A Coat Of Paint And A New lease Of Life

You may remember this pretty table as one of my car boot finds a few weeks back. It is quite Arts and Crafts in style and has a little heart detail. It was heavily varnished dark wood but I decided to give it a coat of Farrow and Balls 'Off White'. It took a bit of work in the garden over the weekend needing a couple of coats of primer first to cover the varnish. I like the result and the off white stands out and gives a bit of contrast against the other Farrow and Ball white in the background.

I found the pink and green doilies at a boot sale on sunday and immediately put them to use.

You may also remember the fire screen that I bought at an auction a few weeks ago. It also was a dark wood so I gave it the same treatment as the table and I think it looks a lot fresher and shows the faded colours of the tapestry off better.

Sunday morning was pretty fruitful at the boot sale and I came home with quite a collection of goodies. You will be able to spot coloured knitting needles, pieces of Carlton Ware,a few tins, the usual bits and bobs of crockery and glass ware, another jelly mould and another glass sugar pourer decorated with flowers similar to one I showed in a previous post. I will be listing some of these bits in my Etsy shop later.

This vintage paper parasol was a real find as were the fabric covered coat hangers and the quilt.

This little quilt I think was made for a child's bed. The man I bought it from found it when he was clearing the outbuildings and attic at a large old hall near Uppingham. He dated it to around 1920 or a little earlier. It is really pretty cotton fabric with a thin wadding in the middle and then silk hand stitched on the back. Although I love vintage textiles I know very little about them and would love any advice or information you could give me about this little quilt.

The coat hangers came from the same place and I think the fabrics are possibly 1930s.

After the early start of the boot sale we headed to the Fish Market for the first Vintage and Collectables Fair organised by the Northampton Antiques Centre. It was lovely to browse and enjoy a coffee and catch up with a few friends and fellow sellers. Hopefully these Sunday fairs will become a regular monthly event.

Enjoy the rest of your week, hopefully the sunshine will return in time for the weekend.

Midweek Projects

I have had these two lovely American pin up prints for ages and I have finally found a couple of gilt type frames for them in a charity shop. I don't usually go for fancy frames but I think these look right for such glamorous ladies. These are now ready to be hung in a little spot I saved for them on the landing.

I found the old glass sweet jar and apothecary jar at a boot sale and gave them both a good clean. I had some old 1940s American decals and used these to decorate them. I love the yachts and think the apothecary jar would look lovely in a bathroom, holding bath oil.

The little bookcase was stained with dark varnish and it took a good coat of primer and a couple of coats of Farrow and Ball's Pointing to freshen it up. I used the same on the heavy pine cupboard I had had stored in the cellar for some time. I used the Cath Kidston Bluebell drawer liners I found a few months ago in a charity shop to line the shelves. The shelves will be used for display purposes for the new venture Deb and I are planning. I am going to keep the little cupboard to use as bedside table.