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Redecorating The Lounge

The Mystery Of The Black Hole

This room posed a problem to us in that it had a huge gaping hole where the fire should have been.



inside the fireplace is something resembling an old school radiator (huge and ugly) to which various plumbers 'ooh, arr..ed' and 'tut...tutted' to whilst scratching their heads.
'Well you have a problem their me love' was the consensus of these head scratching 'experts'.
So my dreams of an open fire with logs burning on those cold winter nights was subsequently dashed by the ugly backboiler. I researched backboilers in great depth (well I googled) and couldn't find a cheap solution to removing this monster. The choice was:
1. Pay a plumber by the hour to investigate wether it is useable
2. Pay a plumber by the hour to remove it
3. Pay a builder by the day to remove it
(all of the above included having the chimney wall chased out to find where any pipes were going to and if they were connected to the heating system)
4. burn a basket of logs and hope for the best
(not an option after 'googling' various backboiler explosion articles)
5. cover the whole 'black hole' with a fake fireplace
The last option was the safest, aesthetic and most cost effective in the end.

I bought a second hand electric fireplace with fire, surround and mantle, from an internet auction site for the sum of £80 and we fitted it ourselves. My fella caulked around the frame, rubbed down the wood and undercoated then glossed in white to a lovely shiny finish.
Voila.... the problem of the mysterious 'black hole' was solved in the most cost effective way.
(That is ... until a future time when I decide I really want a real open fireplace!)


After...



The Heavily Artexed Ceiling

Most of this house has thick artex to the ceilings, this room was no exception, but we decided a flat ceiling would look better in here. We did have to hire a plasterer for a day to do this job for us.
The previous owners had removed the main light fitment from the centre and left exposed wiring (not safe I know!) Luckily for us the dining room had a light fitment which was passable for re-using so we asked our electrition to fit this into the lounge.

Decorating The Lounge

We decided on warm neutral tones for this room to create a relaxing atmosphere.
Firstly we had to strip off the 'gorgeous' wallpaper then fill any holes with filler. We did this just before Christmas 2008 so had to endure the festivities in a not so pretty lounge.



After Christmas my fella got to work on undercoating all the woodwork (previously stained in antique pine). This was no mean feat as it took 3 undercoats and 1 gloss coat to cover in white! The room was painted in butterscotch and we had a new carpet fitted.






After...




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