Wednesday 14 November 2012

WIP = Wallpaper in progress


Thank you as always for interesting and kind comments - I see that the way to go in blogland  are postings regarding old school knickers, frost inside windows, warm school milk and silverfish (I had completely forgotten about these creatures and now recall seeing them whizzing around behind peeling wallpaper and slithering out of books)!  I will bear that in mind and fancy that we could write a collective book of childhood memories.

On to more serious matters.  
Decorating takes so much longer than it used to.  Years ago, when the children were in bed by 18.00 we could decorate until midnight.  Now it is very hit and miss.  You may recall that we painted the fireplace earlier this year (Febuary!)  see here for the first choice of original 50s wallpaper. Slow and steady...  Finally chose this wallpaper  because I could not bring myself to cut into that luverly orginal wallpaper and what would I do if I changed my mind..  Dom has been papering and I have been acting in a supervisory capacity!  I had to move these pots so put them on top of the fireplace and thought that the mass of different swirly whirly handles looked good with the swirly whirly wallpaper and then the swirly whirly chandelier

I used to collect these pots at every opportunity - I haven't bought one for years because ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!  Ho ho! These date from around 1900 and most of them come from Belgium originally.  These are from the bottom/cheapo end of the Arts and Crafts pot market...but I like them and perchance the blues and greens match the wallpaper.  Who knew!


There are some bigger ones that live in the dining room


Chandelier might get cleaned once a year - Christmas time usually.  Fearful amount of dust up there!


Ceiling rose is a wonderment of its own



Over the years bits have been knocked off as the children play catch in this room....gulp....

We have finally made a decision regarding this room here and it vintage wallpaper  sniff, sniff.  We are going to swap rooms around in order for me to save (dramatic!)  this wallpaper forever - I must admit it also means I get a bigger room for fabricos though it will mean that Dom gets to change my sewing room (as seen in header photo) and I dread to think what it will end up looking like...all manly and brown possibly...

Not really linked to this is a note that yesterday I was teaching  in Oxford (not any of the universities!)  in a beautiful mid-19th century building situated in a delicious little wood...I quite fancied myself as the housekeeper as I paraded round (not the Lady of the house - that would be a step too far) a la 'The Paradise'...Last week I was teaching in the Education Centre at Chichester Hospital - I have never been there before.  If you get a chance to pop in do go and look at the 1940s  photos on the walls - one was of the 'Ladies Ward' - each bed had its own HAND EMBROIDERED COUNTERPANE..I would give my eye teeth....

Onwards and upwards Ladies and Lads (suitably chastised  - thank you dear Hattatts) of Blogland







30 comments:

  1. How I love seeing snippets of your beautiful home. Love the wallpaper and I'm glad that Dom is doing a good job! I know what you mean about decorating. BAck in the day, pre-child, we used to come home from work (full-time), have dinner and decorate until ridiculous o'clock. Now, because I have one day off a week, I'm lumbered with all the decorating (I'm better at it anyway!) and it takes an age to do.

    Enough is never enough when it comes to my collections, I'm afraid! xx

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    1. Aww - thank you dearly. Time has shrunk with age don't you think? Days were long and often boring as a youngster - now it is over as soon as it has begun.

      Collections to infinity and beyond!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  2. Oh that wallpaper is bee-yooo-teee-full! It's just..I don't know..the colours and the pattern...perfect. Absolutely perfctomundo. Fabulous choice, even though I did also like the original one you had in mind.

    Why do most men like plain and bland? I do not understand the male species. I mean, I don't expect a chap to want roses and swirls all round, but for heaven's sake live a little and embrace a smidgeon of colour and pattern!!

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    1. Thank you dear wendz - Dom would cheerfully beige wash the entire house I think....he is resigned to my idiosyncrasies but I cannot say that he loves it...which is a shame as there is quite a bit of it about...
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  3. Wonderful wallpaper - and the vases are gorgeous
    Julie xxxxxxx

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    1. Thank you dear Julie - do you know there was one in the charity shop only two days ago but I was very restrained (and it was only 3.99) - they are often not marked so I don't think people would know how old they are or there origins.
      Have a good day
      Jenny

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  4. That is such pretty wallpaper! It looks quite Voysey like. The colours are wonderful and those pots of yours do go so very well with it too. I love them, the form and colour is organic looking as if sprug from nature. Pretty chandelier too! And that ceiling rose ...... love it! Good luck in your room swop about, sometimes we need to look differently at our homes in order to use them best. x

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    1. Thank you kindly - it is a bit different to our usual 'style' (if I can call it that) but once finished it will suit the room well I think. Things have never stayed the same for too long in our house and as you say it is good look at things differently
      Have a lovely day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  5. Love the wall paper, absolutely gorgeous and it looks as though the pots must have come with it, what a match!

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    1. Thank you kindly Cherly - it is funny because there is a hundred year difference between the two things. The wall paper is Amy Butler and it was reduced in Debenhams!!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  6. Lovely wallpaper ... so glad you are saving the vintage wallpaper and getting a bigger room to boot ... win, win I say ... close your eyes to the manly room ... easiest way I think ... have a lovely week ... Bee xx

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    1. Thank you Bee - I think that it will be all gadgets and tech stuff....oh well I cannot have it all my own way!

      Lovely week for you too
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  7. .....it's all looking gorgeous....makes me think about all the decorating i need to do.....!happy day X

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    1. Dear Vanilla Squirrel - we are always decorating (or thinking about decorating!) - I have a bit of a restless mind so always thinking about the next thing....dear oh dear!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  8. Fabulous wallpaper Jenny ... you can't ever get rid of it! Lovely chandelier too! I have one that my tall son keeps walking into and knocking bits off xxx

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    1. Oh dear Claire - we are not at that stage yet! I saw some staggering chandeliers in Venice - mine looks a little sad in compare!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  9. Hello Penny:
    The wallpaper design has a very William Morris feel to it in our eyes and the pottery containers look truly stunning against it.We love the way that the wallpaper design echoes many of the shapes to be seen in the plaster ceiling rose and the chandelier adds a touch of glamour that is simply brilliant. As for the dust......the perfect addition to create that truly authentic English Country House look. We know, we have lived with dust for years. Indeed, we could write a novel on dust, about dust and with dust!!!

    On Friday we finally head for watery Venice. Splendido on the Lido we hear you cry!!! We may be 'off air' for a little while but should there be no sighting of us in the Land of Blog by Christmas, will you please come to the rescue?!!!

    P.S. Spare a thought for the Lads of Blogland.......

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    1. Dear Lance and Jane - thank you for your kind words. I am sure that the this room compares favourably with some homes that you have visited (I am indeed laughing as I write this!!!!). It is best to have the Quentin Crisp approach to dust don't you think?

      I will be delighted to send a vintage raft if you should disappear for too long - replete with vintage Venezia flag!

      Blog ending suitably ammended

      Have fun - of course you will
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  10. Love those little pots especially those three candlesticks and hooray a new sewing room with fab wallpaper...

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    1. Thank you kindly dear Cass - at Christmas I do use them as candlesticks as they add a bit of Victorian style whimsy
      Have a lovely day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  11. I love your wallpaper the colours are so lovely and go so well with the blue fireplace.
    Sarah x

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    1. Thank you dear Sarah - we were not sure about the colour at first but it has grown on us
      Have a lovely day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  12. You have to keep that beautiful paper, love the little glimses of your home, it all looks wonderful
    Thea x

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    1. Dear Thea
      Thank you as always for your kind words
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  13. What I really love about your home is how you pull together lots of different decades, it shouldn't work, but you pull it of beautifully! :)

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    1. That is lovely to hear Ada - it is a right old mix no mistake and I am drawn to anything that looks 'nice'!
      Oh dear
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  14. Your posts really do make me smile Jenny! I love the bits of your home I have been given glimpses of in your blog and I love how your sense of humour (and mischievousness?!) shines through. Silverfish....now I had forgotten about those little things.

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    1. Thank you kindly Anne. I have always had a hankering to be a writer - for some reason I have thought that I could write the back page of a magazine - you know the bit where they write something witty and amusing for a final tra la la. I wish!
      Odd about silverfish - I haven't seen one for years and yet recall them clearly from childhood.
      Have a lovely day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  15. I thought your new wallpaper had a Wm Morris look about it too but the paler colours give it a fresher, lighter look - love it :)
    x

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    1. Thank you dear Barbara - it is an Amy Butler design and does indeed have a freshly look to it I think
      Have a warm day
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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