article: We spent £400 on a 1940s loo - it took us four months to find one! Claire Nugent, 43, and Nigel Morter, 47, have been married for 14 years. They restored a 1940s airfield control tower in Norfolk and now run it as a B&B. She says: . When Nigel and I met as students in 1993 we soon discovered we both absolutely loved the 1940s. I had a beautiful mirror from the period that still hangs over our fireplace. We love the style because there’s such an attention to detail in everything from the handles through to the surfaces. When we moved in together after university, we’d scour the local North London markets for 1940s pieces while checking out bric-a-brac shops and antique dealers on holiday. I’ve always found other people are more interested in earlier items from Victorian, Edwardian or Georgian times, so we’re usually left to take our pick. Scroll down for video . Claire Nugent, 43, and Nigel Morter, 47, have been married for 14 years. They restored a 1940s airfield control tower in Norfolk and now run it as a B&B . In 2011, our dreams came true when we bought a World War II airfield control tower near Wells-next-the-Sea for £295,000. It had been used as accommodation or a grain store since the war so needed a lot of work — we spent nearly £200,000 getting it back to how it used to be. We stripped out the laminated flooring and scraped off the modern wallpaper, replacing it with original parquet flooring from a Sheffield school, and painting the walls. The bathrooms were the biggest source of stress. We once bought a cast-iron bath on eBay only to discover it was still installed. We had to pay someone £250 to drive up with pipe cutters and spanners to dig it out of the bathroom. But it was worth it. Another time we bought a pink bathroom suite then discovered the toilet wasn’t of the period. It took us four months of calling reclamation yards and googling to find the one we wanted. It cost £400 from a reclamation yard in the West Country — the most we’ve paid for something. While life has been made easier by the arrival of eBay, it does have added stresses. We spent New Year’s Eve two years ago desperately driving around trying to find a signal so I could bid on some concertina dividing doors. Eventually we managed it with 15 seconds to spare and got them for £200. They said: 'We’ve become really wrapped up in the history of airfields. We’ve even met local veterans who flew from the airfield. It’s been great to bring this great tower back to life' Our biggest expense was the windows, as control towers have so many. We spent around £45,000 having custom-made replicas, but ours are thankfully double glazed. It’s taken us three years to do up the tower, and while the B&B part is finished, we’re still working on our private living areas. I invited my ten-year-old nephew to stay and showed him photos of how it had been when we moved in. Seeing all the modern flooring and wallpaper, he asked: ‘Auntie Claire, why have you wrecked your house?’ We’re so pleased with the results though. My favourite piece is an original Anglepoise workbench lamp in our kitchen, which came from one of the metal huts in the grounds. And the enamel fireplaces cost £200 each, but they add to the historical feel of the building. We’ve become really wrapped up in the history of airfields. We’ve even met local veterans who flew from the airfield. It’s been great to bring this great tower back to life. My biggest weakness is 50s cocktail bars - at one stage I had six . Emma Edwards, 46, lives with her partner Nigel Preston, 57, in Manchester. She runs the vintage website missbamboo.co.uk. She says: . I’ve always loved the flamboyance of the 1950s — they were so kitsch and glamorous. Interiors of the era are full of texture, colours and shapes, so there’s always something exciting, quirky or beautiful to look at in our home. Nigel and I have been together for 11 years, but we’ve shared a house only for the past three. We originally had our own homes, and mine was full of 1950s memorabilia, but his wasn’t. So, luckily, Nigel gave me the go-ahead to renovate his place, where we now live, two years ago. On the outside it’s a regular 1930s semi, but inside it’s like stepping back into the 1950s. In total, the work cost about £10,000. Emma Edwards, 46, lives with her partner Nigel Preston, 57, in Manchester. She runs the vintage website missbamboo.co.uk and, at one stage, had six 1950s cocktail bars (left) The most extravagant item I’ve bought is Hawaiian vintage tropical wallpaper that has a pink tropical flower and island print. I got four rolls from a specialist website for £100 each. But it’s worth it. I have found a few bargains, too, such as a 1950s pearlised pale green bedroom set for £40 from a flea market in Manchester in the early 1990s. I love it. Once I found two pink melamine chests of drawers on eBay that I just had to have. We had to head to Glasgow to collect them, but as we were going on holiday the next day, our car was being serviced. I made Nigel take the train with me and we had to lug them back ourselves — they were so heavy and awkward that we had to stand in the space between the carriages the whole way home. She said: 'I do have modern things mixed in, but only when they have a retro 50s look, for example our microwave'. Her radio is also a blast from the past . My biggest 1950s weakness is bamboo cocktail bars because I love the Tiki, or Polynesian-style cocktail culture, which was a big part of the era. If I see a rare bamboo cocktail bar cabinet I can’t help but buy it — at one point I owned six. I’ve sold two and have one in storage, but I still have two in my lounge and one in my conservatory. They cost between £100 and £200. I do have modern things mixed in, but only when they have a retro 50s look, for example our microwave. The TV is the only modern-looking item, I hate its appearance, but it’s great to watch a vintage movie on and keeps Nigel happy. Maybe at some point we will make a cool mid-century surround or cabinet to disguise it. I wouldn’t want my house to look like everyone else’s — that would just be boring. Yes, I know it's kitch but that's why I love the 1960s . Ursula Forbush, 48, is single, a manager for a charity and lives near Bristol. She says: . From the red glass vases and psychedelic wallpaper, to the Formica tables and G-plan dining suite, everything about my two-bedroom terrace home is a tribute to the late Sixties. I fell in love with the era as a twentysomething in the Eighties while feeling uninspired by the New Romantic music and the fashions at the time. After digging around in my mum’s record collection I realised I loved Sixties music, particularly The Beatles and Rolling Stones, and devoured books about the decade. Ursula Forbush, 48, is single. She is a manager for a charity, lives near Bristol and adores anything kitsch, spending hours running round flea markets . Covetous of the style of Pattie Boyd, Marianne Faithfull and Edie Sedgwick — Andy Warhol’s muse — I scoured the second-hand market in Leicester, where I grew up, for Sixties fashions. I have a like-minded friend who completely decorated her home in Sixties style, and I vowed to one day have my own Sixties abode. The first thing I did when I bought my home 12 years ago was to have genuine Sixties wallpaper put up. I imported a funky pink and brown swirled paper for about £20 a roll from Holland which adorns one wall of my dining room, while in the hallway there is orange flowery wallpaper from Italy, and a calming blue pattern in my bedroom. At the windows hang original Sixties curtains bought from second-hand shops. I adore anything kitsch and spend hours rummaging at auctions, car-boot sales, flea markets and in charity shops, never paying more than a few pounds. A Sixties lamp with large swirls all over the tall shade was one of the more expensive items, at £100 from eBay. She said: 'Every night I come home to my Sixties bubble, switch on my old record player, listen to some vinyl, and all the stresses of 2015 melt away' I have a record player reminiscent of a white space helmet, and there are original white fluffy flokati rugs on my lounge floor. Formica tables are scattered around the house and the walls are hung with prints of iconic paintings like the Chinese Girl by Vladimir Tretchikoff. In the kitchen is an old Kenwood mixer and Sixties crockery and glassware. I also have an orange slow cooker, plus Boots heated curlers, and hood-style hairdryer which cost £5 from a charity shop — I don’t use the hair gadgets in case they blow up. Although I don’t like modern decor and furnishings and have very little of either, I’ve had to be practical with certain items. An old twin tub wouldn’t fit in my kitchen so I’ve got a modern washing machine. And while my TV is also new, I paid more for one that’s smaller, white and in keeping with the white fibreglass Sixties table on which it sits. Every night I come home to my Sixties bubble, switch on my old record player, listen to some vinyl, and all the stresses of 2015 melt away.
highlights: Claire Nugent and Nigel Morter restored a 1940s airfield control tower and now run it as a B&B .
  Emma Edwards runs a vintage website and spent £10,000 converting her home into a 50s haven .
  48-year-old Ursula Forbush likes to come home and switch on an old record player like in the 60s .
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