RENOVATION UPDATE: HALLWAY TOUR (IN COLLABORATION WITH DIVINE SAVAGES)
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The hallway always felt like the smallest room in the house. It's only 90cm wide in some parts, and it's narrow width and steep stairs were bland and dusty from the loft conversion.
In turns out, this project was one of our biggest in terms of decoration and judging by the number of rolls of wallpaper we got through (11 rolls to be exact).
I did a blog post back in June on our Hallway plans using the fabulous Divine Savages Deco Martini wallpaper in Blush, back with Farrow and Ball's Railings, separated by a Dado rail which my dad put in, and I can now say it's now finished. Okay, so technically I still want to add some more artworks and buy a carpet runner but for now, its finished. And what a difference it makes.
Ceiling Light - Homesense £29.99, Wallpaper- Divine Savages Deco Martini Blush £140 per roll, Paint- Farrow and Ball Railings, Rug Runner- Wayfair £99, Brass mirror- Made.com £99, Coat Hooks - West Elm £69.
Lets just take a minute to appreciate the fringed beauty of a light hanging in the hallway. Not only was it only £29.99 from my local homesense, but it's also bang on trend according to my recent living.etc magazine.
Mirror- Made.com £99, Divine Savages - Deco martini Blush wallpaper £140 per roll
Before we started work, the hallway had previously been painted in light grey emulsion. It was dull, dusty and lacked spark. As we've renovated our victorian house, we've tried to keep a lot of the original features of the house, and where those features had been ripped out, we've tried to add them back in. We had a coving specialist replicate the original coving of our lounge throughout our hallway and landing, and my dad kindly put the dado rail up for us to add more character.
Oh and the corbels you see in the square archway in the entrance hallway, well they were added in to also add some more character. (Purchased from Ebay, and held up by some no nails glue).
We kept all the original victorian doors, which we had dipped and stripped and re hung. In hindsight, we probably should have replaced them all so they fit better. Upstairs in our loft we went with new painted fire doors with brass handles and these all look amazing, and fit great. If we knew seven years ago that we would go into the loft then we would have done things differently. But hindsight is an amazing thing, eh?
**Personal Disclaimer** Dark colours can make spaces feel small. Since our hallway's been finished it feels more cosy and characterful. I think you should always decorate a home for you, and not worry about what others think. Stop worrying about whether you are 'adding value'. The added value is knowing that your living in the home of your dreams.
The floor below is the first floor, which leads to Otis' nursery. We then have a second set of stairs to our converted loft. Two staircases + 3 floors = 11 rolls of wallpaper + a tone of Farrow and ball paint.
As we enter the loft, you'll notice the change of painted doors which I mentioned before.
The paint as I said is Farrow and ball Railings. We used Modern Emulsion for the walls and Estate Eggshell for the woodwork. We bought most of the paint from Paint depot which always has a 10% discount code for new customers and free delivery... every little helps and all that. You're welcome. FYI, this is the cheapest I've ever been able to find Farrow and Ball paint and I have searched the internet high and low!
I'm not advertising Farrow and ball, but I think the positive points of farrow and ball are that its factory mixed, which means if you need to top it up, or buy more it should in theory match as its not mixed in one of those machines which have just made up a red, when you want a green. If you catch my drift. Plus I love how it goes on and how the colour is so deep and only requires 2 coats for dark colours, unlike other paints.
Modlo lampshade £69, floor lamp stand £28- Iconic lights
And now onto the wallpaper. oh the wallpaper of dreams. The Deco martini blush/ blue wallpaper is from the talented guys at Divine Savages. It wasn't free, but it was discounted by them to allow me to do this. Afterall, I needed 11 rolls, and I'm on maternity leave. Thank you lads! I'll forever be in your debt.
And to quote Darren the decorator "It hangs like a dream". Its heavy, thick and feels expensive, plus I love how it feels in keeping with the era of the house, even though the house is Victorian and the print is more 1920's styling. Plus I love the shades of blush pink mixed back with the blues and dark grey. It fits perfectly with the railings paint.
Dowsing and Reynolds black & Brass toggle switch £24.99
I chose black/brass metal toggle switches from Dowsing and reynolds which worked perfectly against the wallpaper. I then bought cheaper black metal plug sockets from Amazon to blend with the railings paint.
One conundrum we did face was an unusual angle in the wall, which goes from the loft to the ceiling (below right pic). Due to the complexity of trying to wallpaper over it, and seeing the wallpaper shooting off in strange directions, Darren the decorator suggested painting it, and wallpapering above and below. I love how something unexpected ended up being a little added feature.
We added accents of brass with accessories, such as this pendant glass bulb ceiling light from John Lewis. I also bought a brass trimmed round mirror from Made.com for the hallway and a brass coat hook rack from West Elm.
Brass and glass Pendant light from Johnlewis.
So I think that's pretty much everything. I love how we've gone from drab to fab in this space. The Divine Savage Deco martini wallpaper adds a wow factor, and I think it's important to add some drama to the entrance of your home since its the first thing people see. And lastly, I love how the print snakes through the centre of the house and links all the levels. This was an important factor after our loft extension, as we wanted the new spaces to blend with the old and this wallpaper has really helped merge them together and become the heart of the home.
