Reclamation Materials
Glazed tiles, Terracotta and Brick
HOME and GARDEN
Opinions differed about the original fireplace-surrounds in otherwise featureless front rooms. Overly ornate, hideous and bursting with character featured among them.
I avoided looking the builders in the eye when I broke the news about how I wanted to keep them, knowing that they were cumbersome and in the way, and then watched throughout the months of work as they became buried beneath dust, cans of fizzy drink and cheese and onion crisps. Still I was determined to salvage them, the one with curves and the other more angular with knot detailing. I relished bringing out the grain with beeswax and softening golden tones to retain the unique spirit of the place.
On the day the walls were revealed to have widespread damp issues, my plans went up in flames. Once treated with specialist lining they could never be pierced and so the fireplaces went to new homes, waved off in the back of a van, covered in paint-splattered dust sheets.
Hopes for the house faded but once fresh plaster was applied, things seemed to take a turn. We had beautifully smooth, dusky pink walls, even if they could never be adorned with anything. One fireplace was left as a recess featuring exposed blackened brick and the other was blocked up and given an air brick.
Next step was to rip up the mouldy carpet that had been subjected to all manner of materials, thereby unearthing hearths with glossy tiles, some smooth as glass and some crackled. Unfortunately however, they no longer had a purpose, so they were lifted out and boxed up for safekeeping.
The hope had been to keep them, like the fireplaces, to imbue the home with warmth using reclaimed items full of personality. This time however, they were earmarked for cold shelves of a greenhouse, to lift lemony pelargonium cuttings, grapevines, galvanised watering cans, and the hand-thrown Victorian terracotta plant pots (all varying slightly) discovered neatly stacked in rows beneath a trestle table.
Once resurrected, the house was ready for layers from stories, travels and treasures. There were so many things that we would do differently if we were to start again but we could now reclaim it from the builders (forever grateful for their work) and make it our home, using colour, texture and quirks. It didn’t have to be picture-perfect. It might even be better for it.
CAMBRIDGE
For the love of texture…
Mill Lane, Cambridge
A Cambridge College chapel. The choristers’ legacy?
Thank you for visiting!