Time to give apartment a brand new makeover

Jul 19 2007 by Paul Corcoran, Liverpool Daily Post

IT’S wallpaper samples, material swatches and paint testers all the way this week as The Urbanite begins a changing rooms spectacular. DIYtastic.

The time has arrived to give my city centre apartment a fresh lick of paint and a bit of a makeover, but Carol Smillie is nowhere to be seen.

It’s been a while coming, as unfortunately for me I have had to wait for everything else to take place before getting stuck in to some serious home improvement.

Right now it would appear I am not only organising my own diary but those of my parents, who, for the record, are the real experts when it comes to decorating (as well as being the main funders of the project).

In fact, there hasn’t been the smallest window to get started, between having had friends visit from university and the USA, the arrival of my baby niece Faye and a christening party extravaganza to officially welcome in the Corcorans’ latest addition. That’s without even considering my current day workload, which would give even the strongest contender on The Apprentice a serious run for their money.

But finally this week I found the time to immerse myself in the wonderful world of interior design, starting with a consultation with the lovely ladies over at Elaine Cunningham Interiors, on Aigburth Road.

I am normally quite creative when it comes to decorating my home; after all, it graced the pages of this very supplement a little while back.

However, this time around, I felt a fresh pair of eyes was needed and that is exactly what I got when Miss Style herself, Elaine, paid my apartment a visit earlier in the week.

Armed with a wallpaper portfolio the size of a small village, one by one Elaine took me through the samples as we searched for one that would suit my “unique” sense of style.

Do you ever get the feeling that sometimes we are given too much choice when it comes to the wonderful world of interior design? Wouldn’t it be easier if someone would just make the decision on our behalf?.

And that is exactly what I got. No sooner had Elaine left than I received a phone call and I was invited to the showroom to view my “mood boards”, which had been specially created for me

Bolstered by all this interior inspiration, it was soon time to roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty. Don’t get me wrong, I shall not be undertaking any actual painting myself – it has never been a strong point of mine. In fact, when I was a young boy, I painted my Nan’s German Shepherd blue using gloss paint – which he then decided to remove by shaking himself all over the newly- decorated kitchen. Not one of my better ideas, to say the least.

And the last time I actually made the effort to decorate, I ended up dropping half a tin of turquoise paint over the bedroom carpet and sheets; in all of the excitement, I had forgotten to put down the dust sheets. No, it’s definitely a job for the professionals this time around.

So, as I begin to imagine my new-look living room, adding in the new items as well as regretting some of my more opulent purchases, ie, the new paintings, I can quite happily sit back and relax knowing home is where the art is. Or, at least, I hope so.