Lounge Vintage Makeover...l

They say only hotels and airports have lounges

But it's called that in our house too.

It was the first room I tackled in my mini home make over.

As you can see it was perfectly nice and all but it just wasn't grabbing me.

The other wall which you can't see in this pic had patchwork wallpaper in duck egg shades and the chimney breast was painted in a teal colour.

I started by searching for the perfect wallpaper and decided I would paper the whole wall, chimney breast as well as the alcoves either side.

I checked out all the usual places I turn to for wallpaper - Laura Ashley; Cath Kidston; Next; Wallpaper Direct but it was eBay where I succeeded in finding the perfect paper:

Vintage Sanderson - I couldn't find any info about it online so I emailed Sanderson with the label info and a photo and they said it was printed in the 1970's.

Isn't it just gorgeous?

I was delighted when my searching though eBay proved so fruitful but I was, however, a wee bit nervous about what Mr G would like as he always said "No" to full on florals in the lounge.

Naturally, I did what any self respecting girl would do and I didn't tell him and bought it anyway!! *blushes*

My friend says "better to seek forgiveness than ask permission"!!

I managed to get all four rolls for £40 - Sanderson wallpaper is about £70 PER roll so as well as being just wanted it was also a super bargain.

Luckily, when I broke the news to Mr G he reacted in his trademark laidback style!!

And so we spent a Saturday wallpapering.

I hate wallpapering.

I swear I'm never going to do it again every time I do any.

But I love wallpaper, so what's a girl to do?

We can't have a real or gas fire in the chimney breast as the flue is not right and we'd never found an electric one that didn't look totally fake. Then when we were on holiday we saw these stoves by Dimplex from their Optimist range - you fill a reservoir with water and a light shines through the steam, this creates ever such a realistic flame effect.

They were priced at £500-£700 so we thought we'd save up to get one but I decided to check good old Gumtree and low and behold there was an almost new top of the range Optmist fire for the princely sum of £125!!

So we collected it on the way home and it fitted right in. The mantle shelf was £20 from eBay and I just waxed the bare pine with Annie Sloan's dark wax to get an antiqued look.

It's impossible to capture in a photo but the flames have that real flickering look.

The wallpaper gives the vintage look I was after.

The china cabinet was my £6.00 bargain from the tip!! The chairs belonged to my Mum and we had them when she got a new suite.

The hare lamp is by Abigal Ahern for Debenhams and is last Christmas's favourite present.

The portrait is of my beautiful horse TC and Mr G had it done for me a few Christmases ago.

As you can see we have a lot of photos in our home - I love the way they are a daily reminder of treasured memories - I once read that lots of photographs is a sign of a happy home.

The cabinet they sit on is Art Deco and was another bargain (£8.00) from the tip!! The clock on the sideboard belonged to my late beloved Granddad and though it no longer works it's something I treasure.

This cabinet is an Ercol Court coup board and was a bit expensive for us at £40 - once the paper went up I knew it needed a colour change....

I decided to pick out the gold/mustard colour in the wallpaper and I used Miss Mustard Seeds Milk Paint to re-paint it. It's proper old fashioned paint that comes in powder form, you mix it with water and it creates a beautiful, authentically chippy look....

For the sofa (which I'm not keen on but is very practical with a houseful of animals and teenagers) I made a stack of cushions out of Sanderson fabric remnants and used a beautiful vintage crochet throw that my dear friend Dawn gave me for Christmas....

So that's the lounge. I need to change the curtains at some point, I'm rather fancying some heavy, interlined ticking ones so I need to keep my eyes peeled for some bargain fabric, I think....

Thanks for reading!!

Hugs

S x

 

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The Inspiration for Redecoration!!

You may remember back in October 2013 our home was featured in "Style At Home" magazine?

The photoshoot took place in the May and so we had to wait several months to see our home in print.

When the copy arrived I noticed something that showed up in the pages that I had never noticed IRL - all the rooms seemed a bit, um, samey....

I guess a person has their favourites and their style but I didn't realise just how similar each room was.

Our house is just a small three bedroom semi but even so walking from room to room the similarities didn't hit me as they did when I saw them all together on the same pages.

Let me show you what I mean:

See?

Very duck egg (my favourite colour) and pink and a bit sugary sweet.

Don't get me wrong I loved it for a long time but lately my tastes have evolved a bit and I'm liking a more authentically vintage, bolder, less pastel and more eclectic look.

For example, I love Sarah Moores vintage style:

I've also been inspired by several bloggers, including Lisa Loves Vintage and

Sarahmaguire_myvintagehome on Instagram:

And of course the lady who inspired both my home decor and the starting of this blog

Jane Goble AKA Posy:

Next time I'll tell you how I changed things to get more of the look I was after....

Thanks for reading!!

((((hugs))))

S x

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How Do You Spend Your Free Time?

Yesterday I spoke about time and how it flies.

Today I'm wondering about how you spend your free time & energy?

Do you have hobbies and pastimes you like to indulge?

Or for you, is a little free time the chance to relax, unwind and recharge your batteries?

I know many of my readers have little ones and it can be hard to find a moment to oneself in the hustle and bustle of looking after little people.

Our boys turned 15 years and 17 years last month and I've now long been rather surplus to requirements (unless I'm making dinner or picking up after them of course!!)

(They'll go mad if they see I've posted this pic!!)

When they became Tweens and no longer needed the constant supervision younger children need I found myself at a loose end. I had my horses (which I got back into when both boys were in full time school) but I couldn't help feeling something of a fifth wheel.

I cannot work due to health issues and found myself twiddling my thumbs. I'm not ashamed to confess feeling a bit depressed. Of course children always need their Mum but I just didn't have the day to day role of looking after them.

I was "saved" by Kirstie Allsopp.

Her first craft series aired on TV and after seeing her manage to knit after years of thinking she couldn't I was inspired to try crochet again - I too had tried and failed before.

This time I cracked it and that gave me confidence to try other things.

Soon I realised it didn't matter that I failed both Textiles and Art GCSEs at school.

So now I have so many things to pass my time I sometimes don't know what to choose and I can't imagine what people do who do not have a hobby.

I still like to crochet but I also knit, sew, embroider, draw and DIY - a report from school as a child once said "Sarah is like a butterfly, she flits from one thing to another" and that, I guess, is still very true!!

A few recent makes:

I still have horses, so spend a bit of time outdoors.

This is TC (The Colonel) and I adore him.

And I don't mind a bit of a potter in the garden, these days, I think it must be an age thing - I especially like growing flowers to bring indoors:

It turns out gardening is one of the UK's favourite outdoor pursuits and if you wondered what the others are First Utility have a neat little chart with all the info:

Tell me in the comments what you like to do with your spare time and energy?

Do you fall into one of the categories on the chart, or do you do something out of the ordinary?

Until next time....

S x

Although this is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own.

 

 

 

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I'm Back!!

Where does the time go?

I'm convinced it ACTUALLY gets quicker as one ages. As a child having to wait for a week was an eternity, but now, as adult, something happening next year hardly seems any time at all away.

My roundabout point being, it's been A-G-E-S since I did a blog post.

So what's new?

Not a whole lot really, just pootling along in my own little way. But I have been decorating, here's a little glimpse and I will do detailed posts over the next week or so.

Watch this space for more pics and details soon!!

Hugs,

S x

 

 

 

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