What to do about this ‘feature’ after wall removal?

[DoingItUp]

I’ve had a wall removed that enclosed a small staircase to open up the living room. The original plan was to also take the diagonal part and square it off but it wasn’t possible due to its construction. So I asked if it could be taken up just a bit in order to fit a sofa into the corner but they took it too high so it looked odd. I asked them to take it as high as possible and this is what’s been left.

I just can’t picture how it will be finished in a way that won’t make it look really odd and obvious. I’m wondering what I can do to disguise it or make a feature of it. They start plastering this week so I will discuss with my builder what he plans to do but thought I’d ask if anyone has any good ideas I can suggest if I don’t like his solution.

I’ve wondered about paneling the full wall into the corner with a shelf above which will sit just where it’s full depth (like in the photo). Or maybe creating some sort of shelves in there? Has anyone got any other ideas please?

Hi Becky, thanks for your reply. Taking the wall out has completely changed the room from awkward angles and disused space to one whole open room so I’m really pleased I did it.

With the wainscotting style panelling, I was thinking of matching the squares in the niche to the squares on the wall so that it would blend better and hopefully disguise the odd angles. I’m planning on going dark with the colours so this should also help as you say. I’ll have a think about straight panelling although I’m not generally a fan.

I will check the website out, thanks. Are you hiring or offer training opportunities? I’m looking for a career change and have always been interested in design and interior design especially so thought I’d ask!

I'm struggling to work out what's going on there? It's square at the bottom and not higher up?

FWIW, I love the look of that panelling in the right age of property, but if your property isn't, then it just looks like a pub, sorry!

@TheLivingHouse, brilliant, thanks. I will keep my eye out! I have a particular interest in eco/greener home solutions and design so keen to pursue this area.

@MaggieFS, it started as a diagonal wall starting around 1/4 of the way up so the bottom remained square. If I’d known this would be left I would have asked them to brick up the bottom so it was one wall but they said they could square it until they’d already removed half of the supporting bricks. Now it’s square at the bottom, then shallower depth diagonal then full depth diagonal as you go up. The builder said it will retain this shape once plastered too.

My house is Victorian but has had all the original features ripped out to convert to a single house back in the 80’s.

I’ve just gone and taken a quick snap of how it’s looking now to give a better idea of the shape I’m dealing with. Seeing it now, I think I’m going to have to make a feature of it and treat it as a niche as it’s not going to be disguised well.

Are you able to take any more of the stair wall off, so that you are only left with the diagonal part and nothing more to the left of it? I think that would help.

The panelling is nice, I like the panelling look, but I think you need a large room for it to work, otherwise it can make things feel squashed.

I would make a feature of the diagonal part. Perhaps hang a long mirror there, or shelves with plants or ornaments.

That big window at the top of your stairs looks a lovely feature too. I bet your house is lovely!

I can't quite see it properly from the pics but assuming from what I can see that the bottom area of the corner is a right angle, but above that it changes to a flat diagonal, so you have a corner with a combination of both right angle wall and diagonal wall, I'd be tempted to make it all a diagonal (bring the diagonal unit down to the floor and lose the right angle corner) seeing as you can't make it all a right angle. A right angle would have been preferable but it's not possible as clearly it just can't finish as a right angle at the ceiling.

Personally I wouldn't want to do a hybrid something (niche alcove shelves etc) where it is on the diagonal but is a right angle underneath as the right angle underneath gap will not make sense to the eye. At least if that corner is all a diagonal you can then put a beautiful tall floor-standing lamp or a decorative slim bookcase or shelving unit against it, or just a picture.

Why are you not able to remove the wall upto the celing?

If the wall is structural what method of bracing has been put in over the hole to carry the weight of what ever is above it?

Because the hole in your first picture has been cut wider than one block wide so at least one block in that first row is hanging mid air

@HoHoHoliday, that would have been my first choice but I’ve attached another pic to show that it acts as the pillar for the new beam. Luckily it’s quite a large room. Thank you! It’s a very quirky house and a massive project but I am quite taken with it.

@Rosykitten, if I’d known then, what I know now, that’s what I would have done but it’s too late now and I’ll just have to work with what’s there. The sofa will be in that corner with a magazine/side table in between that and the stairs so the lower part wont be visible.

Space for a bespoke bookcase - its almost a shame it doesn't go in a bit further.

Here’s the pic I was supposed to attach.

@AnSolas, it’s a beam which carries the rooms upstairs. There was shorter beam there previously so I salvaged a bigger one. The diagonal bricks are being held up by the 90 degree shorter wall. The are laid flat and the builders cut one half off.

@Sundaefraise, perhaps I should ask a joiner to look at it and see what they can do with the space. Thanks for the suggestion. I did ask for it to be taken all the way up to the ceiling but apparently this would have weakened the wall too much.

Something like this in the diagonal part?

Love the big wooden beam in the ceiling! 😍

I can't see from the pic but why is it you can't carry on the diagonal bit down to the floor though? Could the right angle corner underneath could be built up with brick or similar and then plasterboard + plaster over and blended in with the upper section of diagonal wall? Apologies in advance for not understanding! (I can't make it out very well on pic but it sounds like you definitely can't do this but I can't see why and now I'm curious!)

The beam is distributing the load from across the celling down into the wall with the plaster board on it. So the blockwork directly under it is acting as a piller.
How much of that beam is sitting on the blockwork?
Is that blockwork new or was it there before the builders?

at the hole looks as if there were 2 individual walls one which the builders cut and one behind it.
Were both there before the builders?

My concern is that it looks like at the hole nothing supporting the middle, so that section of wall can fall down. If it is built into wall section holding the beam it will pull the blockwork from the piller.
Was there a structural engineer involved calculating the loads?

I was going to suggest narrow shelves for photos but @HoHoHoliday has captured exactly what I meant much better than I could.

It could be really lovely.

Can you get them to fit a light in it with some glass shelves, so you have it as a small recess? That might work.

This looks lovely! I think I’ll have to get a joiner to take a look at it as it’s not square on one side so that might change what can be done. I guess I’m struggling a bit as I wouldn’t have chosen to have a niche there.

I would wait to see how it looks plastered and painted. It may only seem such a problem because the exposed blockwork draws attention to it. It's obviously a house full of character and quirky elements, so I would just embrace that. You can always add shelves or a mirror later on if you find you can't live with it.

@Rosykitten, it’s more to do with the budget and the fact that they’ve already moved a socket to the bottom where the wall would run. It will be hidden by the sofa anyway so possibly not worth the extra money to rectify. Anything other than a square wall was not ideal really!

@AnSolas, the builders have sorted everything so I’m not sure. The diagonal wall is not load bearing. Above it is the bannister for part of the landing. I’ve attached a pic of the other side of the wall. Everything was here before, I believe this part was done by the previous owners around 5/10 years ago. I think the block work is tied into the adjacent walls. Will this cause a problem? There was a little steel in the bottom but the builder said it wasn’t doing anything so didn’t reinstall it.

Thanks @Calmdown14, I really hope so! It’s feeling less than ideal at the moment so hoping I can find a good solution. I think some sort of shelves is the way to go but doing it in a way that doesn’t make it a focal point.

@shardash, that’s a good idea actually! I will ask. Thank you.

Thats very true! When I posted, I was hoping to suggest any structural changes before the plasterboard went up but it turns out it was always the plan to finish it as is. It presents a challenge (like lots of things in this house!).

I really appreciate everyone’s suggestions. Thank you all. I’ll post a pic once it’s plastered.

First going back to why the builder did not remove the wall the whole way up to the celling?
If it can not be removed you need to understand why.

Take the back wall
It has 2 row layed on the flat (which is about the hight of a block layed upright) plus five up-right blocks
If you removed the first 4 rows what would stop the full block in row 5 from falling as it would have nothing under it except air and its own weight is pulling away from row 6.

Is it a solid wood beam? I'd be slightly concerned by just how little of the beam is resting on something solid on the right-hand side, it looks to be about three inches? Plasterboard doesn't count as a solid pad to bear the weight of a solid wooden beam. Considering the length, and potential weight if it's solid wood, I'd want to double check the calculations from your structural engineer to check that's enough support below the end of the beam. The other end has a lot more support.