The Brasserie at Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey comprises of 2 rooms linked by an entrance lobby. The largest room houses the bar whilst the smaller room, although physically functioning as part of the Brasserie looked and felt like a dated pub restaurant with dark varnished tables, linen covers and studded velour chairs.
Our brief was to give the Brasserie a face-lift, find a way to visually bring the two rooms together, but retain the character that has made it so popular with guests over many years.
We removed the pub-style carpet from the smaller room and sanded the entire floor area, lifting the dark stain from the bar area to a light oak colour, visually brightening and freshening in the process.
In the bar area, white walls were kept as the canvas on which the Duke and Duchess will display work by local artists. The ceiling was visually dropped by way of a tonally darker paint.
The black painted bar woodwork dominated the room and absorbed light. We re-painted this with a modern contemporary colour toning with the newly upholstered club chairs. Bench seating was repainted in a dark grey – complementing the newly painted bar and upholstery.
New tables of oak and painted iron frames replaced traditional dark varnished wood.
In the smaller room the same new tables replaced their linen clad predecessors. The chairs were transformed by re-upholstery in the same fresh colours used for the club furniture in the bar.
We re-papered the walls in a fresh linear, contemporary style and added a painted dado and cornice for interest. We incorporated bench seating in one corner and painted this the same colour as the bench seating in the bar. In addition to giving a visual link, this element also increased seating capacity.
Images copyright and kindly supplied by client.
