Living Room Lounge Update

 Hello there!

In January, I shared a post of our living room with our new coffee table which we bought second hand at Battlesbridge Antiques Centre.  It really completed the space in our living room.  However, our phone and our internet router just sat on the floor behind the sofa and it was a temptation (for me!) to dump things behind there.  CBC said he wished we had some sort of narrow shelf to go behind the sofa to make the phone neater and make it easier to access. He also wished we had a more retro phone as our cordless one was being really unpredictable and dying after 10minutes of talking.

2 weeks ago, on the first Saturday of half term, CBC wanted to go and get some lunch somewhere.  We were driving aimlessly, not sure where to go, so I suggested we go to Battlesbridge to a lovely place called Frazer's Tearoom (there's a B&B above there in case anyone ever fancies a trip to Essex!) to have some lunch and perhaps we could find a vintage repurposed phone there.

The lunch was delicious and then we headed into Battlesbridge to look around.  In case you don't know, Battlesbridge is a big Antiques centre.  There's an old Mill with 6 floors of antiques sellers and some other units spread out over the village. It's really worth a day out there.

Whilst I was looking at a lovely vintage clothing store called Polly's Place-  I went in and she had some amazing pieces at really reasonable prices as well as some retro-looking modern pieces- brilliantly, I actually found a pair of Cath Kidston trousers I already own but that are too small for me and I've been searching online on eBay for the next size to replace them- I ended up getting them and a matching jacket as well as a lovely 50's shirt.

When I met CBC, he told me he'd found a SHELF to go behind the sofa.  We didn't manage to find a retro phone we liked then but actually, in Northumberland, at the Corbridge Antiques centre, we found the perfect one (which we bought!) .  CBC also bought a pair of Scrabble tile wooden coasters with our initials.  When we first got back to the car, CBC looked at the shelf (it is handmade, repurposed from pallets I think) and fretted about it.... but actually, when it was in place, it was perfect!!!

Here's the area which has been updated since the last post with a plant, the new Emma Bell painting I featured in the Bloggers Art Gallery (but wasn't up on the wall yet), the new shelf, the new phone and coasters, a plant from the kitchen and my first edition Angela Brazil book.  Oh, and some cushion rearrangement.

What do you think?

I can't tell you what a pain it was to get this picture up on the wall- It took us hours and CBC was going to kill the wall plugs in the end!

Here's the shelf- I couldn't believe it fitted the gap behind the sofa exactly!

And here's the retro phone in position. It's really nice to have a proper phone although it takes an age to dial a number!

The coasters work well as well.  I put a cup of tea on the C when chatting to my mum on the phone earlier.

I also put the hand-crocheted Ombre blanket my mum made for me on the back of the sofa.

Two other updates to the living room are the Monstera plant (found in Lidl!) and the handmade stool which CBC bought from Re in Corbridge in Northumberland last week.

What do you think?

New Coffee Table

When CBC and I moved into our house 2 years ago (it'll be 2 years ago this weekend- and sadly, therefore, 2 years since WOMOTM died....), it took us a while to choose furniture for downstairs. We had beds, we had some drawers and bookcases but downstairs, we needed most things- all we had was a wooden cabinet, a TV which we had bought from our friends who rented us the bungalow before and their leather reclining chair.  Choosing of the sofa took a very long time and we didn't get it and our dining table till at least April. 

I was always a bit disappointed that we bought those things new and didn't find something second-hand.  We knew we wanted a coffee table to go in front of our corner sofa but we needed something quite specific as our room starts off thinner at this end before getting a bit wider towards the patio doors and it needed to fit within the corner shape.  We didn't' know what we wanted and we used my wicker picnic hamper as a temporary solution- one that lasted till yesterday!  We definitely wanted one as I like to have something to dump stuff on! Honest, but true!

When we visited Ghent earlier on in the year, we loved the retro style and really wanted to find see if we could find a coffee table in Belgium as there are a lot of flea markets and opportunities to find something cool.  Alas, we didn't find anything suitable in our price range and so we continued tableless.

On Sunday, our friends Lara and Tim came over for dinner and to play boardgames and they talked about how they had found really nice pieces at Battlesbridge Antiques centre which isn't SO far for us to get to.  They mentioned someone who does reclaimed furniture and so yesterday, on our way back from a fruitless search for Farrow and Ball pigeon paint (CBC wants to paint the hall- I've given up fighting against it. It DOES look scuffed, but I think it's ok but I need to pick my battles and this is one to concede to), I suggested we drive to Battlesbridge as it isn't such a detour.

Surprisingly, we only saw about 4 coffee tables in total in the whole building, there was a distinct lack of them, but we found the perfect one!

Solid oak, it was the perfect size and it has a fold-open top as well so if we wanted to play board games (with Lara and Tim!) we can extend it.  It was reduced by £100 from the original price-tag and the man knocked a further £15 off the price.

We brought it home and I suddenly thought that our grey sheepskin rug which has been sitting in a bag in the garage for 2 years, would go perfectly under it thus freeing up a bit more space in the garage which CBC has been moaning on and on and on and on and on at me about.

And Da naaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Here it is in situ!

What do you think?

I've avoided all sales shopping (in fact all shopping full stop...except CBC has just bought us a new TV grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!) this holiday so it's nice that we have put the money into something that works so well, something that has already had a life, something made out of proper materials and something that is frankly, rather lovely!

What do you think?

xx

What is it? #53- The vintage wardrobe edition

THIS IS NOT CLOUD-BASED - I repeat NOT CLOUD-BASED, so if you are a What is it Shybie, this may be for you.

The premise of this game is that you look at whatever object or picture I have posted and tell me what alternative picture or image you see in it. Like that Rorschach test, except I am not testing your psychological side, but being nosy about what you see!

Soooo. below are a few pictures featuring the lovely retro wooden wardrobes which live in my rented bungalow. As I sit in bed, or walk around my room, I see images in the wood grain which I perceive to be other things.

Have a look at the images and tell me what shapes or images you see in my furniture!

Share your comments below and next time, I'll tell you what I see in them and will share your comments!!!

Don't be shy!

xx