Redecorating the lounge - slightly differently!

[skellem]

The missus recently took to the walls with a knife and started hacking all the wallpaper off, so I decided it was time to do the project properly. I also wanted to do something slightly different, so I had a dig around in the shed for a ceiling grid and some tiles I had doing nothing

Firstly...what a mess! The old warm air cupboard taking up loads of space!

Have to hide those pipes and box the radiator in:

Warm air heating is out...what a job. Started putting up battens for plasterboard.

With the boards on:

Recess boarded out and electrics going in (This is going to be used for my AV - video, stereo etc):

Now, the biggie! Suspended metal ceiling goes in:

Blind reccess for continuous blind along the sliding door. This will also have hidden lighting to wash down the blinds (I'm thinking blue halogen at the moment ) :

The plasterboard perimeters will have about 15 twinkly downlighters on a dimmer, and there will be another circuit for the main lights in the metal tiles:

Pipes all hidden now, the old lights still need to come out:

A lot of people (specially the wife ) have said that a metal ceiling in there will make it look like a shop, but I think the tiles that I have used look really good, and the more I do the more I think it looks okay. It's also very practical, easy for access

I'm also going to throw away the old speakers and install 4 speakers in the ceiling to hide them.

One question, could anyone recommend a nice cover to use for the boxed in radiators? For the fronts and the tops. I'm a bit stuck for ideas

 

[Diyisfun]

B & Q Sell MDF panels with different patterns cut into them, this may give you some ideas.

 

[masona]

Diyisfun beat me to it

I've also seen them in Wickes as well.

Done a nice job there and the only fault I can see is, the radiator might be a bit awkward to service if need be. Just a thought maybe just a removable radiator cupboard instead.

 

[planenut]

Nice job, and my thoughts too go to the rad., i'd have been lazy and just put a shelf in above it, well done!

 

[skellem]

Well, the reason I formed an aperture in front of the radiator was to put a removable panel on. (It'll be bigger than the hole and hook on using gravity battens or similar) I have also left enough space down the sides to get to the valves etc.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to pop into B&Q and see what they have.

 

[skellem]

After a hectic weekend, I had the plastering done and fitted some of the downlighters. Just got to wait for it to dry and then apply a mist coat. I think the most taxing thing after that is to settle for a final colour that both the missus and me are happy with

 

[AdamW]

Good to see you have made use of drywall electrical boxes, and taken into account your entertainment needs. One thing I wouldn't be sure about is ceiling-mounted speakers. The ceiling may rattle a bit at higher volumes.

Did you do the plastering yourself? If so then good job, the only time I tried plastering it came out like a freshly-plouged field

That looks like it's going to be a living-room to be proud of.

 

[skellem]

Adam, I would never even attempt plastering myself. I have done a fair bit of taping and jointing, but never plastering! I had a friend of a friend do it and he did a great job.

As for the speakers, I'll lay them on the back of the ceiling tiles. If they do rattle I will cut a hole through and use plasterboard backing in the tile and face fix them so they can't move. They do this in lots of commercial buildings, so I think it should be okay!

 

[AdamW]

I suppose if it does turn out to sound gash then all you have lost is one ceiling tile per speaker, you can just replace those ones and no-one will ever be the wiser!

 

[skellem]

I suppose if it does turn out to sound gash then all you have lost is one ceiling tile per speaker, you can just replace those ones and no-one will ever be the wiser!

Yes, one of the big advantages of removable tiles

 

[AdamW]

I once had a bedroom with a grid and tile ceiling, the space above it was about two feet high so I used it to store empty cardboard boxes for stereo equipment.

Some might say it was a fire hazard but I kept it all well away from the electrics.