House tour - part 3

Hi remember me?  Probably not as it has been so long since I've been here.  Sorry!  It's been a bit of a manic few months, but I hadn't forgotten about you - honestly!  So, while I get myself back on track a little, here's a little tit bit to keep you going.

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In my last 'House tour' instalment I told you about the big building work in the kitchen, but also mentioned that the other 'heavy' work happened downstairs, in the living/dining rooms.

We didn't want to do away with the wall between these two rooms completely, but we did want the flexibility of being able to use them as one room if we wanted.  So we opted for a doorway between the two rooms. 

Initially I fancied getting some reclaimed doors and to build the doorway around them, but it wasn't quite as easy as it sounds.  In the end, we had bespoke doors made and are very pleased with the result.

We're both keen readers and have lots of books, so it was essential that we had plenty of space to store/display our books.  In fact, for DH it was more than essential (if that is possible!).  The two alcoves either side of the fireplace in the living room were perfect for some bookcases.  We looked at ready-made ones and couldn't quite find what we'd pictured in our heads for a price we could afford and so the 'door man' also built these for us.

So, here is (more or less) how our living room looks now:

And our dining room:

One day we'll have the original French windows in the dining room restored too.  They're far too nice to replace, although we've yet to decide whether or not to have a little balcony or some stairs leading down from them into the back garden (who's idea was it to remove the originals?!?!?).