Looking ahead...April 2021

 A year on from going into Lockdown and we are finally getting excited to see what the future holds for the Secret Space.

We thought we would share with you the transformation of each of the rooms, so you can see how far we've come, starting with the front of the house, in our light and airy lounge.

We've styled the property mainly with carefully selected pre-loved finds, to be budget friendly and as sustainable as possible.  The exception in this room is our gorgeous Oliver Bonas wall hanging, which we felt had the perfect mix of colours to compliment the rest of the room.

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Reflections

 

Reflecting back on 2020, it's been both incredibly hard and enormously rewarding for both of us.

We have learnt so much, not just about renovating a property, but also about ourselves and each other.

We are also very grateful for the efforts of our partners and friends - we couldn't have done it without them.

We'll share the results of our journey over the coming weeks, and hope that you'll come and stay with us soon.  Sadly, we heard yesterday that we've been taken back into Tier 4, which means booking further in advance might be your best option.

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New Arrivals - October

 

Our very beautiful towels have finally arrived from Turkey, and they're even better than we thought they'd be.  So thick and soft!

We can't wait to see what they look like in the bathroom...

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Seeing the light - October

It's wonderful to have our electrics all sorted, and be able to see our lovely handmade light fittings working their magic.

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Last minute help - October

 It's all hands on deck to get things finished off, ready for opening.

Once again, the cupboard upstairs has been left till last, so we've roped in friends and family to fit the skirting...

And our wonderful electrician to hang the last few lights in the front bedroom.  

He hasn't had it easy, having to work up so high, and having to sort out some very interesting wiring choices from the past!

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Privacy - October

We need to provide a bit of privacy, but don't want to block the light coming in through our beautiful big windows.  So, we've chosen to do DIY frosting with some sticky-back plastic.

It isn't easy to get right, but has turned out to be surprisingly effective!

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History - October

While carrying out repairs to our floorboards, we found some interesting pieces of history tucked away in the gaps underneath.

The first find was an original piece of Meccano, probably dating from the 1930s or 40s, which must have slipped between the boards while a creation was being built.

And this was a ticket for the 2nd Warwick Sea Scouts' grand Christmas draw - to be drawn on Wednesday 21st December 1960.  

The prizes included whisky, port and cigarettes...how things have changed!

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Charlie - September

Rather than go with the usual, run-of-the-mill furnishings around the house, we have chosen to 'do things differently'.

We are lucky to have a talented blacksmith friend, who has handmade us some bespoke curtain poles, shelving brackets and hoops for our wonderful lounge lighting.

He even came to help us install it all!

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Cabinet - September

 Another piece of furniture that needed some TLC...

The paint was yellowing, chipped and flaking, so we stripped the layers back and found even more layers of wood stain and varnish!

It's still a work-in-progress as we need to spend some more time on the doors, but we've installed it in our lounge and have started to fill it with books and games for our guests.

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Dining Table - September

We needed a table for our dining room, and thought we'd try and rescue one that probably would have ended up as firewood if it hadn't been left outside any longer!

Step 1 - try to loosen the top layer of pain with the hot air gun.

Step 2 - sand back just enough, so that remnants of the white paint remain, but the beautiful solid pine shines through underneath.

Step 3 - Add a few coats of wax and voila!  We now have a dining table!

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Bathroom door - September

As with most of the house, the door to the bathroom has been painted several times in its colourful past.

And when we say colourful, we mean it! 

This one door has been white, cream, turquoise, green, black and wood-varnished!

While we have painted all the other doors in the Secret Space black on the outside and white on the inside, this door is causing a bit of a dilemma.  It's one of only two traditional wooden doors we have, and we feel it needs treating slightly differently to the other, standard doors.

First job is to strip the layers of paint away and see what's underneath, then sand down until smooth.

On the inside, after a coat of primer, we think we'll go white.  But we've left the outside as it is for now.  We quite like the rustic look...

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