Time for a Change......

I'm finding it difficult to believe that it was a year ago that I wrote about harvesting the plums from the little tree in my garden and making jam with the ripe fruits......but here I am again today with a basket filled with pounds of delicious plums awaiting their crumble topping!

And it was almost 18 months ago that I redecorated my kitchen with its red and cream scheme.

I had been feeling rather restless recently and in need of change, so decided to have a few hours to myself and 'play house'. I moved all of my red kitchen accessories into the utility room in order to create a blank canvas. The neutral cream walls and pale painted cupboards in both my kitchen and utility room mean that I can easily swap accent colours around for a fresh new look.

I pulled my mis-matched collection of vintage china out of the cupboards and arranged it on the dresser- all can be used by the family - nothing is too precious.

A gathering of salt and pepper pots here.....

And an apple green trio sits upon a pile of assorted tea plates at the other end of the shelf.

I've also been recycling some of my vintage fabrics within the room. A classic C1950's fabric printed with pink roses on a polka dot background curtains off part of the shelved alcove next to the dresser. It's good to have a hiding place for more kitchen paraphernalia that doesn't need to be on show.

The French tin canisters have always been in the kitchen, I just thinned out the set a little, for a less cluttered feel.

(Yes, the old telephone does work - it's been rewired to modern standards - I love the sound of the old brass bell ringers. Makes touch dialling to the bank a problem though! ;-))

One of my most favourite vintage Sanderson fabrics has been used to curtain off another area in the kitchen.

Threaded onto tension wires, it creates another storage space in the room. I'm sure that these floral fabrics would have originally been produced as bedroom curtain designs, but I love them and want to look at them everyday, so why not add them to the room that I use the most? - Vintage china often features colourful roses and summer flowers, which coordinate well with the nostalgic prints of the fabrics.

Fresh roses are welcome too!

I also needed to make a curtain for the glazed front door. The ceilings are over 10ft high in this side of the house (the kitchen used to be my little vintage shop at one time) which means that I need a long length of fabric when it comes to making full length drapes. I didn't have a long enough piece that looked right for here, so decided to use three! The centre panel is a flamboyant C1950's vibrant pink rose design, which is so cheerful and pretty.

I topped it with this dainty Sanderson fabric......

....and a hemming panel was made from spriggy vintage cotton.

So my cost-free makeover is complete and has produced a calmer atmosphere to our family kitchen. It seems to have created more breathing space with just the things I love or that are used regularly out on display.

*****

I have also been framing some of the 1950's advertisements that I discovered in the old magazines last week (see post below). I loved the 'Blue Hyacinth' artwork from 'Cussons', so this now hangs in our bathroom. I hope to add a few others to my website when I find some suitable vintage picture frames to complete an authentic look.

If anyone would like to email me a photograph of an item that they have purchased from my website, showing it in its new home, I would be happy to include it on a new page that I shall be adding to my website. It could be fun to share ideas and influence like-minded people on this inspiration page and for you to see your treasures on the www.

You can send them to me via the contact page on my website - thanks!

Have a great Bank Holiday weekend,

Niki x