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Room of the Week: A Characterful Leeds Makeover on a Budget
Creating a scheme that could pull together and beautifully showcase an array of treasures was the challenge behind this design project
Out Of Africa meets the Natural History Museum; that was how the owner of this Leeds semi described the look she was after for her open-plan living and dining space. “What a chunky brief!” says Karen Knox, the interior designer who took up the challenge.
The female owner of the house had a huge selection of vintage objects, Africana, taxidermy, old maps, collectors’ drawers and various pieces of unique furniture. “It was all there, but it was just a mishmash,” says Knox. The owner’s partner had just moved in with her, bringing all his retro and midcentury treasures, too, plus the couple had just had a new baby. “The house was full of stuff,” Knox recalls. “I just had to pull it all together and make it work.”
The female owner of the house had a huge selection of vintage objects, Africana, taxidermy, old maps, collectors’ drawers and various pieces of unique furniture. “It was all there, but it was just a mishmash,” says Knox. The owner’s partner had just moved in with her, bringing all his retro and midcentury treasures, too, plus the couple had just had a new baby. “The house was full of stuff,” Knox recalls. “I just had to pull it all together and make it work.”
The owner had lived in Africa and travelled a great deal, picking up pieces along the way, including some taxidermy and lots of collections. “Her partner is into midcentury design and retro style, so I had to coordinate their tastes,” says Knox. “As soon as I saw all her artwork, I knew straight away that a deep, vintage green with copper and orange as the accents was going to make everything in this room sing.”
Knox and the owners chose this colour at the first consultation meeting. “The dark green brings that warm feeling of age to the space,” says Knox. “It’s like a gentleman’s club with a dash of taxidermy. That was the theme.”
Walls painted in Sherwood Forest, Valspar.
Knox and the owners chose this colour at the first consultation meeting. “The dark green brings that warm feeling of age to the space,” says Knox. “It’s like a gentleman’s club with a dash of taxidermy. That was the theme.”
Walls painted in Sherwood Forest, Valspar.
“By painting the coving and skirting boards the same colour, it seamlessly stretched the space outwards,” says Knox. “The whole area wasn’t chopped up by having another colour running down the length of the room.”
She designed the shelves above the sofa, while the tree trunk table was an existing piece. “It now really stands out against the dark green background,” she says.
She designed the shelves above the sofa, while the tree trunk table was an existing piece. “It now really stands out against the dark green background,” she says.
The living area featured an unattractive tiled fireplace that had been added in the 1970s.
Knox ripped out the fireplace and had the concrete inner rebuilt, before designing the new fire surround. “We didn’t have the budget to add a new one, so I worked with paint instead to create something effective and quite bold,” she says.
She mixed a paint that’s slightly darker than the walls to create the mantel feel around the fireplace and added in a little bit of gloss, so it has a touch of sheen. “It was a way to give the chimney breast some visual weight without it costing much money,” she says.
She mixed a paint that’s slightly darker than the walls to create the mantel feel around the fireplace and added in a little bit of gloss, so it has a touch of sheen. “It was a way to give the chimney breast some visual weight without it costing much money,” she says.
The orange colour inside the fireplace satisfies the man of the house’s love of this very midcentury colour. The Victorian oak child’s chair came from a local salvage yard that Knox and the owner visited together.
Fireplace painted in Storybook Sundown, Valspar.
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Fireplace painted in Storybook Sundown, Valspar.
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In addition to feeling quite dark, the whole space was poorly lit. “The first thing we did was change the lights,” says Knox. “There were tinted glass shades, which turned the room orange. The lights were often on, so the room was frequently a crazy, trippy colour. I thought, we need to work back to front and fix the lighting.”
The white feather shade was a cost-effective way of adding distinctive, textured lighting without breaking the bank.
The 1930s door was stripped back to its original state.
Melito feather ball light shade, B&Q.
The white feather shade was a cost-effective way of adding distinctive, textured lighting without breaking the bank.
The 1930s door was stripped back to its original state.
Melito feather ball light shade, B&Q.
“We didn’t change the furniture or buy new pieces,” says Knox. “The owner had so much stuff, so it was just about using what she and her partner already owned.”
The chair is a Parker Knoll design with its original upholstery, now beautifully at home in the redesigned room.
Insect cushion cover, H&M.
The chair is a Parker Knoll design with its original upholstery, now beautifully at home in the redesigned room.
Insect cushion cover, H&M.
Drawers full of collections, including coins and stones, take pride of place in the chimney alcove. “It’s all authentic,” says Knox. “We’re not plonking random bits of vintage furniture into the room to try to create a look.”
Bright flashes of the rich orange paint used in the fireplace peep out from the open cupboards. Knox had new doors made for these units for a smarter finish.
The piano originally stood in the hallway, but never got played. The owners had considered building a slim desk into this space in the dining area, but Knox persuaded them to bring the piano in.
“The morning after we moved it in, the owner rang me to say thanks,” says Knox. “She’d just sat down and played for the first time in 12 months. That made me go all warm and tingly.”
“The morning after we moved it in, the owner rang me to say thanks,” says Knox. “She’d just sat down and played for the first time in 12 months. That made me go all warm and tingly.”
The living and dining room had been painted a bland magnolia colour and the dining area had not had much use before Knox rethought the space.
The owner struggled with how dark the dining space felt, so Knox suggested running with that issue, rather than trying to brighten it up. “I thought, let’s go dark,” she says. “Let’s just bring in lots of lamps and make it feel really cosy. They use it now.”
A large, gilt-framed mirror bounces the light back into the darker end of the room. “As soon as it was hung, it doubled the amount of light coming from the lamps,” says Knox. “The magic of mirrors!”
The ceiling is painted in a warm, off-white with the tiniest hint of green. “It’s a kind of vintage white, which works beautifully with the rest of the room,” says Knox.
Ceiling painted in Gentle Shadows, Valspar.
The ceiling is painted in a warm, off-white with the tiniest hint of green. “It’s a kind of vintage white, which works beautifully with the rest of the room,” says Knox.
Ceiling painted in Gentle Shadows, Valspar.
Flashes of orange and touches of copper break up the rich green and work as an accent. A copper lampshade hangs over the dining table and casts beautiful shadows.
Jonas wire copper pendant, B&Q.
Jonas wire copper pendant, B&Q.
Knox sprayed a vintage standard lamp with copper paint and added a lampshade made from an African textile. An original 1960s touch-button phone sits on an Art Deco drinks cabinet. “This corner sums up the room in one shot,” says Knox.
Discover 11 great vintage buys to add instant character to your home
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Heavy-duty shelves were fitted into a chimney breast recess to hold a big vinyl collection. A set of decks were wired into an alcove on the other side. “Wires trailing everywhere can kill a room,” says Knox.
“The owner had a lot of artwork up already, but not in the right places,” says Knox. “A lot more was kept in boxes, too. So we decided to get out all these little gems that she’d never got round to hanging and make a crazy gallery wall. Every image had a story behind it that took about half an hour to tell.”
What’s your favourite detail in this eclectic home? Add your thoughts to the Comments below.
What’s your favourite detail in this eclectic home? Add your thoughts to the Comments below.
Who lives here A couple and their one-year-old son
Location Leeds, West Yorkshire
Room dimensions Approx 11m x 5m; part of a 1930s semi-detached house with 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom
Interior designer Karen Knox of Making Spaces
The living and dining space that Knox was asked to redesign runs the length of this house, having been knocked through at some point in the past. “It’s a really large space,” says Knox, “but it was dark. It had been painted a magnolia shade, but it just wasn’t working colour- or layout-wise.”
The carpet was ripped up and the floorboards repaired, sanded and stained. Two different rugs zone the living and dining areas and add some vibrant colour to the large, open-plan floor space.
Acid vintage rug; Legend multicolour rug, both Benuta.