15/04/2026
200 years of paint… slowly coming off.
One of the things we’ve realised very quickly with this house is that every decision feels slightly weightier when the features you’re working with have already lasted two centuries. The shutters alone have been painted countless times over the years, so stripping them back to the original wood felt like the right place to start before adding anything new.
It’s a slower process than replacing everything, but there’s something very satisfying about restoring what’s already here rather than starting again. We found Kyall , who has spent the past week patiently scraping everything back to its original state, and the difference already is incredible.
In the kitchen, we’ve also slightly changed direction. I originally planned to colour drench the entire room green, but after living with it for a few weeks I kept thinking about our old kitchen… and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this space wanted to be red.
The cabinetry has now been professionally refinished, new solid brass hardware is on, and we’re currently restoring the iroko worktop which has definitely been a learning curve… turns out very oily woods don’t always behave as expected.
Slowly but surely everything is starting to come together.
Make sure you’re following to see the next stage come together.
