Many people renovate their houses in summer. After the works, a lot of beautiful and valuable materials are left, which are usually spared for later incidental repairs. However, these can be used for other purposes also. Many ideas can be found on DIY websites for using leftover wall paints, wallpapers and tiles. But what can we do with one or two boxes of laminated or wooden floor?
If there is a larger amount, it can be used for making headboard for the bed. Planks with click system should be joined and fixed to the wall. Cut the mountings at the edge row. It can be framed with slats or even metal frame but painting the edges with the same color can be also enough.
Let’s make a hallway peg wall of them. Fix the planks on the wall this time vertically. It is ready after screwing some hanger and a hat shelf. If a distinct result is desired, paint it, even in different colors by planks. The narrow ones can be placed in herringbone pattern, for example.
A boring table can be perked up with laminated planks too. Glue them on the top of the table, cut them to measure and paint or laminate the edges. It’s important that the planks should fit tight. Remove the glass from the old-fashioned glass topped coffee table and the cut-to-size planks can be easily fit in the place of it.
If there are only some planks to left, they can be used for making picture frames. Cut them in 45°, fit the parts together and fix them. Since the one side is grooved, the desired picture or mirror can be easily fit in the frame. A hanging inscribed decoration can be made of a shorter one. Let’s paint our favorite word on it (e.g. Home, Welcome, Beach), drill a hole near the top of it and put a ribbon or a cord in it. It can be a showy door wreath.
In addition, there are several other usages. Ask for help of an interior designer for solutions fit for your home.
Chalk paint
My project 8.
Designed for a competition: 80 sqm bachelor flat
Further pictures: https://classicinteriors.hu/en/references/21-references/38-references05
Industrial style
Industrial style is a relatively young trend in interior design. It is not really classic, but I think it deserves attention because of preserving old values and reusing antique objects.
Industrial style was born when old factories were transformed to dwelling houses (loft). The characteristic of the buildings gave a special mood, which couldn’t be ignored or suppressed. Accordingly, these characteristics were highlighted and harmonized with the new function.
Main characteristics of an industrial style building are the unplastered walls, concrete/old wooden floor, robust metal girderage, huge windows with metal frames and high ceiling. The space is frequently undivided, so rooms and storey(s) have to be created also. Often the bathroom is the only separated room in lofts. Mostly the bedroom is separated only symbolically from the other space with a blade wall. Living room, kitchen and dining room are in one space, perfectly permeable and visible. Windows rarely have shades. The furnishing reflects industrial style also: tables made of weathered wood, lamps with metal frames (complemented with Edison bulbs are perfect), concrete kitchen countertop, huge furniture, decorating objects made of old piece parts and household objects etc. – basically with masculine style marks. The color palette is fit for this: greys, browns, black, white, complemented with the original objects’ own colors (e.g. petrol blue, verdigris, rust red, mustard yellow). These spaces can be perfectly furnished with classic furniture because of the antique effect.
If you also like industrial style, ask for help of an interior designer for transforming of your home, because this sight and mood can be created not only in a loft.
Unique flower pots
Color pairs 17.
Wooden flooring
Many people dream of a hardwood floor in their homes. But it’s not easy to navigate through the several names. Let’s see some parameters which probably help in choosing.
Deal flooring is made of pine, the laths are 10-15 cm wide and 3-5 meters long, its sides are slanted. These are laid juxtaposed, offset longwise and fixed to the bolsters. Commonly the surface has the natural color, treated just with lacquer but it can be treated with oil or wax also.
Swedish flooring is different from the previous one that the length of laths is only 1 meter and can be made of tropical wood also.
Tongue and Groove parquet is made of hardwood (e.g. oak, beech), nailed to the counter floor or glued to the concrete bolster. The laths are 4-5 cm wide and 25-50 cm long. Before laying, it is recommended to store them in the room where they will be laid for adjusting to the humidity. The surface is commonly just lacquered. It can be laid in different patterns fitting for the style of the interior (e.g. herring-bone, basket wave).
Strip flooring is made of hardwood, the lath is 15-18 cm wide and 2-4 meters long. It can be laid without nailing or sticking this way it’s easy to take apart and lay down again.
Inlaid parquet is from rectangular or hexagonal sheets, each of them has its own pattern made of different hardwoods. The final pattern of the room’s floor is created by laying them beside each other. The regular sheets have 40-50 cm side length.
Cork flooring is a bit different from the others because it is made of the bark of cork oak tree, so it is a renewable and environmentally friendly material. The sheets are made by pressing the grist. Its pattern is determined by the particle size. It provides excellent heat insulation and sound-absorbing.
Ask for help of an interior designer for choosing wooden flooring fitting for the style of your home and for the size of the room.
English country
Paint palette 8.
Exhibit kids drawings
It’s an ordinary thing in a family with small children that the drawings of the kids are displayed in the living room, hallway or kitchen. These presents are valuable not only for the parents but it increases the child’s self confidence if he/she sees that his/her creation is how much esteemed. The possibility to place and highlight them should be provided in classic style homes also, so that they should be easy changed, tidied and fit to the surroundings.
Drawings fixed by magnets on the fridge form usually the mini exhibition in the kitchen. It’s a bit messy because of opening-closing the door. Let’s buy a cork board instead of this, which can get a frame fit for the style. This can be fixed not only on the wall but for example on the door of the pantry or on the side of the kitchen cabinet.
One of the walls in the living room can be dedicated to the exhibition of the children’s drawings. Let’s buy more similar, classic style frames in the size of A4 and A5 (drawing paper size) which fit in the interior. Arrange them both in portrait and landscape form. The view will be nice even when they are empty, but they will slowly fill with the drawings of the children. The similar frames provide that the sight won’t be too colorful or chaotic. Standing frames can be placed on the shelves of the cabinets, even among books. If the color of the frame is the same as the furniture’s, the drawing will be more dominant.
It’s a perfect solution in a rustic interior to fix a plank on the wall then screw wooden or metal clips on it. If a wire is stretched between the ends, fewer holes should be made but it will be nice too.
Let’s put a glass on the top of the coffee table. Put the drawings between this and the tabletop, they won’t move because of the weight of the glass. The composition can be changed even in seasonally, expressing the changing of nature by colors.
Ask for help of an interior designer for showing your children’s talent fit for classic style.
