Life is hectic at the moment. Last week Tony injured his back. Nothing too horrendous but he was in a lot of pain and didn’t leave the house for most of the week so blogging went out of the window and concentrating on life outside the screen became more important. But I’ve missed chatting here and have been trying for a few weeks to pluck up the courage to share this new space of ours, it feels like its been such a personal journey, so here goes…
I’m sure you know (it’s hard to miss) that renovation takes up a whole lot of my time. I wrote about it here at the beginning of this project (not even half way round the house yet, job 124 of approx. 950) more months ago than I thought it would take to finish the job. We had a lot of problems along the way. Leaks under the floor which had to be fixed although the new floor could’t be finished for 3 whole months afterwards. Eek. That was fun. The plaster was removed where it had blown, no longer attached to the wall at all, simply held up by wallpaper and luck. The room has been re-wired and re-plastered. We have a new ceiling too. Yep this is a completely redone room and I LOVE it.
I’m currently on the lookout for chairs. Mismatched is perfect but I might* have had to borrow three of these from other rooms for these photographs… Any thoughts on where to source comfortable single chairs gratefully received!
There are 8 custom made cupboards along the back wall as built in storage is limited in our house. They are white and without handles to keep the clutter to a minimum. I am a fan of simplicity and the cupboards are designed to be more a part of the room than a piece of furniture, to reflect the kitchen without entirely matching, a design drawn up between our builder and me. I’m really happy with how they turned out too.
We removed a large piece of the wall between the dining room and kitchen also. At our last house we had a lovely open plan kitchen/dining/living space and it just works for us. We also took the height of the opening up, our ceilings are relatively high so it was partly about proportion plus there is a wraparound extension that holds the original back wall up with a large steel joist which defines the height of the ceiling in the kitchen. Though it may not be clear on this photo the heights match, it makes for a more pleasing flow of the space. It brings it together.
The kitchen we re-fitted 18 months ago and it has been the heart of the home since. The stools at the end of the bench have been my ‘office’ for a long time although now I tend to sit at the dining table, just about from position pictured above. This is my view when I work. It completely makes me smile. I feel totally blessed to be lucky enough to dwell in this space.
Colour is not a huge feature here. I still can’t decide whether or not to include more, colourful pictures or accessories maybe… Or maybe not, if I’m honest I like the white and wood we have. Pared back and simple. Possibly I’m more likely to add some fairy lights…
I realise it may not be everyone’s cup of tea but we love this space. There is room enough for us and more, it flows both between rooms and to the outside through the large glazed doors which are often propped open when it’s warm enough. We can be in the same space while preparing meals/eating/doing homework/doing actual work/crafting/creating. It is a blank canvas for our family life and we fill it with the noise and colour of us. It just works.
Julia x
*definitely
