Home Sweet Home

Hannah of Seeds and Stitches very kindly gave us a tour of her home last week (see here), and very lovely it was indeed. She asked if anyone else would do the same, so thought I'd share a few pics.

So, without further ado, I present my own home sweet home:

The Living Room

The two brown chairs are a recent addition, my parents bought them from the local auction house in Norfolk and re-upholstered them, I claimed them over the Christmas holidays as they were sitting unused in a room full of boxes. The side table and the coffee table are also both from the same auction house (Gazes in Diss if anyone is wondering). The crocheted blanket on the sofa is not my own creation sadly, but bought in a charity shop for about a fiver. Most of the cushions are homemade from fabric remnants, the union jack one was made using a pillowcase and a printed tea-towel for the London-themed party we had last autumn. And there is even a cushion with a squirrel that I cross-stitched myself (see below). You can just spy the constantly flowering geraniums in the window boxes too. The black telephone is something we had at home when I was younger, and still works even though I don't have a landline at the moment. Thinking of getting reconnected though, purely because the telephone sounds so fantastic when it rings!

Built-in bookcases, which are lovely, but wish there were more as there are so many of my books still at my parents home that I just don't have room for. The top shelf is full of my vintage champagne and Babycham glasses, and the bottom shelf has the glass punchbowl that was a present from my sister (also bought at the auction) and another recent acquisition, a lamp with a china base that Mum found in Oxfam (close up below). It was lacking a shade, but I found one in the John Lewis sale that wasn't too expensive. The Klimt prints on the wall Dad gave me.

Bathroom

The Martini mirror was bought in a charity shop, as was the glass container holding the cotton wool. The silk tulips were a gift from Mum from a trip to France.

Toilet

Teeny tiny room, but I have brightened it up with images from old 1950s adverts. My collection of Ladybird books also lives here, so one can improve one's knowledge whilst sitting on the loo if you happen to feel that way inclined!

Kitchen

Glass jars for all my pasta, rice, cous cous etc, cookery books in the alcove. The frame on the left has a postcard from the Imperial War Museum, the one on the right is a cross-stitched thatched cottage with flower-filled garden that I found in a Cambridge charity shop. The postcards on the cupboards are also from the Imperial War museum. The radio is a much loved present from M two Christmases ago. And the hyacinths have lasted from my trip to Columbia Road last fortnight! The beautiful calendar in the left of the picture below is from abby try again.

Bedroom

My bedroom is home to my dressing table, which was bought at auction for £40. It was originally a very dark, varnished wood, but many hours sanding it down and three coats of Farrow and Ball paint (in 'String', if you're interested) later gave the end result seen above. In the corner is my Lloyd Loom linen basket, again bought at auction. Below is the nursing chair I have blogged about in the past, it was bought in the auction, and was originally covered in green velvet and tassels, and I had it re-upholstered with fabric from a Multi York seconds shop. It is very low, but useful for flinging clothes onto, or for sitting on when trying to pull on a pair of tights. The suitcases were my Dad's (can you believe he travelled round China with only the middle one - it's tiny!) and the case on top holds a small record player. The frame I found by a rubbish bin on the way home late one night so I took it home with me!

So, that's my flat, hope you like it! If you want to join in, please do so, just stick a link in a comment on Hannah's original post.

Photos taken by both M and I.