Our Anniversary Break

I've finally defrosted ;-)) and am able to update my blog a little, after a lovely short break-away with hubby. We travelled across country to a very chilly East Sussex, staying in Lewes, to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary.  

The cold didn't stop us exploring though and we managed to fit in quite a bit of sightseeing, albeit wrapped-up as if we were in the Arctic...I'm rubbish in cold weather, not sure if I've ever mentioned that(?)...It did mean we had to have extra tea stops, of course, in order to warm ourselves up throughout the day :) 

Lewes Castle, where we climbed to the top of the tower for a spectacular view and to feel the full force of that easterly wind!

The town stocks.

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Later we visited Anne of Cleves house - A C15th home which was part of her divorce settlement after her separation from King Henry VIII.

Inside.

A stroll through the gardens led us back to the main shopping areas, so a bit of afternoon antiquing had to be done! ;-))

I bought a few items in The Needlemakers, where there were lots of collectables on offer...

Including just a few Ladybird books!
My favourite purchase was an old copy of The Water Babies.
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The next day we decided to visit Brighton...

Where a tour of the Royal Pavilion is a must...
Sadly photography is not allowed inside.

Then for more bracing fresh air along the sea front and Brighton's pier. 

The afternoon was spent treasure hunting again at the Laines.

My favourite destination was in Snoopers Paradise...Being honest, the downstairs was a little rough and ready, but the upstairs was beautiful. I felt quite inspired amongst the wonderful handmade creations and delightfully decorated attic space. (More details here.)

This fantastic lampshade creation hung in the stairwell on the way up to the attic...

The top floor area was divided up into units, where the work of each artisan complimented the others. Wonderful to see the attention to detail and the clever use of recycled materials. I was in vintage heaven! :)

I did make a few purchases, but photos of those will have to wait for another time...I still have laundry to catch up on since getting back home and I have to open my shop again as usual tomorrow.

Our way back home to Bath took us via The Priest House, West Hoathly  - one of the tiniest museums I think we have ever visited. A third of the building is open to the public and is furnished with 17th and 18th century country furniture and domestic objects. 

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Wishing you a very Happy Easter break,

Keep Warm,

Niki x

All Grown Up.

Time to reveal-all as to why I've been missing from my blog recently...But the weather has been so gloomy again, I've not been able to take any decent photographs of my daughter's bedroom makeover that we worked on together...

In natural light things look like this...

Very grey and not that pretty when compared to the real room...

So I've snapped a few in artificial light to hopefully give you an idea of what we've achieved in our spare time...

(There is a photo on this old blog post which shows how the bedroom used to look - Really quite different!)

We went for a restful duck egg blue/green on the walls,  with cream for the ceiling and floor.  Most of the accents were cream as well, with a touch of dusky pink. All my daughter's choices, but ones we both ultimately agreed upon - She leaves home this year for uni, but obviously needs a bedroom to come home to. In-between times we can use it as a spare room for guests.

For now though, there is evidence of a teenager in residence, as it should be...

(Little handmade hanging owls bought at Bath's Christmas Market this year.)



The two owl cushions were gifts and are from her old room...
They sit on a metal Victorian cot that I bought at the flea market last month.  It makes a great little sofa with the side folded down - The perfect spot for her to enjoy her TV, or to read a book.

I also bought this large oval mirror at the local flea!...Thankfully someone had already painted it the exact cream for the room...but there was plenty of other pieces that needed a repaint...

Such as the dressing table...





The little cabinet above the sink...

A metal table which had been living in the garden, outside the summer house...

A 70's stool to match, with freshly painted legs and a new vintage fabric seat.

The fireplace.

The mosaic hearth we made together a few years ago, from broken rose china.

The old light fitting was also given a new coat of paint...

As were the French window bars which we have on most of the windows throughout our house.

This lovely old cupboard was 'borrowed' from hubby's office 
;-)) ...getting it upstairs was a major task!
It makes a fabulous wardrobe in the alcove now. 

The glass panels were lined in another vintage fabric to hide the hoards of shoes and bags a teenager seems to collect!
 

I made the curtain from an old lace bedspread, lined with an antique French linen sheet.

A lampshade simply made like many others in our home. 

Flowers from her boyfriend :) for all her hard work.
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Out on the landing things have returned to normal...which is something I'd quite like to do, if there is such a thing?! 

I'm taking a short break until sometime next week (except for work tomorrow). Hopefully I shall have something to post about on my return.

Have a lovely weekend,

Niki x