The Finished Article!

So here it is.... just a week, (and countless coats of paint), later - a brand new home office! 

I have to confess that the vintage Eames desk chair is not in fact mine, but borrowed from my good friend Nick who lives across the street.  I don't quite have the desk chair that I want yet, and it just didn't seem right to do this photoshoot without a nice desk chair!  (So thank you Nick!)

Final Coats of Paint and Finishing touches

 

There are few things as satisfying as opening a fresh new can of paint... especially when it is the colour of liquid sunshine!

Here is a photo of the final coats going on, including the yellow ribbon around the perimeter of the desk.  The table legs needed 3 coats in the end to get an even coverage, I guess because I was going from black to white.  

To get the yellow edge I taped off the grey top and painted away.  Unfortunately, because the desk is old and the edges slightly chipped and uneven, some yellow seeped beneath the tape and it was difficult to get a perfectly clean line.   I will need to touch this up with a careful hand in due course.

A bright idea!

I just had a bright idea about how to add a fun punch of colour to the desk - I will paint the edge bright yellow!  I brought home some paint samples today and will collect a small tin of 'Delhi Bazaar 4' on the way back from my Pilates class tomorrow morning.  The grey in the background is the colour of the desk top - Cornforth White No 228 - from Farrow and Ball.

Porto Photos

A few colourful photos from my weekend away in Port 2 weekends ago...

A mini-break to Cornwall

I was away for a long weekend in Cornwall recently, so the bathroom decision making went on hold, and instead my mind was occupied by thoughts of fish and chips, rockpools at low tide, Cornish Pasties, and learning to surf. Above is a collection of images, selected as I like their gradual colour shift from green to violet.

A little bit of re-organisation

I know Ive been quiet over the past few months, but have resolved to start up blogging more regularly again in 2012. To kick start the new and improved 'Behind The Blue Door' Ive re-freshed the layout and added labels (on the right hand column) so you can more easily find past posts.

In other re-organization news, back home in Canada Ive been trying to go through and empty out some of the old boxes stored in my childhood bedroom. I've decided however that some things I cant possibly throw away, such as this 64 pack of Crayola Crayons (with built in sharpener) - which was one of my most prized possessions when I was about 6. I remember using other sets so as not to wear these ones down too much, and keeping them all in colour coordinated rainbow order. You can tell which my favourite colours were by how worn down the tips are - clearly I always loved greens and blue and tended to steer clear of the pastels and pinks

Cloakroom Progress

The cloakroom sink from Duravit, tap from Crosswater, mirror and corian backsplash have now all been installed and Im thrilled with the result.

There is still a little corian ledge beneath the sink and a front panel to be made to conceal all the untidy pipework (which I have carefully cropped out of these photos) - but its almost there. The photos make it look as though the walls are black, but actually they are just a very dark slate grey.

Let there be light!

After looking for ages for the perfect (and economical) pendant fitting without much success I figured it was time to come out of the dark and make a decision. I decided on a bright red fabric covered cable which really pops against the dark grey walls, a chrome bulb holder like the one in the kitchen, and a simple clear glass light bulb.

Its not exactly energy efficient, but I really love the simple way it looks, and the light isnt really on for very long.

Toilet Room Colour Option 3 - Orange Ceiling

The internet is amazing - if you have an idea you can be sure someone somewhere has tried it before and posted photos of their results online. I thought about having white walls and paiting the ceiling orange as something a little unexpected, and sure enough a quick google search revealed what it could look like.

Im leaning towards this or the dark grey at the moment.

Toilet Room Colour Option 2 - Dark Grey

We painted our rented toilet room at Hazelbourne road a medium grey like our living room now and really liked it as it made the fittings really pop. Also, it was a bit like being inside a submarine. So this option looks at going a shade darker again on the paint chip.

Toilet Room Colour Option 1 - Hague Blue

The way I see it is that our tiny toilet room is an opportunity to do something a bit darker or more 'controversial' with the wall colours. There is no point in paiting the room white or a light colours as there will be no fooling that it is a small space.

So, for the next few days Im going to post some of the colour schemes that we have been considering. Here is one idea for a very dark rich blue.

Robin Day Fabric

I was looking through a magazine the other day and saw that someone had made a fabric wall canvas out of the same Lucienne Day Dandelion fabric I had chosen for the sofa cushions.

The Muuto E27 Light

Another idea for the toilet room light fitting is this Finnish designed Muuto E27 light. They look great hung in a cluster, but it would also look great to hang a single one in a small space with its cable draped from a hook slightly too long.

Kissing Rabbits

Wishing you a Happy Valentines Day! Ive had my eye on this 'Kissing Rabbits' tray from Anorak and decided to buy it as a treat for myself (and for the kitchen).

www.anorakonline.co.uk

Green Doors and Matching Shutters

This weekend we started work in the kitchen. We moved all our food and dishes into the bedroom, and the bed into the living room,(yes, its a bit like a game of Tetris!), removed the upper cabinet, and stripped the woodwork. We even managed to get a coat of paint on the ceiling and walls. But all that isnt particularly pretty to look at.

So here is the house I was telling you about earlier with the green door and matching green shutters.

Canvas Up

Apart from the never ending task of refurbishing our windows (we're still not finished), we did manage the significantly more pleasant task of putting together our fabric wall art this weekend. Above are the progress steps.

Valmuska Fabric from Marimekko

To add a punch of vibrant colour to our all white bedroom we chose this fabric from the Swedish company Marimekko to create an economical piece of art for our walls. The fabric, called 'Valmuska' was designed by Erja Hirvi and is 'an abstract representation of forest mushroom caps viewed from below'.

We are going to make a wood frame and stretch the fabric over it like a canvas to create a large wall hanging. Apparently the 'trick' is to put a slight chamfer on the wooden frame that slopes towards the centre of the canvas so you dont see the wood pressing up against the fabric. I'll let you know how it goes...

Yellow Doors

Arent these bright yellow doors fabulous?! A door like this would make me feel sunny even on a cold wet winter day.

The one on the left I saw when walking back from Waterloo train station on Roupell Street. The one on the right is on Grove Lane, the street adjacent to ours. Maybe on our next house....

White on White Inspiration

Over the weekend I tested a bit of skirting and picture rail in the light grey and it didnt quite look right, as it only drew attention to the fact that the trim isnt straight. So after all those careful wall colour studies, Ive decided that actually what I really want for the bedroom paint scheme is a crisp white on white like this Victorian house in London. So the plan now is to do all the trim white, except the fireplace and shutters, which will remain the same light grey as our flat door.

A girl's got a right to change her mind right?! (Especially if she's the one doing the re-painting!)

Life's little pleasures:

Opening up a brand new can of paint....