So we have finally started to do up our new(ish) home after two years of living in it without doing a single thing. It was essential that we started with the attic as that’s where the living room now is. The current living room, dining room and library will be used to run the tea room and shop from. So we had to move up and there is enough space so why not.
As we have a rather large collection of books we first needed a proper bookcase to house them in. In my world one can never have enough bookcases so it was the first thing we build after we painted everything in two shades of white. The ceilings and all the woodwork are painted in Farrow & Ball All White and the walls in Farrow & Ball Strong White. Bo also added farmhouse trim around all the doors and windows to give it a more authentic look as the windows looked so naked.
The floor was a problem as there was a cheap laminated floor that also ran in the wrong direction. Don’t get me wrong but I really dislike laminated floors as it’s just not proper wood. Even the sound when you walk on them makes me cringe. I wanted to go for fitted sisal flooring but it would have cost us a fortune and we were also going to be left with 15 square meters of waste as the attic has an odd size. So I Googled “sisal floor tiles” and found these on a Dutch eBay site (Marktplaats) for just €1 a tile. We ended up with 200 tiles. So instead of paying €6700 for sisal flooring with €1200 in waste we used €200 worth of tiles and we were good to go. I also really like the checkered look as we laid them in the opposite direction, and the cats absolutely adore it!
The attic is divided in two rooms, one room that overlooks the street and the room where the library is in that overlooks the garden. It’s a high house and I keep teling the cats not to sit by an open window as I’m scared they will drop dead, but cats know better don’t they?
I’ve painted the IKEA TARVA chest of drawers in yet another shade of white, Farrow & Ball Shadow White and I used white ceramic cabinet knobs from my favourite shop Willow & Stone.
We are all so happy now. With just a few coats of paint, some trimmings and faffing and a new floor.