Upstairs Landing

When we moved into our home the upstairs landing was a very unflattering shade of dirty pink.  In the photo below you can see how it looked.  On the left you can see an airing cupboard, (which has since made way to create more space in the teeny, tiny bathroom ) and the doorway to No 1 son's bedroom ( papered in a fetching brown flower pattern) he was not amused having to sleep in there I can tell you. Filthy carpets in all the rooms, upstairs and downstairs were immediately removed.  As I said in a previous post I just couldn't bare the thought of our family sitting or playing on them !

BEFORE




Hubby spent many nights stripping the woodchip from these walls and plasterboarding the ceiling and walls smooth.  He removed a really unflattering single light bulb which hung over the stairs and  gave out little light.  It took five years for us to be able to afford it, but we decided in the end that the luxury of carpet was a must for upstairs on the landing, in our bedroom and in the twins room.  No1 Son preferred a wooden floor (cool mum, cool).

AFTER


 (looking back down the hall from No 1 son's bedroom)
The glass brick wall replaced the original doorway to the bathroom and the airingcupboard doorway became the new bathroom door.



I thought it might look really good to have downlights running around the ceiling.  This turned out better than we expected and gives a wonderful feeling to the landing space.



I decided to put etched window vinyl on the landing window, this meant we had maximum light into the space but still protected our privacy.  I am not a lover of net curtains or blinds as they block out too much light.  Light is everything to me.  We even tested it at night by turning all the lights on and standing on the landing whilst my husband and I took it in turns to go outside and look up to see if we could see each other ! 

Etsy Shop

It's taking a while but I am slowly stocking my new Etsy shop.   Problem is, I can't decide which items to sell.  I love all my gorgeous goodies but sadly I just don't have the room to keep them all.  I've been collecting from boot sales, charity shops and ebay for several years now and its really starting to get out of control.

 Here's a peak of some of the items for sale  (please do let me know if you are interested in buying anything and I will give you a discount if you are following this blog) :



Blue and white Barratts of Staffordshire Cup and Saucer




Colclough cup, saucer and side plate



Wedgewood Sarah's Garden Plate

Please pop over to my shop The White Approach and take a look at what I have listed so far.

Magpie Monday - Sorbet

After the massive build up to how both Liz of MagpieMonday and I found fab bargains on our latest visits to the charity shops, I hope I don't disappoint you.

 I can quite honestly say when I saw these sitting in a basket I nearly screamed in sheer ecstasy !  Heart pounding and colour rising I rushed over to them.  Soooooo gorgeous.  Why would anybody give them away !!!  They are everything I adore about vintage style.  Beautiful fine English bone china in sorbet colours and six complete sets of cup, saucer and side plate !!



All pieces are base stamped with "Harrowby" Bone China England.  I have tried to find out more about this company but have come up with a blank.  Wedgewood has a design called Harrowby, but that's as much as I can get.  If anybody knows more I would love some information.  I am assuming they are around 1930's but really don't know.  They are in immaculate condition and have obviously hardly been used, one thing is for sure I will love them and never sell them.



I had to photograph them out in the hall as I think they match my wallpaper perfectly . What do you think ?

oh! yes, and the cost .......    £5 for the lot ! woop!

Please pop over to MagpieMonday to see all the other great people taking part this week.

White

I've been taking photo's of some of my favourite white "bits" from around my home.


Candlesticks purchased from a boot sale a couple of years ago.  I had intended to paint them, but ended up leaving them as they were.  They are tarnished and a tiny bit battered, but I like that. The white vase was a recent charity shop find £1 and very deco in style.  Tulips, one of my most favourite flowers - white of course.  The tiny silver coloured pot with candle inside was also picked up for a few pence from a charity shop and is Penhaligon's.  The most gorgeous scent.  The cream side table is from our old life when we had money and was a very expensive Laura Ashley purchase.


Table again, Laura Ashley.  White lamp base, £1 from a boot sale. I spotted it from across the road and expected it to be broken & or chipped, it was neither and worked perfectly.  I am now on the hunt for the perfect shade for it.  The pretty clock was an ebay purchase several years ago, I can't recall how much I paid for it, but as you can imagine, it wasn't a lot !


My GORGEOUS cream and white chandelier. I LOVE it, currently in our bedroom, but will be moved to the living room when hubby finishes decorating.  Another Ebay bargain, from what I can remember about £40 plus shipping (came from Sweden) .

Rachel Ashwell

Many years ago whilst looking for pretty items for my home on Ebay, I happened upon a book by a lady called Rachel Ashwell.  From that moment on I was smitten, here was someone in America (English lady actually) who styled her home just the same way that I did.  She loved white and pre-loved items, buying from yard sales, fairs etc, just like I did and was the originator of the term "shabby chic". 



I had to have her book, I checked Ebay and found at that time she had 3 books published. I bought them all and waited excitedly for them to arrive.  I was not disappointed. A feast of beautiful, pretty and sometimes breathtaking pictures.  A step by step guide as to how she had transformed her home (as a single mother ). I spent every single spare moment pouring over those books and waiting excitedly for the next one.



To date she has published five books and a dvd (I have been unable to find an English version of the dvd)
If you like my shabby style, you will LOVE Rachel's books.  Pop over to Amazon (cheapest place I have found to buy them) and treat yourself, you will not be disappointed.



Rachel went onto open several stores and a host of  lines, opening her first store in London's Nottinghill (sadly not with shabby prices) .  I really would love to visit it one day, just to look and long ....

Take a look at her  Blog  - Total heaven on Earth ! Sigh ........