Five Things I Love #10: An Update

Hello folks! How have you all been? Once again, it’s been an age since my last post… such is life. The last couple of months have been busy and stressful with not much time to concentrate on bloggy stuff and doing the things that I love most. Well, with everything returning to ‘normal’, I felt that it is high time that I do too. To kick off, I thought that I would do a ‘Five Things I Love’ update, re-capping some of the projects that you may have seen mid-process and showing you some end results. There may even be a finished space for you to see…

Retro Book Cover

Some may say that it’s sacrilege, removing a book cover. Normally, I would agree but as pages were missing, I have no guilt. I finally got around to framing it, as I really wanted to include it in the stair gallery wall. I’m actually happier with the result than I thought I would be, having added the larger mount; not only to allow it to fit, but to give it a bit more depth… a good tip if you want to elevate a piece of art that may otherwise look ‘flat’ in a regular frame.

Kitchen Wall Lamp

Last time I showed you the kitchen wall lamp (here) it had just been sprayed black and was ready for a coat of varnish. Well, since then, plans have changed… and I am so glad that plans have changed.

Although I liked the black, I didn’t love it. Since we had settled on pewter handles for the kitchen, I felt that I wanted something a little softer for the lamps. We will be having a few little touches of brass throughout too, so I felt that this would be an opportunity to tie it all together. However, I didn’t want it to look like a crappy cheap spray-paint job. I wanted it to look convincing.

As we have beautiful textured glass wall lights in the adjoining dining room, ideally the kitchen lights would have handmade glass shades to co-ordinate. Glass-blowing is a bit beyond my capabilities though.

Luckily, I’m a total hobby geek and knew of these AMAZING products. I had just never thought of them for interior projects before. Duh.

These AK True Metal products (I bought them from here) are brilliant. They go on like a gilding wax and can be buffed to a true metal sheen. I resisted saying ‘metallic’ as that always makes me think of car paint; you know, the little suspended metal particles that look fake close-up. These products look smooth.

The brass looks like brass! The aluminium looks like aluminium! The snozberries taste like snozberries…

To achieve the desired effects, I chose to paint on the brass parts and stipple/dry brush on the dark aluminium for a pewter effect. Leaving it to dry for an hour, I then buffed it all up with a soft cloth. I am SO happy with the end result. The pewter matches the handles perfectly and the touch of brass will tie the smaller accents together.

Oh… and the handmade glass shade? Glass relief paint, swirled on with my finger. I used DecoArt Media Liquid Glass.

The Girl With The Day glow Scarf

Although we loved everything about the print (that interior!) we weren’t so keen on the old frame. How do you update a very traditional (and quite old fashioned) print?

Frame it in a simple, contemporary frame, with a crisp, clean white mount. I used Easyframe on this occasion as I really wanted the perfect size of frame and mount, to show the ladies off to their best. I was so impressed with the service and product, that I’ve ended up ordering more.

We also found a little companion for this print. Meet Mafalda. This is actually the name of the print. Fancy, eh. The frame was a charity shop find and I ordered the double mount from Easyframe. With a name like ‘Mafalda’ you need a double mount.

We Took A Little Trip Back Home

A month or so ago, we headed up North to see my folks. We were so lucky with the weather and Brian, my mum and I had a lovely wee while on the beach, searching for shells. I took these images as I loved the colours that nature has thrown together here. Nature is one of the best sources for colour palette inspiration, particularly the wilder, untended areas. I pulled out my favourite colours, just for you.

A Mini Reveal

So, you may have wondered where Mafalda and co were hanging about these days? Well, whilst we patiently await the completion of building works elsewhere, I decided to pull my finger out and get the upper landing and staircase decorated. Here’s a reminder of the last time you saw it…

and now…

Now, we are always generally quite happy with a room when it’s finished. Which is obviously a good thing. This? WE LOVE. The mix of old and new is spot-on for us and we both catch ourselves stopping in this space to take it in. That top step is my favourite seat in the house.The light at any time of day, rain or shine, is amazing. We had worried that blocking up that lower window would ruin the hallway for us but the addition of Stevie Nicks and her picture light, has absolutely made it. Even if we do say so ourselves!

I will of course go into more depth when the full hallway makeover is complete. Expect a traumatic tale of bumpy walls, leaky roofs and squint striped carpets. All now remedied, thankfully.