07/10/2026
There is a point in every restoration project when the direction changes.
At first glance, this room appeared to need little more than redecoration. But when a full room survey was carried out, serious concerns were raised about the condition of the substrate beneath the existing finishes. The lining paper and parts of the ceiling therefore had to be removed to investigate further.
With a design specification including Farrow & Ball, Little Greene and Mylands paints, William Morris wallpaper, Lincrusta and a gilded bay ceiling, there was little sense in investing in beautiful finishes without first ensuring that everything beneath them was sound.
And sadly, as suspected, it really wasn’t.
So, for the past ten days, the room has been taken back to its bare bones.
Up until now, every day’s work has made the room look progressively worse because we have, essentially, been subtracting from it.
What we uncovered was extensive: hollow and detached plaster, failed lath and plaster, large areas of cracking, voids within the walls, rotten timber, failing previous repairs and old electrical installations. Material continued to come away until, eventually, there was simply nothing unsound left to remove.
Now the direction changes.
From here, every intervention starts putting strength and integrity back into it: stabilising and repairing the masonry, dealing with the cracks properly, rebuilding the failed plaster, making good around the original joinery, repairing the mouldings and, finally, bringing the decorative scheme back.
Good decoration can only ever be as sound as the surface beneath it.
As restoration, design and decorating specialists, with over 100 years of combined experience across our team, we have the knowledge and practical experience to take on projects like this with confidence, from understanding what lies beneath the decorative surface through to the final finish.
Sometimes restoration means going considerably further backwards before you can properly move forwards.
Now we begin putting it back together, and the new design can finally start to take shape.
