The lounge

Firstly perhaps I should answer some queries from yesterday's kitchen post. Thanks for all the encouraging comments by the way. I'm glad you're enjoying the makeovers.
To prepare the units I sugarsoaped them well, filled any holes (like the extra hole from the handles I removed in the utility room) and lightly sanded any rough bits. I didn't remove the door fronts, but I painted the fronts first with the doors shut, let that dry, then opened the doors and painted the edges, then repeated the process for the second coat. I used a brush to apply the paint and both utility and kitchen needed two coats. In the utility room, I haven't had any issues with peeling or chipping, but in the kitchen the units were handmade and not on smooth runners, so the edges have 'caught' a bit as I open and shut them. As the eggshell is water based, I just touch up any chipped areas occasionally with an artists brush. It dries really quickly too so it's no great hassle - 5 mins effort here and there to keep it looking nice - but as I say, the more modern units in the utility have shaped up very nicely.

And now to today's post ..... The original stone cottage dates back to the mid 1800s. Then in 1906, four rooms were added to the front of the farm house - two generous lounges, that beautiful hallway and two large bedrooms. The front of the house is south facing and all those rooms are naturally light and warm.

Curious then, that the previous owners had decided to decorate one of these rooms in a dark claret colour - not just a feature wall, but all four walls and the section above the picture rail. Although I had nothing against the colour itself, it was way too much and we found the room cold and oppressive. 

Having done so much decorating, we had actually decided to leave it until after the half term holiday when we had multiple sets of visitors coming. But .... Mr D went away for a couple of days the week before half term, so my sister-in-law and I rolled up our sleeves and set about a surprise transformation. On the first day, we painted two coats on the walls (we chose a sandy colour) and three coats of white above the picture rail. As we were finishing up, we had the exciting thought to hire a floor sander the following day.... As you do! So the following day, the floorboards were sanded. By the time Mr D came back, the lounge looked like a completely different room. He was amazed and very pleased, especially as we could show it off to our friends in half term. 

The following day we had the log burner installed correctly - it had been put in with no flue and even had the stack on upside down! No wonder then that they couldn't provide us with a HETAS certificate.

The computer desk will eventually move into the office when we have the extension. The curtains were a free hand-me-down from my sister in law. 

The rug is a treat. I had seen an identical one in Mr D's cousin's house and really liked it. It was an expensive treat but we've done so well transforming the house for relatively low expense. 

Unfortunately there is a hole in one of the floorboards near the skirting presently covered with parcel tape. I forgot about it when I was doing the final coat on the walls, placing the ladder with one leg over the hole. Of course I climbed up about three rungs with a tray full of paint before the leg broke through the parcel tape falling down the hole, tipping me off backwards. BUM!! Nothing broken - just badly bruised and the paint was soon mopped up. A close shave though as my head narrowly missed the corner of the hearth :( 

The floor has been varnished and the one new addition is a stripey rug. (We sold  the other rug for £45 as it didn't quite match the new scheme)

I have to say we all enjoy relaxing in this room now especially with a roaring fire on the go. In fact I'm in there now typing this :)