Dream Home Restoration Part III: The Playroom and Book Nook

March 7, 2013 By Kate in Homing Instinct Tags: decorating, design, diy, family, home, interiors, Kids, playroom, renovation, restoration 31 Comments

I’ve talked before about the life’s-work that is our home restoration project (if you’re a newish visitor, you can read about it here and here). We’re probably about 10% through our list of projects, having tackled the kitchen and the more pressing – and depressing – stuff like turfing out the mouse population and reducing the bracing fresh air which gusts through every seemingly-closed window.

Next on our list was a play space for Harry; we’re lucky enough to have a perfect room for this, sandwiched between the kitchen and Snug, and featuring an ancient but very cool wrought-iron spiral staircase which leads straight upto his bedroom. When the last owners lived here, the playroom was used as a games zone by their sons, complete with black walls, slightly crusty green carpets (let’s not consider that further), a myriad of sockets and cables, and wall-to-wall posters. What little natural light there was had been blocked with heavy curtains, gloom being the preferred natural habitat of the teenage male.

Painting walls and replacing the carpet was an immediate priority, but the rest we’ve done gradually, adding homemade furniture and toys here and there, and evolving the space as Harry’s grown from a wobbly toddler into a little boy.

The original fireplace appears to have had its legs sawn off at some point in the last 300yrs, but we decorate it nonetheless with string ball lights, garlands and bunting, depending on the season; at Christmas it had a curtain of cotton wool snowballs, and a vintage glitter ball currently sits in the grate waiting for us to find a new home for it (though I think it’s pretty settled at this point).

Nooks and crannies are used for storage; these sturdy chairs fit around the art table when we’re painting, but then retire, Shaker-style, to the peg rail to free up floor space

A giant bookcase found on Ebay houses toyboxes, Lego and other treasures like the animals from Harry’s Ark and his collection of fireman helmets (one for each of us; teamwork is everything).

A ratty sofa allows shoppers to queue in comfort when waiting to be served at Harry’s store, and doubles up as a boat, life-raft, island, den or car depending on what game we’re playing. One of the first things I ever made for Harry, his family tree, hangs on the wall and is regularly updated when family members are matched or hatched.

My favourite part of the playroom is the newest; a former cloakroom was awkwardly squeezed into a corner of the room and hoarded the only precious direct natural light. We knocked down the wall and ripped it out to extend the main room and create a small reading area with books and cushions.

The ‘book of the week’ corner utilises the boxed-in plumbing for the former faucet, and holds a rotating series of Harry’s favourite books, accessorised with paintings and pictures we’ve made, or things from the Dressing Up box, like this Halloween Hat and Broom.

Scattered around are some folded books, which I made one evening last week in front of the television, inspired by this amazing window display from US store Anthropologie.

I played around with folding a couple of charity shop books which we won’t read again, and had a lot of fun. Next time I’ll work my way through the whole book and make some over-sized hanging pendants, perhaps at Christmastime.

I added a junk store vintage sofa which I painted in off-white chalk paint and reupholstered in faux (wipe-clean!) suede; it was previously unfashionable mahogany so I bought it for a song and spent a couple of days overhauling it. It adds a touch of grace to the playroom and shows you don’t have to be surrounded by plastic-fantastic ‘kids furniture’ all the time.

Elsewhere paper stars & Harry’s artwork adorn the twisting staircase, acting as a height warning for unwitting grown-ups. The Jeeves & Wooster pendant light is made from a gilded bowler hat and is one of the few light fittings we’ve managed to reuse from our former, very modern house. Two squeezable trumpet horns are used in the summer for garden games and races, and frighten the life out of newcomers with their ear-splitting exuberance.

Old favourites like the cardboard rocket have miraculously managed to survive months of heavy-handed play; the rocket currently houses Harry’s most precious treasures and anything else which catches his eye around the house (car keys, watches, bananas… it’s an eclectic and hazardous mix).

We’re lucky to have a dedicated playroom, and one which sits so perfectly at the heart of the home, close to the rest of the action. Its layout and palette gives space for Harry to grow and for his tastes – and stuff – to evolve. I know that one day I too may be painting the walls in dark and manly teenage colours and shuddering as I peel up the once-oat coloured carpet, but till then we’ll enjoy the space, light and fun of a room filled with the passions of a 3yr old, who I hope will take as long to grow up as is humanly possible…

Welcome to Harry’s Hardware!

January 6, 2013 By Kate in Making, Reinvention & Renovation Tags: diy, dress up, gardening, gas, gas station, hardware store, Kids, petrol pump, pretend play, recycling, renovation, toys, upcycling 68 Comments

Well welcome to the grand opening of Harry’s Hardware, Gas & Auto! I’m sure you’ll agree it’s about time this small e-neighbourhood had a one-stop shop where you can refuel, choose a can of flamingo-pink paint for your kitchen and have a cup of the kind of coffee that makes your hair stand on end. We thought so, anyway….

This was Harry’s main Christmas present, and is based on an old bookcase I found on ebay for a few pounds. Like many 3yr old boys, Harry is a devoted petrol-head and delights in all things auto. Given the domestic backdrop of our home renovation, he’s also a big fan of power tools, screwdrivers, hammers and all other dangerous hardware. Thus, a hardware store and garage seemed like a good idea, and is proving a hit so far. I was lucky enough to find a second-hand wooden kids’ cupboard in the style of a gas pump, but everything else is customised and made from household junk and recycled bits and bobs. So park at the rear, would you, and come on inside for the tour. Let’s start you with a cup of coffee…

Not just any coffee, but Harry’s Coffee, the brand that knocked Starbucks out of town and became a rapid hit with truckers. The coffee ‘machine’ is an black cardboard jewellery box that housed my Christmas necklace (thank you, Santa!), with two cheap pump dispensers glued onto it (from pound-store pump bottles). I made branded signage for the coffee machine and cups on my home printer, and then simply glued a sheet of black card stock behind to form the back and tray. Because the jewellery box is hollow, the pumps do actually press in and out, making for some convincing pretend play and the addition of so many caffeine shots that you’ll be bouncing off the ceiling if Harry has his way. Tiny wooden donuts appropriated from Harry’s play kitchen offer an additional hazard to your teeth.

Whilst you drink your coffee – carefully – come browse our paint selection, made from portion-sized bean cans covered in a paper wrapper. Some of these are empty cans, used and washed out, others are still full; my domestic skills are haphazard so it’s quite foreseeable that I’ll be visiting Harry’s hardware store for dinner ingredients before the month is out..

Alongside the paints are cans of brushes and ‘wallpaper’ – rolled up offcuts of gift wrap and decorative paper. Whilst it’s fun to look at, it’s also helping with naming colours, identifying letters and words, and counting. I fear that Harry is not born to be a customer services professional though; dithering over your choices is not encouraged, and if Harry disapproves of what you’ve chosen, you’ll be given something else entirely and sent on your way. Such is life.

Crime can be a problem in any neighbourhood, even one as lovely as ours, so there’s a section of the store dedicated to discouraging robbers. Harry is passionate about law enforcement, having recently fallen under the spell of Lego City, so most of our games involve Policeman and Naughty Men. I’m quick to assure callers to the house that the various sets of handcuffs left lying around are all from Harry’s toy box and absolutely nothing to do with me or the global phenomenon of Fifty Shades of Grey. The store offers sliding locks to try out, and a set of devilishly small padlocks and keys that test Harry’s dexterity and patience to their limit and beyond. They do also bounce, when hurled to the floor dismissively. The glued-on keys come from an embarrassingly large bowl in our house which stores all unidentifiable keys from our last 5 house moves and the myriad of lost bicycle locks and chains – no doubt one of them will prove to be crucial, and I will have to chip it off from the board – but until then, they serve a more decorative purpose.

I used a jumble of small cardboard boxes to make these faux wooden draws – most are boxes from candles or the lids of various things. I found a graphic of an old shop chest and simply printed and glued the images to the front of each box, adding text for the contents. Once again, the contents have simply been borrowed from elsewhere in our house, but are satisfying to play with and count out. A small set of nesting zinc boxes from our shed completes the selection of handyman bits ‘n bobs.

In other parts of the store you can buy birdseed, choosing amongst varieties depending on which birds you want to attract to your garden, and even find pocket-sized birdhouses to house them (these came straight from the Christmas tree…).

Budding gardeners can choose real seeds from our store list, and Harry’s own tools hang alongside. Pint-sized bundles of firewood and a couple of Halloween-costume prop brooms complete the outdoor maintenance section.

The ‘Parking’ sign rests on two miniature tyres which are actually dog chew toys, found cheap at our local DIY store – we’ll use these in all kinds of projects come the Summertime, I’m sure.

I made the main store sign using off-cuts of skirting board and pasting on home-printed signs. If you look closely, you can see the joins where I’ve pasted pieces of regular-sized paper together to make the super-sized storefront sign.

And finally of course, you can fill up with gas from the pump. Harry’s pedal car has been regularly topped up, as has everything that moves in the household, and many things which do not.

So, a Christmas hit, for now at least, appealing to all of Harry’s manly instincts and providing lots of opportunity for play and interaction – and when the attraction begins to fade, I can simply return the bookcase to its component parts and reinvent it again. Or maybe – and here’s a novel thought – actually place some books on it, who knows?

If you’re new-ish to the blog and like this project, you might also enjoy Harry’s kitchen and shop (note to self: stop buying junk furniture on ebay…).

The Dream House Part 1: Kitchen restoration

August 7, 2012 By Kate in Homing Instinct, Making Tags: chesneys fireplace, diy, home, interiors, kitchen makeover, oak floor, projects, renovation 57 Comments

Whilst most of my creative projects involve paper, glue, baking or clay, there’s one big – nay, HUGE, project keeping me busy in the background, and that’s the renovation of our new house; a crumbling yet beautiful pile that we moved into just before Christmas. We were looking for somewhere big and vaguely unkempt, where Harry could run amok without it mattering, and where adventures could be had and memories created over many years. My husband saw it first, and it’s a testament to the magic of the house that he, ever practical and sensible, was captivated. Windows rattled, mice fled for cover, plaster dust quietly settled around us but still, we decided, it had to be ours. Madness, of the very best possible kind…

So here we are, 6 months in and with no money left, neat fingernails a distant memory and a complete and profound happiness about having found Home. Our first big project was to convert the formal living room into a family kitchen/dining space, where we now spend almost all of our waking hours. This is what it looked like before:

And now after…

The room – like the rest of the house – has some beautiful features we were keen to keep, like the panelling, bay windows and ornate coving from when the house was built in the 1750s. We had an imprint made of this, so we could continue it around the new in-built range cooker and cupboards. A lime-washed, engineered oak floor replaced the old pink carpet (you can see now where all our money has gone…), and is living up to the promise of being hard-wearing and resistant to everything a two year old can drop on it. Much of the space in the l-shaped room was under-utilised before, as the previous owners had understandably clustered sofas round the fireplace and left the far end alone. Instead, we added our main kitchen area here, working with Martin Moore to design a layout which maximises the space, and centres around a large Cook’s Table and chairs which we perch on whilst dinner bubbles away on the stove. (Alright, alright I confess; whilst dinner pings in the microwave).

And after….

The fireplace (below) was original to the property but very ornate and rather too heavy with bunches of grapes and dancing maidens for our taste; we replaced it with this simple yet majestic stone surround slate hearth, and retained the original backplate. The fireplace is an object of fascination for Harry, who is convinced the chimney is home to a family of owls, ever since I hooted down from an upstairs fireplace when he was standing below.

By the time we’d finished the kitchen and floor, our collective money boxes were nearly empty, so we bought these two dressers relatively cheaply and painted them to tone with the kitchen at the other end. Random objects gathered at junk sales and flea markets over the years have finally found a home on top (I knew that 3ft wide vintage Ukranian dough bowl would look good somewhere…), and our mismatched white china is stored inside. Our melamine Disney plates and chipped mugs are still around, of course, we just hide them in our new cupboards..

Finally we added a squashy cream Chesterfield sofa in the bay window; the perfect place to read Sunday papers (though the relaxed reading of newspapers is a distant memory, in truth). Cream sofas may seem like another act of insanity, but this one is steeped in industrial strength stain-guard, which so far is doing a magnificent job.

So; Phase 1 is now complete, and the memories of months of rubble, chaos and the Electrician-Who-Fell-Through-The-Ceiling are rapidly fading and being converted into cheery anecdotes. The electrician, I hasten to add, is fine; he stepped off a beam upstairs and went straight through the lathe and plaster ceiling below; fortunately a lifetime of eating Cornish pasties for lunch ensured he simply became wedged between joists and suffered an uncomfortable hour in mid-air, and mid-floor, whilst reinforcements – and a ladder – arrived.

Happiness is: A Man and his Grill

July 12, 2012 By Kate in Making, Reinvention & Renovation Tags: bbq, Kids, play grill, renovation, salt dough;FIMO, toy barbecue, upcycling 50 Comments

It has to be said; I’ve taken full advantage so far of the fact that Harry, at 2, is happy pottering around in a play kitchen and keeping shop, oblivious to the fact that these will rapidly become activities associated with girls, and swiftly abandoned in favour of games requiring bravery, danger and copious amounts of dirt. Still, there’s one form of cooking that seems to unite men the world over, and that’s ownership of the BBQ; a testosterone-fuelled activity if ever there was one.

With that in mind, I’ve repurposed a small thrift shop table into a brand new grill for Harry (see below for the Before pics and stages). With build-your-own kebabs that double as weapons, a hodgepodge of food made from salt dough and FIMO, and grocery-store paper plates and cups, it’s proving to be a big hit as you can see. Leftover household items like an air vent, silver spray paint and a cheap baking tray gave the semblance of a gas BBQ, and a hefty dose of imagination from Harry has filled in all the gaps…

This was the starting point; a small wooden table I picked up for £8 at a charity shop. It looks like it was once a play worktable, but came with no accessories other than a broken shelf, which I repaired and restored.

I painted the surface with black gloss paint and sprayed the legs and shelf silver, before nailing on a louvred air vent for the grill itself. A sheet of dolls house stone-effect wallpaper provides the backdrop; I used PVA to apply this then varnished for longevity and to ward off wear and tear.

The kebabs are made from a cheap skipping rope; I unscrewed the heads, removed the rope and glued in lengths of dowel which I again sprayed silver (our whole garden has little patches of silver spray across it – I’m hoping my husband hasn’t noticed..). I used a mixture of painted salt dough and FIMO for my kebab food, wiggling each onto the dowel before baking to ensure an easy fit. These have been the biggest draw of all for Harry; the art of slipping them on and off, rearranging and – yes – tasting each piece, can be lots of fun. Here’s a tip; if you ever decide to make a corn-on-the-cob using salt dough, find a good movie and arm yourself with a glass of chardonnay before you settle down to roll a hundred individual kernels…

Finally, how to fill the myriad of pre-drilled holes? Luckily I found this set of four thin-handled cooking implements in our local pound shop, and rolled each in brightly coloured gift wrap before varnishing. Hey presto, now Harry and his father can grill side by side this weekend (it’s a toss up whose food will be more edible!).

Kate's Creative Space

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Tag Archives: renovation

Dream Home Restoration Part III: The Playroom and Book Nook

Welcome to Harry’s Hardware!

The Dream House Part 1: Kitchen restoration

Happiness is: A Man and his Grill

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