HOW WE ADDED AN ARADA STOVE TO OUR HOME RENOVATION

Ad/ pr gift. Arada stove kindly gifted us the Stove. All labour and extra materials for fittings and fixtures were paid by us.

I’ve always wanted a wood burning stove. There’s something quite romantic and quaint about them, and ideal for a chilly Britain when the weather turns.

When we first viewed our beloved ‘Rat house’ and saw that it already had two 1930’s original brick fireplaces downstairs, we knew one of them had to be restored for a wood burner to sit in its place.

The original Brick fireplace at the Rat house.

The research

Whilst researching Wood burner stoves, the one thing that was really important to me, was that it had to be eco friendly. I know theres a lot of talk about wood burners not being efficient, so it was important to me to pick one that was eco design ready and had low emissions to have the longevity.

I also decided to have it fitted in the smaller of the two reception rooms, which is also our snug room, so picking one with the right heat output is important too. As its a small-ish room, I needed one that had a 4-5kw output.

With this in mind I chose the Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) from Arada Stoves.

This clever little Arada stove is Ecodesign ready, has high efficiency and gives off low emissions. It’s also suitable for burning wood and multi fuel. Plus it has a heat output of 4.9kW output so was the ideal spec for our snug.

The fitting

This is where we called in the experts, aka our builders who are the kings of all things structural. Because taking an existing fireplace involves some structural work where lintels are involved. (Lintels are the joists holding the chimney stack up- so quite important not to mess around with if you don’t know what you’re doing).

Our builders safely removed the existing Brick fireplace which by the way I have zero regrets about removing. Yes it was original, but it was FUGLY and I didn’t want it in our home for a second longer. And at the end of the day, you’ve gotta do what you want, for your home. Plus we were adding character back in with a stove, as thats what they do.

The removal of the brick fireplace

Once the fireplace was removed we called in an expert chimney sweeper to give the chimney a really good clean out in preparation.

Then, this is where it gets a little bit more tricky- we needed to line the chimney with a flexible chimney flue liner in order to fit a stove. Now, luckily for us our builders are skilled in this area, otherwise we would have had to call on a Wood burner expert to fit it for us.

It involves someone climbing up on the roof safely, and threading the flexible Flue liner down the chimney - until it reaches the exit in the snug. Luckily we had scaffolding up during our build, so I’d recommend doing this whilst you’re having your building work done and not adding it after. Or you’ll need a very long ladder and someone else inside to help pull the flue liner through.

This is the Plane register plate 1000mm x 400mm (To block chimney off above our stove. It allows the flexible flue pipe to run through and meet the enamelled stove pipe. This plane register plate was part of the kit from Trade Price Flues.

I bought a kit with a 15m Flexible flue from Trade Price Flues, which you can buy from here. Because of our high chimney our kit cost £414 which is the going rate for these sorts of kits.

The kit included …

• Super Flex Chimney flue liner (To line your masonry chimney) we chose a 15m one for ours .

• Plane register plate 1000mm x 400mm (To block chimney off above your appliance and your stove pipe to run through)

• Stove pipe to Super Flex adapter ( To connect to your stove pipe to your Super Flex chimney liner)

• 1000mm (1m) matt black vitreous enamelled stove pipe (To insert into the spigot on your stove / appliance)

• Pot Hanger Rain Cap (To suspend flue liner at the chimney pot)

• Nose Cone ( To attach to your Super Flex Flue liner for installation) 

• Carbon Monoxide Alarm (To make you aware carbon monoxide is present if there is a problem)

• 500g Black Fire cement to  join your stove pipe to the spigot of your stove / appliance) 

Altho the kit came with a 1000mm (1m) matt black vitreous enamelled stove pipe (To insert into the spigot on your stove / appliance), we needed to buy a thicker twin wall insultated enammed stove pipe to meet building regs on our build, so bought this one from Amazon- 500mm Length Twin Wall Insulated Flue Pipe Inc Locking.

The much thicker twin wall insultated enammed stove pipe to meet building regs on our build. We bought this one from Amazon- 500mm Length Twin Wall Insulated Flue Pipe Inc Locking.

This is what 15m of Flexible flue from Trade Price Flues looks like ready to go inside our chimney.



The Design

I now had to decide how I wanted to incorporate he Wood burner into the snug and make a feature out of it. As our house is a 1930’s and I had taken the original brick fireplace out, I managed to find an original 1930’s wooden fireplace surround on eBay for £26, plus the £20 delivery to get it to us- so it was an absolute bargain and something that felt like fate.

I found this original 1930’s wooden surround on Ebay for £26.

For the hearth I went to my local stone masons yard and asked if they had any off cuts and they managed to cut a piece of quartz stone for me for £40. It’s definitely worth asking them if you’re looking for one too. Plus this way you can have it custom cut to any size, spec and colour.

For the wall lining the wood burner, I chose the Torran Marquina Tiles from Topps Tiles, which are a black marble effect tile. These are the 60 x 30cm rectangular size and are suitable to be used for Multi-Fuel Stove Surrounds. At £6.64 a tile, and only needing 12 tiles, these were also a bargain to complete the look.

Our builders did all the fitting of the whole thing, installing the hearth, wall tiles, flue and connecting up the Arada Stove.

Our Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) Arada Stove, Vintage 1930’s surround from Ebay, Torran Marquina black marble Tiles from Topps Tiles, in 60cm x 30cm size and the stone hearth was sourced from a local stone mason, Lick Paint Dark Holly Green 06 in Matt for the wall above the picture rail ( £38 for 2.5L)

We also fitted a Carbon Monoxide Alarm on the ceiling, which is essential when fitting a wood burner stove or fireplace in any home. Once it was all fitted and tested, it was all signed off by building control as it was part of our build.

Our Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) Arada Stove, Vintage 1930’s surround from Ebay, Torran Marquina black marble Tiles from Topps Tiles, in 60cm x 30cm size and the stone hearth was sourced from a local stone mason, Wallpaper is the Jungle Faunacation from Divine Savages , Lick Paint Dark Holly Green 06 in Matt for the wall above the picture rail ( £38 for 2.5L)

Christmas time with our Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) Arada Stove, Lick Paint Dark Holly Green 06 in Matt for the wall above the picture rail ( £38 for 2.5L)

Christmas time with our Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) Arada Stove, Lick Paint Dark Holly Green 06 in Matt for the wall above the picture rail ( £38 for 2.5L)

Christmas time with our Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) Arada Stove. Wallpaper from Divine Savages - Jungle Faunacation, Lick Paint Dark Holly Green 06 in Matt for the wall above the picture rail ( £38 for 2.5L)

It’s now in and ready to use and we absolutely love our Arada Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) wood burner. I’m so happy we decided to add one to our snug. It brings warmth when we don’t want to whack the heating on, and feels magical having it fired up now it’s Christmas. It was truly the best idea, and brings character to a previously bland room which had a fugly brick fireplace and wasn’t too difficult to convert the already working fireplace into a safe space for an Arada Wood Burner.

Arada Stoves kindly gifted me the Solution 5 Smoke Control (S3) stove with no obligation to post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

If you want to read more about the design of our snug you can read it here.

MY FIVE WAYS TO SAVE MONEY WHEN BUYING CARPET

Image Credit : A black and white stripe carpet runner with yellow whipping in the home of Sandra @The_idle_hands

I know I’m still a while off the finessing stage of Rat House. Choosing paint colours, carpets, rugs, cushions and wallpapers, not forgetting my glazed ceramic vase collection to faff with. Oh, how I miss the styling part. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for that stage to come, but I know it will be here before I know it.

Now the only problem is… will we actually have any money left for all the fun things like carpets, paint and wallpaper? I was advised to budget for 15% extra of the agreed quote, but two weeks in and our architect has already added in extra steels in the structural drawings which are slowly eating into this budget.

I am determined not to live without these things and to make Rat House as homely as quickly as possible, so I’ve been looking at ways to save money, starting with the carpet.

I used to have a jazzy carpet runner down our staircase, but this got destroyed by hundred years’ worth of thick black dust when we converted our loft, and we never replaced it once we finished the renovation. Instead, we lived with raw stairs which echoed every time we walked up and down and meant you could never walk past our son’s bedroom quietly without waking him.

So, this time a carpet stair runner is high on my list of must-have items. But the carpet is usually quite pricey isn’t it, meaning we’ll have to wait a while to afford it. Well, actually no…

Image credit: Pinterest

Today I’m going to talk you through my top tips for saving money when buying carpet and the rules that I’m going to live by when choosing my own.

1. Rip up the old carpets/ flooring yourself. I know it sounds obvious but ripping up your own carpet or old flooring and disposing of it safely yourself will save you £££. Most large carpet retailers will charge for the privilege, so just do it yourself.

2. Move your own furniture. Again, this sounds so obvious, but honestly ask any carpet fitter and they’ll tell you they will charge to move your large pieces of furniture around the room to lay the carpet. It eats into their time, so don’t pay them to do something that you or your other half can do.

3. Choose the right material. Consider your lifestyle and how much traffic an area will get. And think about if you’re likely to want to change it up in a few years. Natural fibres are lovely but can stain easier and can be more difficult to keep clean.

4. Buy remnants. I recently discovered Designer-Carpet, an online carpet retailer which specialises in - you guessed it - designer carpet. But here’s where it gets exciting. They have some real bargains in their carpet remnants section. I always thought remnants and “off cuts” were the scraps that I could use for a box room, or for my dolls house floor (my dad used to actually cut me pieces of real carpet for my doll’s houses). But these remnants are a mixture of end of the line, discontinued carpets and surplus carpet rolls which didn’t make their intended journey but could be yours for a fraction of their recommended retail price. For example, you can buy a Brintons carpet for almost half the RRP price. Or get a luxury Kersaint Cobb sisal carpet for a fraction of their price. Plus, they’ll still give you the full customer treatment, and offer you whipping and framing options if you want to turn these remnants into stair runners or even a made-to-measure rug.

5. Buy supply only and fit yourself (or find your own fitter). If you were to buy from an online retailer like Designer-Carpet they would offer you supply only, which means you can save money by finding your own fitter (search the National Institute of Carpet & Floorlayers directory for a fully accredited professional near you). Designer carpets will still help you with the measuring up etc to ensure you’re not over or under ordering for your space. 

I’ll be going through some more top money-saving tips throughout the Rat House Renovation, so do come back to see what else I’m trying to save money on.

Image credit: A natural fibre rug by Geri @overatno18

** This post was sponsored by Designer-Carpet.co.uk. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. **

DIY UPHOLSTERED FOOTSTOOL

Are you are thinking of buying a foot stool to fill a space in your lounge? Or perhaps you’d like an ottoman for your bedroom? Before you take the plunge and spend a few hundred quid, maybe consider covering your own.

Not only will it be better for the environment, but also much more cost effective and could save you hundreds, not to mention the self-satisfaction it brings you. Ok..so what I REALLY mean is total smugness!!

So where to start, well ebay is a good place, so are car boot sales, gumtree or even vintage flea markets. I bought my one below from Kempton antiques market for £20.

Find a shape and a price you like and remember that anything is possible so don’t be put off by the print or fabric. As long as the legs are sturdy and the frame isn’t riddled with wood worm you can cover anything.

Once you have a frame then all you need is the fabric. Velvet is a favourite of mine and is still up trending and you’ll find plenty of online merchants willing to give you a deal. If you do go for a velvet maybe choose a cotton one. They're more mat, clean and more in keeping to what you would find in the shops if you were to buy your own velvet stool. Alternatively jacquards, and heavy canvas fabrics are also good, just make sure they are hardwearing and don't contain any stretch. 

What you'll need;

A foot stool to cover

Nail gun and spare nails

pair of scissors

Hammer

Screwdriver 

(and an extra pair of hands can come in handy if your new to this).

DIY Upholstered footstool

1. First buy an old footstool that's in need of a makeover. (As I mentioned before, I bought mine from Kempton market for £20). 

2. Strip it back. If you find its actually not antique (like me) and it's made of PU,  then keep this as its a smooth base to cover over. Yep mine looked lovely and french but it was probably just from DFS... Good job I only paid £20 for it! 

3. Start with the base. Measure and cut a piece of fabric that fits around the base. If you're using velvet decide if you want the fabric pile up or pile down. Pile up will make the colour look brighter. 

Then using the nail gun, nail the fabric inside. For the ends, fold the edges in for a smooth, clean look. 

At the base fold the fabric in to create pleats. Then pull teh fabric tight and staple. Use the hammer to knock in any nails which haven't gone in fully. 

4. Then for the top, unscrew it from the base and lay it on top of the fabric and cut around, allowing an extra 5cm seam allowance to pull it over. Then pull tight and use the nail gun to secure. Hammer down any nails that are sticking out. 

And thats it. One finished footstool. The nails are inside and underneath so you can't see them. 

If you want, you could line the base to hide the nails. I did this with an ottoman that I covered, but depending on what your using it for, you don't need too.