Interior and design

After a lot of consideration, Richard and I finally settled on a New England meets French country theme...something that very few have done in this part before. The location being at the seaside would be perfect with this theme. We were thinking of getting cross-back chairs painted white, wooden tables with painted legs and rustic wood tops, colours along the lines of Farrow and Ball clunch, french gray, borowed light and pavilion blue.

We would have booth seats in a couple of corners, decor with a whimsical seaside and sailing theme. We would have some bookshelves with specialty, lifestyle hard bound books on display for sale, if possible. A tide clock would be on display, a tripod lamp, fisherman's lamps would be hanging on the walls and on the ceilings. A built in cupboard with a tongue and groove back would act as a display for our cakes and pastries.


             

  

The cosy back area that leads to the beach and sea where the cafe gets quite a lot of foot fall would be turned into a working patisserie kitchen. Passersby would be able to look in and see the chef at work, be it baking, kneading dough or decorating. We believe this would reinforce on the public's mind the idea that we are an artisanal kitchen serious about cuisine.

Bearing all this in mind, we set out to look for tables and chairs. It was not easy as it was not a style that is common in this part of the world. It took a lot of research and about 750 miles of driving before we found the chairs. Cross back chairs were essential to the look we are aspiring to get but failing that, I was ready to settle for wooden rush seats, 'Van Gogh' chairs as I call them, with painted back and legs of a colour that would still be in keeping with the theme.

The tables were harder. We did not want bog standard cafe furniture that you can get from a lot of catering furniture specialists. So it would have to be bespoke. I tracked down a company in Staffordshire that would do solid oak tables but it was 'European oak' that came all the way from Lithuania. They were willing to provide us with the tables, tops finished, but Richard would have to paint the legs. It was a lot more complicated than we thought it would be. But, as in all things, of you put the intention out there, an answer will come to you.

On one beautiful, sunny, spring morning, Richard dragged me out of bed to go to Topsham, just outside Exeter. Apparently, he had come across a shop that was selling New England and French country accesories and furniture. He thought that while we were there, we could also stop at a reclamation yard called 'Toby's.' I might be able to find something that I could use for my patio gardening attempts (detailed later on in another blog). It was well worth it. We found reclaimed oak, pine and all sorts of wonderful things that we could use. Toby's has also gone into making bespoke furnitures using all the wonderful reclaimed wood that they have. Imagine our delight at finding this place, literally 20 minutes from where we are!

It is all slowly coming together. I have also finished the first draft of the menu one inspired afternoon. Richard and I hope, very much that we are on the right track and people, especially locals would appreciate our efforts and support the business.