Sundays are for Pretty Things

Sundays have a tendency of passing by without much to report on. Indeed, laundry, cleaning and organizing seem to be the only things I do on Sundays. Yet every Sunday I want to be surrounded by pretty things and do nice things. So here's a few suggestions on how to cheer up a drab Sunday:

Enjoy tea for one with homemade orange marmelade on wedding gifted Acacia tray

How about starting off your Sunday on a Downton note and breaking out your antique china, homemade jam and a full pot of tea? If you're a purist, only bitter orange marmelade will do. I would have gone all the way and had breakfast in bed, but that pot holds around 1/3 of a gallon of piping hot tea... you do the math.
Next, channel your inner Martha and organize something that doesn't rrrrrreally need organizing.

In case you are wondering, I do not own stock in Office Depot. You just never know when a shortage of staples will cripple the economy, and I will not be caught with my stationary pantaloons around my ankles when that happens.

Having accomplished the only chore-related task permissible on a Sunday (prettifying by way of organizing), the rest of the day should be wiled away combing through the latest catalogues, magazines and of course Matchbook mag.

Matchbook March edition now on virtual newsstands!

When that's all done, you may reward yourself for a Sunday well spent by scouring either the local flea or antique markets or failing that head to eBay and etsy for some unique vintage and antique finds to complement your decor.

Vintage cast iron Dachshund doorstop

I am currently obsesssssssed with High Street Market's Etsy shop. Every time I look at her shop, I find something else I covet. I mean, a cast iron Dachshund doorstop. Seriously, do I even need to explain why I NEED that?

Giant brass walnut nutcracker

Why hello there, brass walnut nutcracker! Has anyone called you genius lately? May I just drop you into a bowl of nuts at Christmas, please? Kelly Galvin Robson has some of her shop's items featured in Matchbook aaaand has the most adorbs blog too. Awesomeness.


Have a great weekend everyone!

Brrrrrringing back hot water bottles

Boy, is it chilly this week! Ahhh sunshine, hurray, spring has sprung! WRONG! Time to freeze again. Don't pack your woolies and cashmeres away just yet, there is still a lot of cold to weather before we're out of the meteorological woods. *Sigh* I am so over cold toes and finger tips.

The only warm spot on my body right now

For the record, I am already layering my husband's 100% wool Shetland sweaters and wearing LLBean's sheepskin slippers aaaaaaand have the heat cranked up to the max, so this is an emergency!
Since my Doxie lap warmer isn't always willing to service my frosty legs (and what about my feet and hands, anyway?), I dug out two hideous water bottles I keep "stored" at the bottom of the laundry hamper for just such an emergency.

Close-up of presh pawsitude

These water bottles are not cute. They are the drugstore, on sale, bought in a fit of "every household should have one of these" standard boring water bottles with some sort of icky, highly flammable cover.
A cute water bottle cover is the kind of frivolous need, that always makes its list waaaaay down the list of things to buy. I was reminded of my annual missed opportunity when I spotted cashmere covers on OneKingsLane the other day, but they were rather boring and frankly, overpriced. And I always seem to see felted wool versions at Christmas markets, yet somehow I always neglect to pick one up... But, an emergency this is - so...off to Etsy we go!

{via}

This cable cashmere cover definitely looks cute and cuddly. Being handmade is always a bonus! But at more than $60... it would most likely get pushed back down my must-buy list.

{via}

This one could be cute, but I'm not in love with the yellow buttons and the wrinkly seams (look, I'm type A, ok?). The inside is an adorable vintage floral fabric, but it's not visible when in use... Ok forget cashmere, I'll make due with wool...

{via}

Bingo! I love this virgin wool one, crafted from beautiful Pendleton dress stewart tartan wool. I looooove tartan blankets and Pendleton makes the best wool ones. In fact, I asked for a dress steward Pendleton wool blanket (preferably monogrammed) for Christmas but nada... Unfortunately, at $175 ... my budget creaks and a regretful veto comes out.

{via}

Jeoweo on Etsy has a nice selection (pictured above). My pick would be the orange and pink stripe fleece or the grey and charcoal brown stripe wool, except I am not loving the leaves. I'd rather have a nice flat black velvet bow on the pink/orange a la Kate Spade or a pink applique elephant (or yellow bee?) on the grey/charcoal.
Failing that...I may attempt to upcycle one of my own cable cashmere sweaters if this cold snap continues! Then I can customize til my heart's content and frostbite is averted. Do any of my readers have experience or hints for sewing with knits? The whole unraveling and bunching dilemma scares me...

Susie Homemaker

Today I felt the itch of spring cleaning and organizing. Yesterday's post had me thinking about our bedroom armoire, specifically its disheveled and unappealing contents. Yeeshk! I did not feel like capturing that before...
Phase one only had two goals: 1. Prevent antique shelving from staining or snagging vintage and antique linen and 2. Be easy enough to achieve without major time or financial commitment.

{before}

I dumped out the contents of the most offending shelves (the top shelf currently houses plastic and tissue paper wrapped needlepoint and seasonal cushions, which don't need further protecting for now) and went to get some contact paper. Of course,contact paper is not a long term solution, being that it is cheap, ugly, plastic-y and not in keeping with this armoir at all. I want to eventually line this armoire completely with thin cedar lining, so I can throw out all the lavender sachets, moth balls and cloves everywhere (I have become as moth prevention obsessed as my late mother, unfortunately only after the moth-fatality of a Burberry cashmere scarf...sigh).
Snip snip, stick stick and voila! somewhat improved surface for storing linen. I only removed a thin strip of the backing on each side, to avoid unnecessary (possibly damaging) adhesive to stick to the shelves when I want to go on to phase 2 (cedar lining).

{half-way}

 

Although my contact-papering skills leave much to be desired, I did try to redeem myself in Martha Stewart's eyes, by stacking my bed linen according to size and type inside old/no longer used pillowcases. I'm also happily recycling the million plastic baggies from my LP deliveries and Ralph Lauren sheets. Zippered, clear storage pouches? Please, people pay money for those....

{still not quite perfect}

I delivered the final Susie Homemaker coup de grace, thanks to some packing-paper-on-index-cards-cut-out-with pinking-sheers-and-attached-with-jute-cord labels. Yessir. I is crafty.

{after}

Is there anything a pretty label doesn't improve?

Now the inside of the armoire will make me as happy as the outside! The drawers house fabric napkins, my zodiac crystal Val St. Lambert coasters and napkin rings.
Just to round out my feel-good Tuesday, I did my good Samaritan deed of the day by helping an octogenarian lady reach a bag of frozen Broccoli florets at the grocery store. That's what it's all about, isn't it?

Friends in High Places

So this is not at all the blog posting I had in mind for today. I was going to talk about my recent closet/slipper purge (postponed), but I can't contain my excitement about possibly adding to our family. And by family, I mean antiques. Yes, I lurrrve me some antiques.
We are fortunate to have made a friend who goes on monthly or bi-monthly trips to France to hunt out estate furniture from French castles and stately homes. He then restores them to their former glory, making sure not to remove any aspect that is original and still functional.
Our inaugural piece from him was a much needed bedroom linen wardrobe. It's made of beautiful, rich walnut with solid wood interior. Better yet, it has two original drawers in it (currently used for napkin rings) and comes apart for travel (so clever!). I drool every time I see it.

Our Louis XV (1880) Walnut Armoire, pre-delivery to our house!

It is rare to find the crown intact, without repairs!

Our antiquing friend has just returned from one of his trips and my heart skipped a beat when he showed me our possible sibling bookcase. Thankfully he is not just knowledgeable, but honest too, so he revealed to us that Louis XV wardrobes like ours and it's sibling, originally always came with mirrored fronts, as they were intended for bedroom use. Many antique dealers will sell glass-fronted armoires as original. I think this fact is nice to know, but right now I am specifically looking for a vitrine/glass fronted bookcase to display my collection of china, so I don't mind a little non-original glass! 

Louis XV bookcase/vitrine - should we match or not?

My heart is aflutter, because I cannot decide if I should match our bedroom wardrobe with the bookcase (notice the classic shell shaped crown and curved top, typical of Louis XV and a very close match to our existing bedroom armoire). Gorgeous, isn't it?

Close-up of the carving and solid oak interior

Notice how the interior of antiques meant for daily use is usually constructed of harder wearing wood, such as oak. The only slightly odd thing I just noticed, is the front of some of the shelves and the drawers appear almost veneered, or lacquered. Although this probably wouldn't be enough to make me not love it, there is another option, which I also looooove.

Bookcase option 2: More French Country than French "estate"?

This is also made of walnut and from the same period and I love the seeing the wood grain on the doors. The straighter and angular lines of the doors, juxtaposed with the soft and slightly simpler carving on the crown of this bookcase really appeals to me. Possibly, marginally, more than the matching Louis XV bookcase.

Close up of French bookcase option 2

Which one would you pick?
I think the second one is my front runner at the moment, but depending on the exact hue of the wood in person, I may swing one way or the other, since I tend to prefer saturated deeper wood.
*Fingers firmly crossed that my beau agrees with my picks and is feeling uber-generous!* But honey... it's not expensive if you consider that these purchases will outlast us all, to be cherished by future generations. Really we are investing in our future children. Think about it.