Making decisions...

Here's the thing...
The stairs, lovely as they are, need something.

 

There's also a plain empty wall in my bedroom...

I have some ideas but I don't know what to do where. Perhaps you can help me out?

Idea 1. I'd like to create a gallery wall as I have a lovely collection of paintings that have lived in the loft for the past four and a half years. (All from charity shops/boot sales etc)

Husband HATES these religious ones. He says if I use them I will remind him of his mother. If he was cleverer he could win all arguments with this statement.

Idea 2. I have been collecting rolls of vintage wallpaper and I'd like to create a patchwork wallpaper wall. (I'm also concerned about this: some are wild and funky, some are pale and pretty. Can I use them altogether d'you think? Or do I have to spend another 5 years collecting and do either a 'pretty vintage' wall OR a 'funky vintage' wall?)

But the biggest decision I have to make is what goes where. I'm leaning towards wallpaper in the bedroom and pictures on the back wall of the stairs.

The bedroom has a neutral colour scheme so that would work. Would it be insane to have pictures ON TOP of a patchwork wallpaper wall? Too frantic? I don't want to give myself a migraine.

Because I also have this huge original 1963 film poster (family heirloom as my grandmother wrote the film) that needs re homing and I'm running out of walls. This could go on the back wall of the stairs? I'm also thinking of 'adding' to the painted stairs and the more neutral that wall is, the better it will look...

I'm getting nowhere fast. Your input would be very much appreciated. Who else can I ask? Certainly not the husband! My dad? I think not. C'mon ladies! You vintage loving, sheet collecting, chazzing, creative and clever ladies 'get this' more than anyone else in my life.

Happy day...

 Thank you to the very lovely and funny Katie from Hook, Line and Sink Her for nominating me for a Versatile Blogger Award!  I have to tell you 7 facts about me and nominate 15 other bloggers who are worthy of this prestigeous honour.

So here are my facts...


1. I don't mind mice, rats, snakes and most spiders but I'm frightened of woodlice.

2. I was up the top of the World Trade Centre one year and one day before it came down.

3. I  hate having to wear glasses. Really. But not enough to want my eyeballs scorched with lasers.

4. I struggle with maths. Once I thought my daughters maths homework was a trick question which couldn't be answered. It wasn't and she was 5 at the time.

5. I think the best TV show that ever was, was 'Change that'. I dilligently recorded it every day to watch after work. I sooo wish they'd bring it back.

6. Fast forward to modern times and I really enjoy 'Made In Chelsea.' My favourite is Francis. They seem to have reinvented him since the first series.
I don't watch anything else really. I have the telly on with the sound off. I find it reassuring that it's there, like a window on the world, but the noise drives me mad.

Well, hello...

7. I bite my nails and have rough hands like an elderly Norwegian fisherman. And it doesn't bother me. I can tell if a jumper is wool or acrylic by the way it snags on my hands or not. A very useful skill in second hand shopping if you don't like acrylic.

My actual hands
(Kidding! Obviously mine have paint on them.)

 

And my nominees are...

1. Curtise at The Secondhand Years
Smart, stylish and sometimes saucy

2. Loo from Jumbles and Pompoms
Creative and a vintage lover

3. Kat at  Shoestring Lifestyle
Her and her partner are fixing up their home with vintage finds

4. Caroline at Mrs M's Meanderings
The car boot queen

5. Jenni from G'day at the Gables
An Aussie in Hertfordshire

6. Marie from Marie Debell
A fellow furniture painter

7. Kate at Just Pirouette and Carry On
A little bit of everything

8. Jane at Plain Jane
Crafty and flower loving

9. Sarah from People don't eat enough fudge
Leaving mayhem in her wake

10. Dee Dee at Vintage Retro Delights
This lady lives and breathes vintage!

11. Natalie at Sophistcated Yellow
She has very good taste!

12. Betsy from Betsy Speerts Blog
My new best friend ;)

13. First time buyer (sorry I don't know your name!) at Victorian Terrace Refurb
Nothing scares this lady! Inspirational!

14. Mary at Vintage Style at home
Pretty interiors and painting

15. Scarlet from The Finished Article
Likes similar things to me. What's not to love?

Ladies, if you want to play along, go ahead! 

Coffee table turned bedroom bench...

I mentioned before, this  car boot sale table...

 ...was begging to be transformed into a bedroom bench. I even found an image of a spookily similar bedroom bench.

Sometimes I can see how I can beautify something so I have to buy it.

Do we need a bedroom bench? No.
Do we even have space for a bedroom bench? No.
But when my creative juices flow I do not let practicality get in the way.
(For heavens sake, I've just painted my stairs white, with two muddy pawed cats and a 6 year old.)

So that I don't end up on one of those hoarding shows, and to save my marriage, this bench was going to have to be sold. In order to appeal to the largest possible market it had be be pale and neutral.
(I'm really just excusing yet another beige and cream offering...)

I had to countersink and fill all the nasty screws that stood proud of the timber.

Before...

After...

 

 I sanded, primed and painted the woodwork next.
I got a big sheet of 3'' foam from Dunelm Mill. It was £20 inc delivery and I cut it to size with an electric carving knife. It worked so well! I stuck it to the table with spray adhesive. Then I put wadding over that.

(I approached our local curtain shop as I saw they sold foam cut to size but they wanted £90!)

I used some upholstery fabric that was a boot sale find to cover it. I always pick up upholstery fabrics when I see them as they are very expensive and you never know when you might have an upholstery emergency.

So here it is!

Some pretty stylin'...

...and keeping it real...

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Upholstery is a lot harder than it looks! Those corners were very tricky. But I like how it's turned out. And everyone needs a place to fling their clothes at night don't they?

Car booty and second hand scores...

Friday was flea market day and I wandered round several times finding a big fat NOTHING! I was going to leave when I pulled myself together and went round one more time. I thought there had to be something worth having in the entire flea market.

And there was.
Filled with dirty old tools I found this beautiful crate. (Well, obviously it was going to be a crate!)

''Boring!'' I hear you say.

But you are wrong! 

This is very NOT boring.

It's stencilled 'Parma Violet'. Remember the sweets that taste like perfume?

And it has the remains of an old label that says it was indeed full of Parma Violets  and came from Lever Brothers in Port Sunlight, Cheshire. And I thought they only made washing powder!

It was filthy and contained bird poo but I got it for a few quid. Can you see the date on the pic above? 6/1/11. So it's 102 years old.

Making it a very cool crate.

 I think it will live in my pantry. ( I did get the bird poo out and disinfect it!)

*[I have now done some research. It is a SOAP crate not a sweet crate! They did not make sweets...]*

I did well at this mornings boot sale. It was almost warm! I found a new coat  for my daughter with the labels still on... £2 and really thick.

Crocs for her in very good condition... £1

A fifties looking dress for her with the tags on... £1.

A beanie buddy cat. How could I resist that face?

And a balance bike that I'm really hoping will help her get over her fears. She has hypermobility and associated issues that give her physical difficulties...

I'm hoping it's not too low. If it is, perhaps she might feel safer being closer to the ground?

And something for me.

Some wooden boards for 'vintage' signs! Woo hoo!

We are due to have a warm bank holiday weekend! I do believe that's a first. I hope you all have a good one!

I hope to be back in the week with a project I'm working on...

Linking with Blackbird has Spoken; Op shop Show off

Sad news...

I'm very sad to tell you that a body found in the river in Bedford has been identified as Mrs Bolden, our much loved school teacher and Assistant Head. She went missing on Easter Sunday.

                                                                   Rest in peace Mrs Bolden.

Painted stairs revealed...

If you are thinking of painting your stairs, I have one bit of advice. Be prepared that it will take a looong time.
My stairs were in a fairly poor condition. Aside from the glue residue there were a great many dings, staple holes and screw holes to be filled. Then all the edges with the gaps and little crack marks needed to be caulked. Once primed, all the dings I had missed the first time around showed up really well so it was back to the wood filler. And sanding the wood filler and priming. Again.

All this before you can even think about paint. And I'm not a perfectionist. Well, I might be slightly but here I was not aiming for perfection. It's an old house and the last thing I want is a modern, perfect looking staircase.

I didn't sand the painted bits. You have to be careful with lead levels in old paint. I used my trusty Zinsser 123 water based super primer. It has high opacity (hence I got away with poo coloured filler; there was method to my madness) high adhesion (no sanding required) and stain blocking properties (useful if you have knotty pine.) What's not to love?

For the actual stair paint Angela at A Typical English Home highly recommended RONSEAL DIAMOND HARD FLOOR PAINT. ( Thank you Antonia for the tip off about Angelas post!) It's extraordinarily tough and has non slip qualities that your average gloss just can't compete with. An added bonus is that it's quick drying.

You can buy this online from Homebase. Homebase, I love you for this! Anything that prevents me from actually visiting  the big shops in Stevenage is very much appreciated. (B&Q - wise up!) Also don't be put off by the ''up to 20 days delivery time.'' Mine came the very next day.

This paint also comes in beige, tile red and grey.

So, do I like it? I think it's a huge improvement on the 'before' and I love the half  landing parts with the floorboards painted. I might have to add some colour at some point. And when I say 'colour' you know I mean beige or grey right?

But for now ...I'm done. We'll live with it for a while. In our slippers obviously...

I'll remind you of the before...

Of course, it's making that wall look filthy now. All the six year olds hand prints need painting over. That's often the way when you start these things...

Linking with Coastal Charm; Nifty Thrifty Tuesday 

and From My Front Porch to Yours; Treasure Hunt Thursday

Gustavian inspired wine table...

Er, at least I think it's called a wine table...

Alrighty, the stairs are STILL not finished! Top tip though for any potential stair painters; if you are going to paint your way down the stairs and the only accessible loo is upstairs, you might want to go first.

Yes the stair painting is dragging on. All I can say in my defence is that the staircase was in very poor condition before I began this.
Also I have been a bit naughty. I just love starting exciting new small jobs and I'm not so good at finishing  long laborious jobs.

So, instead of actually cracking on with the stairs I thought, once the stairs are all white and gorgeous, the little table that sits in the corner of the stairs is just going to look shoddy and ruin everything. See how I talk myself into it being alright to start something new?

Here's the table in question...

Er, this was Christmas time.

I'm rubbish at remembering to take 'before' shots. I'm so keen to get stuck in.

As usual, here's my attempt at a 'before' shot. Excuse the first splotches of paint. Imagine they're not there.

Also please excuse the moshi monster infestation we currently have.

This table was picked up a few years ago from Oxfam in York. I always intended to paint it. I thought that with the white stairs, white floorboards on the half landing and the painted mule chest that I wanted a Scandinavian look. I'm a huge fan of antique painted furniture so I wanted to try and reproduce the look without the price tag.

Here we go...

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I haven't used this technique before and I had to do it several times before I was happy. I didn't use chalk paint or primer, just sugar soap and tester pots of Wilkos emulsion. The sugar soap made an incredible difference to the shine of the wood, completely removing it. I just love texture in painted furniture.

Right, better crack on with those stairs...

Linking with Jennifer Rizzo: Fabulously Creative Friday

 Furniture Feature Friday at Miss Mustard Seed

 From my Front Porch To Yours: Treasure Hunt Thursday

 Funky Junk Interiors; Party Junk 185

 The Rosegarden at Malevik Saturday Show off

 PJH Designs

and Knick of Time Tuesday