Monday 19 January 2015

Interiors Envy

The 1930s Modernist - the height of Art Deco

For a few years now it has been fixed in my mind that when I own a house of my own it will be filled with vintage furniture and home wares. But until the time comes that I can create an entirely vintage home I will have to make do with wish lists, mood boards and buying the odd item for use at a later date.

Today I am focusing on living room inspiration, much of which I must admit comes from the T.V. series Poirot. The colour scheme I have chosen is pale yellow, duck-egg blue and pale pink. This is based on a 1930s rug and art deco mantle clock I purchased a couple of years ago.


Subsequently I have also purchased an art deco inspired table lamp and some velvet cushions to tie in with the colour scheme.
 


















The rest of my inspiration for my art deco living room can be found on one of my Pinterest boards.https://uk.pinterest.com/littlevintageve/art-deco-living-room/


 
If you too are looking for vintage interiors inspiration I would recommend this book I found very interesting.

It is aimed more for those wishing to achieve a vintage inspired home rather than a specific period correct home, but it does contain some lovely images and helpful tips.
 
I hope that you found this interesting and inspiring in some way. I certainly feel invigorated to create more interiors mood boards for every other room of my future home.
 
Annabelle.
xoxo

With a New Year Comes Renewed Efforts

Today I say hello again to this very poorly neglected blog of mine. From now on however you can expect (if all goes to plan) more regular posts on diverse topics relating to vintage fashion, food, homes and lifestyle.
 
Upcoming topics will include:
Retro Recipes
Sewing Exploits
A Year in Focus
My Collections
Women During the War
 
So watch this space if you are interested in hearing about history, vintage or just my rambling thoughts.
 
Annabelle
xoxo

Monday 27 May 2013

A little trip with friends

Hello there, now that I have finished university I am in the process of moving back home, but today I took the day off from unpacking and organising to enjoy a day out. So today I thought I would tell you all about the little trip I took with my friends; and the occasion was, yes you've guessed it, a vintage fair, which has been held over the bank holiday weekend at my local stately home, Doddington Hall. Now this is only few minutes drive from where I live but I always enjoy visiting the house and gardens (I was actually a volunteer there a couple of years ago) and although we didn't get chance to look round today, it was still a lovely setting for the vintage fair.

The outfit I chose to wear today was based on the fact that the sun was shining and that it was lovely and warm, what I neglected to realise though was just how windy it actually was (never a good idea when wearing a dress/skirt), but hay ho. The dress, as you might have noticed, is the one I recently purchased at the Land Army Tribute Jamboree, and I chose to pair it with a plain red cardigan via M&S, white primark pumps with white anckle socks, and the accessories I chose where two daisy hair clips from goodness knows where and my vintage lucite and cord bag.




A good time was had by all of us, from looking round the vintage stalls, enjoying a nice drink in the cafe, to admiring the vintage cars on display (I particularly liked the Sunbeam Rapier in red and cream, although stupidly I forgot to take a photo!) and generally enjoying the sunshine.

Hope you have all had an equally enjoyable bank holiday weekend.
 
Annabelle.
xoxo

Saturday 18 May 2013

A long time coming

Hello readers, I have finally finished university, and hopefully for the near future I will now have time to write and events to got to for me to keep this little blog ticking over. So without further ado....

After 4 years I have officially finished university (now I actually finished 2 weeks ago, but have been saving the news for this post), I don't actually graduate unitl July but I'm celebrating now anaway. To wrap up my time in Stoke I decided to take a trip to Pitch in for Victory today, a jamboree orgainised to raise money for a Women's Land Army Tribute. I also thought it was important for me to attend and show my support seeing as I wrote my dissertation on the subject of Staffordshire Land Girls.

 
 
I had a great time looking round all the stalls and listening to the childrens choir providing songs from the era, and I might even have picked up a few goodies whist I was there.
 
 

1950s dress, which thankfully fits perfectly
 considering I didn't try it on


Art deco scarf, which I was allowed to pick free
when purchasing the dress



1940s cotton bag with plastic handles

Women's Nymph razor

1950s glasses

Stitchcraft magazine

WLA memorabilia coaster
As my luck would have it there also happened to be an antiques and collectors fair on at the same time at another part of the Staffordshire Showground, so whist I was there I thought I may aswell take a look around that too. My bargain of the day was this gorgeous red bakelite necklace, which I intend to wear for my graduation (I will do a post on my graduation outfit and the day itself in July) as I decided red accessories were needed.
 
 
 
All in all I had an enjoyable day, and hopefully Pitch in for Victory (and Dance to Victory, the evening event) will have raised a considerable amount to put towards the Women's Land Army Memorial. About which more in formation can be found here.
 
Until next time,
Annabelle.
xoxo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Friday 17 August 2012

My New Etsy Shop

Wow its been a long time since I've posted.
I just wanted to let people know that I now have an Etsy shop, YAY!
It may have taken a while but hopefully I will be able to add lovely new vintage items regularly.
So please go and have a look.


Annabelle
xoxo

Monday 8 August 2011

Holiday - Part 2

On Tuesday we headed over to Coleton Fishacre, an art deco house on the coast. The interesting thing about this hosue is that the outside is done in the local style of housing, however the interior is the epitome of '30s art deco styling in every detail.




Unfortunately no photography is allowed within the house, but here are some photos taken from the guide book:







There was also a lovely garden leading all the way down to the sea.





Finally we looked round the gift shop where I picked up a couple of lovely items, the first being a CD of '30s/art deco songs



and secondly a reproduction Clarice Cliff mug, but wich I intend to use as a vase.


Thursday we weren't quite sure what to do, but in the end decided to go to Dartington Crystal and take a tour round the factory; but upon arriving in Dartington we soon discovered that Dartington Crystal isn't actually in Dartington. So a quick change of plans was made and we decided to do something else we had been contemplatingdoing, taking the steam railway from Buckfastleigh to Totnes and back.

This actually ended up being a lovely day, and for lunch we ended up going to a Nordic cafe where the food was amazing, and then having a wonder round the shops at Totnes.

I did manage to find a vinatge shop here, the first and only of the whole holiday, unfortunately everything was far too overpriced for the condition of the garments and the place was so crammed you could barely see what you were looking at.

But whilst I was in this shop my mum happened to venture into an old fashioned hardware store where she picked me up a present:


I just love it, I have been looking for a plain brown teapot for ages and now I finally have one.

Here are just a few pictures from the train journey back and the card and postcard I picked up in the gift shop.





My mum



The final day of our holiday was spent (by my mum and me, my dad want fishing at Saormill Cove where my brother relaxed on the beach) walking round Salcombe and relaxing on the beach at Portlemouth across the estuary because the sun finally decided to come out.







Overall it was a really enjoyable holiday, the only downside being the Great British Weather, but I suppose that's what you have to expect when you holiday at home.

Annabelle

xoxo

Friday 29 July 2011

Holiday - Part 1

So I'm back and I've got quite a bit to tell you about.

I went away with my family and we stayed in a converted barn in the village of Marlborough, just a couple of miles from Salcombe in Devon; and it was only a 15 minute walk from the beach at Soarmill Cove.

Unfortunately the weather was pretty rubbish for most of the week we were away, so I only got to enjoy the beach on the last day when the sun finally came out. So the rest of the week was spent visiting national trust properties and other places of interest.

On Sunday we headed into the town of Dartmouth, which is a lovely village set on the river Dart. We then took a passanger ferry down the river to Greenways, the holiday home of Agatha Christie.


Dartmouth

Greenways from the river

 Christie bought the house in 1938 for the sum of £6,000, a bargin even in those days.

The house has quite a traditional feeling interior but mixed with some early 20th Century funiture, making the house feel very welcoming and lived in. We also had a look round the walled garden, but unfortunately didn't have time to look round the rest of the garden as we had to catch our ferry back.

But before we left we did have time to pop into the shop. In there they had a large range of Agatha Christie's books, including some special facsimilie editions (reproductions of the first editions). As these boks were not cheap I decided only to but one, and this is it:


First published by Collins in 1934

Monday, we walked over to Overbecks, an Edwardian house with a lovely garden with a tropical influence. The house itself isn't anything special, unless you count the large taxidermy collection, it's really the garden that most people go to look at.

My mum in the garden at Overbecks

My favourite part og the garden

The view from Overbecks

Aften lunch we then headed into Salcombe, where me and my mum ended up parting with quite a lot of our money. I myself bought a cream cardigan and a pair of boat/deck shoes in the sales.

Bought from Seasalt

Bought from Joules

Until next time,

Annabelle
xoxo