The basement of this stunning Georgian family home had not been redecorated for a long time and the main room was a cold, cluttered dumping ground for family detritus and generally only used as an occasional playroom or guest room for grandchildren. The brief was to create a more inviting adult and family space to be used as a TV lounge. The hallway and stairs leading to it needed redecoration and re-carpeting also. Whilst most of the house is light and airy, the Dining room that one initially sees off the hall on the ground floor is incredibly striking, rich and colourful, mainly painted in a rich aubergine with accents in strong jewel tones. The homeowners have a wonderful collection of art and ceramics and are stylish and colour-brave.
Also in the basement is the utility room which was off-white, with tired looking 1980's units . As this room was the one you looked into at the base of the stairs, I suggested that we redecorate and install new units and flooring at the same time as the rest of the basement. The photographs below were phone snaps, as there are key pieces still on order, such as the TV lounge loveseat & ottoman & table lamps and a storage cabinet for the utility room. Also, as I often do, I leave some space for my clients to live with their newly refurbished space a while before adding the final layer of art and accessories themselves
The TV lounge had new bespoke alcove cabinets and shelves and a column radiator and was re-floored in a lovely dark stained engineered oak. It was painted entirely in Little Green 'Canton 94'. It looks superb, but is a tricky colour to capture on camera! The TV wall was papered in a textured grass effect in the same colour, but which looks very different in the pictures. The edges between the paper and paint were framed with black velvet ribbon. Some black Chinese cabinets, a new sofa, loveseat and rug some opulent fabrics transformed the room. As my clients didn't have any suitable wall art to suit this room, I made the textural pair of paintings and frames above the cabinets, based on photography of boat undersides in dry dock I have taken, with multi layers of paint in blues and verdigris with speckles of rust. They showed me a painting diptych they were going to order for the long wall but when I saw that it was a print on canvas, I offered to make an oil painting in the same style, for the same price.
In the Utility room, we painted a rich emerald green and used a geometric ceramic floor tile. We left the exposed copper pipe work but replaced the cabinetry and shelves entirely. We kept costs down by using standard Howden's carcasses but our Joiner made us chic black doors with brass handles. The Belfast sink felt more in-keeping with the age of the house and we integrated the washing machine for a smarter finish. The countertop is white Minerva, a relatively inexpensive alternative to quartz or Corian, which is a solid, heavy, resin product. It can be cut with joinery tools and we were all very impressed with it!
In the hall, we repainted the hall and re-carpeted the stairs. Sadly we had to paint over a lovely mural, due to it being too damp stained to save. We lifted old marmoleum tiles to uncover wonderful, original flagstones, and changed the light fitting and radiator for items with more traditional style. A lovely printed curtain across a doorway on the staircase helps to keep the basement warm in colder months.