Mini Makeover - my kitchen in England

My photographs have somehow come out back to front so to see what the kitchen cabinets looked like before you will have to scroll down to the last pic. Sorry!! It's not a huge kitchen - a thin long, galley kitchen but it has some charm and now the makeover has happened I LOVE it. 



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 And if you have done that you will see that they were a nasty sort of orange pine colour. We inherited them when we bought the cottage in England almost 5 years ago before we came to Australia.  Here in Melbourne, if you recall, we rent a property....  the cottage in UK is where my heart is still, I have to admit.

 Also if you remember, I went back to England for 6 weeks last September which was bliss and that was when I organised this mini makeover..... All it took was some paint (and a very talented kitchen man I have to admit -he works freelance for Smallbone and for Mark Wilkinson kitchens in England) and I was fortunate enough to find him. My lucky day.  He did such a great job and put up with me prevaricating over a 1,000 different shades of Farrow and Ball whites. 

 To make it easier for me he painted 5 boards with different shades so I could make up my mind!! It was difficult but in the end I went for a 'Shaded White' .

 The pic above shows the difference between the wall and the cabinets... very subtle but pleasing.

Pic below shows the butlers sink - porcelain - this was in the original kitchen and although a bit worn and scratched I would not change it - love it so much.  Oh and the wooden work surfaces too - they are great.

As you can see from the BEFORE pic above the cabinets were all wood (which seemed too much with the wooden work surfaces) and the other change we made were the handles from those small metal ones shown in the photograph to large ceramic round knobs....

So there we are - my kitchen in England in our little cottage.  Miss it very much... Oh and one more change were the stripey rugs I found at a bargain price on sale in our local carpet place.

Borrowed from the boys

Have always loved this casual 'boy' style. Comfortable and chic.

So, when information from the website YOUNG BRITISH DESIGNERS popped up into my email I sat up and took notice. And the designer is question is 'Studio Nicholson' . See what you think....

Gorgeous pieces don't you think? Perfect 'boy tailoring for girls'. Reminds me of Margaret Howell's great designs.

Information regarding the clothing from the YBD website says:

Studio Nicholson's collection is once again a carefully considered range of shirts, blouses, jackets, trousers and old school jumpers in luxe cashmere. The palette is subtle and feels honest and natural with navy, feminine khakis, softest greys, a bolt of chambray blue, warm creams and textured blacks.

For more info : www.youngbritishdesigners.com


So, I suppose it goes without saying that it's only fair that the boys are allowed to 'borrow' from the girls too in a way which brings me neatly onto Mr SE's new shirt which I er, forced no, persuaded (!) him to buy.......

The 'girlie' part is the floral fabric but I LOVE how he looked in it and I have always wanted him to have a Paul Smith shirt.

Absolutely 'his' colours....

And look at the different fabric lining the cuffs. Gorgeous.

Close up of the pattern. Think I am more excited by it than he is. Best bit of all (and this was after I had picked it up and thought he just 'had' to have it!) - it was less than half price.

So, would you wear boy tailoring? And what do you think of a man in florals? !

Fontaine Antiques, UK

I have blogged before about our friends Stuart and Kiel who own Fontaine Antiques but thought I would show you some shots of their new showroom in Margate, Kent.

When we were back in UK at the end of last year and over New Year we managed to fit in a lightening visit to see them and to check out how their fantastic new space had emerged from a run down neglected building which started life as a school in around 1900. (See above). However, this was a special school to teach the craft of 'laundering' to those girls who wanted to learn the skill in order to enter 'service' in a large household. The kind that appeared in Downton Abbey or Upstairs Downstairs I would imagine!

Anyway, back to the inside of the building which they have totally renovated. Smart dark walls and wooden polished original floors are the backdrop to show off their eclectic, collected wares. All in all - perfection.

Love these old decoy ducks from the beginning of last century.

Fabulous French mirror above this old sign.

Stuart Atkinson/Kiel Shaw. Fontaine Antiques - The Old Laundry, Margate, Kent, UK

Wholesale and Retail - call to make an appointment if you are travelling from afar.

Website : http://www.fontainedecorative.com/

Melbourne's Pop Up Restaurant

At the beginning of March a pop up restaurant - 'Greenhouse' appeared on the banks of the River Yarra (in the space of 3 weeks!) in the city of Melbourne as part of this year's Food and Wine festival here. Yesterday I went along as I had heard all about the Greenhouse restaurant in Sydney as it was featured in our Masterchef television programme here in Australia last year. It's a pop up restaurant with a difference though - it has been built using only recycled or sustainable materials. The structure has been formed from mostly old shipping containers stacked four-high, the floor from old conveyor belts, the chairs from disused irrigation pipes and recycled bottles and jars are used as drinking glasses! Amazing...

All the herbs are grown on site in large recycled oil drums.

The roof top bar. More herbs in containers.

Terracotta pots line the facade of the restaurant - all potted up with wild strawberry plants.

Close up of the pots above and below...

And look who my breakfasting companion was!!!

Yup, my daughter is in town - she arrived on Sunday which of course makes me so very, very happy. She's here for 3 weeks on Easter vacation from University in UK.

Our own personal pot of basil on our table, above.

The chairs !

Our food - totally and absolutely delicious - my daughter chose the herb mushrooms on flatbread with curd cheese ....

And I went for the scrambled eggs with mustard cress.

A great start to the day.

So pleased we were able to go along - the pop-up restaurant disappears tomorrow! Really hope that there might be a more permanent one in the city one day.

Dearest Ma

Today, March 15th my glamorous and lovely Mother is 75 years young.


Here she is above in the early 1950's with my father - don't think they were married then, perhaps just courting. Wonder if she actually went into the sea that day with him? Not something that she is all that keen on now I know, especially not swimming whilst my father is something of a 'water baby' !

And here she is in a photograph taken fairly recently in January at my father's birthday celebration in London. Looking good Mother !

Happiest of special birthdays to you and only wish we could be there to share it too.

Wonderful wallpapers

Last weekend we went on a 'jaunt' with MIL and SIL and ended up "noseying" around a couple of show houses in Melbourne.... In one of the houses there was a lovely study area and the walls had this wallpaper on them below... Of course I could not resist whipping out my iphone and taking a quick pic! And then doing some detective work to find out where it had come from.

Have since found out that it is by Deborah Bowness - another image above from her website. Such a talented designer and English too !

From her website : http://www.deborahbowness.com/

Deborah Bowness presents an original style of decorating. Her unique and timeless designs furnish interiors spaces with an extra dimension. A bold statement made quietly. Trompe I'oeil with a twist. Beautiful and functional. Wallpapers by Deborah Bowness are hand made in England. The combination of digital printing, silk screen printed colour and hand painting, makes every drop of wallpaper unique. Working in a small factory in Yorkshire, our expert crew of printers also hand mix our colours, hand cut the paper, hand make our screens and hand package the finished pieces.

And talking of English designers, Andrew Martin is one of my all time favourites... Just look at these images below all from his 'Inventor Collection' of wallpapers.

Multi coloured books wallpaper above

And in the 'stone' (or black and white) colourway above...

And here above in the 'Leather' version. So beautiful.




Also from the same collection this Penny stamps wallpaper... Below in the red...

And here above in the original Penny Black colourway.

For more information about Andrew Martin - website is http://www.andrewmartin.co.uk/

Hopefully one day I will be able to use one of these gorgeous designs.

Hello. I've missed you...

So sorry.
I know I have not posted nor have I been round to 'visit' you all for a while. Truth be known this visitor lark is pretty exhausting to say the least. The MIL and the SIL have been staying with us and I have not really had any time to myself. I have either been working or on the days I have had off I have been tour guiding. Or shopping and planning meals and cooking. And no going off and on to the computer ON MY OWN - have hardly had time to even check my emails ; - "Where's Sarah gone? What's she doing?" Oh dear....

Having said all that I did manage to escape out last weekend when MR SE took over for the tour guiding duties and met my lovely friend Ms. S for a couple of hours. She cheered me no end as only friends can.....

Here is my set of gorgeous Vietri China - a modest 'breakfast set' (for Mr SE and myself) - 2 plates and there were also 2 mugs to match but a while back I dropped and broke one . She knew how sad I was about this and ..... Tah Dah ! Look what she gave me ....... another matching mug!

Here it is, close up. Lovely hand made Italian china. So pretty and tactile.

She made my day.

My Mother in Law and Sister in Law are off back to UK towards the end of the week and so you can rest assured that I will be round to your blogs to 'see' you all again very soon. Meanwhile, thanks for understanding.