Wealden Times | WT163 | September 2015 | Education supplement inside

Top left & right: The hallway has been painted a deep shade of grey with accents of gold and sparkling glass provided by the beautifully shaped chandelier,
another find from Hastings Antiques Centre Above left: Curtain findings and artworks grouped over the fireplace in Annette’s workroom
Above right: Annette’s artwork ‘Waste of Money’
surprise the rooms are almost unrecognisable – they could
have been of a different house altogether. “It just wasn’t my
style,” says Annette. “We lived with it for a while and then
I just gradually did each room when I could afford to.”
Most of the transformation has been done with the magic
of paint. Lesson Number One: Be bold, it’s only paint. “The
worst that can happen is that you’ll have to paint over it
again,” says Annette. But there have been a few structural
alterations too – the addition of an en suite bathroom for
the master bedroom, a new ceiling for the landing (when
the old one fell down while they were stripping it ready
for re-decoration) and the replacement of a long and low
kitchen window with one that allowed for a sink unit to
be put back under it. “And I don’t like to look at dirty
grout,” adds Annette cheerfully, “so all the tiles (in the whole
house) have been replaced with tongue and groove.”
Redecoration began in the hall. This was a large project,
because the landing upstairs is huge. The walls above
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