I read somewhere once that if you want to have a vintage-y feel to your home, the key is that everything should be old – just one new thing and the illusion is shattered. In our cottage, this is exactly what I have tried to do. I love the soft, romantic, nostalgic feel that emanates from faded fabrics, old enamel and depression-era pressed glass.
There is something deeply comforting about curling up, wrapped in a hand-stitched quilt that has been used and loved for generations and that somebody years ago spent many, many hours crafting.
Items such as linen towels with hand-crocheted edgings make even the most mundane of places feel a bit more special: this, for example, is the towel rail in our downstairs loo:
The umbrella stand from which I anally remove Steve’s golf umbrella whenever I see it:
And here are various items from the kitchen. Apart from the yukky tiles, I love how this room looks.
Of course, it does depend on judicious putting away of the hard-to-live-without modern appliances, such as this:
And, most definitely, keeping all brightly coloured plastic containers hidden away. Not good:
Good:
ooo I love it all! One day when I am a grown up I’m going to have nice things too
you know, ever since I read this this morning, I kept wondering, did she mean to write ‘anally’ there? I was sure you meant manually and it was a funny typo.
But I get it now. You mean you’re being particular, right?
Your cottage looks just perfect! The view from where you wash up looks lovely too.
You have a great sense of style; all vintage/antique all the time can look stuffy or drab, but you keep it fresh and pretty. Where do you shop for your pieces? What other advice/tips can you share with the rest of us who aspire to incorporate more vintage-ness into our modern lives?
Lovely!
What a great eye for detail. I get the feeling that your cottage is a very peaceful, cosy place to be – your lovely things seem familiar and beautiful at the same time. Thanks for showing us round!
i love the combination of futuristic and old in the last couple of posts— you are really living in two centuries at once!
You are so much like me that it is scary! I am forever hiding the more modern things! I refuse to have a television in sight. We don’t watch t.v. at all but we do like to watch movies (especially bbc and a&e historic films) so each time we watch we have to drag the t.v. and dvd player out from its hiding spot in a spare room. I think I’d go bonkers if I had to see it all the time
Very sweet. Love the view from your kitchen window, too.