Orchard Blog - March 2017

Choosing a New Sofa

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One of the reasons we decided to move out into the country was we could afford to buy a house with more space. We loved living in Hampton Wick, but if we were to buy there we’d be lucky to afford a one bedroom flat. Having made the move to Whitchurch we had gained space but one downside of this is our furniture was purchased for a small flat and doesn’t fit. We have therefore decided that it is time to buy a new sofa, well actually a pair of sofas.

We are looking to buy a two seater and a three-seater sofa for the living room, we will compliment these with a couple of accent chairs so we should be able to seat six comfortably. Having gone around several show rooms we managed to decide on style we like – a classic and mid-century inspired. Other considerations were the fabric choices, sizes and availability.

The Shortlist

In no particularly order here are our finalists:

Iggy Sofa Three Seater in Taupe Brushed Linen Cotton £1640 Sofa.com

Sofa.com offer a great selection with loads of fabric options. This Iggy sofa met many of our requirements but was probably a bit over our budget.

Paddington Extra Large in Woodstock Linen £1123 Sofa & Stuff

From Sofa & Stuffs pronto range, this Paddington sofa is the right style and size. The pronto range has less fabrics to choose from, but we are after a neutral finish so we managed to find something that would work. We love the style of this sofa, especially the button sofa backs.

Bond St 3 Seater in Denbirgh Ecru £939 Furniture Village

The Bond St Sofa fitted the bill in terms of size and budget, we also loved the Denbirgh Fabric option. A classic and elegant style but missing the mid-century vibe we like.

Cricket 3 Seater in Allure Chocolate Mix £749 Sofology

Sofology was a revelation to us, they had a great range at a reasonable price. The Cricket caught our eye with its mid-century styling. Size wise was a touch too large for us and we weren’t massively keen on the fabric options but overall a great sofa.

Dexter Large 2 Seater Sofa In Oakford Chalk £1569.00 Multiyork

We are probably a bit bias as our godson is called Dexter! We like the simplicity of this style, but not as strongly mid-century as other options, and a bit over budget.

Halston 3 Seater in Pebble Weave £599 Made.com

The Budget option from Made.com. In many ways, this could be a good option, but is only available in limited sizes and fabric options so not quite right.

Our decision

After looking at lots of options we think we are going to go with the Paddington from Sofa & Stuff. It is the right combination of Price, Size, Style and fabric choices. We will probably buy the sofa soon, although having said that our dishwasher has just given up the ghost that is a priority first!

What do you think, what is your favourite sofa?

21st March 2017

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Bathroom Renovation Plans

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Orchard Blog

As promised we are going to take you around our new cottage to have a look at the rooms and share some of our plans. We are going to start with the Bathroom as this will be the first room for us to tackle. The bathroom is on the ground floor which although common in victorian houses is not ideal. There is the potential to put an extension on the side of the house that would allow the a family bathroom to be upstairs however this would be quite an investment that we wouldn’t be in the position to do for a couple of years at least. Although the current bathroom is fine there are a couple of serious issues which means we need to look at this room first. An immediate problem is the shower, it is a fixed shower head and unfortunately it has been fixed far too low for us (Rich is 6″1′ and Calum is 6″6′). The second problem is the placement of the loo. The last major issue are the windows, the are single glazed meaning the room is much colder than the rest of the cottage.

Our plan is to install a new L shaped shower bath and install a new shower that we can both fit under. We will also replace the toilet and the basin at the same time to allow more room to use both. We like the idea of a patterned floor tile with white metro tiles on the wall. We will add in recessed spot lights, and some wall likes around the mirror. The windows will be replaced and we also need to add in some extra storage.

fig. 1 | fig. 2 | fig.3 | fig.4

We want the bathroom to have a crisp and classic look, mixing traditional and modern fixtures and finishes. We will use wooden accents to bring some warmth into the room, along with plenty of fluffy towels and some plants. We are not entirely fixed on the sink, toilet and towel warmer yet, we need to visit a couple of show rooms to finalise. This is the style board we have put together so far. Once we finalise the refurbishment in a month or two we will come back and share our progress.

fig. 1 Wall Light Garden Trading
fig. 2 Wall Clock John Lewis
fig. 3 Mirror Cabinet Victoria Plum
fig. 4 Cavendish Toilet Victoria Plum
fig. 5 Shower Victoria Plum
fig. 6 Taps B&Q
fig. 7 Ladder Shelves Garden Trading
fig. 8 L Shaped Bath Victoria Plum
fig. 9 Cavendish Sink Victoria Plum
fig 10. Towel Radiator Victoria Plumb
fig. 11 Floor Tile Topps Tiles
fig. 12 Metro Tile Topps Tiles
fig. 13 Oak Stool Garden Trading
fig. 14 Plant Pot Ikea
fig. 15 Towels John Lewis

2nd March 2017

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