It’s only just Wednesday and what a week it has been, lots going on. The most exciting thing happening this week is that finally, after almost a year since we moved in here, we are having the floor of the entire downstairs done. When we moved in, we were secretly hoping that there was an original pine wood flooring hidden beneath the dated blue carpet in the living room and we were right.

The living room felt cold due to a North-East exposition and the entrance to it was a little awkward so we decided to open it up onto the adjacent kitchen diner. As the kitchen diner had a pine floor already, we had the living room floor restored and joined with the kitchen diner in one seamless flow, using a few extra reclaimed pine floorboards. This was all done before Xmas and this week the team came back to finish the job.

After they finished sanding last night, they put several paint samples down and I was faced with one of my biggest nightmares – having to decide on a colour / finish in the space of a few hours. Naturally, I had to wait until the following morning so that I could see what the colours would look like in the daylight.

Before we saw the samples, both me and Duncan had our heart set on a light or medium oak colour, but it turned out that these colours tend to look very yellow and orangey when applied to pine wood, which we both wanted to avoid. The only two options we liked were walnut and the natural pine one, which in reality was a single coat of varnish with a bit of white pigment that minimises the yellow tones in pine and brings out its natural, cool, sand-like tone. They were at completely opposite sides of the spectrum.

While walnut looks really nice and contrasts with the walls nicely, it is also more imposing and tends to make spaces cosier, yet smaller. The natural pine floor bounces natural light around the rooms, making the space look fresh, airy and bright. It is more neutral and therefore easier to match furniture to but is also conducive to a more Scandi-inspired aesthetic, while walnut is certainly more traditional.

For a person who is chronically indecisive, this was a nightmare scenario – having to decide on an irreversible (okay, reversible but very expensive to correct) thing in a few hours with floor guys breathing down your neck. To be fair to them, they were really helpful and understanding about it despite my to-ing and fro-ing. They understood that it’s a big decision as it will dictate the aesthetic for the place and because it carries such a significant cost. In the end, we decided to go with natural pine and I promised I will not look at Pinterest photos anymore.

The varnishing process is in progress now, it won’t be finished and dry until tomorrow and so far I feel good about our choice. Our rationale is that while it will make the space brighter and therefore nice to be in during the day, it will also be more compatible with the little pops of colour that we wanted to incorporate throughout both rooms to tie them together visually. It will allow us to go for fairly modern, sleek cabinets, which is what we have in mind for the kitchen. Time will tell if we do a good enough job but there is no turning back (note to self!!) now.

Recipewise, as it is Valentines day on Friday, I figured that a simple-to-make, yet beautiful to receive sweet recipe could be a good move. These 6 ingredients peanut butter truffles will definitely please a PB and chocolate lover in your life and they are easy to make so there is no excuse for turning up empty-handed on your loved one’s doorstep. I hope you’ll enjoy gifting them and that your partner will appreciate both the taste and the thought that went into making them. Good luck!