A Cunning Plan

On a spur-of-the-moment hit-and-run fabric stash building recce I made the momentous decision that I wanted to make another quilt for our bed in something other than vintage fabric. Not that I don't love vintage fabric - oh no - my love is well documented... my no-quilt quilt was 100% vintage fabric. As was the "mellow yellow" throw for the bed made some years prior. I love vintage fabrics, and I even have an idea for a log cabin quilt in them at some point in the future, but the need for something clean and fresh was calling me.

So. Grey and mustard with square it was - it appeals to the mid-century modern gal in me. And a change is good, isn't it? And an excuse to buy fabric? Well, we could all use one of those, surely?

I will hopefully add updates if and when I actually start into the piecing.

Thrift !

A few little treasures were scored last week whilst on a much needed thrifting adventure. I don't often go anymore, as I don't have room for things really, but last week I needed to go. And it was just the little high that made all the difference. Some pretty little things for me, and my body-weight in books for the boys. It put the wind back in my sails...

These walls of ours...

A year or so ago I nailed these crates to our sitting room wall for somewhere to display nick-nacks. I really love them, they have a rustic charm and they have turned a large, boring flat space into something more engaging.

But still, there was something missing... Of course, a plethora of prints! And so with the help of arty friends, some of my own images and etsy finds I created our 'seasonal wall' - Images that keep us in tune with the outside when we are in the very heart of our home.







I think it works somehow. A hotch-potch of nick-nacks and granny things with a little modern tweek.


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A Little More Granny

Somewhere in my sitting room lies a relic of a good idea, when my inner granny colluded with my inner thrift queen who then made a pact with the Re-Use not Landfill conscience and they conspired to give an old coffee table one last chance.



It involved wallpaper. And glue. Mod Podge may have been a contributing factor. And it involved patience. Patience for drying time and patience for Mama's weird and wonderful trial and error masterpieces.



Or not. As the case may be.

I'm not sure I'm convinced. It may need a different paper. Or it may need a bit more time to settle in.

Inner Granny is happy. Outer Debbie is still cogitating.

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One Day My Prints Will Come...

Honestly, my jokes don't get a lot better than that, so just humour me, OK?

A few new prints and posters and what-have-you that have found their way into our home these last few weeks...













And whilst this one isn't new to us, it is the first time we have found a space for it.



Love it.

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Décor

Over the past few years I've grown some very firm ideas about décor, which have grown organically without any contrivance. Like with most things deemed 'artistic' or even deemed matters of 'taste', it takes a while to find your groove, doesn't it?

You start off liking everything, or nothing, like a bird in an aviary without a song of your own, and eventually after being submerged in ideas or influences you begin to notice the notes that do it for you, the tone that you like, the rhythm that makes your heart beat a bit faster and, without trying and without really knowing how, you have a song of your own.

My song resides firmly in mid-century modern, which is probably a bit of a cliché, but unashamedly so, since it is an authentic love. When I see items from that era they have to power to take my breathe away and to make my heart beat a little faster. I love the lines, the angles, the colours - it's all so beautiful.

Part of my particular song is also deeply embedded in thrift culture. This is convenient for me due to the fact that, as someone who hasn't got two brass pennies to rub together, I would not be able to furnish my house if I didn't thrift! But more than that, it is something I actively choose.

I remember one crafty lady (in a good way!) commenting somewhere years ago that when it came to retro items she couldn't see the point in buying new things styled to look old when you could get the real thing instead. And that makes perfect sense to me - part of the reason I thrift is to get the real thing. And that's not a perfect art, because the nature of thrift is sporadic - the art of thrifting is a lesson in patience, an acceptance of luck or fate.

In my whole house, apart from wallpaper and paint (and admittedly a generous collection of indie handmade prints), I can think of only two things that have not been thrifted, and one of those was a gift. All the nick-nacks, ornaments, furniture, and what-have-you have all resulted from a moment of bliss at a charity shop - moments where the treasure hunting has resulted in a punch-the-fist-in-the-air type score.

It is in this way that home décor can be raised from pastiche to genuine eclectic style. I don't know if our home would ever be regarding as 'stylish' or 'tasteful' by anyone else, but the fact that we now have corners in our home that sing my song is making 'home' somewhere I'd rather be than anywhere else.

And if I ever get The Sofa of My Dreams to be part of that song? Oh that would be good too.

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