Margate, Kent

Chevron wood floors in Seashell were the perfect choice for this Victorian home by the sea in Margate

CV104 Seashell

Naomi and her husband Greg moved into the house two years ago after a long search to find their perfect home. Naomi explains, We must have looked at over 30 properties. Nothing quite ticked enough of our boxes and we were reluctant to take on a big renovation project to turn a house into what we were looking for.

“When we spotted this house one evening, which has just been added to a home search website, we didn’t need any convincing that this was the perfect home we’d been looking for. So much so we tried to make an offer immediately without even viewing it!”

“The estate agent did insist we arrange a viewing but we knew that wouldn’t change our mind and after months of searching we were thrilled to secure our new home. The six bedroom, three storey Victorian Villa style home is situated in the Cliftonville area of Margate, just a short walk from the seafront. Having had various former uses including being a hotel and a care home, a developer had purchased the property and restored it back to its former use of two large residential properties. What really suited us was that the developer had taken care of a lot of the building work that was needed to convert the property back to residential use, updating all of the wiring and plumbing in the process. We were essentially moving into a clean and tidy blank canvas that still had all of its original Victorian features which we loved. The couple started to plan the home’s decoration, seeking to create modern spaces that would also be sympathetic to the property’s character. The house has so much natural light and really high ceilings so we felt we had the scope to introduce some darker colours into the rooms without losing that feeling of space. I liked the idea of combining dark and light tones that would contrast and complement each other. When it came to flooring I already knew of V4 Wood Flooring through a work project that required me to secure some flooring. As I had been impressed by them it made sense to head back to their floor designs and see if there was something that could be right for our own home. The couple were looking to introduce real wood floors that would run through from the entrance hallway and into the double sized living space which would become a relaxing lounge and also have a cosy snug area. The floors would then step down at the end of the hallway into the kitchen and dining room which had tiling.

“I did really like the herringbone flooring style that has become so popular in recent years, but I kind of wanted to do something just a little bit different from the norm, so when I saw V4’s new Chevron collection I really loved the look of it. My husband would take a bit more convincing; he was keen to stick with traditional herringbone, but once a few samples arrived he agreed they would add a really beautiful floor finish in our home.”

“It sounds a bit contrived that, as we are by the sea, the Seashell finish stood out to us, but I just really loved the very light and muted tone of it. A lovely light feel to balance out some of the darker paint colours and furniture we had in mind. With light oak floors and all the natural light it would really give us the opportunity to play with introducing some darker décor. And while the colour felt really modern they still had a rustic feel that would suit the style of the home. V4’s Chevron collection has been designed to be a modern take on 17^th Century French Herringbone. The engineered oak blocks measure 90mm x 655mm with a tongue and groove profile for a 45° angle installation pattern. The 4mm thick durable top oak layer is finished with a hardwax oil for a natural protective surface that gives the floors a soft muted glow. A small amount of subfloor preparation was completed before a local flooring specialist installed the Chevron floors in the hallway and living room. A chrome bar was added for neat detailing where the Chevron floors run over the edge of the small step down into the kitchen space.

“I asked for the floors installation pattern to run across rather than down the house. The hallway is quite narrow and I prefer that the V pattern runs across the hall rather than point you down it, it creates a much nicer flow into the living room too.”

With the floors installed the finishing touches could be made to the spaces. The living room walls feature Farrow u0026amp; Ball’s Studio Green, a deep dark green which has a hue that plays beautifully to the natural light, along with a lighter contrasting Little Greene paint above. The same Farrow u0026amp; Ball paint is on the living room wood work and bespoke cabinetry. In the hallway clean white walls combine with stairs and wood work finished in Little Greene’s striking blue black tones of Basalt. When it came to dressing the living room we treated ourselves to a new large blue velvet corner sofa from made.com and a coffee table from Habitat. I did a lot of rummaging in stores like HomeSense to find some of the other dressings and ornaments. Even our lovely hallway side table was a HomeSense bargain. I love finding vintage or industrial styled items that are quite unique and a bit of a bargain. We are lucky to have some amazing vintage and reclaimed stores in our area and have bought some of our most treasured pieces from The Light Keeper, Forts Road Yard and Paraphernalia to name a few.”

“With our living room complete we really do spend so much time in this room, whether it’s relaxing on the big sofa in the evening or reading in the snug area on a lazy afternoon. The floors are amazing, we absolutely love them. The tone and installation pattern are just gorgeous and they work so well with our modern décor and equally with the home’s original Victorian features.”

“We didn’t want floors that would be hard to live with, where you were always being wary of damaging them, and these Chevron floors have been so easy to live with. Spillages clean up no problem and they are proving super durable to any little knocks. We really couldn’t be happier with our new floors and the V4 team were incredibly helpful, brilliant customer service. We’ve still got some more work to do to some of the bedrooms but everything is coming together and we couldn’t be happier in the house we knew we wanted to buy before we even viewed it.