Living room
‘ This room was originally cream, but to cosy it up we wanted more earthy hues. Gabe picked the colour for the chimney breast and alcoves. The rest of the room is a textured paint with more colours mixed into it, as the old plaster is quite textured anyway. The floorboards had already been sanded and varnished, but we did replace the skirting boards with wooden ones and stripped back years of old paint on the windowsill. The stove, fitted in 2020, was the biggest change. We were thrifty by having it fitted in summer, when demand is lower, which saved us money. Luckily, we already had quite a few pieces of old furniture that fit in well. Some, like the chest of drawers next to the fire, were restained to match the floor and we also sanded and stained the mantelpiece. Creating the hexagonal wooden shelves was a timeconsuming job. We made cardboard templates first to work out the angles and mapped it out on the floor.
It’s a big wall and I wanted to break it up, so this is a good way to get plants and photos on the wall, as well as little trinkets that are personal to us.’