A Place For Inspiration

Jan 15, 2017

A New Place For Inspiration

I love antique stores, especially ones that have a certain vibe. A little French, a little Swedish and totally unique. When I came across these pictures on Tumber I just had to share.

I especially love the blue patina on the chest in the back left. Like many of you I have a passion for old patina. In fact, I spend a great deal of time working on imitating it. And all of us as painters can get very close. But this is aged to perfection that only time and gentle can accomplish. Which piece of furniture do you like the best?

Enjoy these pictures from Josephines Antiques in London. I don’t know what I am dreaming of more, a blue patina like this armoire, or maybe a trip to London to see it in person. Sigh… not in the cards for this ~~month~~ year.

XOXO

Lydia

Christmas at The Manor

Dec 23, 2016

The English Manor in Winter

One of the slight advantages of being sick is that you can binge watch TV with impunity. Between, The Crown, James Before Bond, and now the Midsomer Murders I have parked myself in every great English series I can find on Netflix. For all of the them the decor and the scenery is just wonderful. Eye candy to make you healthy.

Eventurally, The Crown will get it’s own post today I thought I would share 7 lovely winter english cottage photo’s as a teaser.

01

Sudbury Hall

A simple country home in Derbyshire. Ready for the Holidays.

02

The Perfect Tree

Chrismas is a standout with the perfect tree in front of this manor house.

03 Waddesdon Manor

Located in Buckinhamshire Waddeston Manor has its doors open for the festive season.

04

Elegance

The best discription for the wonderful manor. I would love to have a peek inside/

05

The Jewelry Box

This simple and small manor has a welcome and cosy look.

06

Georgian Delight

This wonderful Georgian home would be a treat at Christmas

010

Adare Ireland

Irish Manor House now turned Hotel and Golf Club would be a great retreat.

Welcome December Happy Holidays

Dec 1, 2016

Welcome December

What a glorious time of the year. Check out our new quick and easy video with some fun ideas for Christmas Decor with Efex.

Easy Holiday Mirror.

Nov 29, 2016

Easy Holiday Mirror

The holidays are here and the time for gift giving and decorating our homes has arrived. Over the next few weeks we will all be busy with the massive swirl of the season and what better way to say thank you to your DIY friends than to give a gift that keeps on giving.

Today we are showcasing a quick and easy projects that you can put together in a snap.

To put us in a festive mood, I thought it would be fun to look back at a great project from a couple of years ago.

In 2015 our friend Leslie Stocker did this great gold holiday mirror project.

It was so simple…. One mirror frame, a can of spray paint, and one Efex Trim T31

The trim starts life looking like this….

But after cutting it up into pieces it makes the most lovely statement on this mirror.

I this case it was spray painted in gold but you can get the same effect with gilding wax or our lovely General Finishes Pearl Effects.

The time need for this project is only about an hour and it would make a great hottest gift or present for one of your crafty friends.

Cheers

Lydia

PS – After almost two months off from blogging I’m back to blogging. I guess I just ran out of steam. Enjoy our holiday posts and have a happy and relaxing holiday season.

9 Trivial and True Facts About Trumeau Mirrors

Oct 4, 2016

9 Trivial and True Facts About Trumeau Mirrors

Following yesterday’s create post where we mentioned that we’re making Trumeau kits, I thought it would be fun to highlight some facts about what makes a Trumeau a Trumeau. A little history showing 9 elements of a Trumeau Mirror.

01

A trumeau mirror or pier glass is a wall mirror originally from 18th century France. Like the Hall of Mirrors at Versaille.

02

It’s pronounced trumeau – [troo-moh) from the french word which means space between windows.

03

It is a mirror having a painted or carved panel above or below the glass in the same frame.

04

In England, it’s known as a ‘pier glass’. A mirror which is placed on a pier, i.e. a wall between two windows supporting an upper structure.

05

Because Trumeaux hung on a wall between windows, they were originally designed to bringing more light to the room, especially at night where mirrors could reflect the candle light.

06

The mirror is almost always a long and tall. Remember it was intended to fit the space between the walls and includes a decorative portion at the top, with the mirror below it.

07

Most Trumeaux have carving or plaster in the upper center piece. See how the bow is raised. Stay tuned to find out how to do that with Efex.

08

Paintings or later decoupage is also common in the upper center piece. Easy to replicate today.

09

Those designed to be placed above a mantelpiece rather than between windows could have candles placed in front of the mirror to increase ambient light.

All photos are from our go-to source for Trumeau inspirations 1st dibs or the internet. Tomorrow we’re going to look closely at what historic trumeau have for decoration.

xoxox Lydia

What will you embellish today?

Aug 19, 2016

Adding a few embellishments – our Efex come to mind, is an easy way to personalize your style. But how do you decide what to decorate? Take a look through this post for some simple ideas. Most of the items can be found on sale or at Homegoods. All you do it is

Imagine Embellish and Enjoy

Frames come is every shape size and price range. Find some that are already painted and away you go. Your imagination is the limit!

Baskets have so many uses around the house. If you’re like most of us you never seem to have enough storage.

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