Victorian house renovation - living rooms and starting hallway

December 15, 2014
|In Lifestyle
|By Elizabeth Smith

Following on from my last DIY post – Our new house – DIY project living rooms

We found the fireplaces! After spending lots of time on Gumtree we found some fireplaces within our budget. We saw loads of gorgeous ones on specialist websites, but way more than we wanted to spend. Even at the local rec yards, Reproduction Victorian fireplaces were £350 ish.

Front living room

We installed this ourselves to save some money. It probably cost us around £200-£250 in total to install. We reused the fireback and rubble, which wasn’t fun having to reposition it for the new fireplace. For the hearth, we decided to keep it level with the floor as we feel it’s safer with a toddler. So we laid levelling compound down and then tiled directly on top of that. We installed an air vent, which draws in air from outside. The air vent was from Cast In Style, it cost a little more than normal vents. However it opens and closes while looking pretty too. Next is to decide if this fireplace needs a mantel or not. It’s a small room, so I can’t decide if a mantel would be too much. This fireplace is strewed to the wall. I covered the screws with play- dough and then painted it black. There is no way it’s coming away from the wall!

flat hearth
The chimney draws really well with air vent installed in hearth.
no mantle
We can’t decide if this fireplace needs a mantel or not?

Nice and cosy :-)
Nice and cosy 🙂

 

Ceiling rose up
Ceiling rose up
Before. It was also lime green. We put a base coat of grey first before painting this wall red.
Before. It was also lime green. We put a base coat of grey first before painting this wall red.

Middle room – living area/ playroom & dining room!

We are doing the DIY ourself. Andy tiles bricks on self-leveling compound.
We are doing the DIY ourself. Andy laying tiles on self-levelling compound.
Canvas from our honeymoon :-)
Canvas from our honeymoon 🙂
Next project is to remove this and replace with ceiling rose.
Next project is to remove this and replace with ceiling rose.
Christmas tree is up!
Christmas tree is up!
Highly recommend this Harris paint brush for cutting in.
Highly recommend this Harris paint brush for cutting in.
Chimney sweeper in! We have an extra pot, so we think the extra box room off the hallway would have had a fireplace.
Chimney sweeper in! We have an extra pot, so we think the extra box room off the hallway would have had a fireplace. This style Victorian house has three bedrooms off the hall.
Curtains up and lovely picture by our friend Jules.
Curtains up and lovely picture by our friend Jules.
The Victorian stove we found on Gumtree - £280 including everything we need to use it.
The Victorian stove we found on Gumtree – £290 including everything we need to use it. This is insanely heavy and we had to ask our new neighbours to help us get it inside. The left side is an oven and the right side if where the coal goes. We can’t wait to start cooking on it. We are using a local company to make a metal register plate to install into the chimney. Sheet metal will be an extra £90. Also, the ash box is getting repaired by them too in 4mm. We were originally thinking about a wood burner, but this we can install ourselves.

We are on the hunt for a pretty fire guard now to keep little fingers away when it’s lite.

The floor needs sanding and waxing/ varnishing/ painting.... no idea what to do!
The floor needs sanding and waxing/ varnishing/ painting…. no idea what to do! We need some wedges to fill in the gaps in floor boards.
Before: image from rightmove. We removed laminate as it was only up to decorative bricks, which we removed.
Before: image from Rightmove. We removed laminate as it was only up to decorative bricks, which we removed. We have saved the laminate to use again in my work salon room at a later date.

To finish this middle room off we need some more skirting board and sand/ wax the wooden floorboards. Also going to be putting up a ceiling rose. Ideally, we would like to replace the doors, but that job is going to have to wait a while.

Hallway

Before of the tiles we found under the carpet
Before of the tiles, we found under the carpet
Jessica cleaning them with water and vinegar.
Jessica cleaning them with water and vinegar.
After.. but not finished yet! Need another good clean, sealing, grouting etc,
After.. but not finished yet! Need another good clean, sealing, grouting etc,
We need a new light-fitting! Thinking Victorian lantern?
We need a new light-fitting! Thinking Victorian lantern?

The wallpaper sadly in the hallway has been painted over a few times, so really not looking forward to removing that. The PVC door which has been installed keeps the house warm, but really not in-fitting with the property. However we don’t have the funds to replace this at the moment.

Victorian renovation in Norwich

Live locally to Norwich and want to book in? Have a look at my price list and contact me by email.

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