Amy and her husband Will moved into their North London flat in 2014 and have spent the last few years redecorating the property throughout: from spending a week chipping off paint from the 2m long 1960s radiators, to digging up a skip load of bricked up garden by hand. It’s not been all blood, sweat and occasionally tears, there have been many moments of joy and the flat is now a delightful, restful home that has been lovingly restored to it’s former, Edwardian glory. Over the next 6 blog posts, Amy shares some of her top tips for creating a vintage home that is not only sympathetic to it’s age, but also an oasis of calm in a busy city.
‘Look beyond the surface level decoration when viewing a property, if the property has good bones, you can source and restore the original features. We did this with the doors, fireplace and light fittings. When the house was divided up into flats, the cheapest and most basic materials had be used, stripping some of the precious character from the property. We worked hard to find original wooden doors and floorboards from (Enfield Reclamation Yard https://www.nostalgiaandnew.com) The door frames and floorboard obviously weren’t straight or even, but with good builders and a handy DIY dad, we persevered and got there in the end. Rome wasn’t built in a day!
There are many excellent reclamations sites across the UK who will be able to source the right size building materials for your home. The original doors, floorboards etc will be well made, characterful and often cheaper than the new alternatives so why not reuse, recycle and improve the richness of your home.
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