Mirror mirror on the wall…

For some reason, we’ve a shortage of mirrors in our home, but a recent haul at a northern auction has helped. Both had seen better days but a bit of TLC and a lick of (Farrow & Ball) paint has soon sorted them out.

This one was a dark wood one and I’ve painted it in Farrow & Ball’s Blackened.

For this one I chose Farrow & Ball’s Shaded White and it’s really brought out the detailing around the edges.

Whenever you paint furniture, preparation is key – make sure the surface has had a light sand and I find using a weak sugar soap solution helps make the surface as clean and smooth as possible. A good quality primer should be used too before you apply your paint, I always tend to use eggshell as I love the finish.

 

 

Somewhere for all things pretty…

I thought I’d kick off with a blog about our ‘new’ glass display cabinet, which I have fallen a little bit in love with. I had a vision for this piece as soon as I saw a photo of it. On my wedding day my Grandparents passed onto me a china tea set which has been in the family for over 100 years, I’m the fourth owner (albeit a nervous one as it’s been passed on to me minus only two cups) and I really wanted to make sure it was somewhere it could be seen – not hidden in a cupboard or sat somewhere gathering dust.

My honorary auntie regularly visits an auction house close to where she lives and I always take a little look at the catalogue in case there’s something that catches my eye that she can bid on for me. This cabinet jumped out at me.  Looking at the elegant shape of the feet and detail on the doors I knew with a bit of TLC it could be the perfect piece for our dining room and to display all those pretty things I have (and continue to collect, you can never have enough right?!).

I started out by taking it to pieces, the back still had what looked to be original fabric on it, which thankfully peeled off in one piece. Once sanded right back and wiped over with sugar soap it was just a case of being patient and layering on the paint. I’ve tried to keep the colours in our home Farrow & Ball throughout so that each colour scheme for every room still works with the rest of the house, I chose ‘shaded white’ for this, with a piece of wallpaper from Laura Ashley. I’m really pleased with the result, as with every piece I’ve done I’ve learnt something new (like not hanging the door back on upside down!) that I’ll remember for the next piece I source.