Our Edwardian Sitting Room Update

Tackling our Edwardian Sitting Room is very much a work in progress. I thought I'd share a few images of the room as it is today and of course the obligatory before picture. When we first moved to Lyndale House the sitting room was an intense red colour painted over textured wallpaper, and was arguably our least favourite room.

The ceiling was wallpapered. The floor was carpeted, we believe dating back to the 1970s. The chimney breast was boarded over and plastered. The ceiling light was in front of the window and the room had a limited numbers of plug sockets. It was a very damp room.

The sitting room is north facing and is naturally quite dark, so lends itself to evenings in front of the fire or television. We started by stripping the wallpaper and the old carpet. We had to get the electrician in to relocate the ceiling light, add some plug sockets and remove the broken sconces from the chimney breast. Once the room was stripped we allowed the floorboards and walls to dry out.

Edwardian Sitting Room Fireplace

We shared previously about installing the Edwardian Sitting Room fireplace that we found on Ebay. Opening up the chimney breast really helped with air flow and meant that the moisture in the air had somewhere to escape. Ideally we'd install a log burner at some point, that will help even further to keep the air dry and warm.

We sanded the original floor boards to make the most of such a beautiful original feature, this really helped to brighten up the room.

Setting Plaster Pink

After much deliberation we went for Farrow & Ball Setting Plaster Pink, which truly does look different throughout the day as the light changes. Overall it give a soft, warm and calm feel to the room.

As with everything we do, we approach life in a very organic fashion, which includes our decor, it is ever-evolving. If we were being professional and sensible, we might think to create a moodboard and get samples and coordinate things in a slightly more orchestrated manner. However, this is not the case, we use things that we already own, like to Loaf sofa you might recognise from our old flat, or pieces we've inherited, things we pick up bits in charity shops, or on Ebay, we buy and sell and sort of throw things together and chop and change as we go.

William Morris for the win

We bought a William Morris strawberry Thief sofa on Ebay, it's a bit tatty and has been well loved, but we loved the slightly faded and worn colours of the print, it has since become a spot for me to read and for Pickle to sit next to the radiator.

Original Artwork

On the walls we have a painting the we inherited from Zac's gran, it's a oil painting by E. Rosset of Chateau de Chillon and a framed painting of a Jade plant by our friend Daniel Waggett. We're pretty keen to collect more original artworks by friends and family and other super talented artists. Again, this is a work in progress and something that we can enjoy collecting along the way.

Keep the Aspidistra Flying

In our bay window sits an Aspidistra plant. In George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying, this humble, often-overlooked plant becomes a symbol of the mundane, middle-class existence. Whether it’s a subtle nod to irony or a simple statement of our embrace of middle-age, materialism, and the ordinary life, I’ll leave that for you to interpret.

For those who may not be familiar, Keep the Aspidistra Flying follows Gordon Comstock, a struggling poet and assistant bookseller in 1930s London, who rejects the materialism of middle-class society. Choosing instead a life of poverty and artistic integrity, Gordon’s ideals strain his relationships and force him to confront the realities of his choices. The novel ultimately explores his complex reconciliation with societal expectations, catalysed by his love for Rosemary.

In truth, it's a beautiful plant that we inherited, it doesn't require much light so is the perfect plant for a north facing room!

The beautiful antique cabinet that the aspidistra sits on was inherited from Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw and it's very cool to think that this once belonged to such an influential Mathematician.

As ever, thank you for following along our journey.