Building Renovation Updates.

Wonderland Awaits sits on the ground floor of Our 4 storey Georgian property, along a historic thoroughfare in a conservation area.  
Renovation work started on the 1st February 2022 to change the upper floors into a home for me and my partner. This work also included replacing the modern shop frontage with a traditional wooden front which is more in keeping with the original property and the surrounding area. This would take the property back to its former layout where shop owners and Their families would reside above Their businesses. 
Due to the 200+ year old property’s structure of oak beams, Reed and plaster ceilings and wooden lintels as well as uncovering damage from a previous owner, work took far longer to be completed. This was to ensure the work was done in a sympathetic manner and I could retain as many original features as possible while making the building strong enough to stand another 200 years.

This  affected the running of the boutique on a day to day basis between February and November 2022. For a short time we were able to open the shop in a limited capacity, closing off half the shop to give our builders access and to keep building materials safe. Once it became apparent that it was a much bigger job than originally anticipated, the shop had to close for customer safety and to protect our stock. All stock had to be boxed up and put in storage which meant we also had to close Our website for online sales.

I am happy to say that the main structural work is now complete, we are back open and only a few cosmetic things remain. That being said, we still have lots of boxes to unpack and displays to move, meaning the shop is a little squished at the moment and the very bottom of the shop is blocked off to temporarily store these boxes while we go through them. Dressing Room facilities are open and we have tried to make the shop as accessible as possible.

Much of our stock is reduced to make way for new spring and summer items coming in store from the end of February.