Sunday 9 June 2013

'Summering' the house.

The weather has finally decided that it can be sunny now that it's officially summer, so to honour its new found sunny disposition I thought it was about time to 'summer' the house. This normally happens every year, but not always at the same time. It's the same with the 'wintering' I sometimes haven't 'done' it until I'm also decorating for Christmas!

Note: you'll see a cat in some of these photos, it's Ollie. Ollie doesn't like having his photo taken but he managed to inveigle himself into the ones in the living room then he turns up in the bedroom!


Flowers from my sister and her husband for our wedding anniversary, stocks and sweetpeas.
The sofa in these next photos is an old Habitat one (old enough to be vintage it was bought in the 1970s) that we had from my parents. I've been meaning to recover the cushions for donkey's years (I even bought some fabric, but that's long gone now!) and this last week I'd read one of Henhouse's blog posts where she's covered two armchairs she'd picked up with quilts. I then had my eureka moment, I have a collection of sheets, pillow cases, wouldn't they fit? The seat cushion has been covered in a single cover and the back cushions in pillow cases. The cushions fit inside the cover and pillowcases just fine so there's no problem of having to retuck anything back in which was a bit of pain when I'd used a couple of throws to cover the sofa.




 I've just finished Kaffe Fassette's autobiography 'Dreaming in colour' and he quite often puts lots of objects together in large numbers, which I have done here with my collection of Aynsley china etc.

This sofa is in our bedroom the back of it is covered in one of my many tablecloths (I don't have to worry about to much retucking on this one as it's not sat on that often, by humans that is, cats are another matter!).

I found this table cloth (detail shown in the first two pictures below) in our local hospice shop and it is so beautiful that it was a shame to put it away so I'm using it as a throw on the bed. It is beautifully made, completely out of tiny, neat little blanket stitches.






 Out front room sofas, again utilizing some of my vintage linen and cushion cover collections.



 There's still a couple of bits to do (our dressing room is a cushion dumping ground at present and there's a couple of shelves and a china cabinet that are a bit bereft due to my grouping lots of china together). Hopefully, these will be done this week, but I have a few things to make for my sister's birthday and a couple of other things that should really be finished this week.

TTFN
Louise

I'm taking part in Handmade Monday as usual, pop over to see what my fellow bloggers have been up to.

16 comments:

  1. Lovely summery fabrics Louise. Fab x

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  2. It certainly is looking summery, I love the 'softness' of the colours. I love nosing through the charity shops, it's great to come across such a lovely find.

    Jan x

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  3. I so wish that I was that organised to have summer and winter dressings. I like the idea and I love your pretty fabrics. I fear that I am just not that organised :(

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  4. I love your cushion covers! Really pretty mix of fabrics x

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  5. Lovely makeover, very summery and great way to enjoy all your lovely fabrics.

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  6. It all looks so summery ( I recognise one of those fabrics from a 1970's duvet cover - probably Marks and Spencers?) - I'm afraid I'm not so organised though!

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  7. oh wow, so many beautiful things! I love all the pastel shades and vintage style. I love your mixing and matching too, it creates a really inviting homely appearance. I'm sure your home and its inhabitants appreciate the care and attention! :)

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  8. Everything looks so lovely and summery - very pretty patterns and colours. Ollie looks pretty gorgeous too. Hope you have a good week.

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  9. I love the fact you've used old table cloths to cover the furniture. All the colours are so pretty. I have quite a lot of tablecloths that my grandma created and you've inspired me to turn them into cushion covers, thank you.
    Ali x

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  10. I love the idea of Summering the house its great and looks so lovely once done.

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  11. I love some of the little details - they really add to the overall look.

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  12. That tablecloth 'throw' is a fabulous find, the flowers look almost exotic. I love the idea of summering the house, it's just a pity we still have the central heating on here!

    :-)

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  13. Louise, you are such a talented decorator! Little Ollie is so cute and tiny. I love all the photos you shared, especially the Ansley china. Lovely indeed.

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  14. Wonderful summery things and really like how you've put them together. The sofa looks brilliant, such a great idea, and adore the beautiful tablecloth/throw. Far too lovely to tuck away x

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  15. What a lovely idea. I always meant to have summer and winter curtains (once a professional curtain maker) but never got round to it!

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