February Styling The Seasons

So February is drawing to a close and this year seems to be flying by.  Such a mild year seems to be increasing that feeling as Spring comes earlier than normal and even the babies at the wildlife hospital are being born before their normal time.  The little welcome pops of flowers and colours are so encouraging and uplifting. I'm a bit sad that I had to refuse some orphaned squirrels this week, don't worry someone else will look after them, but my house is in upheaval and I just didn't feel that I could devote enough time to the premature babies. I expect that from mid March there will be lots of abandoned baby squirrels for me to mummy, and I can't wait.

I thought I would just post a selection of my favourite photos from this month as my Styling The Seasons post.  Blossom picked from the roadside, Eucalyptus from the florist and spring blooms from my garden.

I've just read (listened to actually as Im a massive Audible fan) the book called The Year Of Living Danishly.  It rang true for a number of reasons, my good friend in the UK is from Denmark and she has a very unusual and refreshing take on life. Also, as you may know, I travel to Sweden a lot and there are certainly similarities. Actually, I've just got an App to teach me Swedish, it's really quite hard for an old bird like me, but maybe I will have a few phrases for the next time I visit.  Myself and Van Asch are longing for a road trip with my god-daughters through the Swedish countryside and off the beaten track.  Fingers crossed for that. 

A word that has become very used outside of Denmark is Hygge - a word that describes being cozy, make tea, light a candle and eat a nice pastry, while tucked up in the warm.  This I'm very happy to do with the aid of some lovely tea from The Teashed and a candle from Clement & Claude.  Teashed teas are remarkably fresh tasting, I like breakfast tea and you can taste the difference from the normal major brands.

There is a magazine coming to photograph the house in two weeks so Im using it as the catalyst to make some changes that I've been thinking about for a while.  One of which is painting the wooden floor.  I've lived with it's natural wood colour for a few years now and bravely decided to see if we could cope with white floors! Four cats muddy footprints ! The other half is under strict instructions "no more shoes in the house".

I hope to show you the completed looks soon. Have a nice cozy time with some Hygge if you can, lots of love. Jx

At Mine

Sometimes in life really lovely things happen out of the blue, and when someone whom you admire likes what you do, this is one of those moments.

I could not believe it when the Interior Designer Abigail Ahern contacted me to say that they would like to feature my home on her blog House Crush.  I guess I love her style because it features so many elements that I too am crazy about, mainly coloured walls, dramatic looks with a lot of eccentricity and personality.

I think about colour quite a lot, I'm constantly wondering why it makes me feel a certain way and I tend to pick up on the odd psychologists interpretations of this.  Some colours can actually make you happy, seeing them releases Dopermine, the building block to motivation.  The most powerful colour for this is Green so it's not surprising that we like to have plants in the house.

Last week I made more changes as I have a magazine coming to photograph the house and wanted to try some new looks.  Also some things just need replacing like the hall carpet, particularly after I dropped black paint on it! ooops !

I painted the hall landing white, its a small landing at the top of the stairs with absolutely no character whatsoever.  My home was built in the 1980s and because it looks Victorian from the outside, nestled between cottages dating back to the 1600's, I have made it my mission to introduce character to a very boring square featureless home.  Adding floorboards, fireplaces, cornice, shutters etc.

So back to the white landing, well my other half said it looked clean and bright, but I just couldn't stand it.  The white, I realised, emphasized how boring it was, and no amount of fancy cupboards of pictures were going to convince me otherwise. 

Being a person of extremes, naturally my first thought was to go the complete opposite. So I reached for a tin of Graphite paint and slapped it on, much to the horror of the other half.  Luckily for me two very stylish girlfriends have been here in the last few days and both commented on how fabulous it was, so the other half is now convinced that perhaps, yes, we are bang on trend! 

This transformation from white to black made me realise why the dramatic works so well for me in this house. It's not just about my personal taste, but about the rooms themselves.

My dream home would be one with high ceilings, original features, some wood paneling, fireplaces in every room, a grand staircase .... yes you get the picture.  But when you buy a house, compromises have to be made, location is the most important because you can change the inside but not the outside or the positioning.

I think if I had a lovely Edwardian or Georgian town house I would go with white walls to showcase the space and the features, but when you are adding your own features and looks, colour and drama are essential in my book. 

I turned a small back bedroom into the bathroom, knocking through to a bathroom that you couldn't swing a cat in.  The claw foot bath wasn't expensive, I got it on-line at one of those discount warehouses.  After a few years I painted the bath with chalk paint, and then copper leafed over that, I just love those humungously expensive free standing copper baths, but well, that wasn't going to happen, so I created my own version.  I hate showers, Im a lay in the bath person, with all my toiletries and candles around me, some art on the wall ... I live slow.

You can see more of my home and little styled vignettes over at the amazing website caled At Mine, where you can also see into the homes of people all over the world. 

Thanks for taking the time to read, if you like my photos theres plenty more over on Instagram.  Lots of love xxx

Happy,' working' weekend !

After a busy week, we feel a tremendous need for tranquility and serenity. That means that we seek out the cosiness in our home....

Meanwhile, we are working on some new ideas for soft furnishings for our showroom. Afther 20 years of decorating and showing our potentials as decorators it is a challenge to present every time a new colourscheme and not to be forgotten.... it must also get the approval of our clients !
After so many years in the trade, we can say that we know the needs of our customers. It is therefore evident that we remain faithful to our style because that is the reason that they keep coming back. For some it may seem to be boring or plain, but the trick is to add just that little bit more  to an interior that makes it interesting.  Many  customers are loyal to the so-called Flemish style, whatever that may define...because it is more complex that what you might think...the Flemish style is more than 'greige' colours..
I found this interpretation about 'greige' on the internet...
They liked the idea of simplicity and honesty, the almost-Japanese restraint of his palette: grey, greeny-grey, greige , and all those distinctive non-colours.
Yes...non colours ! So the art to make this non colour interesting is to complement this greige with a touch of other colour(s) because lets be honest: a lot of people love 'greige'...it is what 'offwhite' colours were for the nineties...so not to be denied !
so yes...a challenge for the time to come !

I would like to share some impressions of our showroom as it is right now
 & of a private project. We like to add  subtle prints to basic colors and we also like ice blue faded colors to complement an offwhite & greige colourpalet.

wishing  you a very happy valentine weekend !
xxx
Sabine

A decorating project in the following pictures at a clients home..With kind 

 permission of our client to publish these pictures. We decorated the existing interior with complementing objects and provided a dining table in oak with os de mouton chairs, we also added a handmade lamp- shades.

Thanks for your confidence and purchases !

Crochet Dreamcatcher

When I was a youngster, way way back in time, my Mum and Nan used to crochet, I don't know why they preferred it to knitting, so I learnt to crochet, only teaching myself to knit quite recently.  However, it was so long ago that I had completely forgotten how to form the stitches in crochet, so after a refresher on 'you tube', it came back to me, it was like riding a bicycle.

The reason for my renewed interest was a project by Nicki Trench as part of her Crochet Club.  I've worked with Nicki a few times, as knitter and photographer, she is just so brilliant at making contemporary patterns, so far removed from the toilet roll dollies that my Nan made (oh the horror of them), they took the form of a crinoline lady, a barbie doll dressed in crochet costume, her skirt forming the cover for your unsightly toilet roll paper!  Just too hilarious for words, but bang on trend in 1970. 

The Crochet club lets it's members have one pattern a month, discounted yarns and special offers and events, well worth the 3.50 per month.

The stitches for the dreamcatcher uses chain stitch, double crochet and triple/treble stitch, plus some cluster stitches which Nicki explains how to do in the pattern.

Other than the yarn and hook you will need an embroidery hoop, some ribbons, feathers and beads.

I was fortunate to be able to use some treasured finds, feathers which I have collected when on rescues for the animal hospital (Swans and pheasant) and some picked up from the aviary which houses the Eagle Owls.

The beads were given to me years ago by my father, who worked in Cairo and collected wonderful things from the Souk.  I was always making jewellery so he found me these silver ornate bedouin beads.

Im so pleased with the result that I may make some more, the crocheting was very enjoyable, although my first attempt wasn't brilliant I felt I had got in the rhythm the second time.

Have a look at Nicki's website for all the things she has to offer, including the crochet club, find her over at nickitrench.com 

Nordic mitten and gloves

This winter my knitting passion has taken me down the road of mittens and gloves in traditional style and patterns of Norway and Scandinavia.

While in Sweden I found a wool shop in Sigtuna called Knocks, it doesn't only sell wool and is a magical shop with a real fire near the doorway. I asked them for Swedish wool and while my Swedish family of Van Asch all waited patiently on the street I finally found what I wanted - two skeins of a quite fine, 2ply sport weight wool from a company called Ullcentrum Oland. The wool is quite coarse but high in oils which makes it ideal for gloves that may get wet and take a bit more wear. I would say it is probably a bit too scratchy to wear next to the torso but on less soft areas like hands and feet it is ideal.  I have noticed that softer fine wools like Rowan felted tweed will wear through on the sole of the foot, particularly if you are walking around on wooden floors like me. The lovely people at Ullcentrum have told me that if you felt the item by putting it in hot water for a short amount of time, that it will soften.  When I say coarse, I don't mean that as a criticism, because it is perfect for mittens and socks which get a lot of friction.

The ethos behind the Swedish wool company Ullcentrum is also very lovely as the owner, Ann, originally started by collecting the unused raw wool from local farmers and turning it into yarns and clothing. Previously they were throwing it away and now this company supports many local farmers. The yarn is stocked all over the world so have a look at their website for where is your local stockist, I just ordered it direct from them as I wanted some more.

I found some patterns on Ravelry and also some from a book I just bought from Amazon.  I love the mittens with the pointed tops, not only are they cute but also they give you a lovely large space for a design on the back of the hand.  However, one does sometimes want to use your fingers so I also tried out the gloves.

The black and white contrast shows the designs off to their best, but the patterns aren't just decorative, oh no, there is a meaning in the patterns too.

Working in two colours on small circular needles gives the glove a double thickness.  I had to change to double pointed needles for the fingers, which are fiddly to be sure, but not impossible, and this book above gives very clear instructions on how to divide up the hand for the four fingers. The pattern on the black and white glove is called The Lord's Supper.  The border around the wrist is called a rose garland, or rosary to the saints and the main rose is the symbol of Jesus.  On the palm is a design which represents the communion wafer from the last supper. 

The brown and grey gloves are using some left over wools and I decided for these to knit the fingers in one colour so that they weren't so thick and cumbersome.

these are my fingerless version for when you need a bit more dexterity

I'm still experimenting with designs and styles, making some variations on the patterns and trying to perfect the technique.
This month I joined the hashtag on Instagram called #wipsandblooms so if you are a maker of anything you should join with us as there is a competition prize every month.

Knitting is a great stress reliever, it really is like a form of meditation and I absolutely love it.  I only learnt a few years ago, just by watching you tube videos, so if you want to own and wear something beautiful that you have also made yourself, faults and all, then start with small items and scarves to get an idea of how to shape and turn.

Later this month I shall also be involved with some knitting for charity and hope to pass along information about how to get involved in that, until then, happy knitting.