Saturday, 19 September 2015

Modern Country Style Boys' Bedroom Reveal And Resource List

The reveal of our Modern Country Style boys' bedroom....
is here!!


Here's what we started with...


Possibly the world's most epically colourful room...

Green, yellow, orange and white.
Not a touch of Modern Country Style in sight.
{A li'l bonus poem thrown in for free ;-) )


We started off by getting the bones of the room right.
Removing the dated glass above the door.


Replacing the door itself with a stripped pine beauty sourced from Oxford University made the most enormous difference. We've done this throughout the whole house and it was one of the best investments we made, and one I recommend to clients who live in period houses but have inherited ugly replacement doors. You'll be amazed by the difference.


We had the floorboards stripped, sanded, stained and varnished to withstand all that little boys can throw at it!! The built-in wardrobe doors were waxed, and the original fixing giving a good rub-down.


The bespoke shelves were put in by the previous owners and were way to good to rip out so we incorporated them into the room by painting the framework Dulux White gloss  (my go-to white). We left the inners as bare wood because I want to minimise chipping in the future.


The walls were painted in Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder (case study here) the softest pale duck egg you can imagine (click through for the full Colour Case Study) with the ceiling in Dulux White.


The large check duvet is from The White Company.


You can find full tutorial to make your own Patchwork Memory Quilt here...



(image via Cox & Cox)

The red gingham curtains and lampshade are from The White Company. {These have been discontinued.}


Our boys loved being here.


Loved? Past tense?
{Gasp}
Can that be right?!


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Monday, 14 September 2015

How To Make An EASY Patchwork Memory Quilt

This is one of the easiest and most rewarding Modern Country Crafts you'll ever do: your very own patchwork memory quilt.


I say easy because the only sewing involved is straight lines.
It's rewarding because it involves the repurposing of all those little treasures that have been stashed away. Little scraps of well-loved baby bedding, those beautiful but impossibly teeny baby clothes plus any left over bits and pieces you'd like to use up to create a work of art that you'll marvel at for decades to come.

This is all you need to do:

Cut out lots and lots and lots of rectangles of non-stretchy fabric. The bigger they are, the less sewing you'll have to do and the faster it'll all come together. I like the higgledy-piggledy effect of lots of different widths of rectangle but what matters is that the height should be consistent. Mine are 12cms high.



Iron all your pieces. 
{Don't miss this step as it'll make a huge different to the quality of the finished piece.}


Lay two of the rectangles right sides together and pin up the left side 1cm in from the edge. Sew up this line.


Take the next rectangle and pin it to the right hand edge of your mini quilt 1cm in from the edge. Sew in place.


Keep going until you have a long strip of rectangles of the desired width. Make lots of rows in this way. Then pin two rows together 1cm in from the edge, Sew along this line. Keep sewing rows together until the quilt is the desired length.

Cut a large piece of fabric for the backing. This needs to be the size of the finished quilt plus 5cm in each direction. Lay the quilt and backing right sides together, pin 2.5 cm in from the edge and sew together, leaving one side unsewn. Turn it the right way and hand sew the last side. I also included a layer of thick wadding at this point which makes the whole quilt seem much more substantial.


Sew a variety of buttons onto the quilt, through all layers to hold it all in place and then dance for joy at what your clever hands have produced: a perfect and easy-peasy patchwork memory quilt, and ooh and aah over those sweet little memories ready for teary reminiscing at a moment's notice.


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Wednesday, 12 August 2015

Provence Farmhouse Tour!

Who's up for a little break from the every day and a tour of a holiday villa en Provence?
Thought as much...come on! 

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Enter through a doorway flanked by two enormous lollipop standard trees...into this....

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...gorgeous dining room...

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....before strolling through to the real French kitchen!! 
Mais oui!

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Stroke it, feel its lovely Frenchness...

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Feeling faint?
Why not sink into these perfectly plumped pillows?.....

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....before heading upstairs to the bedrooms.....

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Have you ever seen such a lot of beautiful boudoirs?
And the bathrooms....

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Then, I'm afraid it's time to go back downstairs, past this enooooooormous clock...

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...and into the Modern Country garden....

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...where we just have time for a little drink in the French sunshine...

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Hoping you all feel rested!



Images: unknown

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Thursday, 6 August 2015

Modern Country Kitchen Painted In Farrow And Ball Pale Powder

If you're hungry for more of Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder, you're in luck, my poppets.

Today, I present to you this completely covetable kitchen by Tim Wood...

The kitchen is painted in Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder and has absolutely won my Modern Country sticker of approval.


I love all the details. The plaster work between the units and the ceiling...

The stunning range cooker...

The little country details like those peg rails...

...contrasted against the black honed granite work tops...


The table just beyond this kitchen...

 ...just invites you in to sip hot cocoa, or other deliciousness, stashed in a bespoke larder, natch....


...and share worries and joys with friends and family...


{BLISS}


Images via Tim Wood Kitchens

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Sunday, 2 August 2015

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder: Colour Case Study

Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder is the paint colour we chose for our boys bedroom. It's the softest robin's egg you can imagine. Time for a Colour Case Study? You betcha! Here's the first sneak peek..

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
Our Boys' Bedroom Painted In Farrow and Ball Pale Powder 
Farrow and Ball describe it as 'the most popular of our shades of aqua. It has an unparallelled softness (a description they also used for Pigeon - come on, F&B writers, up your game - and in north facing room can read almost as a delicate grey, but it is rarely cold due to the inclusion of green pigment.' 

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
I first saw Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder at a friend's house about ten years ago and have been looking for an excuse to use it in our own home. As always with Farrow and Ball, we were not disappointed by the colour. Yes, these paints are more expensive, and, at times, I do have quibbles about painting ease issues, but the colour quality is top notch. 

children's Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Children's Bedroom
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom

To give you a firm leading on how accurate the Pale part of the name is, I have heard this colour described as white {insert cries of despair from me ;-)}. White it's NOT but it is true that when surrounded by bright natural light, it takes on a washed-out coastal air.

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Dining Room

However, contrast it with pure white and you'll quickly see that Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder stands up well as a colour on its own two feet.

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom

This is even truer if the paint is applied in a small room...

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder bathroom
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bathroom

...or where there's plenty of room for the colour to build in a larger room, such as round the alcove below....

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom

Interior designer Katie Ridder says this of Farrow and Ball's Pale Powder: "If you want something clean and neutral but more interesting than white, try this whisper of a color that goes green or blue in different lights. It adds character and a bit of age, it's easy to live with, and it makes a smoother transition to the adjacent rooms, which are full of color."

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
As a pale but interesting front door colour, it's just perfect! Be warned that it may well be a LOT paler than you expect if your front door is in a sun-exposed position. Take a look at these beauties...

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Front Door In Full Sun
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Front Door In Full Sun


Farrow and Ball Pale Powder front door
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Front Door In Shade
Putting this post together involved sifting through a LOT of misleading images available online. DO not be fooled by some of the darker images floating around hyperspace. They must be photo-shopped, oddly lit or simply misnamed. I don't want you to be disappointed, my paint-loving friends.


Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Living Room
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Living Room
Pale by name and pale by nature. This paint is a lighter version of Farrow and Ball's Powder Blue (still available as an archive colour), which we used for our front door six years ago.


Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
Pale Powder gave our boys bedroom such a calm, relaxing feel. It's not a big room and yet it felt instantly more spacious.

Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Bedroom
Cathy Kincaid, an American decorator, says: "Everyone — men and women alike — loves this colour. It's a pale blue with a lot of green in it, and it's a little dirty, which makes it more complex than the typical pastel. I've used it everywhere, from kitchens to bedrooms. I even painted my office in it. People walk in and say, 'This is how I want my house to feel."
  
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Kitchen
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Painted Kitchen
As always, for more colour casee studies, click on through...


Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Study
Farrow and Ball Pale Powder Study
If you're looking for a warm, pale blue, with a hint of aqua, I think you've just found your Holy Grail!


Imags: Modern Country Style, unknown, Farrow and Ball, Remodelista, akadesign, Tokyoinja, High Class Decorators, unknown, Love and Lilac, Voysey and Jones, Turbulances, Sophie Bingham, Decorpad, House Beautiful, Houzz

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