Lighting Maketh The Room...

Here's a beautiful example of how a light can absolutely make a space. I think it's worth hanging out for just the right fitting, whether new or salvaged, as it's one way of ensuring that the whole room pulls together perfectly.

Here's to a weekend of keeping our eyes peeled...

Image via Rustic Zen

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Adding Details To The Girls' Bedroom

Today, I wanted to share some more of the details that have really bought our girls' bedroom alive.

First up, may I introduce you to the snuggliest rug in the world? The double sheepskin....so soft and tactilicious. If you have a longish, thinnish space to fill, such as this space between the bed and the chest of drawers, then do consider a double sheepskin. It's literally two sheepskins carefully stitched together to make this gorgeous fluffy rug.

When my girlies saw their new rug for the first time, they both rushed over and lay with their little faces pressed into it. That's how inviting it is. 

{One tip is to look out for ivory, rather than cream sheepskins, as they can give a rather nicotine-stained appearance. Yuck.}

Secondly, the lampshade of gorgeousness. I know that when you move into a house, it's so tempting to just put up any old shades until you get around to buying the shade of your dreams.....and then live with those tatty old things for years and years. Don't do it! Lovely lampshades don't have to be terribly expensive to make a room seem loved.

We chose a pretty empire shade from The White Company. Its pink gingham finish ties the room together beautifully. 

It's so easy to pass over lighting but it makes the hugest difference to the final feel of any room....which leads me on to Wednesday's post rather nicely...

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House Tour: Modern Country Victorian Villa

Fancy a tour of a Modern Country Victorian villa? You're just in time!

In we come, to a smallish hallway, typical of this period. By keeping the woodwork and flooring white and using a large mirror to make the most of all that natural light pouring in through the front door, any feeling of pokiness is kept well at bay....though I'm not a fan of bare lightbulbs....

Then we come into the large kitchen dining room, which sets the tone for the rest of the house. The owners have used reclaimed items wherever possible. I love the large-scale dresser. 

  This villa has the standard Victorian layout but I love seeing how different owners of this type of house manage to create their own distinctive stamp on their home. 

Just look at the way the muted colour-palette runs right the way through the house. Predominately greige and white with accents of warm wood, the feeling of harmony leads you from one beautifully designed room to the next.

 On the other side of the hall is the living room, which contains one of my all-time favourite styles of sofa....the Howard. Those curvy arms, that sink-into-me back. I LOVE them and predict they'll be classics for all eternity. 

 The garden is a wonderfully informal take on a classically formal style. I think they've designed what is really a very small space indeed with utter panache, don't you?

 Let's return inside now and take a peek upstairs. 

Just look at this girl's bedroom! Rather topically, given my last three posts, they've combined a wooden sliegh bed with painted furniture. And doesn't it look pretty?

 I love the period style of the bathroom. The colour on the walls is heavenly. As an aside, I'm never quite convinced that roll-top baths are as comfy to soak in as they are beautiful to look at. I shall have to do extensive research!!

 Then up a mini flight of stairs...not forgetting to admire the turned spindles and mahogany banisters....

  to the Master bedroom....

All the rooms have lovely large windows and this is no exception...

 I think there's just time to put our feet up and share our thoughts together over a cuppa, And then I might take a little nap on that there chaise longue...bliss....

Images via The Shoot Factory

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Our Gorgeous Girls' Bedroom Furniture

I had a really wonderful day on Saturday. meeting up with some of my best friends from school, at a super-special wedding. You know the kind of friends I mean: you don't see each other for a year or maybe even two, and then you're together again, and everything is as relaxing and as uplifting as it ever was, and you somehow realise that it'll be the same for the rest of your lives. Yes, Lisa, Jane, Vicky, Susannah, Amanda, Julia, Jen and Jess, I'm talking to YOU! 

And, now, a drum roll, if you please, 

while I reveal the result of our paint vs no-paint quandary. 

We went for...

WARM WAXED WOOD...WOW!!

We were tossed this way and that on the ocean of decision-making 

but the no-paint pathway emerged triumphantly in the end.

Our reasons are thus:

{thus? What an awesome word!}

In my experience, painted furniture doesn't always withstand years of rumbustious playtime. If I choose to paint, I don't want to be redoing it every six months; whereas wood hides a multitude of sins! The knocks and bumps that children's rooms inevitably receive blend far better in wooden furniture.

With its girly Farrow and Ball Middleton Pink Walls, as well as the beautiful Cabbages and Roses Hatley curtains and The White Company bedding, plus other bits and pieces that I'll be sharing shortly, this room has its fill of gorgeous, light-enhancing touches. The warmth that comes from the wooden furniture and the Cotswold stone wall provides the perfect balance.

And the last, and perhaps most important reason that we pumped for the unpainted look, is that this is the furniture that I had when I was a little girl, so I couldn't bear to defile it! I can't tell you how much it fills my heart with joy to see my own daughters fill the drawers with little bits of treasured paper and beaded trinkets, just like I used to!!

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Girls' Bedroom: Five Reasons To Leave Wooden Furniture Unpainted.

Psssst, lovely, 

Put that paint-brush down and come here....

Before we all fall for the gorgeousness of painted wood, let's look at the other side of the coin....

five reasons NOT to paint your furniture.

1. The patina of some pieces is absolutely stunning. That kind of look can only be created by leaving wood unpainted. Even adding a thinned-down wash, allowing the grain to show through watered-down paint, won't let the true beauty of the wood shine.

2. You want a simple, rustic vibe? 

That crib?

Say. No. More.

3. Wood can work well to add texture and warmth to an otherwise bland room. Think how dull these rooms would be had the owners painted all that beamed loveliness...

4. If you want to add character and charm to any kind of new-build, elegant wooden furniture should be one of your first ports of call....

5. Conversely, if the proportions of your room are at the thoroughly grand end of the scale, adding waxed pine furniture is a great way to add a bit of country....

Oooh, choices, choices!!

{Which do you prefer?}

Images via Country Homes and Interiors, Homes and Gardens, Jocelyn Costis, 

Country Homes and Interiors, House To Home, Desire To Inspire

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