Things ain't what they used to be...

I love being able to re-use old objects in a new way - otherwise some of them would just be lost forever as their original purpose may no longer exist - I started taking a few snaps around the house and look what I found...

This old chiffonier back no longer had its base but looks wonderful above my French day bed (many a happy hour spent lapsing in and out of consciousness here!)

I bought this old chicken carrier from the lovely Corinne at Douce Campagne, but not having any chickens to carry I use it for holding my favourite magazines by my favourite reading chair...

I can't resist a crate or two - or three, and love the extra storage they provide - here they're storing my ongoing handicraft projects...

they also turn up in the bedroom...

 and the kitchen...

they're just so versatile...

This rusty old French trivet, wonky and worn to perfection, is just perfect for holding candles off surfaces...

Old shutters and windows are irresistible and technically these are decorative and not useful, but being decorative is a purpose in itself isn't it? At least that's what I keep telling my husband...

An old egg basket is the perfect place for vegetables, allowing air to circulate and keeping them close at hand when I'm cooking...
And, in the background, is another old window used as a mirror to reflect the light in our kitchen....

These haven't exactly been given a new purpose being bottle crates originally, but I love using them to store wine and, of course, my homemade sloe gin... 

More shutters, and this time I used them to frame a photograph I took in Paris - it seemed appropriate...

Old clock cases have lost their purpose when the mechanism disappears but they are lovely items in their own right and make great door stops...

I think this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of things I've reused around the house: the French chest as a coffee table, the washstand as a TV stand etc etc, but I love being able to give new life to old things. After all, that's the ethos of I Love My Home and it inspires me to keep searching out more lovely old things x

vintage sack to log carrier

A while ago I acquired some lovely old vintage sacks, full of history but in a condition that showed their age. One of them was dated 1944 and carried the legend "when empty return immediately". Well, whether it was returned or not it has now fallen into my hands and I wanted to turn it into some thing useful. 

As I've said the condition wasn't great so I needed to find a use that suited them.

So many of us now have wood burners and need to carry logs from the outside store to the living room. Often the logs are dirty and can leave resin on your clothes. Not to mention that they are heavy and easily dropped on your foot!

And so, ta da! I present the 'vintage sack log carrying bag' (catchy name isn't it!)

My glamourous assistant is seen here demonstrating that it will hold a good number of logs from the store to the stove...

And above is a close up shot showing the writing (it also has a corn merchant's name on the reverse)...

I put it together using strong jute string and a bodkin needle and hot glued all the loose ends to try and make it as strong as possible. 

The handles are made from hessian upholstery webbing.

We've given it a test run today and it works really well. 
The fur babies certainly approve of the end result...

I've got a couple of other sacks with great vintage writing on them so I might make some more to sell in my space at Afterglow of Olney.

What do you think?

^^
>"<
'

Two shabby chic lovelies

Well, viewers, not one but two pretty creations to share with you today. The first is a lovely doll's pram. The word 'curlicue' was coined for this piece I think! 

It's quite large and, although you could use it as a toy, I think it would look beautiful filled with plants ....

or used to showcase your vintage teddy bear and doll collection...

but, let's face it, it's just lovely in it's own right...

and would look beautiful just parked in a corner of your bedroom!

Next up is a lovely chair, once again perfect for the bedroom, although I've photographed it here in the kitchen (no, I don't know why either...)

Here it is looking a bit more traditional in front of the fireplace...

and here's a snap of how it looked before it's glamorous makeover...

Not a great photo as it was a rainy day and I couldn't take it outside my workshop....

And here's a bonus shot of the finished article in all her glory

Thanks for looking, let me know what you think x

Drumroll please! The kitchen reveal!

The final 'big' project of our (not so) new house was the kitchen and, apart from putting up a couple of shelves, we are finally there! The pictures below show how it looked when we started but these don't do justice to the way it first looked when we moved in. It is a room that doesn't get much natural light, being in the middle of the house, and the previous owners had painted it a dark, dark red. With white gloss cupboards, bright silver handles, black tiles, almost black beams and a very grubby, uncared for wood work top, it really wasn't a nice place to be.

So as soon as we moved in we painted the walls in Laura Ashley Twine and that made it liveable for a while...

It was also very badly designed with a counter sticking out into the middle of the room and a half height wall between the kitchen and the dining area. This meant you had to walk halfway round the house, through the hallway just to get to the dining table!

The sink was also set into the half wall and was a nasty black thing which was never clean :(

So out came the sledgehammer and our super carpenter got to work reconfiguring just about everything... And here's the finished article...

We've tried to give it a really warm, rustic look in keeping with the fact that it's an old dairy and cattle barn and already has exposed brickwork and original beams....

I repainted all the cupboards in a colour called Aged White by Crown and used vintage brass cup handles throughout...

You might remember from an earlier post that we brought in the lovely Penny and Ian to change the colour of all the beams in the house and we've now put this limed oak flooring all through the house too. In the far end of this photo you can see the dining table we made from an old door and the refinished bench.

The following photos show a few of the finishing touches...

Got to have a comfy seat for my coffee!

I made this spice box years ago and still find it really useful. Also the cutlery is now always close to hand in this zinc container...

This shot also shows the worktop which is Chapel Oak and the lovely tumbled travertine tiles we chose (one of my favourite things in the whole project)...

This old dresser base has been with me for many years and occasionally gets repainted. We have large mirrors all over the house as I love the spacious effects they give...and in the reflection you can see some old French bottle crates we use for storing wine...

I love this vintage window turned into a mirror which sits over the range cooker and bounces light from the skylight back into the room...

I couldn't resist a few rustic touches!

This pan is a big as a witch's cauldren!

And I do love the odd vintage bird cage or three!

Ooops, there's another one!

This is such a lovely place to be now, so warm and welcoming...

Do let me know what you think of the final effect, I'd love to hear your comments x

Kitchen notice board project

My kitchen makeover is so close I can almost taste it - appropriate for a kitchen don't you think! I'm so looking forward to the fun part of adding the decorative details that I spent a happy afternoon making this notice board ......

I used scraps of fabric I like and some fabric I printed, along with some ribbons to hold papers and cards. I added some push pins in red and white and some miniature clothes pegs too.

It fits perfectly into a space on the kitchen wall so I don't have to clutter up the worksurfaces with paper and notes to myself. 

Collectables.......

As well as furniture projects I also collect and sell all sorts of other items and some of my favourites are vintage toys.....

I couldn't believe my luck when I saw not one but two of these fabulous vintage tricycles! The school holidays have just started and wouldn't these be fab for zooming around all summer long?

I also fell in love with this miniature dresser - so cute!

And these two little guys are mechanical and hug, laugh and generally entertain. I've had a few of these toys over the years and they always sell out quickly. They are generally the first things to sell at the Vintage Shows.

However, I feel I should point out that my vintage toys are almost always bought by/for nostalgic adults. This week a little push along horse on wheels and a dolls deckchair flew out the door sold to the same lady!

Delightful Dressing Table

I saw a reclaim yard the other day and couldn't resist popping in to take a look. Apart from a vintage canary singing cage (I'm into collecting singing cages at the moment), I found this lovely dressing table which has so many pretty features.

And here it is finished very simply in ASCP Old White, lightly distressed and given a coat of wax. Just recently I've been doing lots of labour intensive finishes but this was such a lovely little thing that I thought its features just spoke for themselves and I didn't need to 'gild the lily'!

I took it to my space at Afterglow of Olney today and hope that someone else will see its beauty too and it will go to a loving home.

Reclaimed dining room table

We're on the home stretch now with the renovation of our new home (18 months and counting), and whilst the kitchen has stalled within sight of the finishing line, the floors were all fitted last week. This involved all the furniture being loaded into the barn for the best part of a week and me being wedged into my workshop for days at a time whilst the floors dried….my clever husband took a business trip to Brussels while all this was going on…. coincidence? I think not…….

Anyway, we needed to replace our dining room table and chairs because the large round set we had just didn't fit any more. I wanted something unique and came up with the idea of taking an old door and mounting it on a table base.

This is the finished article with some beautiful chairs from Maison Hartley that I've been eyeing up for quite some time. I also used an old bench we've had for some time and refinished it and the table base…read on for details…

You can still see the old keyhole and the lovely rustic finish….

Gorgeous!

We went to the reclaim yard to find the lovely old door and did a LOT of sanding and stripping….

We also bought an old table and removed the top (I'll use it for something else before long, of course)….

A coat of ASCP French Linen was followed by diluted PVA glue and a coat of Autentico Velvet paint in Bath Stone and blasted with a hot hairdryer…. then my favourite waxes: Autentico clear and taupe (I like the taupe because it has a lovely texture and doesn't look so patchy and 'grubby' as some of the darker waxes).

Also, I like to apply waxes with a sponge and buff off with a piece of old sheepskin fleece - I just find it works really well…

and the whole process gives a lovely chippy, crackly finish….

So, to save you scrolling back to the top, here is the finished article

I couldn't be more pleased with it and I have to give masses of credit to my lovely husband who not only puts up with my crazy ideas but helps me to make them come true!

Let me know what you think x