Our fantastic fireplace and the domino effect

I know i have written about our loft bedroom fireplace before, but we have just completed some work on it recently that i wanted to share - it is finally 'finished'. After over a year of umming and ahhing we finally bit the bullet and sprayed the fireplace and its wooden backing frame with a matt black stove paint.

I think it looks amazing. We were both so scared that we wouldn't like the effect, having grown so fond of the raw iron look, however it has turned out brilliantly. The sharper shade of black shows of the tiles even better than before. The whole structure looks uniform all of a sudden, i don't why it took us to long to decide to do it now - but i suppose everything is always clearer in hindsight.

What's more, we have grown tired of the 'white everywhere' look and have started splashing Farrow and Ball paint (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this paint!) on every surface we can find. Our bedroom walls are now sporting a very pretty shade of Ringwold Ground, a dusky cream, and the fireplace recess has been painted Calamine (my absolute favourite colour at the moment), a dusky pink to match. The lavender we had painted previously on the chimney breast was pretty, but it just wasn't the right colour for the room and didn't match our belongings (you can see it here). Where the lavender clashed, the new shades complement the curtains i made many moons ago for our old bedroom, but because i spent so long sewing them, there was no way i was leaving them behind when we moved upstairs (that said, i still need to hem the bottoms!). The cream wall with the pink feature echos the pink flowers on the yellowy cream background of the fabric.

Most of the fireplace tiles present this colour and pattern style too - with pink blooms in the lovely yellow glaze.

On top of this, the bedside table i painted with leftover paint matches perfectly, with James White (another Forrow and Ball paint, though this time in the eggshell finish - the rest has been painted using the estate emulsion that gives a matt finish) being used on the bed and the built in shelves. It even has the Calamine interior to match the fireplace recess.

I used the curtains and of course THE bed to inform our colour choice. In the end, they acted as the first piece in the Domino effect - something i read about in a beautiful, inspiring and thoroughly accessible interior design book by the same name - Domino (eds Deborah Needleman, Sara Ruffin Costello, & Dara Caponigro). They reason that you probably have a few pieces that you really love and it should be these pieces that you decorate around and in the end you should get 'your look', and it will probably end up being something quite personal and even better, it doesn't have to be expensive. I think our bedroom is a brilliant example. It wont by any means be to everyone's taste. But it is perfect to me. The assault of prints, pattern and colour on the eye make it everything i love. For a long time, i kept getting stuck, for example i painted that wall lavender just because i loved the colour without really thinking about the other items and features in the room. The book's strap line - 'a room-by-room guide to creating a home that makes you happy' says it all really.

So, yes, i think it is all, finally, coming together. I think it takes time to know how to decorate a space, i think living in the loft as a large white canvas for the last 12 months has given us the chance to imagine and dream about what our bedroom could be. I'm a bit worried that it maybe has turned out a bit feminine for my husband, but the overruling motif of flowers is one that he appreciates in the garden, so i figure he cant object too much! I think, overall, the warm glow of the colours and preloved nature of most of the furniture gives the room a sense of character as well as being comfortable and inviting. I tell myself this in order to feel better about it taking well over a year to get out room looking complete!

Now, i just need to get back to the markets and salvage another bedside table, this time for my husband, because the thing he has at the moment just isn't cutting it!

My perfect bedside table*

A few weeks ago, I took a trip out to my favourite antique fair, Sunbury, in search of a new (by new, I mean old, but new to me) piece of furniture I could use as a bedside table, and some of those pretty antique mirrors with the bevelled edges I love so much. And I was very successful, walking a kilometre back to the car with a potential bedside table and two heavy mirrors wedged under each arm. When I finally got my breath back and my arms no longer felt like they had been stretched, Gumby-esque, so my fingers could brush the ground as I walked, I started the car and bundled everything home.

The bedside table was a bit of a mess really. And it wasn’t the best quality, nor the best value really, costing me £40, but there was something about it that I just really liked. Its shape, its shelves, its sweet little cupboard space, it was everything I had in mind for the perfect bedside table. It was a bit warped, and one of its legs had seen better days, with a metal bit jammed into the rotten wood to make the unit stand straight. It was dirty and its paint was chipped and yellow. It also only had one knob that I suspect was from the 70’s – retro, but not in a good way – and rather incongruous. Despite all this though, I just knew – this was the bedside table for me.

Once home, my husband went over it with the electric sander to even out its imperfections and help me prep for the paint job I was about it give it.

I used some left over bits of paint from other projects around the house, all Farrow and Ball, to give it a new look. Gone was the dirty, yellow, chipped exterior, now a beautiful antique white, James White, in an eggshell finish. The inside of the cupboard, once red, having been coated with what I can only guess was red oxide paint, although I can’t think why, is now a beautiful pale, dirty pink, very much like its name, Calamine. I then painted over the once black inside of the doors with Lamp Room Grey.

The single incongruous knob has been replaced with two pretty mismatching glazed ceramic knobs from Anthropologie - one a pink flower with aged bronze fittings, and the other, a yellow drop knob, again with aged bronze fittings. Both match the colour scheme perfectly, and complement each other enormously (even if I do say so myself!).

Disappointingly, I didn’t get a photo of the bedside table before I started work on it – I always seem to realise I have forgotten this towards the end of my renovation. But I have got some in progress shots as well as one of the ‘original’ knob that I think I might clean up and try and find a home for elsewhere.

Finally, here is the bedside table, in situ, next to the rescued and newly upholstered bed. I can honestly say that after I pick my favourite pyjamas (always Peter Alexander) from one of the shelves, place my beloved iPhone on to charge on the shelf next to my bedtime reading, smooth on some Rose L’Occitaine hand cream from the cupboard, deposit my watch on the surface and finally take a sip of my water before I settle in for sleep, I close my eyes smiling.

*perfect to me anyway.

Things i am reading

I have been partaking in some 'guilty pleasure' reading lately. I can't help but love a bit of teenage fantasy fiction. But seriously, the Obernewtyn series by Isobelle Carmody is just brilliant for a bit of escapism, and to be fair, i started reading them when i was a 'young adult' and it has taken her a long ol' time to bring out the latest installments. As they aren't the easiest books to get a hold of in London (she is an Aussie author) i stocked up on the whole series while i was at home to refresh my memory and find out what happens next. No spoilers here! But so far the whole series, including the Stone Key, has been a thoroughly enjoyable read and now i am eagerly awaiting the final installation due out late this year.

In a somewhat similar vein, i recently read an obituary on the Guardian website for Diana Wynne Jones, an author i hadnt heard of before, but who, as it turns out, wrote Howl's Moving Castle. Now i haven't seen this movie yet, but it has been on my 'must watch' list for a long time, having been a huge fan of Ponyo and Spirited Away (big thanks to Miss Alecia for introducing me to these!), other animated films from Studio Ghibli. It turns out Diana Wynne Jones shared my fondness for teenage fantasy, only instead of just reading them, she wrote them, having been schooled by CS Lewis and Tolkein. She was a prolific writer. I have decided to start with Howl and hopefully move on to some more of her celebrated novels. You can read the article i found here if you are interested in finding out more about her.

Moving into non-fiction, i have been celebrating domesticity with Jane Brocket (I have written about her marvelous blog and quilting book on here before) and baking with Lorraine Pascall.

Jane Brocket briefly recounts her life to date in the Introduction of The Gentle Art of Domesticity, focusing on the somewhat uncomfortable relationship she had with work and the competing pull she felt towards the, somewhat anti-feminist, domestic arts. The book goes on to celebrate everything in the 'domestic space'. Flicking through, this book is beautiful (the edition with the pretty cover in my photo above is out of print, but i managed to get a hold of a copy through Oxfam). She takes you through colours, textures, baking, embroidery, quilting, photography, her garden and more; it is a smattering of everything 'domestic'. Its isn't a 'how to' book, although it does include a few recipes. I think it is more an item of inspiration itself. It enthuses me to get my sewing machine out, turn the oven on, and decorate my home with colour, warmth and love. Corny? Maybe, but i think she has the right idea.

Lorraine Pascall, the former supermodel turned baking goddess, recently had a show, Baking Made Easy, on BBC. I watched and loved! Now, her cookbook, of the same name,  is teaching me to bake bread. My first attempt went completely wrong when i substituted regular bread flour for gluten free flour. The whole half kilo of dough ended up in the bin. Second time around and actually using the listed ingredients, i baked a delicious rosemary focaccia! I also successfully made the Whoopee Cakes first time round. She gives actual tips, like throw ice in the bottom of the oven when you are baking bread (don't ask me why - read the book or watch the series!). Aside from the fact i nearly vomited when i read she was 39 years old (do you need me to hold your hair back for you?), she is just lovely. I love that she has tried so many professions, all in the pursuit of finding the perfect one for her. From what i have read, she has worked very hard to be successful in the culinary world and i am glad she is sharing her baking knowledge with me.

Turning to the magazines, I cant go a month without LivingEtc or Selvedge (actually, two months in Selvedge's case). LivingEtc sates my hunger to look in other people's houses, particularly people who have a good sense of design, space and seem to have a fairly large bank balance! The fact that this is my favourite magazine pretty much confirms i have turned into my mother. Every edition of Selvedge, published every two months, is a textile odyssey. Focusing on a specific aspect or theme of "textiles in fashion, fine art, interiors, travel and shopping", each issue has a very distinct feel. For example, the latest was 'The Localisation issue', two of my recent favourites were 'The Romance Issue' and 'The Quilt Issue'.  Even the advertisements in this magazine are beautiful.

Yay for magazine subscriptions!

Filtering flowers

These beautiful flowers were sent from my family for our anniversary 2 months ago now (can it be that long!). They were so pretty, and managed to stay bright and cheerful for well over a week on our mantel. I thought the pinks 'popped' with this filter from Instagram. Prettiness.

Quilting and instant gratification napkins

I have started a quilt - and i have probably bitten off a bit more than i can chew, but when has that ever stopped me?

I was shopping in Cath Kidston several months ago, when i spied the most beautiful quilt i have ever seen in my life! I don't know exactly what it was that made me love it SO much, but i think it might have been the use of white with the immense variety of pretty patterned colourful segments that pleased my eye. I am a pattern junky, and this quilt was overloaded with different types - all very retro, although i cant know its age, a lot of the fabrics remind me of my granny's linen cupboard, anything from 30's to 70's.

I think it is kind of a 'charm' quilt in that there were no obvious repeats in the fabric (there were a few though, it took me a good while to spot them), however i don't know that the white 'background' really fits with this. I wish i had some kind of quilt mentor who could answer my questions - in fact a quilt course at university would be brilliant, there is so much to know and learn! The other thing i especially loved was the 'floral' type arrangement of these patterned segments. I stood for ages trying to work out the pattern exactly and how it broke down into squares.

You might ask why i didn't just buy the quilt? Well at close to £500 it was a bit out of my budget, but i was determined to have something similar.

And so, after taking a few trips to fabric shops around London and to the Eternal Maker in Chichester, i have finally worked up the courage to try and make my own.

First of all, i needed to work out the pattern. I did this by using my finger and hand to measure the original pieces and then went from there - not an exact science, but i think i have got it right to the inch. I then got out my old school geometry set and employing both compass and protractor, started sketching away a plan. I had to remember all of the triangle rules and what angles i needed for each corner -  whoever said you never use maths again after school must have never tried to make up a quilt pattern before! Once i had this all sorted, i washed and ironed and folded about 12 different fabrics and began cutting.

I have managed to sew together the beginnings of my first square; I have at least 41 more to go! So, I am definitely in this for the long haul. I am pretty thrilled with it - and i hope one day i will have something that doesn't look too far off the original. As a complete novice i have struggled a little with sewing the curved edges together, but i am finding that hand sewing, is not only very relaxing, but also very forgiving. I hope that i will be able to employ my sewing machine at some point to try and speed the process up, but I'm not sure if i will be able to control how well all of the points meet. In any case, i am not in any hurry, aside from wanting to see it all finished and laid out on my new bed.

To sate my hunger for instant gratification, i whipped up these two napkins for the dinner table out of some left over Cath Kidston fabric i had left over from a table cloth.

Very satisfying.