Transforming a piece of brown furniture

In a former life I worked for a wonderful pair of guys who owned an antique shop in East Sussex.  I ran the shop for them whilst they were on buying trips in deepest France and they also taught me how to restore and paint (and carefully 'distress') pieces of worn out dark, unloved furniture.
I have written about these lovely guys before and they now own a company called FONTAINE based in Margate, Kent - they have gone from strength to strength and now 'hob-nob' with the great and the good at places such as the Battersea Decorative Antiques Fair 4 times a year - a far cry from when it was all hands on deck in the little shop in Hurst Green.
So, just to prove to myself that I've still got what it takes to make a little piece of furniture stand out from the crowd (and because I was sick and tired of looking at this next to my side of the bed) I set myself un petit project and turned this....

Lovely shape, rather dull colour

Into this rather nice looking bedside cabinet below....  My (or rather their) method of adding that certain 'je ne sais quoi' to such pieces is to :
A : Slap on (fairly carefully) 2 coats of EMULSION paint - easier to use than a gloss or satin finish and the brushes clean up very easily too.
B. Take very fine wire wool and some Briwax clear polish and apply all over the painted surfaces working over one area at a time.  Some parts you apply more pressure with the wire wool in order to get the paint to look more worn (or distressed as they say in the trade!).
C. Then you get some clean lint free fabric and buff up the surfaces to get a nice protective sheen on the piece.

See... easy peasy - one pretty little cabinet.

A Welsh Adventure

St Bride's Castle, Wales

 Last week I spent a wonderful few days with my parents in a castle on the coast of Wales. To be strictly correct it was actually in an apartment within the castle where they were holidaying.
Wonderful scenery, good food and lots of walks. Oh and of course a little retail therapy too thrown in for good measure.
What's not to love?

Fantastic beaches

Dinner in our apartment

The cook for that evening... my Mother.  I cooked another evening.

View from the window

Corner of the library in the castle

Uninvited guest.. every time I walked by this suit of armour I kept thinking it was a person standing there!

Walking along the coastal paths - my parents

Dad trying on a Welsh tweed jacket - he felt the arms were too short though. I thought he looked great!

Our friendly local fishmonger - we bought some of the most delicious fish I have tasted in a long time.

Pretty shops

Beautiful countryside

Georgian architecture - my favourite

 So all in all a wonderful time was had by all...
Oh and on the way back I stopped at a place called Llandeilo where there just happened to be a Toast outlet sale shop.  (Now, how did I know that?) A little retail therapy always does you good and I picked up a great pair of very 'of the minute' man-ish trousers.  They will be great with my white shirt and new brogues (which I must show you next post). Promise.

Exterior Neutrals - Trying to pick a colour

Our cottage is in desperate need of a face lift... Several windows need to be replaced too which is rather painful $$-wise and the whole house needs a new coat of paint.  I have been trying my level best to pick the right colour - a neutral, naturally.

As you can see, definitely needs a spruce up

The wall with all my 'daubings' showing different neutral shades

Our painter and decorator Mr RL - has to be extremely patient with me

I have to admit that I am drawn to these kind of shades like a moth to a flame but at the moment after yet another day of spending more than I would care to admit on tester pots I feel like tearing my hair out..
However, I think (well nearly 100% sure) that I have cracked it and we are going for the left hand block, halfway down the picture.  Not the background - that's what's there now, of course - sorry if it all looks a little confusing.

More neutral shades - these are all from Farrow and Ball and  look gorgeous together I  think.

English tea time treat

MARMALADE LOAF CAKE

• 175g butter
• 175g soft light brown sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 125g dark coarse cut marmalade
• finely grated zest of 1 orange
• juice of half of above orange
• 175g wholemeal self raising flour

Butter and base- line a 2lb loaf tin (or use one of those liners you can buy - I did - far easier).  Beat the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add each egg a little at a time beating well after each addition then beat in the marmalade, and zest and juice of the orange. Then fold in the flour with a metal spoon. 

Scrape batter into the tin and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 C deg/ 350 deg F for 35 mins or so. A skewer inserted into cake should come out clean.

ENJOY with a cup of tea......

I made this today after finding the recipe last night and realising that yes, I had ALL the ingredients.  It is so easy and definitely worth baking - absolutely delicious.  Oh, and use the best quality marmalade you can find - homemade preferably if you are lucky enough to have a jar or two lurking......

Friday Fashion Feature

So far on my new blog I have done posts on the home, elevating a pot plant to something a little more special and food in the way of a farm shop find so I really think it's about time I did a post on one of my real favourites - clothing and style....

Not that I'm any great fashion expert I hasten to add but I do know what I like and that's an easy relaxed style with a smattering of classic items mixed with High Street finds and more expensive pieces thrown in too for good measure.  Looks like these....

This I would say is one of my favourite looks from Pinterest and I have just bought a pair of shoes very similar to the ones in the  above pic.

Again, relaxed and casual with those  'boyfriend' jeans

Elevating jeans  to smarter wear - not sure I'd wear the hat, but love the whole look

 Have all the components for above outfit but I would give the gold hardware a miss

What can I say? Chic and yes, think I could re-create this one with pieces from my wardrobe.  I 'd  do flat shoes though.

All the images above are a selection taken from my board - 'Inspiring Style - Clothes'  from Pinterest.

Oh how I love Pinterest - way too addictive though. Do you 'do' Pinterest?
And have you worked out your style and are you, as the French say, one of those who are 'bien dans sa peau' ? (happy in your skin, literally!)....  What do you like?

Happy weekend to one and all.

Small Pleasures

I have just returned from the cutest (read, expensive) farm shop near me.  Wasn't going to indulge but I just could not help myself.  For a start the box was too beautiful - here, take a peek :

Tasteful packaging. Reels me in every time.

And then just look - WHITE eggs - love them.  So amazingly pretty I had to have them. Never mind the novelty factor too; ordinary brown eggs are usually the norm round here.
Sometimes all it takes are the smallest of things to bring the greatest of pleasures.

Little Friday project

I was given a little cyclamen plant the other day. Really gorgeous, and I never knew that they have such beautiful and delicate scent. And it's a white one. My favourite. However, it was in a rather ordinary plastic little holder thingy. Wanting to elevate it into something more rustic and befitting I found an old terracotta flower pot and popped it in there. Perfect. And for a finishing touch I took some moss from the garden and nestled it all around.
See take a peek at my little project ....

Exhibit 1 - cute plant, ugly container

To the rescue - lovely antique terracotta flower pot - Mmmm.....

Cyclamen, now planted in the terracotta pot with gorgeous moss all around

And tah dah! Finally allowed  inside - and looking gorgeous too





HAPPY WEEKEND TO ONE AND ALL