Category Archives: Renovations

Home renovations at no 57 – week 3-5

2 November 2020

Hey everyone, let’s dive into week 3-5 (-ish) of our home renovations at no 57. I’ve not posted for a while as life has been crazy busy with work full on, managing builders and keeping homelife smooth. To top it all off I’ve had my youngest one at home as his class bubble had to shut down due to a positive Covid test. So back to homeschooling it was for 2 weeks… argh!

In the meantime I’ve loved watching the renovations take shape and the amazing craftsmanship of our builders. My favourite parts so far were the plastering and seeing the construction of a pergola that I’d designed. A few weeks ago I wrote this blog post about pergolas and how much I’d want to incorporate one in our ground floor renovations and just like that the guys got on with it. I got the feeling that they hadn’t seen or constructed one before. There were a few raised eyebrows and lightbulbs when they realised that it wasn’t to hold off the rain but rather to let ambient light through whilst blocking out direct sunlight. Let’s hope it functions as I hope in the summer when this back wall gets a lot of sunlight and heat.

Once they’d done the plastering and first coat of paint all of our holes, ie door openings, had to be blocked up with OBS board to keep the rain and the weather out and prepare for the underfloor heating and engineered wooden flooring to go in. This also meant it was quite dark and gloomy downstairs, a bit depressing even, until the fabulous skylight arrived which – incredibly – got installed in a matter of hours by 6 strong men. I absolutely love it but have realised I can now see the awful pebbledash on the first floor… grrr!

More updates on the build soon. In the meantime follow my stories on Insta or type in the hashtag #homerenovationsatno57

If you’d like to see previous posts about our home renovations at no 57 check out my vision and moodboard here or read about the first few weeks here.

PHOTOGRAPHY | Annie Kruse

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Stylejuicer home renovations at no 57 – First few weeks

29 September 2020

So here we are the first few weeks of our home renovations are done and boy, what a transformation already! I love this first demolition phase. Finally, all the bits that have annoyed me, like the door handle that is loose, the badly laid laminate flooring, the brown kitchen tiles, the dripping water tap, the bifold doors that have squished more than one persons finger, walls that divided the house into a rabbit warren and so much more… it all goes in one big swoop taking just three days.

We’ve been lucky with the weather so far and though our ground floor is technically open it’s not been too cold or awkward to function as a family – though the Cowboy might disagree with me on this. However, the rain is on it’s way and because the large sliding doors at the rear take 4-5 weeks to make we will be suffering until the new underfloor heating is in and the place is water tight.

I’m genuinely fascinated by the building and renovation process and keep asking my builders how things are constructed to get a better understanding of what’s involved. They did point out that we needed a few more steels than the architect allowed for which was quite a downer as well as an extra expense. I’ve already been astonished and disappointed with how unprofessional our architect was and his lack of attention to detail. So, in my opinion if you have got a good eye and can visualise reasonably well what you want from your project, just go straight to a structural engineer to draw the plans for you and make the calculations. It seems a more efficient way of working.

Daily updates on my Instagram stories if you’re interested and check out my moodboard and before and after floorplan here.

Over and out for now.

PHOTOGRAPHY | Annie Kruse

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1960 californian remodel by ryan leidner architects

25 May 2020

1960 californian remodel by ryan leider architects photo by joe fletcher

It’s been over a year since my last blog post so I thought now is as good a time as any to start again. In case you’re wondering about the radio silence – no dramas, just life.

But I couldn’t pass the opportunity to share this 1960 Californian remodel of a modernist Joseph Eichler house in Silicon Valley. The studio Ryan Leidner Architects did an amazing job stripping back all the previous reincarnations and came up with this simple broken plan remodel for a family of four centering around a lush courtyard.

The white walls, lofty ceilings and modernist lines contrast beautifully with the lush green foliage that features an array of climate appropriate planting, from cacti to grasses and trees, displaying texture with large foliage and interest at every level. The landscape Stephens Design Studio also added a new swimming pool – a must-have in sunny California.

I just can’t stop staring at the photos by Joe Fletcher and think this remodel may be right up there on my list of dream homes.

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If you like this post, check out these stunning New York lofts, one in Gramercy Park and one in Tribeca.

MORE INFORMATION | Ryan Leidner Architects

PHOTOGRAPHY | Joe Fletcher

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Finally, whilst we’re all in the throws of Covid19 I want to share this quote from Rich Roll with you which really resonated with me this week:

Breathe.
Be gentle on yourself and others.
Move your body.
Eat healthy.
Rest.
Let go of expectations.
Accept what is.
Go inward.
Make a list of things to be grateful for.
And tell your loved ones how you feel.

Architecture - Renovations / 1 COMMENT /

ROOM TO GROW | MODERN KIDS ROOM MAKEOVER

16 November 2018

It’s the kids turn this week and I’m going to show you my modern kids room makeover which was a tricky birth (bad pun I know – indulge me!) due to a total visual overload via Pinterest and various other online sources. But in the end I managed to condense my wishlist for their room: contemporary and not too child-like – a room that can adapt to their changing needs with a strong accent colour and clean lines with some quirky elements injecting personality but most importantly easy to keep tidy with a limited number of shelves for books and toys to have on display.

The older I get the more minimalist I become. I find getting rid of stuff incredibly cathartic and whether they like it or not my family has to put up with it. When it comes to kids toys I often come out in a rash… all that plastic makes me uneasy and I constantly worry about consumerism, fast-everything and our throw-away culture. Add worries about the planet, landfill sites, climate change and sustainability and my anxiety levels are right up there which is why I’ve always tried to be very thoughtful about the amount and the kind of toys I’ve given to the kids. Construction toys like Lego are thankfully a favourite as are all wooden toys like the Brio train set which has kept them entertained since they were tiny. But however hard I try crap / stuff / clutter just accumulates when I turn my back for just 5 minutes. So when I designed the kids room I vowed to actually limit the toy cupboard space. If there’s no space for a new toy we either don’t get it or get rid of something.

To achieve the modern, clean lines I was after I bought some Ikea carcasses and customised them with simple birch plywood doors that I treated with OSMO oil prior to installation. The #ikeahack was harder than I initially thought due to uneven floors and walls but I’m really happy with the result. Since the boys manage to break pretty much anything I chose 20mm thick birch plywood and instead of handles I had our handyman cut in round holes.

The cupboards run all along the wall underneath the window and are the perfect height for the kids to build their Lego creations and train sets. Initially I had plans to put a soft mat on top and make a large window seat but I realise that this will only encourage re-enactment of Ninja scenes so I scrapped that idea for now.

In terms of adding some personality to their room I discovered UK based Murals Wallpaper about a year ago via Pinterest when I saw a shot of a huge old fashioned map of the world covering a bedroom wall. Now, for as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by maps. I had a globe when I was young and I would often loose myself looking at it, closing my eyes, spinning it and pointing my finger randomly to where I was going to travel when I was grown up. So when I saw the world map by murals wallpaper I knew I had to have it for the kids bedroom.

The great thing is that it’s customised to your exact wall dimensions and you get a PDF proof of what it will look like beforehand in case you want to make any changes. It went up really quickly and easily as it’s only 3 sections and the instructions are easy to follow. I did it by myself but a second pair of hands would have been better as the sections were quite large.

I absolutely love the result and I’m pleased to say so do the boys. They haven’t inherited quite the same enthusiasm as their mum (yet!) but we often study the ‘Atlas’ map and point to where friends and family live: Germany, Colorado, Spain, California, Texas, The Netherlands, Denmark… and we try to guess how long it would take us to get from one place to another. I can already see this is going to be a talking point for years to come.

As I mentioned above we can’t have delicate things around the boys as their testosterone overload and sheer craziness manages to break pretty much anything so their bunk bed had to be close to industrial strength. Luckily I found one at made.com which weighs a ton and needed two adults and an awful lot of patience to put together but fingers crossed it’s withstood any Ninja assault so far and even accommodated two grown-ups the other weekend.

I love how the combination of wooden posts and white veneer panels contrast with Farrow and Ball’s Stiffkey Blue which covers the whole back wall including the radiator. It’s been up for a good 6 months now and there are no finger prints or scratches in sight – hope I haven’t jinxed it now. It’s also a nice calm and strong colour which brings some intimacy to the far corner. I have to say the colour is much richer in real life, changing constantly in different light conditions and it’s got a fantastic depth and density to it that you don’t get with other paints.

PHOTOGRAPHY | Annie Kruse

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FINDING OUR HAPPY PLACE | HOME PURCHASE WITH OBSTACLES

27 February 2018

Hey guys, how you doing!? I feel I owe a little explanation as to my absence on here for the past couple of months. Nothing dramatic – simply life taking over.

Ok, it’s not quite that simple but it all started off last June with our search for a family home. After moving three times in the past six years with two crazy small kids in tow we were ready to ~~kill each other~~ put roots down and commence our home purchase.

The cowboy and I both hate the British winter and the cold that creeps into your bones for the best part of four months a year, paired with low light and heavy, grey, cloudy skies, our desire to get out of here was pretty intense. But as is often the case with best laid plans… they change and as much as we’d love to be milling round the Med we kinda need to get on with work and look after the two little gremlins we produced.

So we started looking for properties in London’s commuter belt wanting our share of ‘the good life’, chirping birds and rolling hills on our doorstep but never too far from the Big Smoke. Easy, right!? For those of you who know the UK property scene you can stop smirking now and rest assured we almost choked on the large slice of humble pie we had to eat. Train fares (shock!), travel times (what!?) but mostly how pricey those properties within easy reach of a train station and nice countryside actually are. WTF!?

Back to square one we looked closer at the not so nice London suburbs and found a property in zone 4, with nice parks and good schools. Tick, tick, tick! Sadly, the property fell through as we met with uncommunicative vendors who weren’t committed to selling and the original estate agents from hell. I have to say this really disheartened me and it was not until we secured a new purchase a good six weeks later that I perked up again.

Everything went smoothly in the beginning with vendors and agents doing their best until we got radio silence again. The purchase was verbally agreed to complete before Christmas but as the weeks rolled by and more and more excuses were coming in, it became apparent that the vendors were not going to comply despite having given us assurances on numerous occasions. I know, I know… more fool us for believing that people actually stick to their word. Pfff… when it comes to home sale or purchase clearly everyone is out for themselves. In the end we moved at the beginning of January in a hectic and exhausting 16hr marathon session. Keys were only handed over at 5pm on the day of completion and to our horror we discovered that the promised ‘making good’ of various DIY jobs had been done in haste and to appalling standards with nails sticking out and huge gaps in the flooring.

I felt insult was added to injury and in the following days I kept on waiting for the waves of euphoria… nothing! No pride, no relief, just exhaustion and a bitter taste that during the whole process the majority of people involved (vendors, agents, surveyors, lawyers) were unmotivated, unresponsive, telling half truths and ‘white’ lies and only doing their job when we started to kick up a fuss.

I thought long and hard about whether to share this tale as I don’t often talk about my personal life but I’m hoping that it’ll have some sort of cathartic effect on me to help put this horrible experience behind me once and for all.

Please let me point out that I’m well aware that these are first world problems and that we are very, very lucky to be able to purchase a home when so many of the younger generation are struggling to get on the housing ladder. If you’ve had similar experiences I hope that reading this might make you feel better and I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

Now, where were we!? Ah, new home… yes. Well, you can’t keep a good girl down for too long and I’m going to share the first glimpses of renovations at no 57 soon.

Here’s to a happy ending!

PS: You may be forgiven for thinking the girl in the photo is me. We do look very alike, especially the flat tummy, though the colour of our eyes is different. 😉

PHOTOGRAPHY | via Pinterest

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Home & Interior - Renovations / 2 COMMENTS /