Linseed Oil Varnish

I did quite a lot of work in the kitchen over the last couple of weeks. Apart from painting all but the last coat (which will be a latex paint), I wanted to get all the dirty work out of the way before the kitchen is installed (which is next Tuesday, Nov 4th, by the way). By "dirty work" I mean cleaning the brick wall (by scraping the old pointing out), pointing the wall and sealing it, varnishing the beams and sealing the whole lot. The last coat of latex paint also belongs to the "dirty work" category, as does putting in the floor. Basically, when they come with the kitchen on Tuesday, I want that room to be fully finished (apart from having no door).

Apropos varnish, I read that a linseed oil varnish is the right man for the job if you have old beams. It is mixed with turpentine, so there is a bit of a whiff off it (like petrol), but it soaks into the timber very well. In the photo you can see the difference between a beam which hasn't been varnished at all (just sanded) and a beam which had a single coat of varnish. In the meantime all of the beams in the kitchen and in Eileen's room have received two coats of linseed oil varnish. I ordered a linseed "Firnis", which is a linseed oil based sealant. It dries quickly and leaves a bit of a shine on the timber. When it comes I'll give all the beams a shot of it. The pictures below are of the kitchen floor ("italian travertine") and the living room floor ("antique oak").