When is a chair not a chair..?

...When it has been transformed into a truly beautiful, one-off gorgeous piece of vintage furniture!!!

It's a 1930s armchair which had been re-covered in recent years, but was now rather drab, dreary, tattered and torn (thanks to the cats!) and more than a tad grubby in places! I had a vision of a patchwork of rosy vintage fabrics and having some fabrics that I thought would be perfect, I went on the hunt for more. Of course, I regularly changed my mind with regard to colours, styles etc!

There is such a lovely variety of fabrics here; old Sanderson linen; 50s roses cotton; French florals; rosey barkcloth - all stitched together in a charming patchwork!


The chair will live in the clock house which means there is the temptation to sit back and relax every day!

But the relaxing will have to wait - first I have to update the website with more vintage goodies!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Frosted Roses and Autumn Colour...

I awoke this morning to another glorious day of sunshine and heavy frost! Many of the roses are in bloom, so they're now covered in a beautiful frosting! Only last week, we took these photos of autumnal colour in the garden...



Here are some photos taken this morning...

More pretty, frosted roses...


The beauty of nature...



The view across from our cottage...


I think we're due for a change in the weather at the weekend - apparently we have wind and rain to look forward to. What brilliant timing; I'm off to an antiques fair tomorrow - with outside stalls! So instead of gloves and scarves, it will be wellies and brollies! Enjoy your weekend wherever you are!

Everything's coming up ROSES!

It's been a week since Vintage Home moved into its new home and already I've managed to fill it with everything ranging from stock to favourite vintage pieces of my own. I haven't had much time for relaxing on the sleepdeck, in fact, it has been all hands on deck to get the new vintage stock photographed and in the shop!

There is a very distinct French flavour amidst today's new additions - some truly gorgeous curtains and textiles!

Also, there is an abundance of roses in the shop! There are French roses...

...English roses...

...religious roses...

...and a special Christmas gift idea!


Plus I've selected some delightful vintage items which would make ideal gifts for friends and loved-ones!


Talking of gifts, look at these pretty creations from Louise...

...beautiful handmade corsages and tags! I was delighted to be the winner of her recent giveaway - thank you Louise - I will enjoy wearing the corsages but I'm not sure I can part with the tags!! Another recent surprise parcel from across the pond came from Kim at the colourful Daisy Cottage - we swapped some items and I received these four US magazines - how generous, thank you Kim!

I hope you enjoy having a browse in the shop!

Work, rest and... more work!

Well, it's certainly been a busy week! Monday was a day of packing and posting parcels. Tuesday was spent at a huge International antiques fair and despite a thoroughly exhausting day spent shopping, shopping and yes, more shopping, it was very enjoyable and I have some gorgeous new stock for the shop. Wednesday was 'moving day' - the desks and computers - and their miles of cables - were set up in the Clock House. Thursday was spent sorting stock and attempting to make it look tidy!! But before that, I had to indulge myself and spend a little time on the sleepdeck with some vintage comforts around me. This is, after all, what the sleepdeck is intended for!

Although you can't see it, the view from the little 'Amityville' window is through the trees and out across the fields. It really is the perfect spot to get away from it all!

It doesn't get much better than lazing around on an old eiderdown with a book and a cup of tea or glass of wine with a pretty view to distract you.

So, now we will leave this peaceful, tranquil haven and descend the steps...


After that little interlude it was back to work on the website! I had intended to update the site this week but the move took a lot longer than I thought it would! Some of the treasures you see here will be for sale in the shop after the weekend. Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last post - I do often visit and really enjoy reading your blogs but I don't always have time to leave a comment.

Now, that just leaves Friday and I shall be blitzing the cottage to get it clean and tidy for our guests on Saturday - this is how the kitchen looks at its tidiest! Hopefully I can get it looking as near to this as possible..!


Have a lovely weekend!

Colourful inspiration and all new vintage stock!

Well, after weeks of painting - and I must thank Mike for pulling out all the stops and spending what seemed like every waking hour with a paintbrush stuck to his hand! - the Clock House is finally finished! Of course, now comes the dilemma of how to furnish it! Here is my desk chair, which I have repainted - I've also re-covered the seat in a gorgeous and vibrant vintage French fabric - it's providing a welcome splash of colour in the light and bright interior...


A blank canvas...

It makes a very pleasant change to work from somewhere so light and airy - of course I will be adding lots of colour in the form of painted furniture and textiles. But I'm not going to rush. For now, the chair is providing inspiration, acting as food for thought...

The Clock House is certainly going to aid photography during the long dark days ahead! Don't get me wrong, I love our cosy and dark cottage but at this time of year, the small rooms and low ceilings do make photography rather challenging! It has been very cold this week and so my thoughts turned to cosy nights when I was updating the website, this beautiful candlewick bedspread will be a delight to snuggle under during the winter months! This is just one of today's many new additions to the website - I have some really pretty textiles and homewares so do pop along for a browse.

Cosy candlewick...

...and pretty handmade peg bags.

I have some exciting news with regard to the Vintage Home online shop but that will have to wait until next week - now it's back to my list of things to do/buy/make for the Clock House! The list includes putting up curtains, hanging pictures and organising stock. Then there's running the telephone and network cables inside and fitting guttering - guess who gets to play house and who gets to do the latter!!! Our final purchase will be a clock for the dormer - I've yet find one I like but I'm sure I will soon!

Before, I go, I'd like to thank everyone for their comments on my last post. It made me realise how many of our traditional services have been lost, which is a great shame. Here's to living the vintage way as best as possible in a modern world!

Update 29th October: The Vintage Home online shop is on the move! The success of Vintage Home has meant that after only a few months online we've outgrown our current web host and are moving to a new, faster and larger virtual home on the web. To celebrate this, we've some fabulous NEW FEATURES lined up, the shop will double in size and we've a special Christmas gift idea too! So, if the site disappears for a few hours here and there over the next day or so whilst we transfer - don't worry...it's all for the better!

Autumn surprises and the ultimate disguise!

Thanks to our very mild autumn a lot of flowers are still blooming away and providing some glorious colour for the gardens. Here is an old wooden trough I planted up in May, it's doing even better now and is overflowing with fuchsias and impatiens.

This nasturtium found a shady place and is providing a lovely splash of colour in a dull corner.


Have you guessed what it is yet?! Yes, it is a cotoneaster - but it's actually providing a disguise. Believe it or not, underneath this is our coal bunker! As I've yet to see a coal bunker which is pleasing to look at (although I don't doubt there are some out there!) I decided many years ago to allow the cotoneaster to grow over it. It does receive a haircut at this time of year so I can get the coal out of the little door at the front. We had our first delivery of the season last week and the coalman asked the same question he asks every year - have you cut that triffid back?!! It's always a joint effort when he calls - it takes two of us to raise the lid (it's like something out of Thunderbirds!) and hold it there while he empties the coal into the bunker.

Whilst I'm on the subject, that's another thing I love about living the 'vintage way' - people in traditional services and trades are such great characters and go out of their way to help. Our coalman has to come through the house to get to our coal bunker, avoiding all my textiles and vintage bits and pieces on the way and never dropping so much as a sprinkle of coal dust! How's that for service?

Do you still have a service or delivery which you would class as traditional or 'vintage'?

Packed and ready!

As a major distraction to all the painting that we're doing at the moment I thought I would gather together some of the things with which I'll be furnishing the Clock House - when I finally move in! Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy painting - but I cannot wait to get it finished - because of course I did actually paint and furnish the Clock House months and months ago - in my head!! So now I am really keen to get in and play house! Luckily, my other half is pulling out all the stops and has a paintbrush permanently welded to his hand at the moment! Having realised I needed to update the shop and deliver a blog post, I escaped to the house to do just that!

As you can see, I have plenty of storage for stationery, ribbons and general vintage paraphernalia which will find its way into the Clock House over time!

I have a few old oil paintings which will grace the walls too - of course they had to be roses didn't they?!

I'm currently on the lookout for a nice big cupboard (hopefully I will find one ready-painted!!) and an old blanket box, then I can tidy away some of the larger stock items. Plus I will dust down some of my vintage rugs (yes, another obsession - sorry - collection of mine!) to give the studio a homely feel. I certainly have lots of ideas - I'm just short on patience when it comes to painting!

I've added a few items to the website today including this lovely patchwork-effect eiderdown - makes a change from roses doesn't it?! I think I had better get back to the painting now - we're seriously considering a new name for the Clock House - right now the Forth Bridge seems very appropriate!

French Fancies at Vintage Home!

I thought I would give this post a 'French theme' and share some of my amazing recent finds with you, which I have gathered together for a photo-shoot! The backdrop to this display is a beautiful blue striped French fabric with pretty lilacs and roses. I was very tempted to keep this fabric for myself so I made sure I added it to the shop before I weakened! On the table - which is also French, dates to the 1920s and is covered with beautiful hand-painted hydrangeas - is a lovely linen and lace boudoir cushion made by Niki. The picture in the background is actually a pair of old prints on silk, one depicts a young lady waiting for her beau, and the other, as seen here, shows the pair of young lovers together. I found this pair of prints in a very sorry state; they were badly framed and extremely grubby. I should really have shown a before and after photo as they have been utterly transformed with a gentle clean and this exquisite old frame!


The 'piece de resistance' of this little ensemble is the beautiful Globe de Mariee, a recent acquisition that I simply could not resist! Niki showed us photos of hers a few months ago and up until then I had never seen one before. I have been doing a bit of research on them and discovered that a wealth of custom and symbolism is attached to these wonderfully decorative items. If you would like to read more about it, then please visit the all new Tales of Old. This is a new addition to my website, where I will regularly provide pictures and information on interesting and intriguing objets d'art!

We took delivery of a huge pile of logs this week and I have filled the inglenook with them, in readiness for warming the chilly evenings which are now upon us. Likewise, I have just topped the shop up with, amongst other things, some extra-cosy eiderdowns and quilts which will be a delight to snuggle under!

The painting of the Clock House is coming along - after rain stopped play a few times we managed to finish the outside. We started painting the inside this week - more photos coming soon..!