To say that I disliked what we originally called the ‘middle room’ in our house would be an understatement, as it honestly put me off buying the property when we viewed it. I was frantically shaking my head, pulling bemused faces at Darren and feeling desperate to leave. To quote myself:
“No way. Not a chance! This place needs far too much work.”
In complete contrast, Darren saw nothing but potential which I evidently decided to trust when it came to buying the house. That said (and he completely agrees with this), the room looked even worse on the day that we got our keys. When I say there was nothing in it, I mean absolutely nothing – no form of flooring, not even paint on the walls. It was anything but homely. In terrible condition with unsightly pipes on show, it genuinely looked more like a building site.
BEFORE:
We referred to it as the ‘middle room’ not just because of its location, but also as we couldn’t decide what to do with it. The first house we tried to buy had a cellar that we had planned to convert into a bar so we thought about doing that – until doubts set in. Did we really want a bar at the forefront of this house? Would it be something we’d want long term? Would our home look more like a pub? As we weren’t sure, we scrapped the idea. Then we came up with a cinema room but talked ourselves out of that too. In addition to our living room, we had TVs in all three bedrooms. Did we really need another?!
After much deliberation, we agreed on a simple sitting room and I eagerly drew up the design that came to be exactly how it looks today. I was determined to make it look good and consequently obtained the nickname of ‘Boss Lady’ throughout its renovation! To my delight, Darren and Colin removed the awful unnecessary pipes and boxed the essential ones in, which immediately improved the room. They painted the walls and we had a fluffy grey carpet fitted. We bought oak bookshelves and a two-seater sofa from IKEA which Darren and I built together before transferring our beloved film collection to the shelves, closely followed by our books, photos and other keepsakes. After adding a couple of decorative canvasses to the wall and a cushion to the sofa, the room finally looked cosy and homely.
AFTER:
Although it’s an old fashioned concept, we love our sitting room. Whilst our living room is for everyday use, this room has no other purpose than to chill out with a drink and a book. How can we complain?!
bex the blogger 