The transformation begins.......

You never think you’ll get attached to inanimate objects do you? But watching the guts being ripped out of our lovely  Georgian Howies Waterloo restaurant has made us realise otherwise. Even though the décor was tired and the chairs and tables dark and imposing it was with a teary eye we watched everything being shipped out.  Yup  End of an era. And the great redesign has begun. And without Kevin McCloud. 

Shutting a busy restaurant for 10 days to refurb is a clench to be honest.  Every minute we're closed costs money. But there is never a good time so we thought lets bite the bullet and get on with it. It needed it. And we wanted to show our commitment to bringing Howies back to where it was a few years ago. Lets be honest we love the bones of it. If it has bones. Heres a few photos to give you a taste of our dramatic days.....

Above a man squats on the bar and strips off the wallpaper - can you imagine how much lighter the room will be once this has gone. Goodbye feature wall hello lovely bow ended room and light. (The guy in the yellow t shirt is very fashion forward - yellow is the colour for this summer apparently). 

Like a man happy in his job. As long as he doesn't take a heider off the bar. 

This photo looks up towards the other end of the room - yes the scaffolding is in - the platoon of decorators are honed and ready. And whilst they work up high on the walls and cupola, down on the floor......well it's coming out completely and a lovely new one is going in soon.

Yup - it has the makings of a Laurel & Hardy slapstick special. Buckets, holes in the floor and planks of wood. 

                           Tired and emotional. Or did he see me without my make-up on?

Still, as you well know the main thing with a beautiful building such as this, are the proportions and features speak for themselves. So rather than gild the lily with fancy paint effects and dramatic eye watering wallpaper we have decided on a subtle palette of colours relevant to Scotland. Heathery, creams, tweed, plaid, chunky Scottish wood, mirror and light walls with the mix of our quirky wee bits and pieces that make sure Howies Waterloo looks like what it is a local restaurant not a roll out of a chain. Your local restaurant. 

Shutting a busy restaurant for 10 days to refurb is a clench to be honest.  Every minute we're closed costs money. But there is never a good time so we thought lets bite the bullet and get on with it. It needed it. And we wanted to show our commitment to bringing Howies back to where it was a few years ago. Lets be honest we love the bones of it. If it has bones. 

So I will update as the week progesses – and 23^rd May looms – it’s not long to do all the things schedule to be done.

So we have made a start but still to come floor ripped out, walls stripped, kitchen stripped, lovely new central heating put it, paint, paper, new upholstered chairs, tables, banquette seating, lighting. ITs very exciting and  we are absolutely sure it’s going to be a bobby dazzler….but you can see from todays photos ..GULP….we have a long way to go……and only one week to do it.