While design ideas are brewing – do up some of the “real” work

Books on interior design suggest not to start anything before being certain about the final look of a space. It is impossible to disagree with this advice, when we look at the design from a result oriented point of view…

And yet – this is so theoretical!

This post therefore aims to prove that we can move towards the desired end, with baby steps, and without compromising the idea.

For a start, the classic theory of design also says that selection of colours, can only start when the layout is clear...If you’ve read my last post, you may have noticed that I am on my third round of layout design. And I am finally warming up, almost completely towards an idea, inspired by Asian minimalism and optimal use of space.

Then, with respect of colours, the classic design theory also suggests to start with a concept board – a terribly abstract thing to do. In the same time, for many of us there are things which do not/cannot change, or which we cannot afford to change. To me, the question of how to inject into a concept board, an element, which is already there, is really a serious one!

So, to summarise, here is my level of deviation from the standard design process:

1) A concept board – I do not have – may need to skip this highly abstract part, as I have very firmly unchangeable door and floor!

2) Layout, which by-the-way is based on zoning, as explained in the original layout post – still work in progress. I just cannot churn out the number of ideas necessary to make it functional, doable, and most importantly likable, in a nick of time.

3) Choosing material – well ahead of time, some materials have chosen themselves.

So, while the all-important layout matures in my head, I turn my attention to something which needs doing anyway: the ceiling! For a start – I am a 100% certain that I dislike coloured ceilings, so the colour white is not a variable.

Additional problem are the flaking edges!

I suspect this happened because the room is adjacent to the bathroom, which did not have a door for many years, so paint was exposed to humidity and vapour. (in my new scheme, this is going to be the living/dining room!) As a bedroom it lacked the beautiful Cornish finishes the other rooms have. And here is the solution – I will apply corniches to this one too!

In a perfect world, corniches are made of gypsum. Apparently it is a bit outdated, I discover after some phone calls. Plan B is some solid material, ideally wood – but also impossible. What is widely available in the shops, are the Styrofoam corniches, and it is precisely the one I am getting!

It is easy to manipulate – cutting is done on a special platform, to respect the angles (but so much trouble until I work out differences between internal and external angles). On top of that the room has the most irregular perimeter – as a former bedroom, who cared?

So, installing those took longer than expected, and even though the ceiling colour was fresh enough, I needed to apply an extra layer – to seal the Styrofoam, and to make it uniform.

Final hitch on this kind of job – joints of all kinds – suspect I did not do the expected nice finish – and maybe a reason to call a handyman next time! In a way, I think being myopic helps not to see those, or shall we say – makes it authentic?

Important thing is – was able to do the job all by myself, and was very happy to identify it as “not being on the critical path”. And now to you: how many identical tasks could you list? Is there something you could do about your design projects, which is indispensable and couldn’t possibly conflict with any chosen design?