Vintage ~ Handmade ~ Homes ~ Gardens

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Front door reveal

The votes were cast and here is the result - my front door in it's new shade of Farrow and Ball Pale Powder. I couldn't have done it without you!

Before (white) ...




And now...



It's such a soft and delicate colour




It looks green in the morning and grey (when these photos were taken) early evening




A subtle but elegant change.

Thank you


Saturday 24 September 2011

A lick of paint

Well my lovelies, a decision has been made on the front door dilemma thanks to your help. After testing a couple of colours on the door the winner by a mile was .... Pale Powder! Thank you - you were right of course! It's a perfect whisper of colour that looks blue in some types of light and others green. We have unseasonally warm weather this weekend so it's perfect for painting. I can't wait to show you the result.

Actually, I've been wielding the paint brush quite a lot of late. A love the instant gratification that a lick of paint offers don't you? I have a little cupboard in the corner of the dining room that has been a pale green for years and last weekend I gave it a couple of coats of Old White by Crown and added some pretty knobs that I bought from Anthropologie a few years ago, before the opened their London store and I used to buy the shop up on trips Stateside. I think I have a bit of an ironmongery fetish - I have boxes of it!

Anyhoo, here's the before ...






And after ...






I've kept some colourful things to display on top - I  bought this lovely little white jug for a £1 at an antiques fair recently.




Right, I'm off to scrub up for a Birthday dinner at my favourite restaurant, The Gatsby in Berkhamsted.

Have a super weekend xx


Friday 16 September 2011

Front door dilemma

 Can I ask your advice? This is my front door. It's been white since I moved in 12 years ago.




I've been thinking of having a change of colour for ages (OK years ... I could procrastinate for England), something  soft, pastel, like those lovely washed out pale blue/grey doors that have been so popular in recent years.








So I'd narrowed my choice down to two Farrow & Ball shades - both variations of my favourite eau de nil, blue/green palette.


Blue grey



Pale Powder



But then this picture caught my eye on the Farrow & Ball website.





The door is painted in Skimming Stone




So now I have three contenders. Do you have a favourite? Should I keep it white? 

Over to you...

p.s. Sarah over at the lovely Modern Country Style offers lots advice on using paint over at her new blog for Relics of Witney

Sunday 11 September 2011

Birthday trip to Metro-Land

I can't believe a year has passed since I wrote about my mothers 90th birthday. Every birthday after 90 needs something special by way of celebration and this year for her 91st my son and I took her on a special trip run by the London Transport Museum on a 1938 London tube train. We travelled from Amersham to Harrow on the Hill and back - an area once known as Metro-Land.




The name "Metro-Land" was created in 1915 by the publicity department of the Metropolitan Railway. "Metro-Land" was the advertising slogan developed to entice workers from cramped homes in Central London out into the rural paradise of Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. "Metro-Land" became the name of the annual publication of the railway's booklet which described the area the railways served through north west London and beyond. The Railway set up a separate company to develop housing and shops along the Metropolitan's line.   Much of the area was extensively developed between the World Wars and created a distinctive atmosphere.  Posters which carried the name Metro-Land depicted a sylvan landscape where ladies in hats picked flowers and drifted through sun-speckled meadows.









 Some of our fellow passengers dressed in their best vintage 




This 1938 tube train was still in service in the 1980s - cigarette adverts!




 Gorgeous art deco light




I remember 'strap hanging' when I first lived in London








Mum and son











"Through Amersham to Aylesbury and the Vale,
In those wet fields the railway didn't pay.
The Metro stops at Amersham today."

Metro-land John Betjeman

Friday 9 September 2011

Butler sink

Butler sinks. Love 'em. Wouldn't be a kitchen with out them in my view.

Does this picture make you swoon as much as it does me?




Here's a few more beauties ...













And here's my own ... I have a little swoon every time I do the dishes!







Have a great weekend xx

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Beauty is in the detail

On Il de Re so much of the beauty of village houses is to be found in the detail. This can be discovered when strolling the enticing, winding side streets.






Look up and you will see exquisite lanterns 








... complemented by roses climbing up walls













... and scrambling over ancient pantile roofs




Windows bursting with flowers







Doors that express their owners occupation or passion







Or a weathered patiner that has taken centuries to unfold





Pretty window dressing that reflects the islands mode of transport - boats



... and bicycles




And then of course it wouldn't be France without beautiful shutters
















La belle France. The beauty is in the detail.


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