Made.com

18 Apr 2014

I am always on the lookout for companies who support independent designers and sellers.

One of my favourite online sites is Made.com who make it their business to cut out the middle man ensuring the best prices are available to the customer. They do this by having no physical stores and by grouping together online orders every 7 days. The orders are then placed with the maker/designer to go into production and therefore only making what is required. Its a great idea and ensures the customer gets the best possible price for their piece.

You can normally save upto 70% on the high street retail value and the even better news is they currently have a sale on !

Some of my favourite pieces at the moment are :

Fonteyn Drinks Trolley Today's price £169 - Regular Price £239 - High street price £395

The Bowie Table Lamp Today's Price £49 - Typical high street price £373

Kitson stools x 2 todays price £99 - Typical high street £320

I am looking for something a bit special for my hallway. Think this might be on the shopping list, I love the industrial look of the Starkey Cluster Pendant light.

oh and just in case you were wondering, no this is not a sponsored post. I am popping it on my blog because I just simply love this company!

Back to Grey (or thanks for the free paint Helen)

13 Apr 2014

One of the perks of people knowing I upcycle and paint furniture is I am often offered items they are throwing out and on one occasion two massive pots of virtually unused paint ! The paint in question is not your ordinary everyday kind of paint. Oh no! Its the top of the range Dulux Trade Diamond Matt in the colour of the moment Dove Grey. This paint has superior durability, covers like a dream, as hard wearing as they come, can be wiped clean and most importantly has a matt finish. (so works well if you like a chalk paint kind of finish).

Normally out of my price range I was thrilled to receive the paint from the very lovely School mum friend and set to work immediately on dark wood items that needed a solid undercoat. Just about to start a commission for a customer, it was also a perfect colour for the job!

Once I completed the commission and still only halfway down the pot of paint ! (goes a long way does quality paint) I looked around for more items in my own home requiring a lick of paint. With the twins away at Grandma's and No 1 son away on his holiday in Turkey, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some decorating in the house. Time to change the staircase (AGAIN).

AFTER

Newly painted staircase. Intend to put the stencil back on them again and still toying with the idea of putting a white stripe up the centre but I'll wait until hubby finishes the new wallpaper before I decide. Also think I might fill the very tall wall with bits and bobs I have collected on my thrifty travels.

Next I headed to the bedroom to start on the cupboard which houses my linens and has stared accusingly at me for the last few years. A lovely piece of stag furniture in its day it just had to have a paint job I'm afraid.

BEFORE

AFTER

Sorry about the dress dummy, I use her to display clothes I sell online and she wears this beautiful silk nightie and dressing gown to remind me to try and stick to a diet for my holidays !

I even found these gorgeous grey candles on a recent (rare) trip to Ikea.

I am really pleased with the result. It still needs a bit more wax and a buff, but thanks to Helen's paint it transformed this piece of furniture and really brings the rest of the bedroom furniture together.

I picked this rocking chair up at a bootsale last year for £10. I nearly passed out when I saw it and virtually ran over to the stall holder. I have done nothing to it except clean it and absolutely LOVE it in all its chippy grey painted glory.

Found the grey slip ons in the Next sale for £14. Not normally a shop I go into these days, but was pleased I did on this occasion.

Mirror found on Ebay about 6 years ago. Paid very little for it. Grey and white designer throw on the bed purchased for £30 from TKMaxx. Silk (look) curtains purchased for a song in the sale at Dunelm mill. Bedside cabinets found in the recycling centre, pair for £10 and painted in Helen's perfect Dulux paint.

There you go, amazing what one tin of paint can do. Thank you again Helen !

The Dressing Table

6 Apr 2014

When one of my favourite customers sent me some photographs of a dressing table and bedside tables she wanted painted I couldn't wait to get my hands on them. The dressing table was a 1960's G Plan with great lines, if a little time worn. The customer had a great idea for how she wanted them painted and if I say so myself, I love how they turned out.

BEFORE

AFTER

The combination of the customer's colour choice of grey and yellow really worked well against the unpainted wood. I especially love the part painted drawer handles and legs, really brings this piece right upto date.

The customer was thrilled with the end result and so were we. I fully intend to paint more pieces in this way.

The bedside tables

That's all folks !

28 Mar 2014

Has it really only been a year since I opened my dream of a shop ?

Its been a roller coaster of thrills, fun, huge learning curve and hard, hard work.

I've met some wonderful people, made some friends I am sure I will keep for life.

I've laughed, cried, screamed and raged.

I've learnt there's nowt as strange as folk.

I've realised just how much work and effort it takes to set up and run your own shop.

I've discovered there really are not enough hours in the day.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for all those independent businesses out there who have battled on through the years to continue their dream.

I've learnt that actually you can't have it all.

I've realised I love my family more than anything else and that they really must come first.

So its goodbye shop,

hello 9 - 5, holidays, family, less stress, tidy home, smiley mummy,

time for friends, lazy Sundays, housework and dreaming.......

Thank you to everybody who took the time to support and encourage me,

who visited my shop to chat and browse, to mooch and buy, who purchased from afar on facebook and twitter , who came back time after time to buy and build up friendship.

Mostly thank you to my wonderful husband who never once said "no you can't" who has always stood by me, supported me, worked for me, built, nailed, fixed, painted, carried and more.

For always allowing me to have my dreams. I love you for all that you do and all that you are.

The MAD blog Awards 2014

26 Mar 2014

I have to say I was more than a little stunned to be told on Twitter that my blog had made it to the final of the Mad Blog awards. I checked the site twice to make sure it was my name on the list and I wasn't just willing it to be there !

This wonderful accolade comes at the end of a whirlwind year that saw me opening (and closing) my own shop. I also moved my blog across to wordpress to try and combine it with an online shop but this proved more difficult to manage than I anticipated, so moved back to the much more easier to use blogger. All of these factors (I thought) would have really impacted on my readership, but obviously I underestimated the loyalty of the wonderful people who follow my escapades and blog.

THANK YOU

I am busy this week closing up the shop. A sad/happy experience, sad because it has been a long term dream of mine to own my own shop but the reality is much harder when you have young children, travel, stock etc etc. But on the happy side I get back the precious quality time with my young twins, No 1 son and long suffering hubby. We will have time for all the fun stuff we used to do and I get to blog more again !

I have made it to the finals but am up against some pretty amazing Homes and Interiors bloggers, So if you would just take a minute to follow the link Vote for the white approach

scroll down to best homes and Interiors and enter the white approach. I would love you to the moon and back.

THANK YOU AGAIN LOVELY PEEPS

Also Many thanks to :

The very huggable Sally Whittle for putting on what I am sure will be another fantastic event.

The very stylish Brabantia who are the sponsors for our category.

Brabantia

Finally lots of luck to the other finalists in my group :

Love Chic Living

Oh so Amelia

Side Street Style

Tigerlilly Quinn

The early bird and all that

23 Mar 2014

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Getting back into the swing of the early starts for the bootsale after a long break can take some willpower. I paid for my late arrival last week by having to park some distance from the market. No such worries this morning. I was up and out of bed at 5.30 without the aid of an alarm clock, my only worry was that it would still be raining, it wasn't , yipee!

I had no trouble parking this morning but also found, maybe I was a tiny bit early as there was barely a car or van on the site.

I took the opportunity to grab a coffee and a loo break so I wouldn't have any distractions once the gates opened proper to the sellers. I always find this stage of the morning unsettling, it always appears like lots of people are delving into boots and backs of vans and making off with all manner of treasure. Once I make my first purchase I am fine and feel like I am off and running. The first purchase this morning was :

This fabulous old plaster framed picture. Obviously it was only the frame I was interested in and even in its battered state I think its wonderful ! Not even going to repair it, I know there are buyers in my shop who will also appreciate its shabby beauty and if nobody buys it, it will come home with me.

Always love a pretty stool, this will look perfect painted and also be a really useful addition to the home.

Pair of modern but pretty jugs

oh ! oh! oh! If you can't have mason jars then these are the next best thing ! Snapped up these four La Parfait Preserve jars out from under the nose of a woman who was consulting a friend on the phone. If you snooze, you loose ladies.

New wicker bicycle basket.

Pretty yellow enamel jug with pewter lid

Time for Tee ! Must be German looking at the spelling. Love this.

I always try to find local pottery. Love this pretty jar made by a local potter in Devon.

Two old slate boards, complete with little wooden shelf for the chalk.

Yep, definitely getting back into the bootsale swing of things.

Linking up with the lovely Liz at Magpie Monday

Wallpaper time

22 Mar 2014

The walls of most of the rooms in our home are painted white, giving a feeling of bright, light and space. Occasionally though I come across wallpaper I just have to find a place for. This happened several years ago when I found rolls of Laura Ashley Summer Palace in a sale bin. My hubby wasn't sure about the bright vibrant pink birds, but I loved it and just knew it would work with all the white. We used it in the hallway and painted the stairs pink to match, never failing to get comments from visitors..

Its been up for about 5 yrs now and is looking a little tired so I thought I'd look for something equally stunning to replace it. Because this is a feature wall as you walk into the house and only needs a few rolls of paper, I can afford to spend a little extra on something really special which will transform the space but not blow the budget. This is always a good idea if you want to introduce some pattern or colour into a room without spending a fortune.

I love this Mrs Peel by Fired Earth

Or how about a game of Mini Moderns Backgammon in Mustard from John Lewis

Love this Mini moderns "Do you live in a town? "

Subtle but beautiful Sanderson Squirrel and a dove

This is my favourite at the moment Marimekko Ystavat Wallpaper in grey

I'll let you know what we decide on.

Bootsale Season is back !

9 Mar 2014

In the days before the shop and the storms, I was known to drag myself out of bed at 5.30am every Sunday come hell or high water and whatever the season. This past winter I have to admit to rolling over and flinging the alarm clock across the room or if I was feeling a little uncertain, dragging myself out of bed and peeking through the curtains before hurrying back to my warm cosy nest.

Not this morning though.

The forecast was for bright sunnyness and even my normally stalwart hubby wasn't going to deter me when he declared from the depths of the duvet that he wasn't coming. I positively sprung out of bed (well, not really, but you get the picture) and set off to the Exeter cattle market with that lovely feeling of adventure and what will I find today ness !

I wasn't actually prepared for the the sight that met me as I rounded the corner of the road on Marsh barton. Queues of cars in every direction ! I think almost the whole of Devon had turned out. Unable to park in my usual early bird car park I had to settle for a bit of a hike to get to the bootsale.

Not impressed !

Although there were more sellers than the park could accommodate it wasn't the greatest day in terms of treasure found, or maybe I was particularly selective as I am closing the shop and don't really want too much stock at the moment.

Here is a selection from my little haul.