Tuesday 28 July 2015

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








Friday 24 July 2015

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. 

Sunday 19 July 2015

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.