Freestanding Kitchen

I have, over time changed the old fitted kitchen in my home for a freestanding kitchen. I would wait till a piece of furniture the right size turned up and then rip out the section and replace, that way there wasn't too much disruption plus my husband was slightly horrified that I wanted to rip out a perfectly good working kitchen so this way it was less painful for him. He's happy now though as it does open up the kitchen.

This is the first piece I replaced, it's actually the top part of a dresser, I just painted it white then added some feet and tiled the top to make it practical for kitchen use.

I took down all wall units and replace with shelves, this black shelf is actually part of a dressing table.

The hooks are on an old piece of skirting board, I just painted it white, added the hooks, painted the numbers then sanded the whole thing to distress.

Another wired chandelier, I'm addicted to making these, at Christmas they all get swapped around for little red ones.

A couple of jumble sale finds.

Linking today with Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday.

and French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Fridays

Handmade Chandelier

I always wanted one of those tiny chandeliers but as yet have never come across one on my vintage hunts so I make them using wire and a few glass droplets.

Even harder to find are the coloured droplets.

So I experimented with glass paint. I found the colours basic and quite dark, so I mixed them, here I mixed green with blue, then added white spirit (like you would when adding water to watercolours) till I achieved a watery turquoise.

I purchased the primary colours:- blue, red and yellow, you can then mix any colour you want.

You can still wash the droplets in soapy water and the paint won't wash off.

I'm linking today with Sarah over at a beach cottage

In the House Flowers and Pyrex Dinnerware

Well with the weekend over its back to the hectic Monday morning rush of getting the kids off to school/college, made worse by the fact that we lost an hour with the clocks changing. So this morning I waved goodbye to a couple of very sleepy-eyed teenage children.

I had a quite weekend, went to my usual Saturday Jumble sale. Most of the time I come away empty handed but this time I found some lovely white Luminarc Pyrex dinnerware, the're made in France and are a toughened glass which apparently do not break when dropped.

I already have a few small plates and breakfast bowls but this time I found larger dinner plates, more breakfast bowls and some small coffee cups and saucers. I love them they have a pure white translucent quality.

Then on Sunday whilst the Sunday roast was roasting I spent some time in the garden, not for too long though as our lovely sunny warm spell has broken and we're back to chilly spring days.

Whilst pottering I thought I would cut a few daffodils for Jane's, over at SmallButCharming In the House Flowers link up.

and put them in my little french cups... why is it that as soon as I discover that it's french it becomes more appealing to me.

These hyacinths are still in my kitchen, the're a week old and still filling the kitchen with their scent.

A David Austin Rose

I have over 20 roses crammed in my garden a few of them bred by David Austin but mostly climbing roses which I train into a fan shape on fences. Not all the roses are doing superbly well due to our sandy soil here, growth is usually slow and plants can take a few years to get establish but once they do, they go well.

To be honest I don't really have the room in my small garden for yet another rose but a favourite magazine of mine were offering a free David Austin Rose for all their readers so I couldn't really resist. There was a slight catch, you couldn't choose which variety you wanted but then all Austin roses in my opinion are lovely.

This is the rose that I received, Port Sunlight..yes happy with this one, my ultimate favourite would have been Jude the Obscure but this rose looks beautiful in the catalogue.

Inside a Cabinet

The bathroom is the only room in the house where I have wallpaper, this is Laura Ashley and of course , being me, it's flowery. I'm quite lucky my husband dosn't seem to mind, I just get the odd rolling eyes now and then. I try not to get too flowery for his and my sons sake but it creeps in. The strange thing is although I surround myself with flowers everyday, within the house and garden I never wear flowery clothes, I tend to prefer block colours and stripes.










This cabinet has been many shades of white over the years but recently I painted the inside a soft blue/green and then chipped away with the paint scraper to reveal the different layers.












Once a month in Norwich, there's an antique collectors fair at one of the large churches, I love them, you have to sharpen your elbows as they attract a lot of people but I never come away from these events disappointed. This old bottle of hair tonic, still with its contents, was found there I believe it's from around the 1950's.












The flower here is from my garden, its an alpine, I have a bit of a collection of these plants as they do really well in the sandy soil here. I have them dotted around in all the cracks on walls/patio floor. This one is a really nice white Saxifraga.








I use spice jars for my small collections, the're only about 2-3 inches tall and I just pop, my find, in after a walk.









Just simple little things, some white feathers, sea glass and shells.








The crystal handle was found at the same antiques fair as the bottle.









and thats the inside of my cabinet.



I'm linking today with:-

Spring

Thought I would bring a touch of spring to an ever changing dresser.




Today I am linking with sarah at http://abeachcottage.com

Blue Hyacinths and a Pinata

I had quite a busy Sunday, again weather lovely, I weeded, tidied, swept the garden, made a Sunday roast, then helped my daughter, Chloe, make a pinata for a friends 18th birthday get-together.

As we were busy tearing newspaper and sloshing glue I asked what are you going to put in the pinata, meaning what sweets and she replied ...

Oh we're not putting in sweets, we're putting in crab sticks.. I must of looked confused because she quickly said .. yes we're all eating healthy at the moment. :S

I'm linking today with Smiling Sally http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/for Blue Monday.

Faded Roses

These roses were left over from Valentines Day, the leaves were dry and curly, the heads slightly droopy.. I went to throw them away and then realised although over a month old they were probably more beautiful now then fresh.






When fresh the roses were dark red now the papery petals have faded to cerise with bluish tones.







This chair was bought at a car boot sale about ten years ago for about £10, it was quite different then with orange wood and red velvet upholstery.






I painted the wood in Dulux satin Jasmine White, I then let it dry for a good week and rather than sandpaper to distress I use a paint scraper, I find this chips the paint away.





Living in a small house means corners need to be flexible this old pine table doubles up as a dressing table and desk.






Today I am linking with





and My Romantic Home http://romantichome.blogsport.com/

Vintage Finds

I had rather a lucky, vintage find, weekend. The weather again was glorious and that always puts me in the mood to have a wander round my favourite places. I went to the usual junk/antique shops but couldn't see anything that appealed to me but on my walk back home I noticed the local church had a Jumble sale, if like me, you are always on the look out for items that are unusual or different this is the place to go.

I have been on the hunt for one of these crock-pots for a while, good for winter stews.

I'm always on the look out for these, this one has lovely pale green paint.

A glass etched decanter, minus its lid, but I wanted it for flowers anyway so that doesn't matter.

Very starched linen.

Lovely old weathered flower pots, they do have a tendency to break in the frost but lovely all the same.

Last of the Crocuces

My daughter had a day trip to Brighton yesterday, she's pursuing a career in fashion and her and some friends had interviews with the college there. Although they had a busy schedule they still managed to do some shopping in the vintage shops. She came home with an ice skaters dress and a cheer leader skirt, not quite sure how she is going to wear them but she has that knack and somehow it always seems to work.









I am always on the look out for vessels for little posies, this shell on my dressing table is one I hadn't thought of before.







A bit of mystery this little blue flower, something I never planted, it must of seeded itself from a neighbouring garden.







Just wanted to play with textures today.

I am linking today over at My Romantic Home:- http://www.romantichome.blogspot.com