Toile Blind

I wanted to put a blind in the new bathroom just to soften it a bit.  I had decided on toile de jouy and black was the obvious colour to choose.  I found that Annie Sloan did one and a YouTube video showed her making a blind with a co-ordinating fabric.  Since I live a long way from anyone who stocks her fabrics I decided to pay Blendworth Fabrics a visit as I have often found beautiful fabrics there at such reasonable prices.  Well I found exactly what I wanted and here is the finished result.

It didn't take long to make at all and I am so pleased with it.  The toile was £11 a metre and the 'gingham' was £6.50 a metre and they are really good quality too (suffice to say that the Annie Sloan material was a lot more expensive but then you are paying for her name).

We have a new member of the family since Sunday - a gorgeous new puppy but I shall show you photos of him on my next post.

First of all thank you to all of you who suggested a caption to the piece of toile in my last post.  They were all very funny but I have to admit that my favourite was from gillyflower and she will be receiving a lavender heart made from vintage toile.

And now for something completely different.  This is totally ridiculous logic but I was ordering a slow cooker from John Lewis and had to spend another £3 in order to qualify for free delivery.  I have really wanted a Jo Malone candle for ages but they are so expensive (in my opinion), however, this seemed the ideal excuse to add one to my basket!  Does anyone else do this sort of thing?  I spent £38 on a candle rather than £3 on postage!!  Crazy, but I do love my candle and it came all gift wrapped, just for me.  I haven't lit it yet.  That's another thing; I am always reluctant to light nice candles so they just end up getting dusty and faded and not looking nice at all.  I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks like this, though.  Do you do anything that is totally illogical?

The fragrance I chose is 'Lime Basil and Mandarin'.   I had tested a lot of the scents at Dublin airport on Monday but they were all lovely and I couldn't make a choice.  I have just been in the garden and noticed that the Daphne shrub is flowering.  This is my favourite shrub of all as the scent is really strong.  I have brought some into the house and know that it will soon scent the whole room.

As I mentioned, I have been over to Dalkey in Ireland for a few days.  Dublin is very near so I had to have a day's shopping there; it is such a beautiful city.  I also visited my two favourite shops there, Noa Noa and Avoca and, of course, I had to help the Irish economy and buy a few things!  You can read about a previous visit to Avoca here.

I hope that you all have a lovely weekend.

Toile de Jouy

Toiles were originally produced in Ireland in the mid 18th century and quickly became popular in Britain and France.  The term Toile de Jouy originated in France in the late 18th century; the phrase literally means 'cloth from Jouy-en-Josas', a town in north central France.

The patterns are generally quite complex and have pastoral themes.  Generally, but not always, there is one colour on a white background, the most popular being dark red, blue or black.

These are some of my favourites I have found on Pinterest.

Today I went to Chichester and had lunch with a friend at Amelie's restaurant, a favourite of ours and had the most amazing risotto I have ever tasted, ever mouthful was followed by a 'Mmmmmm'.  It was celeriac with hazelnuts and raisin puree which sounds a bit strange but absolutely to die for!

(sorry the photo is a bit blurred)

Whilst there I bought some toile de jouy bedding in the Laura Ashley sale and two boxes to match.  They will look perfect in my bedroom.

If there was a balloon coming out of the lady's head what do you think she would be thinking or saying????
I will send a lavender filled toile de jouy fabric heart similar to this one to what I consider to be the best caption.

My weekend

What a contrast in weather conditions this weekend!  I had my very favourite dog again for a few days as my daughter was away so this necessitated several walks down to the beach

but he doesn't like the water like this dog does.  Every time he brought a stick back to his owners they threw out to sea again!!

Friday and Sunday were beautiful days but it poured and poured on Saturday.  My husband and I went to the Pallant Art Gallery in Chichester as they had an exhibition of Gwen John's paintings (I have blogged about here previously here).  Unfortunately they had very few of her works and had concentrated more on Celia Paul's paintings (and I'm not keen on hers)

Celia Paul Self Portrait

This is one of my favourite Gwen John's sketches.

This afternoon my husband has drawn a female on the new bathroom wall.  We felt it needed something to break up this space of white and so he tried this saying that we could paint over it if we didn't like it but I do!

I bought myself this book at the gallery.  I had seen it before and loved some of the paintings featured in it so decided to treat myself.  

This is a painting of three sisters painted in 1917 which interested me because I will be listing a French world War 1 Red Cross uniform on my website later this week.

This was found in the attic of a distillery in France.  Gosh, I wonder what stories this could tell.

Noa Noa Bead Collar

In the autumn I visited one of my favourite shops, Noa Noa in Cirencester and bought a lovely dress.  I also tried on a beaded collar which looked very vintagey but at £35 I decided that though it was well worth the money I didn't really need it.  At the weekend my thoughts turned to that collar again and I decided yes I would have it after all, I did, in fact, need it and it had to be mine! I searched on all the Noa Noa sites to see if anyone still had it and lo and behold I found it in the sale at 60% off bringing the price down to £14!  Bargain!  (By the way it is now out of stock so I may have bought the last one).

It came in the post this morning and I LOVE it, I adore it.  I'm not sure yet when I will wear it or with what but I am enjoying just looking at it!

Bathtubs

 

Following on from my last post here are some bathtubs that I wouldn't mind having in my home.

1.  Very shabby chic. (source unknown, found on Pinterest).
2.  I love the copper tub and stonework.  (source unknown, found on Pinterest).
3.  I love how the shape of the window is echoed in the shape of the bath (jenniferdavisinteriordesign.com)
4.  What a view!  (bottegatokyo.com).
5.  Shoe bath is covered in tiny precious glass mosaic tiles and designed by Massimiliano Della Monaca.
6.  'Sea Sponge' by Philip Gladstone.  Novel tap!
7.  I love the birdbath used as a table.  (hviturlakkris.blogspot.co.uk)
8.  Wow! (source unknown, found on Pinterest).

Which is your favourite?

Cloakroom

We have almost finished the makeover on the downstairs cloakroom/shower room.  When we moved into this house absolutely every room needed work doing to it.  In the rooms where we thought we were just removing wallpaper then the walls came away with it etc. etc. and every room seemed to be a major task.  I don't know why we left the downstairs cloakroom so long to tackle but now we only have the loft (which had already been converted into a bedroom) to sort out and the house is as we like it (though some rooms already now need redecorating!!)

This room was weird in that it had two steps up to the toilet and shower.  We discovered why when the builders were gutting it.  Rather than remove a beautiful old ceramic shower tray they had put a plastic tray over it and lifted the floor rather than remove it!  Bizarre!  Unfortunately we couldn't salvage this as it was cemented in too well but we no longer have to step up to the throne!

I didn't take any photos of the room before demolition but all four walls were floor to ceiling tiles (why?) and this is how it looked when they were removed.

We had bought an old Singer sewing machine table which we wanted a basin to stand on.  I love the juxtaposition of old and modern which is why I also chose this light fitting.  It is so not usually my taste but I fell in love with it and thought it would make a statement.  It weighs 7 kgs so my husband spend ages trying to find a batten strong enough in the ceiling to take the weight!

I had already painted the walls (white) but since the plumber has installed the shower and toilet it now needs repainting and I still have the pipes and skirting boards to paint.

I bought this large mirror on ebay and painted it with Farrow & Ball's French Grey.  I want to buy some co-ordinating fabric to place a blind at the window just to inject a little colour too.

At the weekend I black leaded the metal work on the sewing table (big mistake as it seemed to coat everything in a layer of fine black dust and I have walked some onto the cream living room carpet and can't remove it).

This cast iron and marble table is one we already had and it perfectly matches the sewing table which also has a marble top (not original to the sewing table, of course).  (You can see which bits of the wall I still have to paint).