Our Home - 2002 News
Our main project for 2002 was getting the hall redecorated. It is an open hallway with a balconied landing which means it's too high for me to decorate! There is also a curved staircase to the second floor and Colin was called in as there was no way we were venturing up funny angled ladders etc. We're really pleased with the way it's turned out.
When we first moved in, the hall stairs and landing were wallpapered in a kind of neutral colour so perfectly easy to live with but not to our taste. The arch (in the left hand picture) was artexed as was the whole of one wall - it took ages to remove it. The carpet was a mustardy yellow colour which was getting past its best - worn thin on the stairs and black splodges round some of the edges.
It took a while to decide on the colour scheme but inspiration finally hit and the colour was chosen (Dulux Sea Swirls but can't remember the number). As you can see colour choosing was not the only issue we had to deal with as plaster was stripped (and dust spread like you wouldn't believe).

Colin did very well in trying to keep it out of the main rooms but plaster dust does tend to get everywhere. The carpet was taken out and disposed of and a blank canvas was created.

To get all arty crafty for a moment, the inspiration came from the Coral Seas - the walls are a beautiful coral sea colour with the carpet a darker colour just like the deeper water.

Depending on the light, the wall colour sometimes looks blue and sometimes green (see pictures on left) which adds to the interest, particularly as JC likes to play with lighting for effect.

 
We have now got JC's pictures back up and the spot lights are in place - you can also see (again) what I mean by JC playing with lighting! Please see Jonathon's pictures page on this site for further examples of his photography.
Front Bedroom
Our next major-ish project was redecorating the front bedroom. Again it was perfectly "liveable in" for a while but when we had the basin taken out (it had been leaking for a while according to our survey) it was so damp it fell off the wall and brought some of the plaster with it. Tony soon sorted that out (yes the same Tony who built the pond!) and we have had new piece of matching skirting made and installed.
The pink paint has been changed to a Mediterranean sea blue colour and the carpet has been removed. No plastering was needed in this room (thank goodness for that).
Inspiration for the colour scheme this time - Jonathon spotted the colour for the walls at the Ideal Home Exhibition and tracked it down through a Crown trade centre. As it is a lovely sea blue colour, we chose a sandy colour for the carpet and a lighter sky blue colour for the ceiling - just like being on holiday!
We had some fitted wardrobes/display shelving made (Patrick again) and could finally give Helen her wardrobe back (2005)! The detail on the wardrobe matches that on Jonathon's campaign chest. He now has plenty of room for his shirts, suits etc so no excuse for untidiness!
The shelving houses some of Jonathon's Rupert collection and some of the Daniel Collection. There is another corner where we have a smaller bookcase - one day I'll get around to drawing up a design for Patrick to make and finish this room off. Perhaps in 2006.
By the end of 2002, we had started to redecorate the kitchen/dining room but as it wasn't finished until 2003, it's probably more accurate to cover that on the page called 2003 House News!

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