William Sheppee Tuscan Console Table

Our best purchase for the front room so far has been a William Sheppee Tuscan Console Table. Made of hardwood Acacia, this thing weighs a tonne! 

Purchased from Frank Bowen Auctions in Leytonstone, this sideboard was a bargain. This was the first auction we had been to and we hadn't done any research. Neil liked the look of the table, but thought that it would be out of our price range due to it being such a solid piece of furniture. We paid £65, and once we got home we found it online for $1,400. 

We purchased it with the intention of going in the dining room, but found that it fit perfectly in the alcove in the front room. 

My plan for the front room had been light grey walls, green sofa & accessories with white furniture. This is as far from what I had pictured as possible!

We have a lodger

My cat has come to stay. 

This is Murphy, my 16 year old long haired ginger tom. Up until a few months ago, when he had a nasty accident, he was very much an outdoor cat for most of the year. He would cry when left in, preferring to spend his days climbing the fence, only coming home for food.  

He didn't move in for the first few weeks as we wanted to get some of the messier building work out of the way first. He is quite old, and we were worried about so much disruption, but he seems to have settled in nicely. 

Keeping him inside in this weather for three weeks isn't easy, but we're suffering along with him by having to keep all of the downstairs windows closed. Being on house arrest following his accident definitely helped with the move, as he had already got used to the lazy life of an indoor cat. 

Living Room - From Green to Grey

We remembered to take a couple of photos before we started work on the living room. 

When we viewed the house I took note of the awful fire, but somehow Neil missed it. Its so old it must almost be time for it to be back in fashion. 

Before

I don't think it is clear in this photo, but the wallpaper is a lovely palm tree textured design, probably as old as the fire. 

During

Textured wallpaper, covered in several layers of paint, is not easy to remove! 

The radiator came off, to decorate behind, and what we found was 30 years of cigarette tar. Bleugh. The previous owner was a heavy smoker, and the back of the radiator and brackets were brown from years of smoking. 

I couldnt bring myself to put the brown radiator back on the wall. As there were two radiators in the room we decided to remove both and replace with one double. 

For a house 60+ years old the walls were in surprisingly good condition. 

The first layer of paint! 

After

The picture on the wall is a photo I took of the Hong Kong skyline, printed on to a 50 inch canvas. Slightly bigger than I would normally go for, but I think it works well. 

The walls are painted Dulux Polished Pebble 'A pale, wispy grey with versatility, a new alternative to creams.'

Hallway

When we moved in the hallway was painted a dark red, with dark red carpet and lovely splashes of gloss along the edges. There was also a horrid, lingering smell. I was desperate to rip the carpet up to help get rid of the odour, but Neil insisted we use it as a dust sheet, to we filled the house with plug in air fresheners to try to mask it. 

I didnt get many shots of the hall before we got rid of the red but it was a really dark space. The red went as far as the top of the stairs, then it turned to light green. The walls are covered in a horrible vinyl wallpaper with seams that don't really match. 

Before

The light coloured wall there on the side is another shade of green. 

During

Desperate to get rid of the red as soon as we could, so that the stinky carpet could come up, we decided to leave the awful vinyl paper on the walls and just give it a coat of paint to brighten it up. 

After

Several coats later, the hallway is vastly improved. I still hate the wallpaper, but painted a light colour makes such a difference that I will be able to live with it for a few more months. 

The walls are painted Crown Antique Cream matt.