Pin Up Peg Board from Rose and Grey

This month's styling challenge from the on-line company Rose & Grey is a white peg board, definitely an old school item for sure.

The board comes with cute little wooden pegs which have different coloured tips, they are quite secure when pushed in and as you can see will take light weight objects.

I started with a children's theme as I had a lot of baby toys in the house.  No, don't go and get all broody on me, and no, I haven't got some exciting news to tell you, the only patter of tiny feet in this house are from cats .... lots of cats ...and squirrels. 

As I don't have children this is one area of decorating that has passed me by, and whilst I pride myself on having just about every prop imaginable for photos, I was severely lacking in the baby department.

The reason for the baby items came about because I was photographing some adorable keepsake toys which had been made from baby clothes and embroidered with the child's name and birth date.

It was a lucky coincidence really because I think the pegboard looks like something that would fit nicely in a nursery or young persons room, (although it is so completely versatile I can also imagine in in a stylish office) and it fits nicely with the keepsakes theme as this would be a great way to display cards, baby shoes and small toys.

And if it's not going from one extreme to another, here's my Styling The Seasons photo for Halloween, featuring my Ziggy, who was bribed with treats ... appropriately .... Ziggy says Treat not Trick!

Peg Board is available from Rose & Grey, Mirror Glass Stars from http://www.holycowhome.co.uk/ , broom Ikea, Hat Waitrose, and Keepsakes From My Sewing Room 

Loving my blender

It has been my intention for quite some time to expand my blog posts into more life style than just interiors, my focus on colour inspiration took up a lot of my time this year so I'm hoping to now expand more into travel and food and whatever takes my fancy that I think might be of interest to you.

The food element, however, may not be such traditional content as recipes but more the 'non cooks' alternatives. And so, as it has influenced my eating habits since August I really would like to talk about the Nutri-bullet (or nutritional smoothies however you achieve them).

As a non cook, I'm not very good at getting my five a day, I don't eat junk, (perhaps as the odd treat), but I was concerned that I should try and pack in more nutrition into my diet.  The other thing is that I don't really like to eat fruit, I buy it, it sits in the bowl, it goes soft and grows a furry jacket and I throw it away. That's the brutal honesty, good intentions which somehow don't come through.  Several ladies I'd met this year were raving about the Nutri-bullet and when my tattooist Tracy told me that there's virtually no washing up, well, I was sold. I'm telling you this because if I can switch then maybe so can you.

It will probably take too long to explain all the combinations of fruit, vegetable and nuts/seeds etc. as these are explained in the brochure when you buy the bullet and the possibilities are endless, so here's just my preference for those who don't normally like the taste of green and healthy drinks. 

To get some greens into the drink you put a handful of kale or spinach in first, not too much to start with especially if you don't like the taste like me, but hopefully the other fruits will disguise this.  Then something to create a creamy texture, for me that's always banana. Then you go freestyle with your other combinations, mango, strawberry, blueberry, pear and so on. The liquid can be water, coconut water, juice or almond/coconut milk. I also add some oats. For sweetness add dates then pop in some super food extras like Goji berries and Chai seeds, nuts etc.  OK you get the picture.

Generally speaking this will all taste great, however, every now and again the colour may look a bit brown and this puts me off.  So to keep my enthusiasm up I try to make the colour as nice as possible too.

At a recent get together with some other local business women I was given some sachets from a company called "Love Your Blender".

They make five different flavours of a super food boost to add to your cup before blending. I had never heard of the fruit Lacuma, anyway the Sweet Lacuma blend gives a lovely caramel taste, the sachet contains, Lacuma, Carob, Vanilla, Mulberry, hemp seeds, pecan nuts and flax seeds. All this adds fibre, good fats and proteins.

The Cherry Rose additive sachet is really good for your skin, containing Acerola Cherries, Rose Petals, Sea Buckthorn Berries, Vanilla Pod, Almonds and Hemp Seeds.  'Love Your Blender' give you recipe ideas and this is a great help as it cuts down on the hit and miss of free-styling.  For all the detailed information check out their website here 

I need to keep myself interested and inspired so these have been a great help and I'm thinking that when there is less choice in seasonal fruits around they would be a good taste booster. 

Personally, I feel the smoothies are great as a meal replacement and it's a good idea to have at least one a day, they are very filling too so I'm sure you won't feel hungry.  If I find any more killer recipes I will let you know and please can you also tell me of any of your favourite fruit combinations, any recommendations gratefully received. 

Styling The Seasons with Annie Sloan Wall Paint

Last year I was a 'painter in residence' for the chalk paint by Annie Sloan, before being chosen I had been using it for some time on walls, despite the fact that it was originally intended for furniture. For me it was a welcome change to traditional emulsion paint, giving a velvety matt surface.  The lack of sheen on the surface gives the colour more depth which changes throughout the day depending on the light. 

This however is not for everyone and is probably not ideal for areas of high wear or where water might splash. So now to fill that gap, Annie Sloan has developed a specific wall paint and this week I got to try it out.

My studio has wooden 'tongue & groove' panel walls, so in actuality I was painting over a standard emulsion on wood. This made the roller slip a bit so there is some slight patching, this would only take a few minutes to rectify and was down to the roller and not the paint.

I'm so familiar with the original chalk paint I find normal major brand paints very weird. Firstly, emulsion wall paint is so thin and splattery, needing several coats very often and the cheaper the paint the worse it is.  Secondly with wood paint Im allergic to the fumes and this was the major reason I changed to chalk paint in the first place.

The colour I've used here is Versailles, but please don't take these photos as a good representation of it, I was shooting in quite strange light and depending on your computer screen settings, the colour will not be precise.  For a truer colour look at the Annie Sloan site  and get tester pots, paint large areas of the walls you want and see how it looks in situ. I have seen Versailles look quite yellow in some light but in my studio it is a pale coffee beige. I wanted a neutral that seemed quite seasonal, matching the tones of changing leaves in nature. 

So how is this paint in comparison? Well, firstly I was really surprised with how thick it is, it must be the thickest wall paint on the market.  This I think would be particularly useful if you are painting a light colour over a dark colour, on the last photo I painted over a very dark blue chalk paint on the chimney breast and it covered it just fine. Also as I was painting onto a wall there was no slipping with the roller so its incredibly flat there.

I used a very cheap and very rubbish roller to apply the paint, just to put it through its paces.  It went on the wall a treat and while it didn't look 'even' when wet, it dried all one colour. 

The paint has a very slight silk finish so is suitable for wiping down or splashes of water but still matt enough not to be shiny.  

  

You can see the range here.  The coverage was good for a thick paint too and so if you are using the furniture paint you can find a wall colour that will work with it as Annie's paints sit very well together and she gives excellent tips about which ones sit alongside each other. 

While I'm here I would like to say a thank you also to stockist Dawn at Halcyon Days in Rye who very kindly gave me a tester of the wall paint in Duck Egg Blue, which I've used in a few photos now. I wandered into her shop when on holiday this year and we spent lots of time there chatting and laughing, she has some great vintage items too. 

The wreath on the chimney breast is now on its third or fourth incarnation. It was the one that I was given when we went to the 'Styling Spring At Mine" workshop.  It is now resplendent with dry hydrangea heads and I expect will get a bit of ivy and maybe even some holly nearer to Christmas.   

This wall paint has given me the bug again, I'm thinking about some other lighter colours now the natural daylight is disappearing. Also time soon to dig out the furry rugs and woolen throws. I've already started to light fires as there is a distinct nip in the air, and yet there are still roses on the bushes outside so it's an odd time to be sure.

Janice. 

Urban Jungle Bloggers Plants and Blooms

Im so happy to be part of this community of Urban Jungle Bloggers, Igor and Judith are very generous in sharing posts and photos and their appeal is worldwide so it's very interesting to see people from other countries following the same challenges.

This month its Plants and Blooms, very appealing to me as there is usually some floral element in my photos, it's the finishing touch, a way to capture forever the beauty of something transient and fragile.  Below are some of my home grown roses, the bushes were planted this year and still giving me lots of fragrant blooms.

My background colour in these two shots is using Annie Sloan Wall Paint in Duck Egg Blue, but as I painted over a green colour this may have effected its hue. Always consider this when painting, colours will change from that on the tin if you are painting over another strong colour. 

I shall be reviewing this new wall paint soon, with full details of how it differs from Annie Sloan's chalk paint.

Above is a new play thing, a notice board from Rose & Grey. It comes with clips and a finish that looks like old wooden pallets. 

I should also mention that a couple of these small planters are hand made. Above the little pale green one is from Katie Robbins (Ceramic Magpie) and below the mug top left is from the online store The Future Kept.

This large round vase is a vintage one by the company Bitossi, a highly collectable retro range.  I really want one of their lions, and am always on the look out for one.

More vintage goodies in this photo, I attended a truly fab event The Bloggers Vintage Jumble and instagram meet. Fellow bloggers from far and wide congregated on a sunny Sunday afternoon for tea cake and shopping in a village hall in Lindfield. It was lovely to see the faces of social media friends, a too rare occurrence in my opinion.

Jessica Trent sold me the embroidered table cloth and this was one of many great items I came home with, I was unable to show any restraint. Heather Young very generously let me snaffle the hydrangeas.  I'm currently growing a lot of the plants but as it's their first year the blooms are still a bit young and floppy to hold any shape when cut. From what I can work out, the hydrangea heads only look like this when they are quite old flowers which almost dry on the bush before picking. So thank's Heather you have saved me doing a midnight raid on a neighbours garden .... :)

My next blogger meet is in Bristol for the Sisterhood Supper with Toast, not toast to eat, silly, but Toast the great label. The food is being cooked by a well known chef and we will be learning calligraphy and wreath making. 

I hope you are all enjoying the Autumn colours, in the UK we have been blessed with such great weather the last few months making this time of year even more special. 

Inspiration for fall decorating

Since more than 20 years, every time we decorate at our clients homes, we get great response of our clients and we still feel privileged every time because our customers give us this opportunity.

Many customers ask us to finish their interior with objects to complete the overall look and often we have to work around existing object and furniture. It takes tremendous energy to compose a personal proposal ready for the customer.

Fortunately, they give us their full confidence and the achieved results are always satisfying  ! 

Sadly I do not always find the time to take pictures and frankly I do not always want to violate their privacy.

Despite that fact,from time to time I do take some pictures of impressions and given approval of the clients to publish. 
Therefore, I sincerely want to thank them for this privilege and I hope that they will like the following results !

Hope you enjoy my pictures & get inspired too !
Sabine
XXX

All the following decorations, furniture, reupholstery and curtains are provided by us.
Pictures are all taken by me at the homes of several clients.

project  in Belgium

Table, objects and reupholstery of an existing footstool

curtains 

   

reupholstery

reupholstery and curtains

reupholstery

coffeetable, carpet and objects 

reupholstery of an existing sofa, cushions, decoration, coffeetable and carpet

Project in the Netherlands

sofa,curtains, carpet an seat

sofa, seat,curtains, cushions, carpet, coffeetable

Project in Belgium

tablecloth,carpet, decoration and lamp

lamp and decoration

consoletable, decoration and lamp

decoration 

decoration and painting

sofa and cushions

seat and carpet

reupholstery of existing armchairs

Country Curtains - Divinely Vintage

This week I had the pleasure to work with a lovely lady called Sue from Divinely Vintage.  

Sue has been specialising in curtains for 20 years and certainly knows her stuff.  The main part of her business is in second-hand designer curtains which originally would have been extremely expensive. We aren't talking flimsy ready mades here, but bespoke heavy curtains made for country homes and manor houses, all at a snip of their original price.

You can find Sue's curtains through a number of different ways, theres a facebook page, website, ebay and etsy shops and also several Antique shops where she sells (Ampthill Emporium and St. Martins Antiques Stamford), all the links are on their website.

There are many big designer names in Sue's stock, Colefax and Fowler, Sanderson, Zofany etc. Most of these curtains are lined and inter-lined, and as the weather is now turning colder this is a perfect time to change over from your Summer lights to some serious draught preventing door and window drapes.

Sue stores much of her stock in a listed barn, which it is hoped will be turned into a showroom.  Amongst the beams are piles of gorgeous vintageness, so we had a rummage and took some of the stock outside. 

As this was probably the last of the beautiful weather we were so happy that the sun shined for us this week, a nip in the air but oh so lovely and much appreciated after the rain.

Recently Sue was commissioned to re-home all the curtains from Toddington Manor and this is another of the services she offers, working on commission to find a good home for a used quality item.

Im sure if you read this blog then you are like minded when it comes to second hand, it's not always perfect and even if it seems dated in some settings, it is possible to re-invent a look for it.  In the 1980s the fashion for floral was to have it everywhere, every surface covered, with extra borders and frills, a bit much Im sure you will agree, but take out some elements from that period, like some lovely Designer Guild curtains and put them in a setting with wooden floors and plain walls and you will create a whole new look.

For all the links to see Sue's curtains and outlets go to her website http://www.divinelyvintage.co.uk/ and give a home some old manor glamour.