Category: vintage
Winter Warmers x
Spare Room part 2
Bedside tables are a great richness in a small space. They’re the earrings of a bedroom, framing the focal point as well providing great function…and I need to chose a pair for the spare room.
If money was no object I’d be pulled, without fail, to the antique option: Timeless, chic, classic (but they’d be a little (big) voice in my head whispering but where would you put your cup of morning tea??) (fitted glass on the top for protection?)(would it be enough??)
And besides, modern designs can work: There’s a sense of simplicity and space to them – an avoidance of clutter where less is more.
If your bed is your nest, as mine is, then taking a leaf out of hospital design could be the way to go. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone made a brass version of this with hidden wheels in the base and maybe a marble top?
Love the function here, but the mdf style presentation? Needs to be better.
But this is a super clever idea for those with a thin, narrow bedroom. Genius.
An interesting picture: The colours, the velvet, the sheepskin all draw the eye in. The mirrors add that touch of glamour..
And then you see this photo and realise how much better the proportions balance when the mirrors are smaller than the headboard: Little things.
And as I only have a little space……I’m thinking an old fashioned wall sconce might be just the thing: Cheap, simple, effective. Maybe with a smaller mirror above them.
(All pics from Pinterest)
Or even use a pair of upcycled corbels…
Watch this space.
Laters, Kate x
Head Space x
The spare room has definitely been unquestionably subservient to the rest of the house. Not surprising as it’s the least used space. But I’m starting to think it needs to be finished with it’s own injection of glamour.
It needs four elements to complete it – a headboard as the focal point, a rug to ground it, a wardrobe for storage and 2 bedside tables for practicality.
Which way to go? Dramatic contrast? quiet luxury? or boho bliss?
Spoilt for choice..
Laters, Kate x
Taste Wars x
First day back to school after the two week half term holiday and bizarrely it’s Halloween…an oxymoronic combination which will probably leave the rest of the week in tatters with the children trying to recover juggling routine and school. But hey, at least we gained an hour this week… it’ll be put to good use carving pumpkins and slapping on the grease paint later. Sigh. But leaving blood dripping knives and the prospect of tired kids aside, I need to actually write a post so I’m going with something that struck a nerve whilst we were away in Hastings.
We stayed in a little wooden lodge that was very pleasant….but didn’t look like anything in these pictures. Which has become a bit of a bug bear – in England, when you go away to a resort setting, chances are you are either paying a fortune for a properly imagined rustic aesthetic (casing point: Soho Farmhouse) or you’re having your tastes dictated to by a narrow number of bulk buying, short sighted, cheap loving, tight fisted suits that think modern always means good.
But the rub is rustic isn’t about expense. It’s roots lie in making the best use of the materials available in the best way possible, given the space available.
It’s about finding elements that are both practical and will stand the test of time, yet still look good: Re-using, re-thinking, re-energising.
It’s not generic canvas’s from Ikea but vintage pictures from a charity shop. Not ready made velour curtains but re-imagined blankets and kantha quilts. Not shiny carpets but wooden floors and battered rugs.
Does taste cost more? Sometimes…but mostly it just takes a bit more thought.
And how often is it that those thought out things cast the longest shadows?
Laters, Kate x
Legends of the Fall x
Vintage Navajo Blanket Coat
Still loving these coats so it feels apt to post about them again… x
I’ve always found it a little bit distressing that just as the summer hits a decent stride thoughts start turning to autumn (mine included). For us in Northern Europe there’s a gradual accumulation of layers and making sure shoes don’t leak (hashtag cold feet)..
So how do you choose your Fall wardrobe? Worn on a piece of chewed up paper? Filling in the gaps of what has died? Or do you have a carefully sifted gallery of designer offerings from which to hitch your aspirations to?
For me it’s a sifting of the mental margin notes of anything that has fluttered my heart during the year and then trying to find them or their equivalents…and the pictures of snowy NY Fashion Week still play in my mind. I loved the blankets worn as scarves, the capes over coats but belted at the waist..everything felt warm, practical but with an unexpected added artisanal chic.
Which triggered, I suspect a sense of strong desire when I first found all these pictures of vintage Navajo blanket coats on Ebay last February? Anyway..some time ago and I fell in lust…
Classic with a kick.
A foxtrot at a bohemian campfire.
But maybe there’s not the same appeal for blanket coats across the pond? Maybe they’re a little bit passe…I just don’t know…maybe for you it’s the equivalent of Laura Ashley and bad tweed for us??
But I had to get me a piece..and this one is MINE!
I’m very ready to make a winter statement..coats are very special…but how many can you actually ride into the sunset?
Laters, Kate x
Pegged out..
I was talking about this to a friend today, so now I’m blogging about it: It’s a simple retro peg board discovered at Berylune complete with wooden pegs which would be perfect in Charlie’s room to carry the clutter from his desk.
(Though I’d quite like one for my study too)
It’s good, simple, honest, clever design with multiple uses. To be honest, you can probably pick up a bargain by searching ‘work shop storage’. I was being a bit anal, loving the wooden pegs. But I’m hoping I’ll be able to customise it anyways – there are plenty of websites on how to make your own.
Maybe not this far…but who knows?!
It’s a winner. Chicken dinner.
Laters, Kate x
It’s Started..
Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat. Except it isn’t..but the insidious creep is appearing on my peripheral vision like the ink from a frightened octopus. I bought my first stocking fillers today…and faced head on the yearly mental anguish of the inner childs excitement for presents versus materialistic waste and the accumulation of useless stuff. I still haven’t got a solution to square the circle – how to appear less Ebenezer, more Mathew Cuthbert? Except possibly to buy less, buy better, buy clever. With this in mind I found myself on this site – Life of Jay – which, though I didn’t realise it at the time, caters primarily for men which they don’t presume to be all sports mad. It genuinely has some interesting stuff..(though does it work if it’s still classed as ‘stuff?’ Sigh)
But who can say no to good stylish storage?
Or a retro notebook for the jottings of the block buster you know they want to write.
But then I see a silly tin toy rabbit and want to pop it in my basket. Why??
They have these which are clever – a retro tin..
Containing the bits you think you need. Except I’d pay more if the interior wasn’t made of plastic..
This appeals: A reusable teabag robot. Who doesn’t need that on a cold morning?
And I love their lab style storage jars.
(All pictures Life of Jay)
Then side tracked by a cunningly designed pizza cutter…
And I’m failing and falling already..
Laters, Kate x
Lavenders Blue x
Strange things flit through my head – take today – lavender bags? Maybe because a kilo of dried lavender has arrived through the post..an impulsive purchase made with thoughts of a tidy, old fashioned style utility room with crisp white linens adorning the shelves.
But it would be a lovely project to do with the kids..and a great way to use up dying but much loved scraps of vintage fabric.
Shame it’s only Monday.
Laters, Kate x
Pretty and Pink x
The rollercoaster of fashion steams on, morphing, re-inventing, disappearing and then back with a bang. Each time the story is different, responding to design needs, changing faces and context, which is what makes it all so fascinating.
Take the shoulder pad: Nemesis of the 80s, spawn of the 40s..and ripe for a re-birth.
But now less cut-out character from Disney, more cutting edge with balance.
I don’t know much – but I know I want some.
Laters, Kate x
Floored..
I was clicking through Architectural Digest (as you do) when I alighted on this photo of Jessica Chastain’s New York apartment. It wasn’t so much the design that caught my eye or the pretty cornflower blue – or even the impressive array of copper in the cupboards, but the cork floor tiles.
A fallen high achiever, cork tiles now equate with seventies bad taste and sticky beer after raucous student parties. And yet there’s something about them – a warmth and sense of forgiveness blended with a subtle hint of nostalgia..
This Blogger had a kitchen laid with them last year and she’s written a follow up post on how she’s feels about them a year on. It makes interesting reading.
Maybe, as with all things seventies, it’s time for a revival..
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 
