Accidental Fashion - 16th April

Painting ceilings can give a whole new look to your clothes.

Not sure my trainers will ever be the same again, but I kinda like them!

Blinding! 15th April

One of the things we have been most looking forward to is getting rid of the horrible old corporate blinds from the lounge.  

Well, today was the day!

It was brilliant to see the final strip falling, leaving the lovely Edwardian sash windows exposed.

#sostayhere

Painting begins - 15th April

Thank goodness for extendible rollers!

It wasn’t easy painting the 13ft high lounge and front bedroom ceilings.  We used trade paint, watered down for the first two coats on the new plaster, they then needed a further 3 coats to complete. 

Hard work, and messy too, but definitely worth it.  

#sostayhere

Finding 'a New Normal' - 14th April

Three weeks of total lockdown and all our lives have changed dramatically.

We were both getting itchy feet, sitting at home knowing that the Secret Space work had ground to a complete halt.  

So after much deliberation we decided social distancing was manageable, if we split the house in two - with one of us working on each floor at a time.  If we were in the house together, we ensured we only touched our own things and 'meetings' (no longer able to take place in the pub) were now held on the stairs.  

#sostayhere

Covid Hits - 23rd March

Our whole world has been turned upside down.

What started as a report, from far away about a bit of a flu outbreak, has lead to global lockdown, fear and uncertainty - who knows for how long?

We have had to stop our work on the Secret Space for now as we stay in our own homes and stay safe.  Hopefully see you on the other side...

#sostayhere

Surprises! 14th March

How lovely to find what lies underneath tatty carpet.

Original quarry tiles.  They'll be tough work to restore, but it'll be worth it.

#sostayhere

Fireplace revealed - 12th March

An imposing black fireplace dominates what will be the dining room.                  

After a layer of paint-remover yesterday and a heap of elbow grease using a decorating scraper, we saw the beautiful colours slowly starting to show through.

There’s some broken tiles in the corner of the surround, which will need replacing later, but overall a worthwhile few hours spent, with only a bit left to do.   

#sotstayhere

Masking up! 12th March

It’s time to mask up, and put some paint stripper on the dining room fireplace, to see what we can uncover.

Little did we know that in a few weeks time, we’d be using masks for a very different reason!

#sostayhere

Getting plastered! 2nd March

What an exciting day!

The lounge and front bedroom ceilings are going to be re-plastered.  This is fantastic as the cracks were too much for our little pots of filler.

We don't envy the plasterer reaching up 13 feet high, but he's done a brilliant job!

#sostayhere

Our first purchase - 29th February

One of the first items purchased for the Secret Space was an amazing giant light fitting, which we immediately agreed would look awesome in the dining room.

Getting it home was not so simple.  

The manager of the shop had taken it outside for us whilst we paid, but when we went out - it was nowhere to be seen. 

Back inside we went, to ask where he’d put it. He came ouside, looked around, scratched his head and we all thought it must have been taken by someone else. 

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind drew our attention to a large black ball, bouncing across the carpark into the distance!  Thankfully, the manager went running to collect it for us - what great customer service!   

Once retrieved, we then had to work out how it would fit into Lizzy's small Mini.  We eventually managed it - squeezing it through the passenger door, putting Lara in the back and only using 2nd gear, luckily we didn’t have far to go!

#sostayhere

Artwork - 27th February

Whilst we’ve been clearing out the Secret Space, we occasionally come across things that we put aside in the hope that we can find a new home for them. 

We found this painting in the front bedroom and didn’t have the heart to throw it away so hopefully, with a new frame, one day it’ll adorn the walls again.

#sostayhere

Cables Cables Cables - 27th February

We’re starting to peel back the layers and today’s job was literally that - peeling away electric cables!

There are so many odd wires running through the property, and more than a few don’t seem to go anywhere. So we're guessing this is only the beginning, but thankfully we know a great sparky....

 

#sostayhere

Paperwork - 21st February

Things have just got real!

We’ve just received the draft copy of our contract; our dream ‘Space’ that up until now had been a ‘Secret’,  is becoming a reality!

#sostayhere

Giant Chess, Anyone? 21st February

Having cleared the lounge ready for the plasterer, we took the carpet up to find a fancy checkerboard floor underneath.  Our plan is to re-carpet, creating a warm, comfortable living area for our guests, but maybe we will chequerboard tile the fireplace area, to keep the theme alive...!

#sostayhere

Sorting the Kitchen - 18th February

We are very lucky to have a relatively new kitchen already installed in the Secret Space.  It may not be what we would have chosen, but we can't complain about being given good cupboard space, as well as an oven, fridge, microwave and cupboards full of bits and bobs.

More sorting to be done, with piles for selling, keeping and storing in boxes.

#sostayhere

Marketplace - 17th February

Having sorted and photographed the best of the 'junk', we advertised it on Marketplace, not really sure what to expect.  

Within minutes enquiries came in...Is this still available?  Is that in good condition?  Would you accept less? 

Lots of items were taken by some lovely people with stories to tell.

• a girl who bought a wing-backed chair for her 101 year old friend.
• a lovely lady, taking desks and school chairs back to Devon to furnish a new area for her French exchange students.
• a man who bought two filing cabinets and a chair for his new home office.

Of course, it hasn't always gone so well.  We were left bewildered when a girl rejected our vintage tea set for being 'too second-hand', along with the lady who had travelled over an hour to collect some £5 office chairs, only to complain that they weren't quite the right colour!

#sostayhere

Creating a Mood Board - 5th February

      

Early on we had lots of decisions to make, and an important one was what should our space look like?

We wanted to play to the building's strengths, as it has wonderful high ceilings and large windows, but weren’t sure what we’d find under all the layers of neglect.

So to help picture what could be achieved, we created a mood board with images of interiors that we felt worked with the existing foundations.

It’ll be interesting to see how close we get to these ideas as the project evolves.

Our original mood board

#sostayhere

'Business' meetings - 31st January

One of the benefits of our location is that there’s a pub, located just two doors down.

The Black Pug dates back to the 16th century and is a fantastic neighbourhood pub, with a huge dog-friendly garden, serving good food and offering a real sense of community spirit.

It’s become our regular meeting venue, where very important discussions take place and decisions made. The first decision at any of these important meetings, of course, was how many slices of free toast to eat!

Little did we know that all this was about to change...

#sostayhere

We are in! 26th January

It’s exciting to walk around the place, looking at all the rooms and getting some early ideas of what could be done to make it an awesome space.

This is going to be a BIG task!  

First job?  Label all the junk.  

Post-its at the ready...

• What can be re-used 
• What can be sold
• What to store
• What to recycle

So much to sort out, but there,s potential to raise some money for renovations.

  

#sostayhere

The Property Details

So, what exactly is the Secret Space?

The property is an Edwardian three-bedroomed townhouse.  A door from the main street leads onto a long hallway, with doors left leading to the lounge at the front and a dining room at the rear.  A newer kitchen extension sits at the back of the house, with a door onto a little courtyard area.  

Upstairs, a long landing has two bedrooms and a bathroom.  

Well, we say a bathroom...when we took it over, there was no bath.  Or shower. Or hot water...  

                                                                      #sostayhere

How it all began - January 2020

A sad old Edwardian property sat empty on Coten End, in Warwick.

A couple of friends, chatting over a cup of tea nearby decide they'd like to bring it back to life.

A lot of research and many more cups of tea later, everything came together to create So Stay Here - the idea of setting up a company to provide self-catering accommodation and event venues, with the Secret Space as our first project.

So why the Secret Space?

The building is connected to a fantastic community centre, called Warwick Space.  Our vision was to echo that ethos of community and neighbourhood, so we knew that using 'space' within our name was important.

As for the secret bit - well, no one would really know there was a house next door!

                                     

#sostayhere