The Rumpus Room Reno: The Process

A common question that we get asked by friends who follow our renovation journey is: WHY? As in why would you consider regularly renovating and give up a significant amount of your spare time? Answering that completely would be a whole blog in itself – but simply because we love it. One of the things I love is the decisiveness required to renovate, there is a skill to making decisions in renovating and experience provides opportunity to develop that. While this is a small-scale renovation, there are still a whole lot of interior design decisions that that took us from Our Plan to Our Presentation.

This blog is about my design process; the decisions I made within the space between the before and the after. While many of us just want to get to the end result, I love the moments just before the big reveal where each design choice comes together.

Paint Colour Selection

I wanted to go for white on the walls to create a light bright feeling in this space. I went for a neutral white with a beige undertone, the walls have a lot of imperfections and a warmer white is more forgiving. I selected a low sheen finish as I was using the same paint for both the walls and the ceiling – simply to save on painting time. For the doors and trims; I used a strong white in a semi-gloss. I selected a stunning dark blue-green feature colour for the walls to create some impact and depth in the room. To find out how to paint a feature wall see our how to video.

Wall Colour: Black Reef and Cardrona by Dulux

• Walls and Ceiling: Dulux Colours of NZ’s Quarter Cardrona
• Trims and Doors: Dulux Colours of NZ’s Hakataramea
• Feature Wall: Dulux Colours of NZ’s Black Reef

Flooring Selection

Laminate Flooring: Floating laminate flooring was the obvious choice for this space, it is easy to lay, a warm option and durable. I selected a light colour with similar tones to the wall colour, lighter colours show less dirt and creates a sense of space. We brought directly from a laminate flooring supplier where it was only $35 per sqm. We could do the install ourselves – which keeps costs down. To see how easy it is, check out our how to video.

Carpet: I selected carpet for the play room from a company that sell seconds and end of line carpets, though there are limited choices, you get quality carpet at affordable prices. I wanted a charcoal colour, as anything too light is a nightmare with the kids. If you have a small space you are carpeting, see if you can purchase offcuts, it’ll result in a little time calling around suppliers, but may help with keeping costs down.

Lighting Selection

My lighting choices for this renovation revolved around saving cost and time. I went for low hanging pendants which meant I could use the existing lighting fixtures and then just hook the lights where I wanted them placed in the ceiling. Moving where you want to place the lights results in a larger electrician bill and time to fill and repaint where the original was. I selected lights from Lighting Plus and went for a black finish to make them a design feature.