A woman has discovered stunning original Victorian flooring in her kitchen – after ripping up the old vinyl floor while renovating her home.
Justine Walmsley, 33, from Woking, bought the flat, her first home, in November 2019 and has been slowly renovating the property ever since.
The large house was converted into five flats in 1986, and dates back to the Victorian era.
When Justine turned her attention to the kitchen – and the “tired and old”-looking floor – she made the incredible discovery.
“The flat was in a sorry state and a desperate need of a refresh,” Justine, a marketing manager, told Jam Press.
“The kitchen floor was uneven, peeling in some places and just tired and old.
“I had some friends round to rip all the old bathroom and kitchen suite out, and strip the wallpaper – basically demolish it ready for builders to start the renovation.
“One of my friends saw some patterned floor tiles under the vinyl flooring we were pulling up in the kitchen.
“We started manically chipping and scraping away with wallpaper scrapers to peel back the old flooring and reveal those gorgeous tiles.
“We were all so excited and felt like members of Time Team.”
Lurking underneath the unsuspecting vinyl were stunning tiles from the original home with a brown, red and beige pattern.
Justine added: “I originally planned to have modern white kitchen but the discovery of the floor changed everything and the whole flat has been decorated much more in keeping with the Victorian era as a result.”
She shared pictures of the tiles on Facebook, where her post received more than 3,000 likes and hundreds of comments.
One person said: “What a find, stunning!”
“Wow what a find, it’s come up lovely,” agreed another viewer.
Someone else commented: “What a wonderful find and thank you for restoring and bringing life back to it. Sacrilege to cover such things up!”
“Hidden treasure if ever I saw it. Why anyone would want to cover it is beyond me,” another user said.
One person commented: “Well worth the time and effort…it’s beautiful!”
“I’m so glad you restored the floor, it’s beautiful,” agreed another fan.
Someone else added: “Beautiful that, amazing how people cover up something so beautiful and what’s quality without knowing it.”
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