Vintage finds

It is blowing a gale where you are? We've had blustery gale force winds all day and tomorrow I'm off to Brighton for a day out Christmas shopping...think it might be a bit of a wash out!

Saturday we drove to Midhurst to the beautiful Cowdray House to enjoy a The Country Brocante Winter Fair. We took a little meander down the dirt road past the horses, patted a few wet noses on a several dogs and then took ourselves into the marquee. It was busy but not suffocatingly so and I came home with some lovely things, nothing I really needed of course…a pair of beautiful velvet floral cushions in rich smudgy colours, which seem to blend with anything and six vintage green and gold edged dishes with little painted bird motifs, a big piece of vintage Sanderson fabric perhaps from the 80s and a set of six silver teaspoons with a lovely motif at the top depicting a saint or a monk like figure…perfect for this time of year – these are a Christmas gift for someone special (and besides if I don’t gift these to someone, this will be my fourth box of teaspoons!)

For the longest time I have wanted to repaint the dining room.  It’s been Farrow and Ball French grey for several years now, and in a north facing room, appears rather green grey and quite dark, not at all unpleasant, but I feel like a change, and I really fancy pink for some strange reason…not sugary ice cream pink, but softly mild and more grown up…so I've been splashing on some sample pots of Farrow and Ball’s Pink Ground and Calamine and one small pot from Laura Ashley called Chalk Pink. I've covered A4 size papers with the paint samples and they are up on the wall so I  can decide which one I like, so far I like the Pink Ground and the Calamine, although I think this might be a little too pink for my taste.  I also found some beautiful wallpaper in a lovely shop in Midhurst, which right now no one seems to know the designer or the name as it was up on a feature wall, so I’m waiting for a call back on that. I do love the monochrome blousy floral look of this, it reminds me of old book illustrations. I've got to be careful not to go too feminine here as hubby and son might think of moving out!  It’s currently borderline feminine but with big robust pieces like a sturdy oak table flanked by Phillip Starke Ghost Chairs and a large vintage painted buffet which is more masculine and grey green walls which offset the other feminine elements. I'm also looking to replace the current pendant lights.  I have a beautiful vintage ballroom chandelier which I had up in our previous home, which came out of the attic to see if it would fit here, but it’s way too big and our ceilings are too low, so back in the attic it goes, pity because I love this chandelier… I think I need to do a little mood board so I can see how it all works together, stayed tuned.

This wallpaper....

 

Wondering what the flowers are doing in the photo? I was given a lovely bunch of supermarket blooms, but somehow they just looked plain boring in a glass vase, so I chopped them all down and divided them between an old silver mug and a small ceramic vase...looking much better now!

Have any of you started buying/decorating your tree yet? I'm buying a tree this week and can't wait to decorate it!

Have a great week.

Sharon