the snug reno : update 1

We’re finally beginning to tackle the room which we’ve rarely gone into – the indoor cellar. Indoor, because we also have an outdoor cellar. This room sits under the living room, but feels joined to the house because the staircase down, is open. We had thought this would be a problem, heat-wise, but it’s actually worked out really well. Now that the weather has turned a bit chillier, the burners are starting to be lit. We’ve had our much-loved Dovre Stove, which we bought in The Stove Room, West Didsbury and brought out with us, installed in the cellar – and it definitely pumps out some heat, up into the living room. Up until now, it’s been a bit forlorn, sitting in the corner, surrounded by boxes and everything else that, so far, has been put in the cellar, until we “find a home for it”. We’ve had a vision for this room, since we bought the house, and now as winter approaches, it’s time to create the room we’ve been dreaming about…

When we moved into the house, this was what the cellar looked like :

Although some work had been done – two new windows, walls plastered (with some original stone left exposed) and a concrete floor laid – it was all very unfinished. The ceiling beams were clearly very old, and in need of lots of TLC. Too much else needed to be done elsewhere in the house and we needed an overspill storage space as we worked out where our belongings were going to go. But gradually, we’ve started to make sense of this space and realised we could make it in something very, very cosy. The installation of The Dovre was the first thing that made us think we needed to crack on and get sorted. Which is what we are now doing. It’s going to be a long haul to get it all finished, but with a couple of days of work, it’s already starting to take on a new look…

Next time, I hope to be able to show quite a bit of progress. And, to show what’s being done to the stairs, which have proven to be very rickety and look pretty awful. Delighted to say that work has finally started on transforming these into something that we hope will be quite unusual. Here’s what they’ve looked like until now, making the climb to the living room, a little precarious to say the least…

We have had quotes for two new staircases, but they were pretty eye-wateringly expensive. So, we’ve decide to get creative with what we have – and luckily, we also have a very creative builder who’s helping us to work with what we have, but re-design. Watch this space…

Published on 20th October 2018