Period Features

Stair Rods and Runners

We have recently aquired a good selection of original brass stair rods complete with brackets. They are really interesting items as they come in various designs and sizes and are crying out for good homes and beautiful runners!

A traditional manufacturer of stair runners is Roger Oates, visit www.rogeroates.com  Their runners come in either reversible flatweave or velvet cut and loop pile in one of two widths, approx 60cms or 70cms, (widths vary according to the design). They are grouped together by colour for ease of choice. They can also join their runners together to make large rugs and wall to wall carpets.
They also offer a good choice of stair rods and brackets too.

The Geffrye Museum

For ideas on decorating your home in true period style you might like to check out the Geffrye Museum's annual Christmas Past exhibition. The Geffrye Museum, London, shows the changing style of the English domestic interior in a series of period rooms from 1600 to the present day.

The annual Christmas Past exhibition depicts 400 years of seasonal traditions in English homes. Conjure up the true spirit of Christmas Past with a visit to the Geffrye's intriguing annual exhibition. Every year, the museum's period rooms are decorated in authentic festive style, giving visitors a vivid and evocative impression of Christmas celebrations in English homes over the past four centuries.

This year's accompanying programme of events will focus on 20th century festivities, highlighting the main developments and changes in the domestic celebration of Christmas. The switch from home-crafted to shop-bought decorations, the increasing popularity of Santa Claus and the growing prominence of children during the season will all be explored in talks, events and through the displays. The exhibition runs from Tuesday 27 November 2007 - Sunday 6 January 2008. If you are not able to visit the exhibition the museum has published an illustrated book telling the history of Christmas in English homes which is available in the museum's shop.
www.geffrye-museum.org.uk

Ways With Wallpaper

Increased sales of traditional wallpaper by Farrow & Ball certainly confirms its revival within the industry. In the paint room we have recently added a beautifully crafted oak peg rail to display all of our wallpaper books in order.This has certainly made it easier for our customers to browse over coffee and biscuits and imagine the beautifully blocked printed designs in their bedrooms and hallways!

My staff have also been busy with wallpaper and have been creating wonderful aprons, undergarments and Chinese fans to name a few out of the lovely stuff. This wallpaper origami is solely used in the art of window dressing and seeing the glint in Penny's eye I wonder what is coming next!

Wonderful Wooden Worktops

My last house had a beech kitchen worktop, which I never found very easy to live with. The wood used to split near the sink and if you didn't oil it regularly it would easily stain. Never again, I decided! However, having had a hardwood worktop fitted in my new kitchen, I can honestly say that my faith in wooden worktops has been fully restored. It's teak, made of salvaged lab table top from a local school, is very hard-wearing and doesn't seem to stain. Perhaps a hardwood top is worth considering if you're planning a new kitchen? Try your local salvage yard as a possible source, and ask a local joiner to cut it to fit.

22 Shades Of Cream...

... or how to choose paint colours for a neutral colour scheme!

Pale but interesting is probably the most popular look when it comes to painting your house, and we often advise people on neutral colour schemes in our shop on the edge of the Peak District. Below are a few key points which our customers often find useful.

1. When choosing an off-white, it's really helpful to look at the colour next to a pure white (use the whitest thing you can find, such as a sheet of paper from the printer or the back of an envelope, for example). This helps you to see any tendencies within a colour, which way a colour is going. What do I mean by that? For example, what in isolation seemed like a fairly neutral pale colour could suddenly reveal a strong hint of green, yellow or pink. As this might not be the effect you want, it's important to establish this before wasting time and money on paint you don't really like.