Your home: plans for 2018!

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year to those of you who I haven't spoken to so far. 🙂

One of my favourite discussions here in the Community Center is a topic created by @Huma0 which is all about past renovation projects and sharing Before and After photos. I know many of you have commented in this, so I am sure it is a favourite among many of us. 

With this in mind and because it is the start of a new year, I wanted to ask you if you have any plans for your home in 2018?

For me, I want to add more life to my walls, by creating and searching for nice photos and art works to hang. I plan to make some nice photo collages of times with my family and friends, but also print some photos of places I have visited (usually photos of the sea, I have a surprising amount of seascapes). Plus, I have a couple of old maps showing local landmarks, shipwreckss etc. which I want to frame. 

What about you? Perhaps you just want to give a room or two a lick of paint, perhaps you plan to add some new furniture to your living room or perhaps you are planning on knocking some walls down! It would be great to hear what you are planning to do this year.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Huma0]

Thanks @Oomesh-Kumarsingh0!

On the subject of getting bookings after home improvements, @Lizzie do you, or does anyone else know, if there is any chance of getting an Airbnb photographer to revisit? From what I understood you only get one visit per listing, but would we be able to book an Airbnb photographer to take additional photos for a fee and, if so, would they get the 'Verified by Airbnb' caption?

Already I'd like to put up photos of my new bathrooms, but mine don't really do them justice.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Huma, 

This is exciting.

The best thing to do regarding Airbnb photography is to have a look at the Airbnb webpage, which has all the information about arranging someone to come and take photos. I believe there is a fee, but all the details for this are outlined there. 

I hope you get some wonder photos that do all you hard work justice. 🙂

[Cristina----Co-Host-Ever0]

Uahll !!! Great

[Lizzie]

Wow again @Huma0, I absolutely love your home. That wallpaper is quite stunning and I like the way that even though it is quite detailed it doesn't overpower the room. Your house plant looks like it is part of the wallpaper. 🙂

Is there a trick for using wallpaper, especially a patterned design, so that it doesn't overpower the room and make it feel smaller than it is?

[Huma0]

Hi @Lizzie

Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead. That's not a photo from my home (I wish)! It's a reference from a magazine for the look I'm after.

Here is the wallpaper I bought (at a massively dicounted rate of £5 a roll - always the bargain hunter!)

It's not as stunning as the one in the magazine, but that's handpainted and over £200 a drop (let alone a roll), so I think this isn't bad considering my budget!

Re wallpaper not overpowering the room, I think the main thing to consider is the look you want to achieve, i.e.

1. Keep the sense of space and light. So, think about if the space is large and bright enough to handle a strong wallpaper in the first place. Keep ceilings, mouldings, skirting, doors, window frames and other details in bright white or another very pale colour and use mirrors and good lighting to keep everything light.

2. Forget all that and just go for bold and dramatic. There has been a big trend in the last few years of going for dark, moody spaces and not worrying about if it makes the space look smaller. There are some theories that it makes it look larger. I'm undecided about that! Abigail Ahern is one of the leading interior designers who does dark, dramatic rooms. Here's some examples of her work:

[Lizzie]

Aw sorry I completely misunderstood @Huma0, hehe. Although, seeing other photos from your home, this wouldn't look out of place! 🙂

I like your amazing bargin wallpaper, I was going to ask if that was handpainted as I couldn't tell from the photo. It is lovely. Do you have master plans for this in your home? 

Great tips for keeping control of your wallpaper! I think often there is temptation to fill just one wall as a focal point, but I have seen some fantastic examples where the whole room can handle wallpaper. I suppose it really depends on your room and the design of the paper!

I love the look of the bold and dramatic rooms, and being quite free with the use of colour. I would be a tad apprehensive about painting a whole room all one dark shade, but the colourful accessories really bring it alive...weather I could pull it off is a whole different thing!! 🙂

[Huma0]

@Lizziethe only plan for now for the green wallpaper is to use it on the top landing of the house, which is a small area and quite bright as there's a big window right opposite.

I have bought the same wallpaper in, believe it or not, yellow and my plan is to do a whole bedroom in that. I just haven't been brave enough to take the plunge!

I love the dark look that Abigail Ahern does, but yes, you do have to be a bit brave to go with this properly. I attempted it with one of my bedrooms by painting it a deep blue, but it looks really bright (and therefore less sexy) in comparison because a lot of the woodwork is still white. The key to this look is to paint the walls, skirting, doors, windows and picture rails and fireplace surround (if you have a wooden one) all the same shade. So, that's my plan for the bedroom mentoned.

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Huma0 You have great taste!

[April3]

@Huma0 those dark colors are stunning and will look great in your place. I recently painted over heavily cherry stained knotty pine (gasp! the whole world told me in my mountain town I could NOT cover up knotty pine, but I disagree) in a shade similar to the last photo. It came out wonderfully and goes great with my aesthetic, which I coined 'scandinavian mountain dream cabin' 😉

also, I actually prefer the wall paper you found compared to the photo. Its beautiful !

[Huma0]

@April3 

Thank you! That's encouraging to hear. Do you have any photos of it you can share?

I have heard that there's a special primer paint you can buy to paint onto knotty pine (or other wood) that helps to stop any bleeding from the knots, but I haven't tried it yet.

Well, the wallpaper is already bought. I'm just summoning up the courage to slap it on the wall!

[Lizzie]

Sounds lovely @April3. I wonder if you will see lots of your neighbours following in your footstep and covering up their pine? 

Oo as @Huma0 said, it would be great to see a photo. 🙂

[Valerie192]

I am a new homeowner (6 months) but I have a whole bucket list of things, although none that will really impact hosting too much. I would really like to do a soundproofing and design project to convert my detached garage to a music room/studio to house my guitars and drumset. As it is, I hate to play my instruments in the house for fear of disturbing my guests so it will provide a nice getaway room for me without disturbing others!

[Mark26]

Does that detached garage have existing drywall on the ceiling and walls?  Or are you fortunate enough to be able to start from scratch with bare studs?  (Sorry Marzena... that's a construction term, refering to the lumber framing of the walls, and not the people who will be doing the work.)

[Mark26]

I have no idea how much research you've done, or whether you're still in the "Wouldn't it be nice to convert the garage" stage, or the "I know what I'm doing, and this is going to rock" stage, but a well constructed studio in the garage will change your life for the better.  I'd love to share hundreds of photos I took as I constructed mine, documenting every step in the process of wiring and plumbing a third laundry room to be used by guests, and a modest 9 X 9 Recording Studio, which is actually a room within a room, built inside a 10X 10 space I built adjacent to the laundry room, but I lost all those photos in a Windows System Restore gone horribly wrong.  Had I performed that restore inside the studio, no one would have heard my reaction when I discovered all the files I had permanently lost.

The windowless garage I modified is adjacent to the living room of one of my apartments.  Before I began, there was only one section of drywall covering a portion of the studs in that garage.  That small section being the wall section between the apartment and the garage.  Although that wall was filled with standard R-13 insulation and covered with drywall, you could still hear a guest watching television at a moderate volume through that wall. I removed the drywall and insulation, replacing it with a very effective Sound Deadening insulation, https://www.lowes.com/pd/ROCKWOOL-R-59-7-sq-ft-Unfaced-Rock-Wool-Batt-Insulation-with-with-Sound-Bar... and a double layer of 3/4" drywall, with a layer of "Green Glue" Noiseproofing compound. http://www.greengluecompany.com/   That alone turned a television cranked up to max volume into a barely audible muffled sound on the other side of the wall.  I covered all the walls and ceiling with that same insulation/drywall/greenglue/drywall treatment, and then framed and constructed another "Room within a room" inside of the rear half of the garage, using the same Roxul, 3/4" drywall/Greenglue/drywall sandwich technique. 

You could play your drums in there at two in the morning, and no one would know.

[Rene-and-Zac0]

Hey @Mark26 the next time you’re in your little Poop Doggy Dog recording studio, picture this little gem coming through your sound board. 

https://youtu.be/