Hallway Makeover Reveal With M&L Paints

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This hallway reveal is really a tale of two designs. The upstairs landing is pretty, pink and floral as planned (you can read more about that and see all the ‘before’ pictures here). While the the lower floors are more contemporary and the colour choices were only decided on halfway through the decorating process. For this project I decided that the skirting, doors, windows and coving would be made key features using colour, while the walls would simply be the backdrop. This is in reverse to how the hallway looked before, which was the traditional ‘colour on the walls + white woodwork’ look. The main aim of this makeover was to add some much needed interest to the space and while I had considered adding mouldings and panelling, I felt it would be too imposing on the narrow area. The period doors and and original coving were great features, so it was these that were to ‘sing’.

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Pretty In Pink: How I Saved Money And Was Sustainable By Updating My Existing Furniture With Grand Illusions Chalk Paint

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When we moved into this house 4 years ago there was an alcove in the kitchen/diner that was screaming out for a display cabinet. The alcove to the right of the fireplace contained the fridge, but with boxes bulging with glassware and cake tins, it made sense that the other alcove accommodated a cabinet/dresser. The space is relatively narrow and the ceiling low, so it took me a long time to hunt down the right piece of petite furniture. After a two month search, I finally found the exact right thing on eBay and this pretty cabinet below became mine for the small sum of £40.

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My Makeover Plans For The Dining Room

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It has been a few months since I’ve had a total room revamp in the house, so I’m delighted today to talk you through my plans for redecorating the dining room! The dining room, which is joined onto the kitchen, has needed some love for a while. The walls are stained, the skirting chipped and the ceiling has all these wipe marks on it after an incident with my young son and a glass of apple juice. When B&Q came to do some filming in my house a couple of months back, they wanted to paint a room in a vivid colour so I told them to use the dining room. The dining room then became a lovely blue shade, but as the room is in the basement of the house the colour was just too dark for the space (and yes I know I say to embrace dark rooms with dark colours but we use this room as a ‘doing’ room, I did not want to create a relaxing feel in here.) They also did not paint the ceiling or skirting for the filming, so this room was marked down as next in line for a complete decorating overhaul.

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The Best Teal Coloured Paints To Decorate Your Home With

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2018 is all about maximalism, luxury and cocooning comfort. In my blog post last week I talked about how peacocks, and the beautiful teal colours associated with them, are set to be a big thing in interiors and decor this year. A client that I am currently working with wanted their hallway painted in a beautiful teal colour. Because of this, the past few weeks I have been researching and testing out numerous teal emulsion paints. I thought I would share with you the best of the teal colours that I found on my hunt for that perfect teal shade, in case you were thinking of going totally teal in your own home!

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Should I paint my walls dark? The pros and cons of dark decor

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I've never painted a room in my home completely dark until a couple of weeks ago, when I decided to get rid of the white walls in my office and go a full on, really dark black/blue colour. When I did a complete overhaul of the room towards the start of the year, I dipped my toe into 'the dark side' by painting the chimney breast and the adjacent wall, which was going to be a gallery wall, in a deep, dark navy colour. On the remaining two walls, I painted them a muted white with grey undertones. The reason that I did this, to be honest, was because I was actually scared of painting the whole room dark.

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Using paint to update furniture and add pops of strong colour

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Do you browse Instagram, Pinterest or interior magazines and ogle peoples rooms that they have painted a dark or a really bright colour? Are you wanting to experiment with these colours in your home, but need to dip your toe in first before making a big commitment? I'm a really big fan of strong colours - bright fushia pinks, inky blues, period greens, dark greys and deep teal colours are a favourite. Yet when it comes to painting a whole room this colour, like you may be, I'm hesitant! I think if it was just me on my own I'd take the plunge, but as the rest of the family have to live with it day in, day out, I just can't bring myself to experiment painting our sunny living room dark (for now, anyway.)

I've recently started painting furniture that I already own in paint colours that I love and want to feature in the house, but haven't yet plucked up the courage to paint the walls with. This is a win-win situation as i'm introducing pops of the colour into my interior scheme, saving money by only requiring a small amount of paint and updating existing furniture rather than replacing it.

If you have moved house and your old furniture doesn't look right in your new place;  perhaps you have brought a new dining table and need your old wood chairs to match; imagine what your existing furniture could look like with in a whole new colour? Or, if you love bright orange, imagine what an orange chair could do to transform your space and make it a focal point? It's easy and budget friendly to update what you already own with paint!

 

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