Beautiful Bureau

I love family furniture hand-me-downs. We grew up in a house filled with furniture passed on from grandparents, family friends and more, and for me this is what makes a home cosy and familiar. As well as being unique pieces of furniture, they’re also little links to the past, filled with memories of where they came from.

My parents have a beautiful grandfather clock in their dining room which came from our grandma’s house. He seems to have his own personality and is incredibly fussy about where he stands. When my grandma moved from her house into a bungalow, he refused to tell the right time. Eventually (after many months of confusing my gran) my Dad took him apart, moved him to our house and carefully put him back together again. Obviously he likes it there as since then, as long as you keep him wound up, he tells the right time.

Now we have our own house a few pieces of furniture have been passed onto us to start a new chapter. A little set of shelves my Uncle made sit in our living room, a chest of drawers from my grans house looks perfect in our bedroom and now a bureau from my auntie and uncles house has found a home in our hallway.

It was looking a little bit tired and sorry for itself covered in thick black varnish. Out came the paint stripper to try and cheer it up a bit. Our initial plan was to paint it, but as soon as I started to scrape off the tar-like varnish I knew I couldn’t cover it up with paint. The wood was a warm colour and the grain running through it was amazing.

I’m so happy with the end result and I’m sure it will be a long standing member of our family of hand-me-down funiture.

Picture Perfect

Ever since we moved into our own house, I’ve always wanted to create a wall of photos.  A whole wall filled with pictures of family and friends past and present just like a huge open photo album. I’ve got albums filled with our adventures and it’s always nice to dig them out and flick through them. Having all our favourite memories on the wall means we don’t have to find them to look at them.

 

I love the mis-match look with all the frames being different. Some are shop bought and some are my own creations (with a little help from my good friends Farrow and Ball)

Feeling the home interior bug, I finally got round to hanging my newest purchase. These gorgeous antique shoe lasts were an absolute find! I had always wanted a pair but often found they were a bit too expensive. A bit of searching and a LOT of patience, and I finally have my own set. Little bits like this really add character to a room and the history behind them and where they came from makes them even more special.

 

A Little Cupboard Dreaming…

…of Farrow and Ball.

A few months back on a sunny Sunday I went along to a car boot. As I’ve mentioned before, I love to find those hidden treasures often over-looked by others but that jump out to you.

Ed’s face was a picture when I pulled some tatty candlesticks, a huge piece of un-inspiring piece of artwork in a tired frame and a wooden cupboard from my KA (it was a bit of a squeeze but determination got them in!)

With a bit of love and a lot of sandpaper, the candlesticks were transformed into a pair of little gems.

And soon to follow, minus the hideous picture was the huge wooden frame. Now it’s a bit of shabby chic finery and is perfect in our kitchen as a chalkboard…

 

The cupboard has been a bit more of a challenge. It was gorgeous, but hidden under a thick layer of tar-like varnish (and bright red paint inside!) It was going to need some serious elbow grease.

Too big for the Bumbleblue desk, I had to wait for some decent weather to tackle it outside. It took a whole afternoon to get down to the wood, but it was definitely worth it.

Many, many sheets of sandpaper later and it was bald! Not an inch of gloop was left and after a quick wipe down I could finally get the paint out.

Farrow and Ball no. 229 Elephants Breath was perfect. Delicate and chic, perfect for a little cupboard that had been hidden under caked-on varnish. Only a few coats in and already it looks like a new piece of furniture!

 

 

 

Hopefully with all this gorgeous weather, I will get this little beauty finished in no time. Watch this space…

Car Boot Treasures

It really felt like Spring was on it’s way the other weekend. The clouds and chill in the air moved to one side and the sun tiptoed into their place.

I joined the early bird on Sunday and went along to a car boot sale. I was a bit bleary-eyed but wandering around in the sun peering at people’s offerings, I soon started to wake up. I love trips to antique markets and shops, but the humble car boot will always be a special treat. Traders in antique shops have usually selected the items they hold and are looking to make a profit on whatever piece you buy from them – after all it’s their business. Car booters offerings are a random mix of old and used or new and un-touched bits and bobs. You never really know what, if anything you’re going to find.

I did a quick lap but was distracted by the tea van. On the second lap I found some fabulous little treasures. One actually isn’t that small – It’s a gorgeous wooden frame perfect to be turned into a chalkboard for our kitchen. I didn’t realise just how big it was until I got it back to the car. My little KA did very well to accommodate it!

A pair of wooden candle sticks and this gorgeous bedside table and I came away quite pleased with myself.

 

 

I’m waiting for a nice day to get on with the table, but I couldn’t wait to get the candle sticks sanded down!

 

Been a Busy Bee

It has been a while since my last post, but I haven’t been twiddling my thumbs! I took a few weeks off to enjoy the sunshine and spend some time with Ed (and of course Buddy) It’s back to work now Autumn has arrived, and dare I say it the run up to Christmas wont be far away.

I love this time of year – Ok, so the weather is a bit of a disappointment, especially after the long sunny days of summer. There are still a few special days when the sun manages to shine through a fresh mist and everything shares the same golden glow. The pavements are scattered with crunchy leaves and pine cones and little red berrys cling onto the few remaining green bushes.

After a break, I was fully refreshed and ready to dust of the paint brushes. Lots and lots of painting has been going on at the Bumbleblue desk! My little keyrings are always popular presents, so I’ve added a few new colours.

I finally got round to finishing the lavender bags I started in the Summer – I changed my mind a few times about how to finish these off, but I’m chuffed with how they’ve ended up. One has managed to sneak its way into my wardrobe…. I just don’t know how that happened.

And I finally got round to finishing these little projects off…

It’s taken me long enough, but eventually my shabby chic chair and drawers are ready to go to their first craft fair. I’ve booked quite a few from now until Christmas, so although I’ve got more products, there’s room for a few more bits and pieces!

Oh dear, does that mean more shopping? Shame.

Eggs-actly what our Kitchen Needed

I am now the proud owner of one gorgeously unique, custom made egg box!

I have wanted one of these since I can remember – I don’t think I even knew what it was at first, I just liked the idea of having a mini cupboard in the kitchen.

There are lots around in the shops, but some seemed quite expensive for what they were. Of course my Joiner Dad hears you say you like something once and, with a few hints and reminders from Mum, it’s usually fashioned together.

He’s made a gorgeous egg box for me. A little gold door knob, two little gold hinges – quite clearly he hasn’t spared any expense!

 

 

 

It sounds silly to say, but my new little egg box looks very proud sitting in my kitchen amongst the tea jar and my herb baskets. The only thing for me to do is to get painting…but what colour?

Pull up a Chair

I love grubbing through antique shops and car boots for little treasures to give a new lease of life to, but my search for a simple wooden chair seemed to be getting very tricky.

I started on Ebay. Perfect chair found. Collection only from Sussex. Moving on…

Cattle Market car boot and a lovely old man that appears at the Derby car boot every weekend caught my eye. He had some gorgeous chairs. Only problem this time was that he wanted a gorgeous price for said gorgeous chairs.

Antique shops seemed to be a similar problem, and alot had already been restored. It would be daft to pay double for a restored chair so I could take it home … to restore.

I decided to look a little newer to see if this would help with the budget, and I found a simple but very lovely unfinished wooden chair. It spent a week untouched while I excitedly picked over my collection of tester pots.

No. 25 Pigeon is a greeny shade of grey from Farrow and Ball and looks subtle and chic on the chair.

After letting two coats completely dry – which was lovely and quick thanks to Mr Sunshine making an appearance – I painted on a thin layer of No.59 New White.

As is always the way, I then went on to finish last weeks ironing pile and deciding what wonderful invention I could muster up for tea.

So as I left my chair drying in the sun, our cat Buddy came to inspect my handywork…

Obviously it had been a hard day at the office.

Hopefully it wont be too long before I can get back into the garden to finish my chair – I’ll keep you posted!