Tuesday, 13 March 2012

Refurb Project

 

Hello everyone, hope you all had a good weekend!

Thanks for all your comments on my last few posts - you might be pleased to know this is another rare cushion-free post!


 

The weather here was glorious for both days at the weekend, so we spent the best part of the weekend  in the garden tackling some of the many jobs that need doing.



We also picked up a dresser top that I won on eBay for £27 last week - that is a good price for around here, where any dresser or dresser top usually has lots of local bidders - I was up against three other bidders for this and as I was prepared to pay more than what it went for I came out on top for once.

 I have bid for and lost so many dressers and dresser tops in the last year, only finally winning a kitchen dresser a few months ago which is still awaiting  its makeover!

But now that Annie Sloan has a new pale dusky pink out, I have a few ideas for that one .

(NOT the whole thing in pink, heaven forbid! My husband would not be happy with that, but he won't mind the insides pink, like I have already painted the insides of the kitchen wall display cupboards!)


 
Anyway, I won this dresser top - it was in a barn when we collected it, covered in thick dust, cobwebs and grease - not very appetising - but it is quite a good quality one.

After a thorough clean up it was put in place on the old Ikea dresser base we have had for ages, which I had already painted in Annie Sloan's Country Grey a while ago, although it hasn't yet been waxed.

The photos make the greys of both top and bottom appear similar, whereas in fact they are not and both dresser top and bottom will need to be re-painted.

And even though it looks as if the grey goes well in the dining room, with the oil cloth, in real life the top looks too gloomy and dark for the room as it has poor natural light except in late afternoon, so it needs something a bit lighter. The base looks an ideal colour at the moment, but I know it will go darker when waxed, and be too dark for the whole dresser.


 

The dresser top is supposedly in a Farrow and Ball grey, but it is a dark dreary grey which I dislike and will change once I have made up my mind what colour to change it to.



I knew what colour I wanted to paint the back boards, and yesterday I gave it a couple of coats of Duck Egg blue ( Homebase's own brand as I already had a pot) and I am so pleased with the result.


 




The true colour is more like that in the above photo, as some of my photos make it look more blue than it is, and the room is quite dark hence not very good photos.

 



The above photo shows the difference in greys - see how much lighter the dresser base is


 


 


 


 


 


 

So, the question is, what colour for the rest of the dresser?

I'm thinking a lighter, less beigey grey, more like the one of my hall table in the first photo, which goes well with white walls and is a light and elegant, but not gloomy, grey.

I love the colour combination of duck egg with pale grey, and I have a couple of little jugs that I love in that colour way, but the current dresser top colour is too much of a muddy beigey grey - see the photo above for a more true colour.

Or I could go for an off-white as it's a quite a dark room? White always looks good.

Decision, decisions!

Perhaps you can help me here - what do you think?


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Thursday, 8 March 2012

Spring cushions

 

I finished these spring cushions last week for the sitting room, and just saw the photos on Picasa and realised that I hadn't shared them with you - and I would hate that you should miss some!


 

The cushion above is made from  vintage Laura Ashley and trimmed with a blue vintage trim


 

The other side I made a few weeks ago when I was making lots of other patchwork cushions.


 
This one above used up some last pieces of fabric that had been made up into other cushions on my sofa - the reverse is below


 


 
The scalloped cushion above is made from a gorgeous 70s blue and white floral pillowcase, and the reverse (below) is more of the vintage Laura Ashley

 

 

 

 

 

Some more fabric arrived today - a lovely large orange floral vintage sheet from the 70s

 

and 2 metres of bright pink linen, plenty for lots of cushions for my shop.


 

 

 

So lots more sewing to come, but this time not for me but for those empty shop shelves.

All the new cushions I've been making for the last few months for our home have been helping me decide what styles I want to make for my online shop, and have enabled me to try out different ideas and techniques.

 

Sorry to have bombarded you with cushions yet again, you lovely patient people!

I promise I shall have something different to show you next time, not a cushion in sight, as I got lucky on eBay today!

I won a piece of furniture for a very good price, something that I have been keeping an eye out for many months, so I'm pretty chuffed!


All will be revealed next post!


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Wednesday, 7 March 2012

Brightening a Wet Wednesday



It is cold and wet and grey here today, but my morning was brightened by a parcel.



At the weekend I won a beautiful pair of vintage copper and enamel bowls on eBay


the colours are just glorious, although trying to get good photos on this grey day has proved a challenge


the labels on the back say Handmade by Kareka - Nantucket, Hyannis and Key West


This one is quite large, 11 inches across












Just loving their jewel brightness!



Bessie is taking it easy today, no great desire to be out in the rain, whilst I
finished a cushion I started yesterday


made in lilac and white Toile de Jouy ( Laura Ashley ) and a cheerful red gingham, trimmed with red binding

It is just right for the chair in my kitchen

Having failed to find reasonably priced round cushion pads I made my own very simply using an old sheet, a round tray, and a bag of stuffing. 

Simples!!!


like I did when I made my first round crochet cushion cover


I think Logan likes it


Whilst I was finishing the cushion this morning, a wonderful fresh lemony aroma was wafting around the house.

A visit to From Beyond my Kitchen Window this morning resulted in trying out a simple recipe for making your home smell like a Williams Sonoma store, and having heard of the store but never visited one I was intrigued to try it out!

The recipe is simple, using fresh lemon slices, rosemary sprigs, vanilla extract and water.



Preparing the fresh simple ingredients was therapeutic in itself, cosy in the warm kitchen after a dash to the garden to pick wet sprigs of rosemary as the rain came down, slicing into a fresh juicy lemon, then putting it all in a pan with water and vanilla, then on the stove to simmer and fill the house with its wonderful, zesty aroma.

Pop over here  to read it for yourself!





Enjoy your Wednesday wherever you are!







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