The home belongs to Bailey and Nick Allen who were moving back from the US. Bailey explains, “My husband was originally from this area and had moved to the US with work. His work wanted to relocate him back to the UK so we agreed let’s do it. We just needed to find a new home.
“I’ve never lived in the UK before so I was excited to start the new chapter. We knew we wanted to be in this area so started looking at available properties. When we found this one we could both see beyond the very tired 1980’s décor inside and know that with a bit of TLC we could turn it into a fabulous home for us. It was in a great location, close to the town centre and I could even walk to work.”
The three bedroom terrace home didn’t require any major building work, however old pink carpets featured throughout, pink walls and a very dated kitchen and bathroom. “I was looking forward to the challenge and making the home our own. I’d never done anything like it before, and in a new country.”
“I wanted to open up the spaces, which felt quite dark with the current décor and create a bright and minimalist style that would make the home flow and feel bigger. The flooring was going to be an important factor and we started to research options. We looked at a few ideas online and decided as we weren’t experts we’d visit our local flooring shop, 1 to 1 flooring in Harpenden.
“They were really helpful. We ruled out some of the luxury vinyl options and after a bit of deliberation agreed we wouldn’t have carpet in the bedrooms as I’m not a fan. The guys said our best option, and for our budget, would be engineered wood flooring.
“I was drawn to the sustainability messages on the V4 stands in the store. I liked the idea that our floors would be responsibly sourced and kind to the environment. We looked at a few options and the guys let us take home some samples. We included a few darker options in the mix but when we laid them out in the home the Alpine wood floors were our favourite.”
The couple chose Alpine in the Oak Rustic Satin Lacquered finished. The rustic oak planks are smooth sanded, bevelled and exquisitely finished with six fine coats of aluminium oxide satin lacquer. The resulting finish brings out a deep lustre in the oak, accentuating the natural beauty of the grain. The lacquered surface is a robust and easily cleaned surface ideal for a busy household.
“I liked that they featured subtle rustic character but at the same time felt light and modern. Something too rustic wouldn’t of suited the style of the house.”
The floors were installed by 1 to 1 Flooring in the hallway, living room, dining space and bedrooms. With the old carpets removed a small amount of levelling work was completed and the new floors were laid in just a couple of days.
“We were quite lucky as we stayed with Nick’s parents while all the work was being completed. We finally moved into the finished house in May, a few months after the work has started.”
The finished wood floors have certainly delivered a feeling of light and space in the renovated home. Décor has been kept simple to avoid cluttering the rooms. The walls have been finished in crisp Jade White from Dulux. The living room features playful chairs from Atkin & Thyme and a made.com pouffe.
“All of our furniture was new for the home, rather than have the cost and inconvenience of shipping things over from the States we thought it would be nice to have everything new. We love the finished house, it definitely feels bigger and brighter and the wood floors create a really lovely flow between the spaces. They’ve been great to live with and a breeze to clean. All I’ve got to do now is work on the husband that our new home needs some pets.”
