Wooden walls and other uses for old planks

I have written before about how much I love the Retrouvius approach to decor. 

The salvage-focused company has two halves: a shop, selling well chosen, rescued furniture and lighting, storage accessories and more, while their architectural interior design arm, puts their talent for reusing old things to practical use. They are particularly good with wood.



Their latest design project was a Swiss mountain chalet. You can see it above and below. Those kitchen walls – a creative twist on the traditional use of parquet flooring, wire brushed to buff them to their prime – look spectacular. And I love the contrast with the paler, smoother panelling on the near wall to the left of the image.

The glass-fronted old shop display cabinet is an idea I recently saw in a beautiful flat around the corner from where I live. There, the owner had taken pretty much the entire interior of a former pharmacy, and turned it into a kitchen. The glass displays (tall and narrow, in this case) became wall-panels with room for storing well-arranged things. The counter, where the till would once have sat, had had a cavity cut-out to house the oven, and a hob built into the top. The history of the internal architecture gave the room a wonderful, warm feel. And you can get a sniff of how it looked from the island above.

Here's a closer look at that dining area, lit by the cosy glow of an over-table lamp.

And here's a closer look at what they've done with the parquet, this time in the bedroom. It gives just the right whiff of Alpine rustic retreat without being a cliche. And the indented shelving nook is nice and keeps the walls clear. All the better for unhindered wood admiration.

The image below is from a different Retrouvius-designed property but, again, it makes excellent use of beautiful, old wooden planks. Here they've used some to make sliding cupboard doors to conceal the practical drawers inside a kitchen unit. The spark of a nice idea for a kitchen revamp – without ripping out all the old and replacing everything.

Love the palette of colours in those floor tiles too.