Period Features

Farrow & Ball

Farrow & Ball's traditional products are not something that you perhaps associate with hard wearing practicality so you might be surprised to learn that the range includes a wide selection of washable paint. When washability, stain and scuff resistance is required Farrow & Ball's Modern Emulsion is the perfect alternative to its Estate® Emulsion. With a slightly higher sheen Modern Emulsion is perfect for kitchens, bathrooms, hallways, children's rooms and other spaces with high traffic. Modern Emulsion comes in a wide palette of Farrow & Ball colours including all the most popular ones to provide you with period colour and modern practicality. What's more Farrow & Ball produces some of the most environmentally friendly paints available anywhere in the world. Unlike many other manufacturers, Farrow & Ball continues to use natural ingredients such as Linseed Oil and China Clay and does not use harmful ingredients such as ammonia and formaldehyde. VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) levels for most Farrow & Ball paints are so close to zero that the leading finishes, including Estate® Emulsion, Modern Emulsion, Estate® Eggshell and Exterior Masonry, are classified as 'Zero VOC' when tested to US Environmental Protection Agency standards.

The Farrow & Ball range can be selected and purchased at our shop in Leek in the Staffordshire Moorlands where our knowledgeable staff is on hand to offer help and advice with your decorating problems.

Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair (5-14 June),

Now in its 36th year, the is the essential art and antiques event in London
for over 30,000 private buyers, curators, interior designers and devotees from around the world taking place in June 2009.

Housed in Olympia’s magnificent Grand Hall, the annual June Fair is the largest, and only truly international Fine Art and Antiques Fair in London, offering an unparalleled variety of world class art and antiques for sale.

Over 260 of the world's most prestigious British and international galleries will exhibit an extraordinary selection of unique pieces, ranging from ancient Chinese ceramics to Art Deco jewellery, 20th century Design Classics, Old Master paintings
and a diverse range of furniture from English formal, oak and country to painted and Continental.

Each object on sale has been carefully vetted by a team of 200 experts.

Visit www.olympiaartsinternational.com for more details.

Putting on The Glitz 8 November 2008 - October 2009

Traditionally, wallcoverings incorporating precious metals could only be afforded by the wealthy. For those aspiring to wealth, such luxury was highly desirable. Putting on The Glitz explores how this desire has been (and can still be) satisfied, both by the real thing and by extremely effective imitations.

Selected from the Whitworth's collection, this exhibition features luxurious 18th century decorated leather, 19th century Japanese and French imitations, foils and other metallic finishes from the 1960s/70s, along with contemporary jewelled patterns that our ancestors might have envied. On show, together with fabulous new designs, are samples of gold and silver leaf, and other metals used in the manufacture of 21st century wallcoverings.

Indulging our appetite for glamour, this exhibition shows that glitz is no longer only the preserve of the well-off. Visit www.manchester.ac.uk for more information.

Bring botanical charm into your home

Farrow & Ball wallpaper ‘The Rosslyn Papers’

Colour experts Farrow & Ball have created ‘The Rosslyn Papers’; a charming reproduction of a nineteenth century English cotton print featuring a delicate design with a hint of the botanical.

A versatile collection of 48 colourways, ‘The Rosslyn Papers’ make a decorative statement equally suited to a romantic boudoir, sophisticated dining room or grand entrance hall. Choose from a wide and eclectic choice of colour combinations which allow you to create both subtle and dramatic effects.

Backgrounds in a full spectrum of calming neutrals, pretty pastels, and rich darks are available, and are enhanced with chalky matt and shimmering metallic accent colours for a unique and individual look. With a pattern repeat of 42cm (16.5 inches), ‘The Rosslyn Papers’ are ideal for feature walls as well as whole rooms, and will suit both contemporary and traditional settings.

The new collection has the Farrow & Ball hallmark depth of colour and texture only achieved through the combination of traditional printing methods and the finest water based paints. Colours have been carefully selected from the Farrow & Ball paint palette to ensure that colour co-ordination from paint to paper and paper to paint is excellent.

View the Rosslyn Papers

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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.