Where to even start with these renovation posts, at the moment?! They’ve eaten up most of our time, money and energy but I still think it has been worth it. Sitting in this beautiful room it is almost hard to remember that first evening when we moved in at 9pm, hoovered the mouse droppings and laid straight down on a mattress in the freezing cold.
We didn’t have many ‘before’ pictures as we had to move straight in and use the space, so we had no time to really think about it – even the photo above is after we removed built in shelves, pulled out metres of redundant wired, laid down rugs and spare carpets and put pictures up. I also didn’t want to remember the state of the old house to be really honest, it was grim and so dirty and dusty. We lived like that, with a temporary rail, my stuff piled in a basket next to the bed and walking on remnant carpets we got from my parents, for a year. And this room wasn’t actually a priority for us.
But when we found out we were pregnant, we realised that we’d probably want to spend a large amount of time in the bedroom and it was important to me to feel relaxed and clean – so we made this room our priority. Because it was so big, we used it pretty much as a studio – showering, feeding, hanging out, eating – in those first few months of Peggy’s life.
The first task was pulling down the big storage cupboard to make more room for us – we decided to put an ensuite here, but still managed to reclaim some space in the room for a wardrobe as well.
We designed the plans for the room ourselves, keeping a lot of the original features but we also made a few adjustments: moved the door into the room (to make room for a wardrobe), moved the door to the balcony, chose the dimensions of the ensuite etc. But we didn’t really decide on the decor until the building work started, we just researched as we went as had no storage for things like coving or anything until the last minute!
We had the floor sanded before the building works, as Mick (who did our parquest in the study) was available (if anyone would like his details, email kate@the-frugality.com and she can pass on his details – but be warned, there’s a waiting list!) and then we laid down plastic sheets for the building work. He came back after the works to finish sanding and added the sealant and varnish. We were so excited to be able to keep the original floorboards, we honestly weren’t sure it was possible but it’s something I can’t imagine any other way now. A few were damaged but Mick found some from other rooms to replace them with – there is even a line running down the floor where the old cupboard used to be, which I love as a bit of a memory of the old room.
The builders began the work early November last year, and we decided to do the hall at the same time (however, a year on, the hall is still not finished!). They basically stripped back the walls to the brick, and replastered and put back the ceiling, coving, skirting etc. Unfortunately none of the original coving and skirting could really be saved so we bought it all online. I thought it was a good excuse to add some fancy coving and a ceiling rose.
In regards to the electrics, there were two lights in the ceiling, which we moved down to one, and we added lights to the edge of the bed rather than having lamps. Something I’d always loved in Hotels and I was so glad we could make it work here.
Living with the dust was hard, especially as I was heavily pregnant through most of it, living with builders and working alongside having a huge to-do list every evening – parking permits, skip hire, ordering supplies and doors and handles and toilet seats etc. But it’s funny how quickly you forget, isn’t it?!
By the way, in this post, I’m only discussing the bedroom – but you can read about our Ensuite renovation here.
We painted the walls Farrow & Ball ‘Wimborne White’, I know it’s so silly but I wanted white but not stark white so this a good compromise. And yes, I can feel the difference – it feels warmer plus it adds depth to the room where the coving and picture rail is white. Then the woodwork we painted Farrow & Ball ‘Downpipe’, which is a grey but it looks almost blueish/green grey in different lights, we used it on our stairs in the last flat and I was excited to use it again. F&B paint is more expensive but we love using it and it goes a lot further than others, we used Estate Emulsion for the walls and Modern Eggshell for the woodwork.
The chair is an old one from our last flat, we were thinking of a sofa here but this chair was so hand for feeding, positioned perfectly in front of the TV! Which we put on a vintage cabinet we found from Etsy (I tried to find the brand but it doesn’t seem to exist anymore!).
We tried to keep as many of the original features as we could…the fireplace and original wardrobe mainly. the builders took them off, plastered round them and put them back for us to paint.
There was a gas fire in front of the fireplace when we moved in, but it wasn’t connected to any mains, in fact, there was no gas mater when we moved in. Just electric radiators all attached to the walls which we had to remove when we moved in.
We painted the fireplace Rustoleum chalk paint in ‘Graphite’ – it’s funny how the features almost popped more once we painted it dark. I love the different texture the chalk paint brings to the room, and I was so pleased we could get the tiles to sit flush to the floor, we got these from Walls & Floors, which were really affordable and look so much more expensive.
Chris stripped the paint of the original wardrobe with a heatgun we got from Amazon, and then we sanded and painted it Downpipe, added new shelves inside and I scrubbed up the original handles which came up so well! The wardrobe itself is not the most functional, I have to admit, but we couldn’t throw it out…so Chris mainly uses it for his folded clothes.
The bed was the first thing we bought for this room, I had seen it in Lisa at Edit.58’s house (see her amazing house tour, here) and The Artist Residence hotel and knew it was a good starting point to the room. It was the quite easy to pair back the rest of the room and keep it simple, with the bed being the focal point. We will put some more pictures up over time, and some shelves above the TV, but it’s nice living amongst everything and allowing some time for the room to grow, as well.
We move the door to the room which meant we got a little more space in the recess behind it, and managed to fit my wardrobe in! It was a tricky space and we had to add a lot of doorstops in but I’m so pleased with how they turned out. We had ridiculously high quotes from a few joiners/carpenters so, like the study, we asked our builders to make something out of MDF and I designed them. We got them floor to ceiling to utilise the storage and the even added soft closing doors and drawers. They did, however, take a lifetime to paint inside and out but I’m so glad I went to the effort now!
The decision to use brass fittings was a bold one, and I think a lot of companies are slowly realising its popularity again – I’ve truly never appreciated my parents’ trade until I needed all new handles, hinges and doorstops! We bought doors rather unexcitedly from DoorsWorld (which has since closed!) which felt so dull at the time but having lovely new doors which don’t squeak and aren’t stiff was a revelation, and something we realised we had never experienced before!
And finally the windows. We used London Joinery, which weren’t cheap but turns out, wooden sash windows just aren’t. We didn’t go for the traditional Edwardian windows which is technically a faux pas, but there were leaking aluminium steamed up windows when we moved in so we thought it was okay to go off piste.
There was originally a door in the cupboard going onto a balcony, which we removed and turned into a window in the ensuite. But we wanted to keep access to the balcony still, so brought the door into the bedroom. From first glance, it looks like another window and we are so pleased with them. Again, we’ve never had windows that open smoothly whenever we want – what a luxury! These were the priciest bit of the room though, so we will have to wait a while before we change the rest of the old aluminium windows in the house.
There are probably a million items I haven’t credited and tons of questions I haven’t answered so please ask away in comments and I will get back to you!
But thank you for reading, watching our stories, commenting and following along – it has been an amazing journey! We’ll keep you updated on the hallway in roughly 2022…..!
You can watch our video on IGTV here…
Absolutely stunning and worth all of the dust and effort. Those late night, no curtains up, dirty work clothes on photos made me shudder remembering doing the same (and I’ve never taken on anything on this scale!!) but then the after shots made me audibly sigh in admiration and relief for you. Love watching what a beautiful home you’re creating x
Aaaah thank you, yes it was a bit relentless but in hindsight it was totally worth it!
Great blog post!! Please can you let me know what oil/varnish and colour you use on the beautiful floor?
Sorry it’s the one thing we don’t know….we left it up to Mick!
Hi Alex,
Your bedroom is so amazing! I love it. Just wondering if you know what varnish/oil/sealant was used on your sanded floorboards?
Thanks so much!
Sophie
Sorry this is the one thing we don’t know! Mick the floor guy did it x
Love it!!! I also love the mirror from the last couple pictures, where is it from?
Oh my sister bought it for me from eBay years ago for my birthday- it’s VERY heavy so you need a good external wall to hang it from!
Love it! I’ve always wondered where Chris’s clothes went as your closet behind the doors is a dream and couldn’t really fathom him having a piece. Now I know it’s he’s has it own on the other side, though folded. It’s funny that I’ve recently noticed in relationships, often males get the shelving for their clothing.
Can’t wait for that hallway! Last I checked-in, panting the railing 🙂
Ha! Yes….he volunteered as he always folds his clothes anyway! But he did get the raw deal…..in our last flat he had a cupboard in the hallway ! x
Beautiful! I live that you kept the wardrobe? Would you mind sharing the heat gun?
It was a black and Decker one, around £40 x
What a lovely room! I recently found your blog. I am enjoying going through your old posts. May I ask where you got the pretty rug under the bed?
It’s next! Added the link now xx
Thank you! It’s Next, I’ve added the link now x
Thank you for this post. Seeing some of the before pictures made me gasp a little and I can’t imagine doing it all while pregnant. We are also doing up our house and sometimes, the endless dust and workmen get you down but it’s so worth it when everything is ALL YOUR OWN TASTE! And we replaced windows room by room and the beautiful sash windows we now have make my heart sing every single time I open them!
It’s so funny because I don’t even remember the dust now but it was horrible and I cried a fair few times…our kitchen still gets us down but we’re trying to add things to make it ‘liveable’ like shelves and pictures etc as we’ve realised it might be a long time until it’s sorted and we might as well enjoy it! x
Hi Alex, Well done on all the hard work – what a beautiful room. Can I ask where the rug under the bed is from? Is it Benuta? I’ve been looking at the site but it’s hard to know what the vintage style rugs look like IRL. Thanks so much – Ali
It’s next!! It’s not as ‘luxe’ as a traditional persian one I must admit but we had definitely run out of money by this stage! x
Excellent post! Room looks beautiful so clearly worth all the effort. Can I ask where did you get the rug/ mat under the chair and table? Looks great.
Looks beautiful! Can’t believe it’s been as long as you said it has. Other people’s renovations always seem to go faster than your own when you’re just following along on Instagram.
Yes – and some people’s renovations take a month! And we’re still on phase 1! xx
B Beautiful! where are your rugs from please?
The pink-y one is Next and the jute one is Ikea – have added the links now x
It’s the ikea Jute one – have added the link now x
Wow, I’m speechless! It’s like this is not even the same room as before. It looks so modern, chic, elegant and breathtaking now. Love how you’ve kept some things and details from the old room and added some new flair to it. All the layers and textures that you’ve included are gorgeous and make the room feel so warm and cozy. 🙂
Thank you – yes it was more of a subtle makeover, nothing too brash but we love it so much xx
Hi Alex, do you mind sharing where the light switches / sockets came from? I love their colour!
We got them on Amazon – just searched for matte black light switches. The toggle ones by the bed were more expensive so we got the plain ones for the other switches – you can even get aerial sockets in the same finish (we have USB ones by the bed, too) x
Hi, lovely room!
Was there a way to fit the curtain pole so that you could have the curtains sit at the ends? Or do the elbow joints need supporting?
Thanks!
Sorry, not sure what they mean? I can have the curtains at the end x
alex, can i ask the model and size of your ceiling rose?
its gorgeous!
Ooh sorry, not sure xx
About to embark on a major renovation of a very tiny brownstone in brooklyn and am reading everything you’ve written for inspiration – love what you and your husband have done! Have you ever seen any bed similar to yours but available in America? White Company don’t do furniture over here sadly but I really love it and would love to find something like it.
Oh how gorgeous! Love those brownstone houses! Sadly I’m not sure…but I’m always so jealous you have Target for furniture!
Hi there
I was wondering if you could tell me which mattress you have?
Many thanks
Mairi
I have an Eve Sleep mattress – I can’t recommend it enough! We even got one for Peggy’s cot, too! x
Thank you for your super speedy response. Your room looks beautiful x
All the time and effort that you’ve put into this room is definitely worth it. Looks gorgeous! Im in the process of having a fitted wardrobe installed and am having the argument of wood versus mdf. I think you might have convinced me to go for the cheaper option!
Do you have only one radiator in the bedroom?
Yes we have one radiator but it’s vertical so takes up less wall space but still just as long and as it was new, it’s super efficient x
You all did such an amazing job!
Can I ask what white you used on the woodwork? Trying to work out if it’s worry paying the extra for farrow and ball/little Greene.
For the white woodwork we used Dulux, and for the dark we used mid tones F&B – we really like the finish on it and found other cheaper ones a bit stick – especially for dark x
alex, your wall lights and bedroom are absolutely beautiful. ive looked on creative cables but not sure which model your lights are called. could you please share that with me? thanks so much!
Sorry I’m not actually sure – it was a while ago now x
Hello- Do you have a phone number for Mick the floorboard man?
I live in Tooting. Have very similar room. It’s been a playroom but inspired by the post we are going to move into it as a bedroom.
I do, but he is based in Essex, so might be too far – if you email kate@the-frugality.com she can give you his details xx
Just gorgeous. Elegant but cozy. Admire the amount of energy you both put into making the space so beautiful. No small feat.
Hi Alex, love your blog super helpful. I was just wondering if you had any tips on coving? What type to buy and any suggestions on where to buy it? Did you put it up yourselves? Many thanks.
Thank you – okay, this is a post worth writing! I’m going to focus on a few more helpful micro posts going forward so maybe this will be one! We’ve done a few different styles in different rooms, we’ve done simple poly ones in the study (my dad fitted), fancy poly (pricier) in bedroom (builder did) and then plaster coving in hall (builder did – not as pricey but it was messy!) – bought from places like Wickes for simple stuff to a site found online for the plaster stuff, delivered from Liverpool! x