A New Home - A New Linen Closet

Our little cottage hasn't a linen closet or 'airing cupboard' built-in anywhere. Our old home had a lot of built-in storage and we have a lot of linens! So we needed to improvise.

I bought this little bookcase on eBay, originally sold at IKEA, and decided it needed a simple make-over in order to house our linens just outside the bathroom on the landing by the stairs.We collected it from the seller and washed it all, inside and out. Then began the process of searching for the perfect fabric to make a curtain for it. Initially, I wanted to use a piece of vintage fabric - oh I have a lot of that! And finally using a vintage piece might be a good idea, rather than continuing to hoard it.
But while searching for storage containers for the bathroom I stumbled across this fabric at Laura Ashley and fell in love.

Laura Ashley Portland Fabric in Cotton/Linen Blend

Not only was this stunning material available for my project, it had matching/coordinating storage boxes and wallpaper, too!
The colours are gorgeous and the design so perfect - large, shaded-blue flowers on an ivory ground. Mixing up traditional design with modern style. For certain this was a winning combination. It was as good as sold.

I purchased a meter of the fabric and a set of the storage boxes (sadly, now sold-out) and the lovely salesgirl also provided me with a very large piece of the wallpaper as a sample, at no charge.
The result is a curtain for the bookcase and some storage boxes to keep the bathroom soaps, medicines, etc, all in three tidy boxes. (More on how the wallpaper is to be used in another post.)
Here are some photographs of the finished linen closet. Total cost about £75.00.
We are still quite bare in the house - nothing up on the walls yet, and still with a lot stored in boxes, but it will all improve in time.
You can see some of the fabric hoard under the beds in the background! Oh and naturally - there are tons more linens - of the vintage kind - under there, too!
More to come - watch this space!
xxx
Maggie

It's Alll About Me!

Welcome to Natasha's Party! She reminds us that it is important to take time out for ourselves, and I will write more about this theme another time as I would like to elaborate upon it, but for now, a huge "THANK YOU" to Natasha for inspiring us to do a little something for ourselves.

Well, maybe it is only partly about me! I can't get used to the idea of bragging on myself, so-to-speak.
Oh the plans were in the works after reading Natasha Burns idea to host a party featuring the things we said we would do by today.
Well, for me, that meant wait until the last minute because naturally other things came first.

Because I had said I would join the party, I was in a panic yesterday.
No, the stairs were not refinished as I had thought they would be. The day I had set aside to work on the stairs was taken by an emergency and then never got replaced. But the chair - oh that darned chair - it was staring at me throughout all of the six weeks we had been given to complete our projects and still went untouched.
So yesterday I began my work in earnest.

This is the chair that needs attention . . .

In this picture it is all clean and ready to go.

I scrubbed the chair and set it to dry in front of the fire.
I plodded through mounds of fabric to determine which I would select for the cushion.
I chose a vintage cotton chintz that would look nice with the paint colour.


Then looked at the paint I had on hand.
Then today, bright and early, I set about some light sanding and some final cleaning before I began the process of painting the chair.

Farrow and Ball Traditional Paint

The chair has been painted, and the sewing has commenced, but alas, I have failed the challenge as my chair is not yet complete.
I will continue working on it later tonight and add photographs of the progress.
Then I will visit your little websites and have a look at what all of you have managed to complete. I can't wait! It is so exciting!
More to come . . .
xxx
Maggie

Addendum: Well, the best plans are well . . . stopped! LOL!
Oh the mistakes I have made on the chair's cushion!
You can see from the image above that I had cut out shaped, fitted cushion covers. My intention was to make a proper fitted cushion cover complete with piping.
But since this is a rather low sitting chair, I wanted to try to raise it up a bit. So I figured that padding the springs first would be a good idea, and then, topping that with my lovely cushion.

Umm, well, that didn't work out visually, although it did make the chair oh so comfortable to sit upon! With the added height, the cushion looked awkward and too high on the seat, so I have decided to scrap that idea and just wrap the cover instead.
I haven't done it yet, well not to any sort of professional-looking product, anyway, but I have taken a photo to show you how it will look, (even if a bit frumpy right now) when it is completed.
At least this way you can see the paint, too!
I am off now to have a look at your lovely creations and to be inspired!

For the Love of Tile! Get to Homebase this week!

Hello friends,
This is just for my UK friends as it might be a abit difficult for shopping for those of you based in countries elsewhere!
We found a fabulous deal on mosaic tiles at HOMEBASE this week. If you are looking to remodel your bathroom or loo, get there quick before they're sold out.
Homebase put their own brand ceramic and glass mosaic tiles on clearance this week.
We were able to purchase a box of white, glass mosaic tiles, containing ten sheets per box, for only £3.20 in white.
We bought enough boxes to recover our bathroom floor and two small loos for about £32!
The ceramic was slightly more money, which was odd, since my research had shown the glass are usually more money.
I will post photos when we are finished with the work. For sure it will be a project for autumn as we are off to America soon!
Happy shopping!

Wednesday Book Club: The Curtain Bible

I adore this book!
The simplicity of the designs; creative use and reuse of fabrics and linens; colours; and gorgeous setting makes it a must have - especially if you are redecorating.

Sharing is catching . . . in searching for a source for you to find copies of this fabulous book, I discovered more titles in the series by the same author, Katrin Cargill.
Soooooooooo it will be fun for me to look, purchase, and read some of her other fabulous-looking books:
Lampshades: Home Living Workbooks
Simple Soft Furnishings: 50 Stylish Sewing Projects to Transform Your Home
Katrin Cargill's Simple Curtains: Creative Ideas & 20 Step-By-Step Projects
A Passion for Pattern
Pillows: Home Living Workbooks
Bed Linens: Home Living Workbooks
The Home Furnishing Workbook: With 32 Step-by-step Projects
Embroidery: 25 Classic Step-By-Step Projects (Traditional Needle Arts)
Easy Country: A New Approach to Country Style
Swedish Style: Creating the Look
Katrin Cargill's Simple Pillows: Creative Ideas & 20 Step-By-Step Projects
Fabrications: Over 1,000 Ways to Decorate Your Home with Fabric
Painted Furniture: Making Ordinary Furniture Extraordinary With Paint, Pattern, and Color
Creating Cottage Style: Stylish Ideas And Step-by-step Projects
Contemporary Painted Furniture

I own a copy of The Curtain Bible, and love it, so I believe some of these these titles will also be coming home in the future!

xxx
Maggie