Home is...

...all in the detail.

A hotch-potch coffee pot and a beautiful old painting of geraniums in terracotta pots; where art imitates life - and life imitates art!

The vibrant, golden yellow of the freesia echoed in painted walls, a vintage curtain...

...and a pretty glass.

Keeping everything to hand.

Aged paintwork on an old wooden airer is softened by pretty vintage fabrics.

Relaxing in vintage style.

An eclectic mix of much-loved bits and pieces.

Finding the comfiest spot.

A place for dreams.

Floral splendour in the garden.

I hope you all enjoy these snapshots from our very own Vintage Home!

Union Jack Cushions and More!

We have enjoyed making an individual range of Union Jack cushions over the past year - the one above was one of my favourites! Recently, we were commissioned to make several extra-large Union Jack cushions and whilst the sewing machine was up and running and our vast stash of vintage fabrics was strewn across the studio, we took the opportunity to make a few extra for the website. Each of the following three cushions are very different in style...

We though we would mix things up a bit with this one! It has been nicknamed 'The Italian Job' and is made from vintage French fabrics!

This pretty pastel cushion has some lovely old Sanderson fabrics in it.

This is a beautiful mix of warm tones and again includes an old Sanderson fabric and a rich floral patterned red linen.

We hope to make a few more special items from our vintage fabrics over the coming months, although we are currently pretty busy with the day-to-day running of the website. Our buying trips are such fun and we have enjoyed great success in finding some exceptional vintage treasures just lately. We have recently featured in several magazines and the Daily Mail, and I understand we are currently in Berkshire Life magazine but I haven't seen a copy yet! The response and interest has been tremendous and fuels our enthusiasm to bring you even more beautiful and interesting vintage goodies! Thank you to everyone who has recently purchased from Vintage Home or left a comment here on our blog - I will be back soon with more news and photos! Enjoy your weekend! Clare

Happy Easter!

I'd like to wish you all a very Happy Easter - have fun wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

Spring is Sprung!

Thank you for your wonderful comments and emails regarding our feature in the magazine. It has been such an amazing month and so many lovely things have been happening. Also, for the most part, the weather has been glorious (let's not count this week!) and I thought I would share these beautiful images with you.
A host of golden daffodils...



...and blossom in the lane.

We also had a winner of our prize draw,


such a lovely lady who I know will enjoy sharing the hamper with her family.

Thank you to everyone who has waited patiently for their mugs and mouse mats - you'll be pleased to hear that stocks of these have now been fully replenished! Due to our recent, successful buying trips we have masses of gorgeous vintage stock which we are adding to the website as fast as we can! In particular, we have a huge amount of exceptional textiles which I must admit I will find it difficult to part with!

This bedspread is a riot of fifties florals and one of my favourites - oh those gorgeous roses, poppies and peonies!

Hope you all enjoy the photos - back soon...

Reasons to be Cheerful!

According to the song, there are 1, 2, 3 reasons to be cheerful! Currently, for me I think No. 1 has to be the recent Springlike weather we've been having. I know it hasn't been sunshine for everyone but there has been a lot of sun around and the signs of Spring are everywhere. No. 2 is the feature of our home in the current issue of the BBC Homes & Antiques magazine.

The photographer, Nick Carter, has captured the cosiness of the cottage and we are really pleased with the feature which gives you a peek into our home - and a taste of the bold, vintage floral theme we have all over the house!

Reason to be cheerful No. 3 is most definitely the bright and pretty floral textiles we have recently added to the website. The rich and vibrant colours are extremely uplifting. There's this stunning French cushion...

...these gorgeous 1950s red roses curtains...

...and another fabulously bold French cushion.

I'd love to hear your '3 Reasons to be Cheerful'!

Trim Reflections

Whilst out and about on our travels in search of vintage treasures for the website, we come across so many wonderful and fascinating finds that it is often hard to resist their appeal, and this in turn, leads us into different areas of vintage and collecting. One such area which holds a great fascination for me is vanity, grooming and beauty. This covers a vast and diverse range of pretty items, so there is plenty of scope for building collections and displays.


When I came across this beautiful Victorian Y & N Corset advertising mirror at a recent antiques fair I couldn't resist its rarity and simple beauty...

...with its delicately etched glass lettering and original heavy wooden frame. Women today have a significantly different life from those in Victorian days and one of those contrasts is in the way we dress. My research on the Y & N corset revealed it was really rather innovative in its day, being heralded as 'the most comfortable corset ever made'.

But I have to wonder just how comfortable it was. History has documented the terrible damage to women's organs, which was attributed to the long-term wearing of the restrictive corsets and ladies would often faint because they were unable to breathe properly!

The Y & N corset was revolutionary in its day and its 'diagonal seam' gave the corset extra strength and created a more pronounced hourglass figure. It featured a heart-shaped bust and was popular for evening wear and cleavage enhancement! I don't doubt it was still highly restrictive for women and having never worn a corset (honestly!) I can only imagine how it must have felt to wear one.

So, given the emancipation of today's Western women, many vintage vanity and grooming items are not only desirable and decorative objects, they are also a reminder that things were very different for our female ancestors.

A Special Thank You!

We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone who has emailed us or left a comment with regard to our new-look website. We were overwhelmed with the response and consequently have been working very hard packing and posting for the last couple of weeks! We are continuing to add new stock and are delighted to reveal that we have also been lucky enough to obtain some real beauties for the textiles section - these will be finding their way onto the website in the coming weeks. Thank you all once again and don't forget you still have time to enter the prize draw (see post below.)

An Anniversary Celebration for Valentine's Day!

We are delighted to announce that today is the 2nd Anniversary of the Vintage Home online shop! It is thanks to you all that our little shop has grown and grown over the past couple of years and although we know you love the individual style of the website, in celebration of our anniversary, we have revamped the website and given it an all-new look, plus there are two new exclusive additions to the shop - and a free prize draw!

Of course, we are continuing to bring you the most gorgeous vintage treasures as well as new features, even more beautiful images - and a home page with a different flavour to it each time you visit or refresh the screen - try it and see! Yes, Mike has certainly been very busy over the past few months and created an altogether and rather different look to Vintage Home!

As well as the varied vintage selection of goodies, we are thrilled to offer our very own bone china mug! This has been designed by us and is exclusive to Vintage Home. The pattern is based on a 1940s wallpaper...

...handmade in England using fine bone china...

...and traditional printing methods.

Plus, there's another exclusive; an all-new design of mouse mat...

...fresh and pretty polka dots on blue with pink rosebuds!

This pattern is based on a 1950s fabric which we have treasured for years but simply haven't been able to bring ourselves to cut up for use in sewing projects. By the way, our ever-popular Victorian roses mouse mat is still available too!

As always, we've been busy finding some truly amazing vintage delights and, along with many more, they have been added to the shop today, including these lovely ladies...
...a 1930s French mannequin head...

...a 1920s decorative box...

...and a delightful Victorian chromo.

As a thank you for your custom and comments over the years, we have put together a rather special box of indulgent goodies and would like to invite you to take part in a prize draw.

We thought it would be fun to make it into a little 'treasure hunt' with a Valentine's connection - click HERE for details of how to enter - you can also leave a comment on this post and, if you have the time, I would really love to hear what you think of the new website!

We hope you enjoy the new-look website and we look forward to bringing you even more beautiful vintage treasures for many more years to come! Happy Valentine's Day!