Sunday, June 15, 2008

A new beginning

After - enjoying the view into the garden & the Oak tree

After - a much-improved room

Before - what we had to work with

Before - how the room looked on the first day we saw the house

When we purchased our house 2 years ago, the layout of the Master Bedroom was really bizarre. The previous owners had positioned the bed to look directly at a blank internal open-faced brown brick wall - yuk! The big glass windows were hidden with old shantung curtains, one window hot pink & other teal blue - not a good look. It was a dark cave even in the middle of the day, with little available natural light.

The end of the room slopes down steeply into the garden, so it is set up very high from the ground. The windows look straight out to the lovely greenery, so why not take full advantage of it. In our renovation, we placed our bed on the internal wall & look at what we can see each morning as we wake up!!
The wonderful old Oak tree is a highlight & offers shade from the sun during the summer months & during winter when it loses its foliage, allows the winter light to flood into the room. The Roman blind is great and along with the matching drapes, dress the windows in a simple manner & really allow the garden to be the real star of the room.

We had to work with our existing furniture which suited our old Victorian villa very well, but initially I was worried that it just wouldn't work out in this very 'different' style of house. Doing something with a 70's house was never going to be easy, especially on a tight budget, but with some hard work & lots of paint, I think we've given this room a new lease of life & I'm content with the outcome.

3 comments:

  1. Oooh, I love that room. I actually really liked the red brick beforehand as well, but love it painted white. The new window treatment changes the whole feel of the room. It's simple, yet romantic.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, what a transformation.......it's magnificent... you should be happy with the outcome! A-M xx

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a fabulous transformation!!

    ReplyDelete

And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden