Tiling, bathrooms and kitchens in Oundle

Oundle is one of Northamptonshire's most handsome towns: a historic market town of honey-coloured limestone on a loop of the River Nene, with Oundle School at its heart. Many of its homes are period properties, some of them listed, where finishes need to suit the building as much as the owner.

Older stone houses bring their own challenges for tiling — solid floors that aren't quite level, walls that are rarely square and rooms that have been altered over the centuries. A beautiful result depends on preparing those surfaces properly and planning the layout so the pattern sits naturally in the room.

The surrounding villages — Barnwell, Polebrook, Warmington, Fotheringhay, Nassington and others — share the same stone-built character, while Thrapston and the housing around it add more modern homes to the mix.