Why I got my Atelier and it's refurbishment

The Chance Discovery 

In the spring of 2012 my friend Joanne had come to visit Tunbridge Wells on the look out for a site for a possible jewellery exhibition, that we wanted to hold together. At the end of the day as we were walking home through the Pantiles we came across this empty shop with a 'for let' sign in the window.

It was a very pretty shop but in a run down state, as we looked through the window, I had no thoughts about opening a shop although It had been a dream, when I was much younger. My friend is more of a risk taker than me and had other ideas....

"This is perfect!" she said. "For what?" I replied. "For your shop!" I laughed nervously, but she had planted a seed in my mind and for the next few days, I could think of nothing else. I  began to think maybe she was right and it could be the exciting project that I was looking for. I arranged a viewing the following day and discovered it was also for sale. Once I went inside, I realised it was the perfect size for a small shop and could incorporate a workshop at the back, meaning that I did not need to work from home anymore.

I had been working from home for several years, since I left London in 2008 and truthfully, however practical it had been with little children, it was becoming pretty hard. I was isolated and finding it hard not to be distracted by household chores. I had no connection with other makers, especially now I was no longer in London. I had been in business for a long time and had achieved most of my goals and I had nothing to aim for. For a while, I had been in need of a new journey, a focus, something to work towards.

With the help of my kind brother-in-law Richard, I had made the workshop really appealing.

It all fitted well, but I was taking up the whole front room of our house. I was ready to convert it back to a family room now that my family was getting bigger. Below is how my workshop looked and as you see it had a similar feel to my shop now.

 

The hard decision 

Joanne and I spent hours chatting about the shop on the phone. She was so supportive giving me lists of things I would need to think about if I went ahead and opened a shop. Without her guidance and encouragement I would never have taken the leap of faith to buy my shop and start a brand new chapter, which has turned out to be life changing in so many ways.

Here is Joanne looking at the rubbish bins outside the pub and dreaming about what this empty, unloved space could become if I was brave enough to take it on.

I asked my architect friend, Paula, to come and have a look around before my husband and I finally made an offer to the agent. I had weeks of sleepless nights worrying if it was the right thing to do, would I be able to manage to refurbish it as I wanted and could I run a shop with a young family at home? I decided if I did not try, I would never know and felt it was now or never, as this shop was so perfect and would never come my way again. I really believe walking past it that day with Joanne was meant to be. We chose to buy the shop, as opposed to renting as I intended in making it just how I wanted it to be which would mean putting my life-savings into it. I did not want the insecurity of knowing the rent could be put up, or even taken from me, once I had refurbished it. 

It took a long time to complete the purchase as the whole building needed some attention and it needed painting by the owner. The title deeds are really complicated and the building contains three separate properties, my shop and two residential flats. This has turned out to have its own problems, but that is another story! 

Its mine !

On January 11th 2013, it became ours and the fun began! We needed to rip out the old carpet, re-do all the electrics and completely re-fit and re-decorate.

Luckily, I had the support of a friend, CJ who guided and helped me decide on so much of the detail and shop fittings. My father helped me do much of the decorating. He was and remains, such a support, I could not have done it without my friends and family.

The refurbishment

The floor 

Here is my husband James, my brother Matthew and my father Maurice starting to rip out the carpet. I remember that day as if it was yesterday I was full of excitement and nerves in an equal mix.

Here is my youngest helper Jake wielding his hammer. I showed him this photo this week and he could not remember any of this which surprised me.

It was pretty heavy work but once the carpet had been ripped out it was clear the floorboards would need replacing as they were all patched up with new boards.

The shop took us way longer to complete than I had thought it would and I was not ready to open till October 2014. But I did choose to take my time and project manage it myself and do all of the decorating.

I asked Leyton from 'Nutwood flooring' to refurbish my new floor. He sourced some lovely old boards, from the Fire station restaurant in Waterloo,London when it was being re-styled.

The boards were then stained a dark brown.

It really felt like it was taking shape when the floor and electrics were done.

The Lights 

The ceiling lights were all ugly large white spotlights on tracks attached to the ceiling. 

I bought a few things for the shop, at a local auction, including two fantastic large grey industrial lights for the workshop, to hang over my bench. I was told they were from a farm to keep chickens warm, but I am not sure if this is correct. I love them and I have never seen any since.

LED flush spotlights were added all over the ceiling.

The most expensive piece I bought for the shop was the metal feature light. It was bought from a dealer in Fulham Road . It is very ornate and beautiful, possibly from Algiers. Here it is hanging in the shop where I bought it, I was with my friend Cj at the time and it was so important for me to have an opinion from someone, whose taste I admired. Cj is now a ceramic artist. 

It looks fantastic in-situ; a real centrepiece. The metal has intricate cut out panels with glass behind and it looks wonderful when lit up. 

Window lights 

I decided to use black, theatre spot lights in the window as a bit of a feature , here they are lighting up this years Christmas window.

The two fireplaces 

There is a fireplace in both the shop and the workshop ends; a matching pair original to the building .

The chimney breast needed a damp course, as water was seeping in, from outside . 

I needed to have it re-plastered. It was so satisfying seeing the wall all smooth, as for so many months, the shop looked a complete mess.

We had decided to make the shop space dark painting the walls with a dark grey paint 'Mercury' from Fired Earth. The opposite to most jewellery galleries which are bright white. I wanted to make it moody, with old antique fittings and display props. I also stained the fireplace darker so they were like the floorboards.

Here it is on my opening day full of roses provided by my friend Lara from Darling and Wild florist. 

The Window 

The window is lovely it is 2 metres wide with a thin central bar meaning the whole of the front is window. I removed the horrid white fixed grills and found a company that did dark grey ones that not only could open and close but would also fold away neatly.

They are really successful both secure and look right with the interior when closed and invisible when open.

We decided we wanted to keep the structure in the window for display. We striped out the cabinet shelving and old carpet.

Exposing the wood, we considered leaving the boards but decided to cover them over and paint it all out in, dark grey, like the shop.

The window was completed by the large black terrarium which I bought from the same dealer in Fulham Road, where I bought the light. I have left it there all these years as it is so pretty and great for display. I made this decision for several reasons and I did not want the window to look like a jewellery shop. 

I am so pleased that I chose to have a small display area, as in 2020, I got my new best shop assistant Rolo! He now has his bed in the window, so he can watch all the passing people and dogs. He is much more of an attraction than the jewellery could ever be!

The kitchen 

The kitchen was very basic and so I decided to rip it all out and try to find a small reclaimed Belfast sink instead. It was such a small area, but I wanted it to be as nice as the rest of the shop.

I found a perfect one on Ebay, nearby in West Sussex and got the talented furniture maker Robert Peacock to use my old floor boards to make the unit and the shelves on the wall above. I recycled, while we did this project, wherever I could. Robert is such a brilliant carpenter, because he is also so artistic and a complete perfectionist. He did all the carpentry work in my shop. 

I was very extravagant and decided to have a black granite top. At this point I was living with a very basic kitchen at home, so it was a real treat.

It was so worth it; the result was lovely. I painted the kitchen area in one of my favourite colours, Cleopatras Nose by F&B - a soft grey purple. I have never found a room at home that it was right for.

The fittings 

The mirror 

Cj spotted this old wooden bed corona at Ardingley Antiques Fair - it would turn out to be such a perfect find once a piece of mirror was added.

What worked well was that the colour grey was so similar to the paint we would eventually paint the walls and it blends in such a subtle but effective way. So it did not stick out but just merges in.

Here it is when the shop was all finished and you can see the light while it is turned on. It is really big and fills the chimney breast.

The counter 

My dad spotted a piece of furniture on line at a dealer in Brighton he had a genius idea that we could get it altered to make a counter for the shop. It was a long low cupboard so he thought we cut it in half and put half on top making it shorter and higher.

Rob made an excellent job of it! It's so fabulous, a really unusual and striking counter.

It makes a great separation between the shop and the workshop.

Here it is, once the shop was all finished. It is such a striking piece of furniture.

The Shelving 

I wanted the view through to the back of the shop to be interesting and we decided to make the whole wall shelves, around the window. Here is the design drawing I did for Rob to use to make the shelving.

Here is the first stage making the boxes up from MDF.

Here is my dad helping me decorate while the shelves were being constructed.

Here they are finished and painted dark grey the same colour as the shop end. We decided we wanted the workshop to be a much paler grey as a contrast.

I found a lovely old draw-set in Hastings Old Town to incorporate into the shelving. I planned to have a mixture of jewellery books and objects on display in the shelving.

Here it is finished.

The Tool bench

I needed a big bench all along the big wall for my large machinery. I was so lucky as my dad had several banks of beautiful mahogany drawers from an old bank clearance. So I asked Robert to make the bench.

I had some old metal panels from my london workshop days which had developed a beautiful patina on them. We used them to make the two panels between the drawers.

Here it is finished I think we did a great job between us all.

My workbench

Dad helped my source a huge chunk of mahogany in London which came from an old chemistry laboratory in a London university. I decided to have a double bench incase I needed help with my work in the future.

Rob made the bench using some more of my fathers old mahogany draws and cut out the beautiful semi circles in the huge piece of mahogany. I reckon its the smartest work-bench ever !

I found the most beautiful matching pair of grey ceramic Anglepoise desk lamps in Ardingley Antiques Fair, they were perfect.

Here it is the week I opened -  it certainly does not look this clean now !

The Cabinets 

I have six cabinets in my shop. Three wall and three floor cabinets.

The two metal floor cabinets came from a dealer near Robertsbridge. The small one has a beautiful green patina on the back and it is from Paris.

The big woodern one in the centre of the shop came from auction.

Here are the two main metal ones installed in their new home.

Here is the one from auction ready for me to have my opening night in November 2014.

The wall cabinets are all wood one a cream coloured one from Kempton . A mahogany one from auction, which I have in my workshop end, to display my jewellery box collection. The other small mahogany one in my shop for rings and cufflinks is from of my favourite shops in the Holloway Road. D&A Binder founded in 1976 specialising in antique shop fittings.

The Sign Writing 

My sign writing was done by Royston, a traditional sign writer as I wanted it hand painted rather than made from stickers. Here he is, 'hand painting' my name, in grey paint, outside my shop.

The gold writing on my window is outlined by hand, in grey paint and filled in with gold leaf. If you have not seen it done it is a really great skill to witness; paper thin gold leaf applied with a soft brush. It was really magical being there and watching it all appear - the last part of the refurbishment.

Here it is all finished and I still love it all these years later; he did a brilliant job.

The outside hanging sign 

Hanging outside, is a black wrought-iron Lion as a shop-sign. This was installed by Leonard Lassalle.

Here is Leonard in this wonderful old black and white photograph taken in the late 60,s. You can see the sign hanging from Leonards Antique shop during the time he had the shop from 1967 to 1991. He sadly passed away recently in his 90's, at his home in France.

Here is the unusual shaped board that hangs on it the ironwork but this is how I inherited it. It had broken and was no longer hanging up. So we restored, cleaned and re painted the wooden sign dark grey to match my interior.

Royston painted the words Jeweller and Goldsmith by hand in very pale grey onto the sign. We painted the wrought iron part with a coat of black paint. I asked Royston to add a little gold leaf onto some of the details to brighten it up. I am delighted with the result.

Finally the shop was ready to open in November 2014

I have now been here for 11 years. The last five I have had 'Rolo' - my shop dog! This has made my shop an even happier place to be!

I would like to thank my friend and jeweller Joanne Gowan, as I would never have had a shop without that trip to the Pantiles in 2012 and her vision for me. I would also like to thank, CJ Abbey for her brilliant eye and all her help with the interior. Finally I want to thank my dad, who has helped me so much over the last eleven years. I am very lucky to have such fantastic and supportive parents.

Having my shop, has meant I have met so many interesting people and have gained so many supportive customers in Tunbridge Wells and the surrounding area. I have done such a huge variety of work and have had so many interesting commissions. I no longer have to go to trade shows, but I can spend quality time in a space I love, creating work I want to make. How much better could it be? Not a lot !