Living room transformation
For Kiwis of my age, knotty pine is considered horrendous. Even before it turns orange with UV light over time.
It belongs with Mission Brown and Burnt Orange, ie, nowhere.
The exposed beams and rafters in my living room were a vexation to my spirit. They had to go.
I painted them smoky grey, a warm colour with a minimalist feel: the bigger beams a darker shade than the rafters.
That’s one horror removed from my life.
Once an architect . . .
I spent some time installing some cabinets down one wall—European beech benchtops. And yeah, I cut out the cabinet doors with a tracksaw to avoid $70 a door for a crappy finish. Eight in the living room and another three in the pantry. A bookshelf was cut down to fit the TV screen I never look at below the photo line.
The cabinets were kitset but it all seemed to work.
Strangely, I don’t feel the need to remove the twin tombstone openings in my kitchen wall.