Back from Black - Fabulous Beam Restoration

If you're a regular reader, you might remember that nearly a year ago we moved into a 

converted old barn and dairy.

One of the things we loved were the exposed beams in every room. 

What we didn't love was the treacly brown stain that 

had been applied to them...

This made them very oppressive and hid a lot of their characteristic features...

As you can see, this didn't bother some members of staff (Raffy the cat) but it really kept niggling at me. Originally, beams weren't dark (unless they got sooty), they were limed to keep away parasites so they were actually quite pale. But sandblasting or stripping them was out of the question because of the mess and time.... and then (cue angelic chorus) I found an advert for Renaissance Beams, a company who take any colour beam and restore it to its former glory...

In just two days the lovely Penny and her husband Ian (who were both delightful) came to us and returned every beam in the house to a beautiful light oak colour (I asked them to match the 

colour to a C17th French chest I own). 

Suddenly all the grain, wormholes and carpenters marks sprang back into life and 

every room looked lighter.

I knew I'd got it right when a friend saw them and immediately said  "they look like C16th beams!"

I'm afraid my photos don't do justice to the finished article, being taken in artificial light etc 

but I think you can see the difference...

So, a massive thank you to Renaissance Beams for achieving this wonderful transformation! If you want help with your beams you can contact Penny and Ian via www.renaissance-beams.co.uk where you will also find some fabulous 'before and after' shots of previous projects.

New stock off to Afterglow of Olney...

Things are going really well at my pitch in Afterglow of Olney. 

Di, who owns and runs the store is wonderful at bringing together an eclectic group of local designers and makers to produce a great mixture of handmade, vintage and upcycled goodies. 

And here is my next consignment which goes off to the shop tomorrow...

First, a pretty and very unusual sewing box/side table with useful drawers, pretty detailed legs and compartments on either side for your knitting/embroidery/remote controls etc...

Next, a French styled doll's house ready for a new owner...

 and a lovely rocking horse for some lucky youngster... 

for the kitchen, a pretty, solid wood crate with a grain sack motif...

and with Christmas on the horizon, a lovely, very large, metal angel ornament. This one's huge but I have some smaller ones too!

Finally, a pretty doll's cot with angel decoupage and covers made from vintage linens... 

here's a little close up of the design and the covers....

I know it looks like I'd started on the Christmas cheer a little early but honestly I was sober, just leaning in at an angle! See you soon!

Hello Turkey and China!

Just been checking the stats on my blog and noticed a large number of people from Turkey and China visiting lately!

Welcome! And thank you for stopping by ...

Raffy and Symi the furbabies, and me too of course, love it when you drop in....

We'd love to hear your comments on I Love My Home...

come again soon!

Fireplace transformation....

When we moved into our new home last Christmas one of the things that sold it to us was the fireplace - or rather the potential that I could see in it. I really didn't like it the way it was. 

As we've moved into an old dairy and barn, it obviously didn't have a fireplace originally, but the last owners had put in something using modern brick, quarry tiles and a shiny varnished beam - nice....You can also see the vibrant floral wallpaper (which had to go pretty quickly)

After some negotiation with MLH, we now have this...

and I loooove it! In a couple of months a company are coming to take all the beams back to their original light oak colour so that will be the final touch to my beautiful fireplace makeover!

Chair makeover and a dilemma...

I scored this old chair recently and it really had very little to recommend it: old fashioned, brown, horrible fabric, yeuch!

But, with my well-honed upcycler's eye, I could see that it had lovely proportions and was basically sound. So I spent a couple of days working on it and...

Voila!

Suddenly it's graceful lines and pretty details leap out

Here's a close up of the seat covering I used (linen, of course)...

and the finish I achieved...

I love a bit of crackle glazing and I've been working on my own method to get the best results. Also I've blended my own antiquing glaze which I'm finding a lot easier to use than dark wax. It gives a more controllable and subtler effect - hope you like it?

And the dilemma? The usual one: do I sell her or add her to my already overstuffed house?

Washstand transformation and latest treasures......

I found this old oak washstand - minus its marble top - at an auction and loved all the carved detail on it. It had seen better days and needed a lot of repairs but you know me, that's just how I like 'em! So I repaired and cleaned it and fitted a new top........

and here it is now... painted, shabbied, waxed, new handle etc and so pretty. It has pride of place next to my fireplace and looks just beautiful!

and here are my latest treasures...a beautiful mirror (love this)

The back board from an antique chiffonier (if I can't find a place for this in my house then I'll eat my hat!)

A mystery object...

It looks like you heat it up and put something inside to emboss a pattern on it but it's too shallow for pancakes or waffles so???

Anyway, I couldn't resist it whatever it is!

Then I found a cute Westie doorstop in cast iron, a Moroccan leather jewellery box with velvet lined cantilever drawers, a darning mushroom and a very quirky boot shaped musical box!

followed by a pretty blue and white dish with a metal surround...

 a pair of clown dolls with china heads. Not everyone likes clowns but these are quite sad looking and need a bit of tlc...

a HUGE stepladder, perfect for displaying books, plants - you name it...

a set of bamboo knitting needles in a tapestry style holder...

a doll's house - normally I find these in really bad condition and have to do a lot of work on them but this one should be a breeze...

and a lovely chair with beautifully shaped arms and legs. I'm really looking forward to refinishing this one...

and that's about it for today - phew! Plenty to be getting on with!

See you soon x

Don't know who said it but....................

I couldn't agree more...

I believe in this on so many levels and it's part of the design ethic of I Love My Home. 

We don't have to have boring, mass produced homes. Let's have homes that reflect who we are and are as unique as each of us.

Even the most mundane, utilitarian things can be beautiful, I put my washing up liquid in a pretty dispenser and store my cat biscuits in a chippy old bread tin just because they look nicer and make me smile when I use them. I know some people might think that's a bit pretentious or affected but, you know, if I worried about what other people thought, I'd never do anything!

Let's all do our own thing and enjoy creating homes we love x

Edwardian bureau bookcase refinish.....

I've been so busy lately working on lovely new things to show at Afterglow of Olney that it's taken me a while to get round to this lovely piece for my bedroom. In fact MLH has been skirting round it for about a month as it lay in pieces on the floor!

For some reason it had been painted in a rather unpleasant navy blue so I refinished it in an aged white finish using some eggshell paint I had (bit of an experiment but it seems to have worked). 

I did some jiggerypokery with PVA glue, a hairdryer, sandpaper and clear and dark wax and this is the finish I achieved...

here's a couple of close ups...

I know grungy, chippy and crackled isn't everyone's favourite but I love it so I'm really pleased with the way it turned out!

see you soon x

Master bedroom reveal........

Well, it's taken months (and it's still not completely finished, with artwork, radiator covers etc to follow) but finally here is my new master bedroom...

Okay, this is what it looked like halfway through...

we took two rooms, a corridor and a large built in wardrobe...

took them apart...

 and put them together again to reveal... 

 

a cool, calm, French inspired interior...

who knew this was lurking under all that mess?

the latest acquisition is this Edwardian bureau bookcase which I bought at auction

in the next post I'll show you some close ups of it's transformation.

See you there!

New 'tick' for my bird list.......

since we moved house last Christmas we have enjoyed having a larger garden and, in particular, having more bird life to enjoy...

We have Woodpeckers, Red Kites, Buzzards, Cormorants and Egrets and we're virtually overrun with baby Blue Tits, Long Tailed Tits, Goldfinches and Thrushes but today - fanfare please - a pair of Bullfinches arrived to gorge themselves on our Honeysuckle berries......

You can see from the male bird that they are looking a bit faded and scruffy as they are going through the moult after raising their babies all Summer.....

I've rarely seen a glimpse of them in the wild but, as I type, this gorgeous little bird is about two feet away outside my window. I know other people probably have dozens of them but, to me, this is ridiculously exciting!