My Own Home - Hall, Stairs & Landing

Time for a quick update on our house!  We'd been putting off doing this because it was such a major job - not big if you're doing a total renovation but it felt pretty major to us!  We moved into our house in 1999 and lived with that carpet and the 1980's rails on the stairs for much longer than we intended (and for we, read "I"!) but we finally got round to doing it about 18 months ago - and it took a while.

This is how it looked before .......

As it was when we moved in

First re-vamp (but we still had "that carpet" up the stairs)

The first thing we did (or had done!) was to replace the 1980's rails with oak spindles. 

We also took the opportunity (as you can just see on the right of the photo above) to fill in the glass panels above the doors.

We then applied 3 coats of Danish Oil - and then went to Antigua!

Holiday over, it was time to get the paint brushes out ........yikes!!

We used Zoffany White Clay Flat Emulsion on the walls and Quarter Linen on the ceiling, skirting and woodwork.  The dado rail was too firmly fixed so we decided to leave it and paint it in with the walls (in acrylic eggshell).

Zoffany White Clay

Zoffany Quarter Linen

We had oak floor laid in the hall and striped carpet up the stars. Look at Crucial Trading, Alternative Flooring and Louis de Poortere for great striped carpets. 

This was taken after we'd had the floor put down and before we painted the skirting board.

 

I bought the glass pendant for the hallway from Fritz Fryer.  Also look at Jim Lawrence and Hector Finch for similar style glass pendants.  This pendant came complete with a ceiling plate and braided flex.  The pattress (wooden mounting) was sold separately.  The lighting on the landing was never adequate, so we replaced it with downlights. 

To cut a long story short (it took a while and there were times when we wished we'd never started) we're pretty pleased with the result!

The console table is the Tuvan console table from The Dormy House which I had painted in charcoal, The upholstered cubes are also from The Dormy House and are useful as extra seating in the sitting room and conservatory.  They're covered in Wemyss Sahara faux suede.

The lamp base and pomegranates were from John Lewis.  The lamp shade was from Shady Lady Lampshades and the dark wood mirror (just visible at the top of the image) was from Marks & Spencer.

The pictures are our photos which we had printed on canvas.

We put a wood venetian blind on the landing - the cat's not very happy because he doesn't have a curtain to hide behind now!


And here it was "dressed for Christmas"!

Thanks for stopping by!

Winkworth Arboretum

We're so lucky to have this place almost on or doorstep!  This was our first visit and I'm sure it won't be our last.  The sight of all those bluebells will stay with me for a very long time!

Not just bluebells ........








..... lots of camellias .....

...... wild garlic ......

...... violets (I think!).......

..... magnolia trees ........

..... and lots of azaleas .....

I can highly recommend a visit if you can get there, especially in spring.

For more information, see http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/winkworth-arboretum

With all these flowers, my next post might have to be floral fabrics!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabrics - Geometric Gems

Inspired by my visit to the V&A a couple of weeks ago (and that lovely kimono) I thought I would do a short post on geometric fabrics.  The definition of geometric is something which is characterised by or decorated with regular lines and shapes.  There are loads to choose from and here are some of my current favourites .......

The obvious place to start is Zoffany Kanoko which is a "meandering graphic zig zag motif inspired by a 1930's Japanese Shibori document from the Zoffany archive, once a kimono."

Zoffany Kanoko

Obvioiusly, I had to show the orange colourway but it also comes in 3 other colours.  It's part of the new Edo fabric collection which is a Japanese inspired collection of fabrics and wallpapers.

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I mentioned in my post about the V&A that Schumacher are really good for geometric fabrics, so I thought that was a good place to start.

Schumacher Betwixt

This is a weave, available in 16 fabulous colourways!
Schumacher - Betwixt

Schumacher Bukhara Ikat

I love an Ikat and, whilst not strictly a geometric, I had to include this - it's Schumacher Bukhara Ikat, a print on linen which comes in 5 colourways

This is another linen print which is also available in 5 colourways

  Schumacher Chain Link

Schumacher Chain Link

Schumacher Cordoba Embroidery

Geometrics don't have to be prints or linens - here is an embroidery (Cordoba Embroidery) which comes in an additional 2 colours.

Schumacher Kaleidescope

Here's another embroidery - Kaleidescope.  This colourway is Smoke and it also comes in Moonstone and Pearl.




This one is Luan Fretwork shown here in Sky, and also available in Porcelain Blue and Cane.

Schumacher Luan Fretwork

Schumacher Ming Fret

Here's another weave - Ming Fret which is available in a total of 6 colourways.

Schumacher Sarana Linen Embroidery

This is Sarana Linen Embroidery available in 3 colours. 

Schumacher Vail Chenille

Finally from Schumacher - Vail Chenille, which is available in 4 colours.











Schumacher are distributed in the UK via Turnell & Gigon - they have a showroom in Chelsea Harbour.  (http://www.turnellandgigongroup.com/)

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Another good source of geometric fabrics (and wallpapers) is American fabric company Thibaut (http://www.thibautdesign.com).  Helpfully, they separate them into separate collections on their website:

Thibaut Geometric Resource (Wallpapers)

Thibaut Geometric Resource 2 (Wallpapers)

Thibaut Woven 3: Geometrics (Fabrics)

Thibaut Woven 6: Geometrics (Fabrics)

Thibaut Woven 7: Companions (Fabrics)

Here are a few from the fabric collections...........

Thibaut Circuit

This is Thibaut Circuit, shown here in fuchsia and available in 10 colourways in total.

Thibaut Sumatra

On the right is Sumatra (available in 7 colours)

From Woven 6 is this weave called Maximillian (similar to Schumacher Betwixt above) - this is available in 6 colourways. 

Thibaut Maximillian

 This is Jelena from the same collection.  Available in 5 colours.

Thibaut Jelena

Thibaut has some great photography on their website too:

Check out their inspiration pages for more ideas.

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Kravet (distributed by GP&J Baker) are also good for geometrics. They also have lots of designers who have collections under the name of Kravet - designers such as:

Alexa Hampton

Barbara Barry

Calvin Klein

Check their website for a full list of the collections by other designers.  Here are some of my favourites .........

Kravet Peries

Kravet Torina

Kravet Fiscoe

First on my list from Kravet is Peries - this also comes in a lovely teal colour

Torina is from the Jonathan Adler Clarity Collection.  This comes in an additional 3 colours.

I love this - Fiscoe - which is by Thom Filicia and also comes in steel.










Desert Air is in the Michael Berman II Collection and comes in one other colourway.

Kravet Desert Air

Kravet Clef

I believe this is called Clef, but some Kravet fabrics in the UK just have a product number, rather than a name.  (The number for this one is 26380).  This comes in a further 6 colourways.

Another one with just a number is this one (33618) which comes in four colours in total.

Kravet 33618

This is an upholstery fabric from the Jonathan Adler Charade Collection and is called Cardin.  It comes in one other colourway.

Kravet Cardin

And finally, Fobes by Thom Filicia which I'm about to have made into cushions for the guest bedroom (in Tango).  Also available in one other colour.

Kravet Fobes

Notwithstanding my post about our kitchen chairs, I don't think I'm capable of writing a short post!  I could go on(!) but have probably written more than enough.  Other good sources of geometric fabrics are:

Romo - look at Ziani and Casson

Kirkby (distributed through Romo) - see Atom

Osborne & Little - Fantasque and Garnier

Designers Guild - Perrea, Borgholm and Pugin

GP&J Baker - Easton and Maughan

Thanks for stopping by!