Home Tour - Part II

We continue our tour today with the kitchen and conservatory. Before we had the conservatory across the back of the house you would have been looking at the kitchen window above the sink and the back door to the left.

In 2007 we splashed out and had a large conservatory/sun room put along the back of the house.

We had wanted the peninsular knocking out and the kitchen to go out into the new extension but due to budget restrictions we kept the kitchen where it was.

What you may not know is along with the photographer magazines send a stylist and she "set up" the house for the shots. In actual fact she didn't make many changes at all but she did move the microwave out of the shot above - it usually sits to the right of the sink. I didn't want to put it back afterwards as it does look much better!!

As usual with us the kitchen was done on a budget - I designed the layout myself and ordered the cabinets online.

The cooker was an eBay bargain, I toyed with the idea of spraying it (duck egg?!!) but it fits in ok. I do detest the stainless splashback though and would one day like to tile it. Incidentally, we never use those Le Crueset pans, another "set up" by the stylist!!

We did have a hood above the cooker but as well as not working it was a grease magnet and also stainless steel so I persuaded Mr G to take it down and put up some open shelves for me (why do men detest putting up shelves so much?)

Now into one of my favourite rooms in the house - the conservatory:

This is the room we spend most of the day in. Mr G works at this end at the dining table - he's a Technical Project Manager and much of the day is spent at the laptop and on conference calls.

Some of the bargains here include the table which cost £10.50 and the chairs £40 (both from eBay). I painted the chairs in mismatched Annie Sloan ice-cream colours. The lamp was given to me out of a friends skip.

The tall cupboard houses the washing machine beneath and the "pantry" (oh how I'd love a real pantry!!) above. I painted the Coca-Cola sign myself.

The sofa is one of my sister's cast offs and came all the way from America - it's seen better days now but is very comfy. We have had three of my Sis's old sofas and now joke that we should go with her to buy to make sure we like it!! She has in fact just ordered the most gorgeous sofas from Laura Ashley so I'll be glad to rehome them for her in a few years!!

I made the cushions and the plates are an assortment from eBay and boot sales. The coffee table was from eBay - the legs are painted in Annie Sloan's Old Ochre.

My favourite spot is the right side of the sofa - it's called "Mummy's Corner" and where you'll find me if I'm not in the sewing room.

The conservatory is home to my dresser. This was one of my Mum's cast offs (I'm lucky in that I have relatives who change their furniture every five minutes!!) and came originally from BeWise of all places. I mixed some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to make the blue it's painted with and added knobs decoupaged with Cath Kidston.

We have a few heirlooms on here - the rose tea set belonged to Mr G's Grandma; the cutwork plate was my Nanna's and the cruet set belonged to my great Aunt.

The Cath Kidston mugs hung here are, in actual fact, all broken!! The first set I had were duff - developing hairline cracks and all broke within a few months. Cath Kidston replaced them after a bit of a tussle and I glued the salvageable ones as they are still pretty.

Despite the multiple chins I'll include these pics - I like the cats in this one:

And this one where I am chatting away!! I hate having my photo taken but photographer Brett made me feel very at ease.

So there we have the downstairs - small but perfectly formed? I must admit until I saw the photos all together in the pages of the magazine I didn't realise that the colour schemes were so similar in each room - I guess because as you walk around the house you don't see every room side by side as you do in the magazine!!

Next time we'll venture upstairs - but we'll skip the tatty stair carpet!!

Thanks for reading....

Hugs,

S x

(All photos courtesy of Brett Charles Photograpy)

 

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Home Tour - Part I

Now that the Style At Home magazine that we were featured in has hit the stands I can post the pics that the photographer Brett let me have and do a little home tour of my own.

The house is a semi and was built in 1970, so perhaps not the most attractive of houses. This pic is actually one of my own as the picture used in the magazine was taken before we added the wisteria and baskets - the house looks much better with those simple additions.

I've wanted a wisteria for years, and finally got one this year. It seems very happy in its pot and has grown like mad. Fingers-crossed for flowers next year. We have large flower beds either side of the path and we tend to favour the "wildlife" look!!

We had a "new" front door this year - when I say new I mean it was out of the skip from the house across the road!! They had all new doors and windows and so we asked to have their old door.

One of our favourite changes to the front of the house this year have been these vintage 1930's garage doors:

Our garage door was a sad, broken, up and over and we looked for a set of secondhand doors like these for a while. They were going for silly money on eBay but I found a two sets being sold together on Gumtree so we bought both. We kept this set and sold the others on eBay for almost as much as the two sets together had cost.

Mr G and his Dad had to cut them down a bit to fit and then was under strict instructions to paint them in Farrow & Ball's Green Blue - I really am just addicted to all shades of duck egg blue, I didn't really realise how much until I saw all the photos together and I think some shade of duck egg/aqua/eau de nil makes an appearance in every room!!

As you come into the house you enter the little porch:

You've seen my patchwork wall before, all made from wallpaper "samples" (ahem) I procured from a DIY shop and so (other than the paste) the wall was free.

Previous to this we had a nasty, dark 1970's door - this one was from the tip (it's one of my favourite places to shop!!) and is painted in my own mix of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP).

The blanket is a lap blanket (didn't have the stamina or money for any bigger!!) in Jane Brocket's starburst flower pattern. I'd love to do a huge blanket but I have very little patience.

The standard lamp was given to me by my Stepdad - I was meant to do it up and sell it - and painted in Old White ASCP, the shade I recovered. Same goes for the hexagonal mirror but that found its home here as well. It looks a lot tidier in these pics than it ever does IRL!!

You can see my duck egg fetish continues indoors!!

The sofas don't really go with the decor but they are comfy and practical - they were a cast off from my Mum (who is obsessed with changing her suite every five minutes!!) I'd love a velvet chesterfield one day.

The pressed flower picture is actually my wedding bouquet and it hangs among floral pictures found at car boot sales and some embroideries done by myself and my Mum.

The sideboard (or "Mouse Organ" as we call it due to its resemblance of the same from Bagpuss!!) houses all the the TV and media gubbins and is painted own Duck Egg ASCP and gilded with a bit of gold Rub And Buff.

The footstool/coffee table was a plain orange pine coffee table from the tip. Mr G sawed down the legs and I added foam and fabric to upholster it (since this pic was taken I decided the fabric was too wishy-washy and I've redone it in pink tartan wool).

The stool under the window was kind of found on eBay - I was looking for a stool to paint and crochet a cover for and found what looked like the perfect one on eBay. As I looked at the picture I thought "I recognise that kitchen" - it was my Mum selling it!! So she of course gave it to me....

This sideboard is a 1930's one which we got from the tip for £8 and is painted in Old White and Duck Egg ASCP. The lamp base was £1 from a boot sale and I covered the shade in vintage fabric. The clock belonged to my beloved Granddad (who you can see with my Nanna in the photo next to it). The portrait is of my horse TC - Mr G had it done one year for Christmas.

The other end of the lounge is a bit of a non-room now. Before we had the conservatory across the back of the house it was the dining room. It's now a bit of a walk-through but does house the computer (to the other side of this pic) in a hideaway cupboard where our eldest H spends most of his time.

The radiator cover was from eBay and the chairs from the tip. The book wreath I made out of a copy of "Gone With The Wind" following a tutorial I found on Pinterest. Mr G made the shelves from MDF and moulding and I had to wait 9 months for them!! I added the little "shades" to the fairy lights by covering plastic shot glasses with scrap booking paper.

This is the other side of the room. The sideboard and computer hideaway were both from eBay and are painted in Paris Grey ASCP. This chair was also from eBay and I reupholstered it (badly) in patchwork - it actually lives in the conservatory and was just popped here for a picture.

In the background you can see a gramophone that belonged to my Dad, he had always wanted one and when he bought a pub he finally got one.

In this photo you catch a glimpse of my vintage tea trolley which was from Freegle and I sprayed in cream.

I was going to continue with the rest of the downstairs but this post is already rather long so I'll leave it there for now!!

Thanks (as always) for reading

Hugs,

S x

All photos (except first two) courtesy of Brett Charles Photography....

 

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Sweltering and Crafting!!

Phew!! How are you enjoying the heat? Isn't the British weather so mad? Last week I was curled up on the sofa with my quilt and fleecy dressing gown and this week I am roasting and have the fan on!!

I am not good in the heat. Mr G and I once went to Singapore and I spent the whole 10 days moaning about the heat in the manner of Karl Pilkington!!

Yesterday, I made myself a little haven in the garden:

I sat there all day, listening to catch-up TV on my iPad and crocheting granny hearts:

Naturally, they are going to be made into bunting. I used a pattern I found on Ravelry here  if you fancy a go yourself.

We were delighted to see that our peony has at last flowered - we got it off Freecycle three years ago and in previous years it has budded, but they've never opened before now. But, wow they were worth waiting for!!:

I've remembered to take pics of the embroidered cardi, I've finished it - here's Dolly (my duct tape dummy) modelling it for you:

Many thanks to the lovely Cuckoo for the inspiration....

I have also been painting roses on anything that stands still long enough!! The reason I wanted to learn was to be able to paint some roses on my Fugly-To-Fabulous furniture so I tried a few on a cute nest of tables:

And I've made a sign for one of my Instagram friends:

And I did one for us:

I'm toying with the idea of selling these, as I really enjoy making them.

A couple of weeks ago the lovely LissyLou gave me an award:

Unforgivably, I keep forgetting to mention it - I have to answer a 10 questions:

Favourite colour: Pink of course!!

Favourite number: 8

Favourite animal: Horse

Favourite non alcholic drink: Diet Coke, I drink way too much. I'm also partial to a "Muddy Puddle" - OJ + Coke, the name comes from the colour!!

Facebook or Twitter: Facebook, though I've just joined Twitter @shabbychicsarah - please follow me!! I love Instagram best.

Recieving or giving: Oooooh, tricky!! Both!! I love giving something I know the recipient is going to love, but I love, love, love presents too!!

Favourite pattern: Floral, Cath Kidston style, gorgeous!!

Favourite day of the week: Friday, I love the anticipation of the weekend to come.

Favourite flower: Stargazer lilies - I had them in my wedding bouquet and the smell takes me there instantly. I also love wildflowers, and roses, and peonies, and spring flowers, and, and, and....

I'm meant to pass this on, but I really couldn't choose five as I love so many so I am going to be rubbish and politely decline to pass it on!!

hugs,

S x

More Fugly-To-Fabulousness and Other Witterings....

Hello girls!! I trust you have all had a lovely weekend?

I have some more Fugly-To-Fabulous to show you today - we are frantically trying to raise money for our holiday which is only six weeks away and so I was full on with the painting on Friday.

My favourite is this gorgeous 1950's china cabinet - she had a cost of Annie Sloan "Old White":

Isn't she lovely? But gosh she was a pain to paint!! I had to stick my head right in to paint the inside and managed to get my hair covered in paint - luckily the chalk paint washes out so easily!!

There was also a vintage radiogram that we think will make a fab TV stand - this was given a couple of coats of "Old White" and inside was painted with "Duck Egg", I then used dark wax to bring out the carving:

Finally, an orange pine TV stand was given a new lease of life with a coat of "Country Grey" and and "Old White" top:

On Saturday we started the day with mini cinnamon maple whirls following a recipe Coco Rose shared on Instagram (the addiction to that continues!!):

To make them you take a pack of ready to bake croissant dough, open it out flat and crimp the perforated bits together and then give it a light roll with a rolling pin. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up and then cut into little pinwheels.

Bake for 10 minutes and when they are still hot drizzle with a mix of icing sugar, maple syrup and a little milk.

Let me tell you they were GORGEOUS and lasted about 2 minutes after the photo was taken.

In the afternoon we had a mooch to Petersfield as I wanted to have a look at a Kobo which is WHSmiths version of the Kindle - earlier in the week (in the early hours when I couldn't sleep!!) I bought a Kindle that was offered as a Buy It Now on eBay.

I checked the sellers feedback - she had 47 giving her 100% and so went ahead thinking I had got myself a super bargain.

The following morning I got a message from eBay telling me the seller had been slung off and I was not to pay for the item - but I already had!! I emailed the seller several times - I was hoping it was eBay being over zealous and them actually being genuine which has happened to me before with a smaller item. But no reply.

So now I have to wait for Paypal to refund me - which they will in their own good time.

I want the eReader for our holidays and so after looking at the Kobo I decided to go ahead - it was reduced to £49.99 so quite a bit less than a Kindle.

Of course, when we returned home I had an email from the Kindle seller saying (in very bad English) it is on its way - I will believe it when I see it but if it does arrive I will just sell the one I like the least.

So far I am loving the Kobo - I have always been anti-ereader as I love books, one of my favourite shops in Petersfield is a smelly old bookshop that is a real rabbit warren but as we are going away for two weeks with limited baggage allowance it seemed a no brainer.

Naturally, I have made a cover for it:

Cath Kidston fabric, vintage linen and vintage glass button

One side effect of the Kobo is I am knackered today because I was up until gone 2.00am reading - I have succumbed to the hype and have downloaded Fifty Shades Of Grey - ahem...... 

Hope you all have a lovely week....

hugs,

S x

Vintage Market....

Hello my lovelies!! 

What have we been up to? Well, on Sunday there was a vintage market run by Love Southsea in Old Portsmouth. We live about 10 miles north of the city so we decided to go down and have a look.

I insisted that H and W come along too. Now they old enough to be left for a couple of hours during the day the temptation is to forgo all the complaining about them having to come off their respective gadgetry and go on our own. However, I think it is way too soon to stop doing things together as a family and so on this occasion I put my foot down.

Fortunately, we managed to get out with minimal complaints. We parked at Spice Quay:

H, looking *really* tall; W and Mr G....

First of all we sat on the beach to eat our picnic:

We had a lovely view of Portsmouth Harbour:

 And before long we had some company:

We had thought that it would be cold down on the seafront, but leaning against the wall with the sun (yes, I know, the SUN!!) shining on us was really warm:

After lunch it was time for a mooch around the vintage market:

Apologies for quality - phone pic!!

The market was, IMO, more of a handmade market as there was only one stall selling actual vintage items, but it was nice nonetheless and naturally I made a few purchases:

Afterwards we had a walk along the sea wall and when we got to the big hilly bits we had to stop for some rolling:

It was much steeper than it looks here!!

Even though, at my age, I should know better I had a go. I am pleased to say there is no photographic evidence but for the whole 10 seconds it took to roll from top to bottom I was wishing it was over - it was like getting repeatedly beaten up as you rolled and I landed dizzy, scuffed and covered in grass stains. 

Of course, I then insisted Mr G have a go!!

It transpires that persons of 40 years or thereabouts should not roll down steep banks as he didn't enjoy it much either!!

On the crafting front, I have been continuing with my embroidered cardi and I had a go at wet felting:

I have since tried to machine embroider some grass onto it, but after getting a third of it done my machine decided it just Didn't Want To Play so I'll have to come back to that another day.

Oooh, and look at this *beauty* we found for me to paint:

I really want to keep it but have No Room so I will have to rehome it when its done....

Hope you're all well....

hugs,

S x

On the 

More Fugly-To-Fabulous, Cath Kidston Goodies & Other Wafflings....

Hello my gorgeous ladies - are you having a nice bank holiday weekend? As usual the weather is vile but what else is new?

On Friday I finished a pair of bar stools that my Stepdad had given me:

They were plain white and I gave them a coat of Annie Sloan Duck Egg and then had an attempt at hand-painting some cabbage roses on the back before sanding them quite heavily. I need to practice those roses!!

Grandma and Granddad took the boys out on Saturday afternoon and they said they were happy to stay when they returned so Mr G and I could go out on a "date". 

We are so rock and roll though that we decided to go out in the afternoon too - we knew come 7.00pm we would just want our PJ's and the telly!!

So we went to Gun Wharf Quays to see "The Cabin In The Woods" - it was the best time to go as the cinema was virtually empty. The movie was excellent, if you like scary films I highly recommend it to you.

Of course, no trip to Gun Wharf would be complete without a trip to the Cath Kidston outlet - it gets all the end of line/sale stock and there is at least 30% of everything. I got a few goodies:

The cute UJ windmills were from The Works two for £1.00 (but they only had three left!!) I also got some CK lace stripe oilcloth; a photo frame; hankie and a pen tin.

On the way home Mr G bought me tulips (from Lidl!!):

Yesterday we had housework to do (boo hiss) and I took the opportunity to sort out my sewing room which was a tip.

Before:

(Instagram pic!!)

After:

I swapped my old cheapy polka dot vinyl cloth (which I melted with the iron!!) for my fancy Cath Kidston Oilcloth - I've ordered a transparent cutting mat as the green one is all stained and yucky (plus green looks rubbish!!)

In other news, you may have noticed that last week I privately accepted my first ad (for Hunters At Home) in my side bar. Since then my blog has been accepted into the BlogHer Publishing Network which place (pre-approved by me) ads and you get paid a few pence per page view - I wondered what your thoughts on ads on blogs are?

Personally, as long as the blog posts for the most part remain personal and real then I don't mind ads on blogs I visit - what I dislike are blogs which have posts which  are entirely about this product or that service and nothing about the person who writes the blog. 

I love blogs like mine I guess, where you are invited into the authors life to share what *they* have been doing - ads in sidebars don't bother me as long as I love the blog content.

I'd love to know your thoughts, while getting a few bob to buy myself a coffee now and again would be nice, I wouldn't want to alienate my lovely readers....

Hugs,

S x