The Retro House Lounge Room

When we first looked through the retro house to see if we wanted to buy it, I think it was the lounge room that told me that this house wasn't big enough for us. It was only when I got home (after ruling the house out) and when I looked at the room dimensions on paper, that I realised it was actually a really decent sized room and actually bigger than the lounge in the house we were already living in (which was quite ample). It was simply the volume of the previous owners furniture and placement that made the room seem so tiny.

We stripped the whole room back, replaced the windows with bi fold doors and now the room is HUGE (for us!) I don't have a lot of furniture in there and the one-day dream is to get a good sized, L shape modular couch but the point being, it's actually an ample sized room.

Looking from the hallway into the room

I've kept the lovely sandstone fireplace and soon I'll be replacing the old oil heater with a lovely wood one. You can't beat a fireplace to back your bum up to in winter! It won't be the primary heat source, we'll also have electric although we need a major electrical upgrade to have that so I'm procrastinating over getting that done.

We are really lucky because this house has the most gorgeous views. The bi folds lead out to a concrete patio which in the warmer weather, it a lovely extension of our living area.

This is the view prior to our reno, looking back at the dining/kitchen area. We widened the doorway and removed the sliding doors to create a more open plan space.

A simple and inexpensive thing to do but it totally changes the feel of the space.

So there you have it, the tour of the upstairs of our new retro house (our family home). There is still downstairs and the front/back to show you so keep tuning in!


*Later Update* May 2014

We now have replaced the oil heater with a wood fire. I think I'm in love!

Cost:

This was not an expensive room to renovate although the heating will be a big expense when we get to that.

Bifold doors included in previous kitchen expenses list

Floor sanding for whole upstairs (kitchen, dining, lounge, hallway and stairs to downstairs) $3000

Plastering, skirting boards, paint and a few new floor boards $1000