Cheam, Surrey

A home renovation focused on rustic and natural design chooses Vestige Grange Gable reclaimed wood floors

VR101 Grange Gable Reclaimed Oak Plank

This stunning home renovation started as plans for a rear extension and escalated into a full upgrade of the ground floor with the owner wanting to create a rustic and natural interior. The owner, Karen Tayler, had very specific design tastes and looked to find an interior designer that could help her with the initial project, designing a bespoke kitchen. Karen explains, My initial focus was on adding a rear extension which would give me a larger dining space with a relaxed seating area which would lead into a new kitchen.

“My taste is very specific. I like things to be quite unique, very rustic, nothing too shiny and new. I already had some bespoke furniture pieces in the home that reflected this so I used these to help inform my brief. I’d looked around at kitchen ideas but nothing off the shelf quite delivered what I had in mind and that’s why I first got Emma Jordan involved, an interior designer who also specialises in bespoke furniture and wood design.”

Emma was delighted to help and came up with bespoke designs for the kitchen layout and cabinetry. With a design agreed she enlisted the help of Surrey Joinery. Emma explains, I’d worked with them before and know the quality of their work and their flexibility to create bespoke designs that exactly match a client’s brief. As building work on the extension got underway and with the kitchen, in the early manufacturing stages the brief started to grow from Karen. I had ideas for flooring and dressings that could work in the new space and wanted to extend these themes across the ground floor while the work was being done so the house would be completed in one hit. Emma had created such a beautiful kitchen design so I asked her to help with the rest of the home. The flooring was my next big decision as I’d decided I wanted to extend the new flooring in the extension throughout most of the downstairs spaces. Given the flooring brief, Emma started to research ideas, Karen had mentioned laminate options, partly down to budget, but I really felt this might be a decision she would regret given her love for rustic and bespoke design. I asked Rowley at Surrey Joinery if he had any recommendations and he was quick to recommend V4 Wood Flooring as he had seen their floors installed in a number of projects he had worked on.”

“I took a look on the V4 website and when I saw they had just released a new reclaimed collection, Vestige, I was sure these could be the perfect floors. I ordered some other samples too and headed to Karen to show her the options. While we spent some time discussing the different samples we both kept heading back to the Grange Gable reclaimed sample. It would be an investment given the amount of flooring Karen needed for the ground floor but it really was the perfect wood floor to fit into the style of the home, work with all the other elements, and suit Karen’s taste perfectly.”

Karen agreed and the floors were ordered. The Vestige eco-friendly reclaimed wood floor collection is created by talented wood artisans who take reclaimed woods and create unique handmade wood floors with a distinctive and high-quality finish, available in both plank and herringbone styles. The original oak timber is sourced from a collection of old Eastern European homes, barns and industrial buildings scheduled for demolition, re-purposing the floor boards, beams, posts and trusses into genuine reclaimed oak floorboards. Grange Gable is created from wood sliced from ancient oak beams with visible saw and plane markings, finished with hard wax oil for a durable top surface. Surrey Joinery completed the installation of the new wood floors, along with the kitchen and also created a gorgeous bespoke oak dining table which is a standout piece in the new extension enjoying views out to the pretty garden. Chairs from John Lewis complete the look. A muted colour scheme complements the rustic wood finishes throughout with walls and the lighter kitchen cabinets finished in Farrow and Ball Slipper Satin, and a contrasting Farrow and Ball green paint called Trerom used on the rest of the bespoke kitchen cabinetry. The floors extend from the hallway, into the new lounge/dining area and into the kitchen. They also feature in a cosy snug come playroom.

Karen is delighted with the finished home. I am so glad we made the decision to go for the reclaimed wood floors from V4. They work absolutely perfectly to deliver the unique and rustic design style I wanted in the home. All the spaces blend naturally and the home has a lovely flow with the wood floors extended throughout the ground floor spaces to create a natural flow. All the colour tones that feature feel natural and welcoming which is exactly what I wanted.”

Emma is also a fan of the finished home and floors, I loved being involved with the project as I have such a passion for bespoke and natural design. To see all the different wood surfaces come together is lovely. I am so impressed with the V4 floors, I will definitely be returning to use them for future projects and Surrey Joinery did a fantastic job on all of the bespoke joinery and installing the reclaimed wood flooring.