I have enjoyed making things especially for the house...little creative touches here and there to enhance its special quality....I thought I'd share a few of these details. It is just another aspect of the fun and inspiration that Le Chatel has given us.

 

This is a floor lamp I made for the blue bedroom. I used a basic floor lamp as a frame and cut out some stencil-like shapes of daisies and butterflies. This created the lightest parts of the design. Then I covered it with textured hand made paper and cut extra butterfly and flower shapes from the same paper and stuck them on to create the darker elements of the design. Finally I trimmed the top and bottom edges with blue tape and applied some touches of gold paint to pick out details. I think it provides a lovely soft light in keeping with the theme of the room.

 

Making the Chess Table...

 

 

....... Antique ones were far too expensive for an occasional table, and cheaper ones were not the right style. So we decided to produce our own. The table was found in a local brocante and it was plain  rather drab pine. but rubust and well balanced. It cost £15. It was given a good rub down and several coats of satin emulsion in off-white, with a rub down between each coat with fine wire wool. The  board was measured out using a ruler andsome masking tape.  We bought a quantity of match-pots and samples from heritage collection paint ranges to add painted details to our furniture and we selected two colours for the checkered square. The inspiration for the design was from the lovely mellow slip-ware tiles that we saw in local manoirs and churches. So, in keeping with that theme we decide that the floor should look as much like individual tiles as possible.

 A darker shade of the background colour was mixed and applied to each 'tile', carefully leaving areas of the lighter background shade visible to pick out the design. Finally, the top was rubbed down with a light emery block to knock it back a bit and then a soft buffing wax was applied to give it a protective sheen.