www.blue-geranium.co.ukA new season, a gloomy, damp and dark Autumn had begun, which in my mind meant let's change and create a space to be proud of and be happy at Blue Geranium as we approach our first year at One Castle Street, Totnes. We (Don & Phil) decided the fireplace at the front of the shop required a fire surround to embellish the flat brick design (nothing wrong with that, but it didn't give us much scope for demonstrating flower arrangements at Christmas and other seasonal dates). After browsing through the internet, like ebay etc, we pretty much had an idea of what we wanted. The style of the shop makeover started off with a classical feel to it, so we continued with this in mind. Just by chance Don had a look around a refurnish/recycle centre at Totnes and found a classical style fire surround for £10.oo (I know, a bargain). It's only mdf and painted gloss white, but I immediately visioned it in a much darker, more sophisticated colour like dark grey, or black. The fire place required a hearth to raise the fire surround off the floor, so I popped over to a diy store at Torquay and found a couple of slate coloured limestones for £2.50 each (bargain reduction from £7.50). Perfect for the job! I then decided to find a colour to transform the fire surround, which wasn't difficult even though the choice of paints available looked daunting. A small tester pot of Dulux - Timesless Classics (water based and odourless) - Breton Blue and Bowler Hat was picked. Arriving back at Blue Geranium I showed Don and we both decided on Breton Blue, which then sparked off a decision to give the entire shop a makeover with neutral tones. We returned to the diy store at Torquay and chose a coordinating paint called Pressed Thistle from the same range of Dulux Timesless Classics and more Breton Blue. The two colours work perfect together and show off the main focus of the shop and what we sell, which is fresh flowers.
