Meep's Home Improvements

[meep]

As I mentioned in the Daily Thread, I'm planning on painting my bathroom this weekend to cover up mildew stains. I'm also planning on repainting the hall, but will only get testers this weekend.

So far I've thought about either a warm brown, light green, or rich gold for the hall. (The bathroom will just be white!)

I'm leaning toward a few colours in this pallette:

http://www.dulux.co.uk/colours/fresh_golds.jsp

The hall is long and narrow, with no natural light. It's currently got a dull yellow on it, and is covered in scuff marks. So need something to warm it up but that isn't going to make it look smaller!

Also, I'll post photos of my new curtains by request up here when I get home this evening. I'm currently on a lengthy mission to do my flat up and make it much more homely! It's lovely and much improved since we first moved in but lacking in homely touches and decoration. Will keep all updated on my progress; these sort of things do make me happy :)

[Moli]

I have a long hall, part of it is quite dark too, and we have just put very pale yellow on the walls, the floor is light laminate, and we have beige rugs.....it did open it up a bit and make it more airy.....

[meep]

Thanks Moli that's good to know :) The colour on the hall just now is a dark, dirty looking yellow. I think it looks dark as it's old and actually dirty! (The reason we painted the living room and spare room).

The bedroom is a really nice, light yellow which is really bright and opens up the room. But for variety I'd like a different colour other than light yellow in the hall. From the colour palette I posted I'm thinking Californian Sands 1. Very rich and bold! All the other rooms are very light / neutral, apart from the one dark red wall in the living room.

I'd love to get rugs for the hall too, but such an expense!

[Moli]

I like light colours too, My kitchen is a very pale green, my favourite colour.....Livingroom is white with silver through it, makes the room look really airy, then I have pale blue in the showeroom, and pale peach in the bathroom....

[yola]

Oooo - I love home improvements :D I too have a long, narrow hallway only lit by a fanlight above the front door. We used to have dusty pink above the dado rail and olive green wide striped paper below. Quite nice and not as disgusting as it sounds but it did darken the dark areas too much. Since then, I've painted cream above the dado with biscuit/cream stripes below. Much nicer!

Meep, to break up the large expanse of wall and stop it looking dark/bleak/bare have you considered using something like a dado or even subtler beading to create a break in the expanse of wall . . . you can then have tonally harmonic colours but vary them a bit . . . just a thought!

[dandysmom]

I really like the Grenada Green in that sample!

[Elvisisboss]

Pharaohs Gold is a lovely colour!

we have just re-carpeted the entire house in our new place a 'coffee' colour it is called but VERY light not dark colour.

tom we are painting the hallway & landing in a magnolia or a cream colour!

new curtains to! i like creams & browns & reds! with no clutter! :-p

i had such a good time when i had my house a few years back and we did it up from top to bottom so i got to design 4 bedrooms & kitchen/bathroom/lounge etc! was lots of fun!

my dad is a property devloper & i designed some stuff for him on one of his houses! its great to see it all take shape! :D

[angieh]

Mirrors are a really good idea meep! I'd have trouble with choosing the colour for your hall though. One good tip - if you paint your match pot colour on the wall, you won't be able to evaluate it in different places, so paint it on a piece of paper and just stick it up with a bit of low tack masking tape - then you can move it about. I was amazed how the colours changed with the time of day, but if you have no natural light in your hall that shouldn't have such an effect.

Good luck - looking forward to seeing pictures!

[Kazz]

I agree Eileen I like the greens too....Granada is lovely.

Meep I like Yola's sugestion of breaking up the space how about the Granada Green 2 or 3 on the base then above it Granada Green 5 or 6 above.

I like green.............as I said in the daily thread a mirror is perfect for throing light onto an area.

Looking forward to the pictures.

[meep]

Hi and thanks for your wondeful suggestions all! In a wee bit of a rush so I can make it the paint shop in time before it closes (only open early on Sat. at a weekend). I was actually thinking of going two tone and doing half and half, for exactly the same reasons. And it does add variety.

But if I was painting a two tone high and low, how would I seperate the two, or make sure hte lines perfectly straight? It is a rented place and the landlord has agreed to pay for the paint but don't know if I could fit a wooden thing, or plaster wall paper myself? :S

I'm going to get samples of some yellow/ golds and some greens today :D

[meep]

P.S. Sorry my reply is rushed! Will respond later to you all when I have the paint safely home :)

[yola]

If you don't want to create a dado rail you could use a wall paper border part way up the wall. You need to be careful to match the colours to compliment rather than contrast otherwise it may look a little 80s. However, dado isn't difficult to apply - if you use a narrow one you could even glue it with the 'no more nails' stuff :-D

[dinahsmum]

Or you could separate 2 colours using masking tape. Measure it carefully, put a level line of tape at the appropriate height, paint one of your colours. Allow to dry (well), peel off masking tape. Measure again and put more tape around the wall but this time up or down an inch or so, so that it's only covering the new paint. Paint the wall and this time get the masking tape off as quickly as you can. Use very low tack tape and peel it off very carefully. It may well bring a flake or two of colour number 1 off, so you'll need an artists paint brush just to touch up any imperfections.

Looking forward to hearing what you decide

[meep]

Thanks for the advice Yola and DM - very useful! I've bought six samples of paint, and of those four of them could be paired up, and two are just single colours for he whole wall. They're all from the same 'colour' just tones lighter, rather than contrasting, so no 80s glare for me Yola ;) I asked the guy in the paint shop about Dado rails and he mentioned the 'no more nails' one. Sounds promising! I'll have to run it past my landlord first. If need be, and he's not keen, we could just do DM's suggested of painting two colours, and carefully make them meet in the middle with masking tape etc. But of the 6 colours, or 3 pairs, of colours I've bought, I could make a whole wall of a few of the colours so keeping my options open :)

I went for Grecian Garland 4 (green), Pharaohs Gold 1 and 2 (rich gold), California Sands 1 and 3 (a nice set to two-tone), and Golden Rambler 3 (for whole wall, hopefully it's quite bold but warm).

The bathroom is now drying with it's first coat on :) It looks so much better already, when painting on the fresh white I could see the stark contrast between the old white and new white, the old white looked almost grey! Part mildew and part age and dirt. Second coat of paint in half an hour or so, then I'm sorted! Although will need to wait till it's dried thoroughly before I can get a shower to get all this paint off my arms :roll:

Darcy was certainley not impressed by me shutting the bathroom door at all. Normally if I go for a shower he'll mew a little bit at the door, but he persistenly yowled and scratched at varying degrees from pitiful to manic for a good half hour until he gave up. He hates to shut out from a room if someone's in it! Once I'd finished the first coat, I came out and looked around for him, to find him asleep on my clothes that I'd taken off so I could get changd into my old painting clothes, looking very content. Such a soulk and clingy boy! He was also very happy to see me with lots of purrs. I mean, where does he think I could have gone, out the window?! :lol:

[dandysmom]

Meep, for all he knows you might have teleported, like BM's boy! Bless him, he's such a mummy's boy! Glad things are going so well for you paintwise; can't wait for pics of the before and after!

[PoshPuss]

It all sounds very rich and glamorous Meep, the colours remind me of somewhere with a sunken bath in a palatial temple type of place. Talking of Pharoah's, will you be bathing in asses milk from now on then? :lol: :D

[Elvisisboss]

Pharaohs Gold 1YAH!! thats was my fav choice!!

hows it all going?

we didnt do any painting today........... or end up buying anything!! *sob!* x

[meep]

And the last coat is up! And everything is packed away and all paint has been washed off - hurrah!

Darcy really didn't let up on his attention seeking. After I emerged I went to the kitchen to wash my hands etc. and he jumped onto the work surface, and started head-butting me like crazy, then actually tried to climb onto my shoulder, and failing that, leaned on it whilst licking my neck :shock: :lol: Whilst he loves being picked up, he's never tried to be picked up before. He was evidently feeling the need for some love. So to excuse my bad behaviour I gave them both some tuna :)

I've not put up the testers for the hall yet partly as I can't face any more paint, and partly as I don't want to have big splodges on the wall for a whole week. I won't be able to get to the paint shop til next weekend so will put them up Thursday, can thinking about them over Thurs / Fri and buy on Saturday :)

I'll put up before and after pics of the bathroom tomorrow once it's dried and everything is back in place. It's not as exciting as the hall as it's just white, but the difference in the brightness and freshness of the white is wonderful; not sure how well that will show up on camera, but now I can have a nice hot relaxing bath in a completely shiney clean bathroom :)

And I wouldn't put it past Darcy to teleport :lol:

[Kazz]

All sounding good now...........look forward to the pictures.

[meep]

Photo time! Like I said,these aren't very exciting. Just a white-walled bathroom, running along the before and after theme of "mildew / no mildew, mildew / no mildew". But still the fruits of my labour! I'm far more excited about the sample colours for the hall, as they're so bold and bright, but bathroom photos first:

Before:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5642.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5649.jpg

After:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5713.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5720.jpg

Before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5647.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5645.jpg

After:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5721.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5730.jpg

Before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5643.jpg

After:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5714.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5727.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5731.jpg

Before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5610.jpg

After:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/jennyfurrens/DSCF5715.jpg

I also washed the shower curtain with bleach, to get rid of a few pesky mildew stains, so can now have a nice hot bath tonight in a completely clean bathroom :)

[meep]

Looking over those I've noticed that the 'line' around the window is a bit wonky and occasionally splashes onto the window pane - oops! I did use masking tape too, and a fine brush. Obviously I need more pratice... But I think the positives of painting it far outweigh the negatives of a few uneven edges!

[dinahsmum]

That's much better.
You'll get any splashes off the glass by gently scraping with a blade - and maybe the wood of the frame too, if you do it carefully. Try a test patch where it doesn't show first.

Enjoy your baths!

[dandysmom]

Looks great! Much better than I'd have done, I'm not a dab hand at painting. What a nice change!

[meep]

Thanks DM and Eileen! I'll definately try gently scraping off the paint from the window frame. It must have leaked through the masking tape.

It just makes the room feel fresher, bigger, and a lot cleaner. More pleasant to be in!

As I was leaving my flat today for the shops my neighbour came out his flat and I caught a peek into his hall, noticing that since I last saw in (not on purpose, just as you do when someone opens their door!) that he's installed a Dado rail and painted it two tone! I wonder if that's a sign?? It seems a bit more work to do, but when I saw how lovely his hall looked I was sorely tempted to do it myself. It just makes it look 10 times more elaborately decorated with really not that much work involved. Will suggest it to OH but as he really doesn't like any unnecessary hassle or work, he probably won't be keen :roll: (Hence why I did the bathroom myself this weekend, purposely when he was out the way!)

[dandysmom]

Well, you can only suggest it to him; you'll be doing the work! It does sound lovely; couldn't he agree and just watch soccer or something and let you do it?

[meep]

Oh he's not a soccer guy; he's a UFC or Muay Thai guy! He'll probably play xbox whilst I do it :roll:
He's just come in now after being away for the weekend, stuck his head in the bathroom door and said "aye it looks good". That's it. Men!! But I did it for me.

[dandysmom]

Yes, MEN!!!! Not very communicative, are they? I'm convinced that early humans acquired speech through the women ...guys too busy hunting mammoths and grunting at one another! :-D

[meep]

That is a very good, and highly feasible, theory Eileen! OH is particulary bad at communicating. I talk a lot and am very bubbly, so it is opposites attract and compliment as him being quiet gives me room to chat! But sometimes you do need more than a few monotone answers! But I guess that's what friends are for :)

[dandysmom]

Very much off topic, but I've noticed that my gay male friends are very chatty and communicative! Odd, isn't it?

[meep]

It is but also makes sense! I don't know if it's anything to do with the 'macho male' culture we live in, where straight men aren't supposed to show much emotion, do anything non-macho, enjoy beer and football / fighting, and are aloof etc. The whole men are from mars, women from venus theory, that we seem to live up to. Yet gay men don't feel the need to, subconsciously, act like that, so they can be more open in expressing themselves.

Speaking of which, apparently after Madonna and Guy Ritchie's split she's called him "emotionally stinted" or something similar, and has vowed to never date a British man again as they're light years behind American men in emotional development and expressing their emotions. It does ring a bell...!

[dandysmom]

There seems to be a trend here away from the sensitive male and back more to the old macho image, more's the pity .......

[angieh]

I think you've done a super job with your bathroom meep! It looks so much cleaner and nicer - you'll be able to relax in your favourite bubble bath and look at serene unblemished walls and ceilings. I felt like that after having the artex ceiling in my bedroom plaster skimmed.

Well done!

[Kazz]

Looks good to me can see a television show on home improvements on the horizon .

[meep]

:lol: Kazz, maybe ;)

Thanks Angie and Kazz! OH did comment on it more later in the evening and this morning, saying I'd done a 'good job' with lots of hugs. He's learning ;) It looks a lot lighter and brigher too, especially in the morning with the sun coming in - lovely!

Have been thinking about the hall again - have now begun thinking that as it's a very narrow, wee hall the Dado rail may be too busy for it. It is very small and narrow, not long and narrow. Will try out testers later in the week :)

Eileen - I agree it is a pity the general male populus seem to be moving back to stereotypical macho type. OH adores Sly Stallone, and I do too, partly because he is a big tough guy in both Rocky and Rambo, but paritcularly in First Blood at the end he cries, unashamedly, and it's very emotional. And also in Rocky his love for Adrian, and his proclomations of it, is very overt with no shame. Rocky is a very tough guy who would protect his family at all costs, but also in touch with how he feels and, I think, all the more a loveable character for it.

Reading lots of Victorian Literature recently, or neo-Victorian, and it still shocks me (despite having studied it for four years!) how that society viewed women as prone to hysteria because of their sex (their womb) and that it was normal for women to be emotionally volatile, and they must be treated as walking time bombs. Yet men were considered far less capable of being hysterical. As if there was a genetic disposition that women are emotional and men aren't. I agree, there are different hormones in men and womn, testosterone being a more aggresive hormone, but as the Victorian era really was a foundation for our modern culture (with some evolution since, albeit, but still a foundation) you can see where our modern idea of women as PMT-ing, chick-flick watching, weak and flimsy emotional wrecks, and men as protective, macho, unemotional heroes comes from. :roll:

[dinahsmum]

Is this the home improvements or the human psychology thread? :lol:

Interesting about the gender differences though. I heard an educator speaking on the radio recently about how our teaching methods are terribly unhelpful for boys and that too many female teachers 'talking at them' simply encourage them to retreat within themselves. Here's (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2008_26_fri.shtml) a link to the programme and other research work.

Interesting stuff

[meep]

Oh DM, human psychology and the gender difference plays a huge role in home improvements:

meep: I can't choose between the sunset yellow 1 and sunset yellow 2. but california sands 4 has a nice hue.
OH: uh, yeh, I think they're nice!
meep: but perhaps if we got the sunset yellow 2 in matte instead of eggshell it wouldn't be so loud. but maybe california sands would be better in vinyl.
OH: i think they're all great *fires up xbox*

(the above conversation is a prediction of the conversation to follow in the next few days).

As you can see, gender difference is integral to making choices in home improvement :lol: It looks like an interesting article, will check it out this evening at home.

If we want to chat more on this we should really start a new thread! ;)

[dinahsmum]

But but but meep, they are actually really clever and get the best of both worlds (it took me ages to realise and articulate this). 95% of the time we take the decisions, have the casting vote etc etc; 5% of the time they say 'No, I think it should be x'. We, silly fools that we are, think 'Well, he is normally so good, and lets me have it my way, so in this instance I'll step back'.

Who's the fool? He doesn't mind and doesn't even have to think for the majority of the time but, when push comes to shove, on something he is bothered about, he always gets his way :roll:

[meep]

:lol: DM I have thought the exact same thing, they do have the best of both worlds. They can use their normal silence as a tool of superiority, as if to say "I only speak when it's really important, therefore my opinions right". And they do only need to put in about 5% work :roll: But I enjoy being busy and OH enjoys taking it easy, so I guess it work out.