don't want it to start getting tacky. Especially given we don't actually have a period home, I fell in love with this 'Lady Lounger' sofa by Mint Black but I know that it would be way too much for our space.It's still gorgeous though.
I think I have pretty much settled on a modern leather black couch with period style armchairs but I am still a bit up in arms about which ones. With our small budget, 3 children and a cat that sometimes likes to scratch our couch (ಠ_ರೃ) we will go cheap and bonded leather. Fantastic Furniture have some lovely looking couches for reasonable prices. There are two main ones I have been looking at which are the Tribeca:
And the Quattro:
I think I am leaning towards the Quattro though because even though it's modern it also has a bit of the old fashioned/period look so should complement the other pieces I choose. I'm still not 100% sure though
(」゜ロ゜)」
As for armchairs, again I am having trouble picking between a couple
(´−｀) ﾝｰ
I really like the look of these chairs by Mint Black but I'm not sure how comfortable they would be as armchairs:
I adore the shape and look of them though so even if I don't use any for the Living area I think I'll still buy one and find somewhere to put it ( ﾉ^ω^)ﾉﾟ
However I also like the look of these Wing Chairs from Fantastic Furniture and I think they would probably be more comfortable as armchairs:
I am probably leaning towards these because I also love the idea of the combination of leather sofa and fabric armchairs. You can get them reupholstered in different fabrics so then it's also a matter of picking a fabric. I am thinking maybe this floral red fabric just to add a bit of colour as most of the Living/Dining/Kitchen will be very monochrome.
I thought this might be a good way of adding a splash of colour and then I can also add small splashes of red into the other rooms. I figure the red and the floral pattern might help stop the space from looking too boxy and boring.
Finally I also thought I might add an ottoman instead of a coffee table as there won't be a whole lot of space between the sofa and the TV console. I'm thinking of getting this Ottoman from Fantastic Furniture:
And covering it in this fabric which carries the red and white of the armchairs and helps make the space even more visually interesting:
I do love this one though by Early Settler Recollections called Camille:
Hmmmmmm, I'm shocking. Lucky I have awhile to decide haha.
Yay my first post talking about the fun stuff- the interior decorating
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧
I think I may have mentioned earlier that I wanted a very French Provincial/ Victorian interior. I figure chalets are French enough to get away with this kind of interior in a non period home. Or maybe not but I don't care
＼（＾▽＾）／ I adore period style- especially restoration and/or historical building conversion projects. Unfortunately there are few truly historical buildings where I live and the ones that are aren't often for sale or sell for way too much. So I am going to have to sate my appetite with episodes of Restoration Man and Grand Designs and by making my interior look period style. If only you could get kit home castles!!
So I have had my wall colours picked out for ages (since before we were going to build in fact). I really want the walls the same shade of grey as I started painting our current house when I thought we would be renovating. It's a medium light shade of grey named Afternoon Storm by British Paints. I love it and it has a very slight hint of mauve to it which makes it a bit warmer. It's not the best photo but here is the colour on our current walls (photo was at night so it looks a bit darker, it's the grey on the wall the mask is on):
Like in the photo I am also planning on doing all the moulding in white. I also really want to add chair rails in the new house like this:
At this stage I am undecided though whether to do a darker grey down the bottom and have that two tone look like the picture above, or whether to just paint the walls the one shade of grey. As the decorating will be quite monochrome I am not sure if I want to add more than one shade of grey. Just don't know yet but if I do I will probably go 1/2 strength above and full strength below. I love the look of the picture rails though so they will definitely be happening. They will be painted white like the other moulding (* >ω<) I love painting houses and adding things like this because it's such a cheap and easy way to change the whole look of your house and if you don't like it you can easily just paint over it/remove nails and take it down. Painting walls is to houses what dyeing hair is to women!
Finally the flooring that we plan to have throughout the whole house. I think I may have mentioned we aren't exactly made of money so in some areas we will be scrimping more than others. The floors however we won't be and they are a little expensive. Last quote I got was $14,000 for the floorboards and underlay and that doesn't include the cost of laying them (which our builder has kindly said he would do. However I love this floor already. It's Limed Arc Bamboo flooring from Choices . It's environmentally friendly because bamboo is a highly sustainable grass, it's as hard wearing as most hardwoods, it's cheap and easy to maintain and I just love the look as I think they will go better with grey than traditional floorboards:
Isn't it stunning ヽ( ★ω★)ノ
Our window treatments will probably be the same as the ones we have now because I love them and we can then reuse the ones we already have so we'd just need to buy a few more. They are Roman Blinds in Saturn: Snow from ABCExpress. They were pretty cheap but also great quality and will go nicely with the floor and walls:
So the floors, the walls and the window treatments will recur throughout the house to bring it together. There will be some slight differences to the floors and walls in some rooms but I'll get to those at another date!
