When Davina and Dale bought their house in Tattenhoe, Milton Keynes, they took it on as a full refurbishment project. Two of the rooms they tackled with TABO, a downstairs cloakroom and the herringbone flooring that now runs through the hallway, kitchen and living space, show how a project can grow simply because the first bit of work goes well.
How Did This Project Start?
Davina and Dale actually came to TABO first about a completely different problem: a kitchen that had been poorly fitted by someone else. TABO stepped in to help sort it out, even though it wasn't something they'd originally supplied, the kind of thing you can read more about on the About Us page, where taking responsibility for the whole job, not just the bit that was originally ordered, comes up as a genuine part of how the team works. That early bit of goodwill paid off. Once the kitchen was sorted, Davina and Dale came back for the cloakroom, and later for the flooring that ties the whole downstairs together.
What Did the Cloakroom Involve?
The cloakroom was fitted first, as an earlier phase of the same overall job, well before the flooring went in. It's a small space, so the brief was to fit in some proper storage without making the room feel cramped or hard to move around in. The toilet also has a short projection, which meant there needed to be enough clearance left between the basin and the toilet for the room to still feel usable day to day.
The finished room uses a Volta wall hung basin unit by Bathrooms to Love in white gloss, giving Davina and Dale somewhere to store everyday bathroom bits without it taking over the room. A mini mono basin mixer sits above the basin, paired with a Cilantro rimless wall hung toilet and a Soleil mirror, both by Bathrooms to Love, the mirror making the most of the limited wall space. A chrome Wendover towel rail by Eastbrook finishes things off.
The standout feature, though, is the tiling. Davina wanted a patterned tile, so TABO designer Genna talked her through the patterned options in the showroom, and she landed on the Marbella Blue porcelain by Porcelanosa. It runs up the wall behind the toilet as a striking contrast against the plain flooring, and it's the kind of detail that turns a small, practical room into somewhere that actually looks intentional.
Why Glue-Down Herringbone Instead of Click Flooring?
Once the cloakroom was done, attention turned to the rest of the downstairs. Our customers liked a herringbone pattern, and Genna talked them through the practical side of getting that look right, glue-down versus a click LVT system.
They went with a glue-down floor, and the room with bifold doors out to the garden had a lot to do with that decision. Glue-down stays rigid once it's fitted, whereas a click system can shrink very slightly when it warms up in direct sunlight. Worth saying that's not true across the board, some click flooring is rated for underfloor heating and handles temperature changes just fine, but for a bright, sunny space like this one, glue-down was the safer bet.
Choosing glue-down also meant the whole floor needed levelling before a single plank went down. A click LVT floor has some natural give in it and can run over a moderately uneven subfloor without much fuss, but a glue-down floor won't forgive an uneven surface the same way, so a self-levelling compound went down across the entire ground floor first to get everything properly flat.
The floor itself is Karndean's Knight Tile Traditional Character Oak, and it now runs from the front door, through the hallway, into the kitchen, and out to the garden room with its bifold doors, as well as into the cloakroom itself, tying that earlier phase of the project in with the rest of the downstairs.
Why Choose Karndean Flooring?
Karndean is one of the best-known names in luxury vinyl flooring, and there's good reason for that. It's built to handle busy family life, standing up to scratches, dents and everyday wear far better than you'd expect from something that mimics real wood so convincingly. It's also fully water resistant, which matters in a hallway that runs straight past a front door, or a kitchen where spills are inevitable.
The realistic finish is what tends to win people over though. Karndean's wood-look ranges, including the Character Oak used in this project, are textured and grained closely enough to pass for the real thing, without the upkeep that real timber demands.
TABO carries a wide range of Karndean flooring in the Milton Keynes showroom, so you can see and feel the different finishes in person rather than guessing from a screen. Our staff have had proper training on the range too, so there's always someone who can talk you through which Karndean option would suit your space.
What's Involved in Fitting a Herringbone Floor?
Herringbone isn't a difficult pattern to fit, it's really just a straight lay set at angles instead of running in one direction. Lukas, our fitter, worked out how it should run through the space so it looked right through doorways and around the kitchen island. Herringbone needs more cutting than a straight-lay floor, which means more wastage, and it generally calls for a shorter, narrower plank than you'd use for a standard lay to get the traditional herringbone effect right. It's a detail worth knowing if you're pricing up a herringbone floor of your own, since the pattern itself affects how much material you'll actually need.
What Did Our Clients Think?
Davina and Dale left this review after the project was finished:
"We had a great experience with our time at TABO. They were friendly, helpful, and always available to answer any questions. They really did go above and beyond with the flooring and bathroom we wanted. They helped with the design of the bathroom, and let us take home some of the in-store floor samples so that we could better visualise what floor to go with as we were a bit indecisive. We initially got in touch with them to help us fix a kitchen that had been poorly fitted for us and they were more than happy to help us even though they didn't need to. I would definitely recommend them and trust them to do a great job for your kitchen, bathroom flooring etc."
It's the kind of feedback that makes the job worthwhile. You can see the original review on Google for yourself, and read more from other customers on TABO's testimonials page.
How Does TABO's Design Service Work?
Their indecision over the flooring is a pretty normal part of the process, and it's exactly what TABO's design service is there for. Being able to take samples home, rather than trying to picture a floor from a small offcut in the showroom, made the difference between guessing and actually knowing what would work in the space. TABO's design service goes further than sample loans too, covering full plans and elevations, working out exact positions for things like radiators and valves, and being on hand for a fitter's questions once work is underway, whether that's a TABO fitter or one the customer brings themselves.
Where Does TABO Work, and How Do You Get Started?
Whether it's a full house refurb like this one or a single room refresh, TABO works with customers across Milton Keynes and beyond, including Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, and further afield into Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. Projects like this one tend to start with a conversation rather than a fixed plan, not knowing exactly what floor to choose going in is completely normal.
If you're weighing up flooring options, a bathroom refresh, or a project as varied as this one, pop into the showroom in Wolverton, Milton Keynes, to see the ranges in person and take samples home, or get in touch to start talking through what you have in mind. For more real projects like Davina and Dale's, TABO's blog is worth a browse too, it's where finished jobs, product news and design ideas all get shared.
