The ultimate find

If you rummage through other people's junk (in flea markets or carboot sales or charity shops), you aim to find a treasure. You'll take home something you love or something you think might be worth more than what you're paying for.

But I am not into chinese vases and if I found something like this, I would say pass.

Image from Yahoo! News

Would you believe this is worth £500,000.00? And the couple who had received it as a gift 50 years ago used it as an umbrella stand.

Should I tell them my grandmother gifted it to them and now wants it back?

Amazing before and after

I think it takes real talent to recognize beauty amongst a pile of sticks. I found this on Design Sponge.

Feature Walls

I dream of exposing a brick wall. Though making an energy-efficient home will definitely trump this wish. But, who knows, maybe I'll discover a bricked up internal wall somewhere...

Image from Restyled Home

Maybe whitewash it to make it look fresh, but still full of character.

Image from Poetic Home

I don't know if this is just a paint effect. But having peeling paint on a feature wall is something I am unsure about. I love looking at it. But I wonder if the look is too grungy.

Image from Chocolate creative

Image from Roseland Greene

Vintage bottles

Line them up on your mantle or windowsill.

Image from Marley & Lockyer

Huge bottles would look great in a corner or against the fireplace or grouped on a console

Image from Remodelista and the bottles are vintage from Pottery Barn (really vintage or vintage-look only?)

I love these. We used to have big clear bottles like this at home when my dad tried his hand at homemade cider

Image from Leoque Collection

Books deserve better than that

Sorting by colours. Please tell me how you can find books if you organise them this way? This tells me that aesthetics are more important to you than what the books actually contains.

Image from Apartment Therapy 

Making decors out of books. Well...maybe if it was a trashy novel. But, I would rather donate to a charity shop. (Where they can end up as kindling)

Image from Trends Updates 

Covering them up. Tell me again, how would you know what book is under that cover? I guess, you can always write or print the title on that cover.

Image from TimeOut Chicago 

Placing objects on top of piled up books. Whilst we all have books we'd probably not read again for a long time, this tells me you don't want those books to be picked up and read at all by anyone. Well, I might be wrong, that fan doesn't look too heavy.

Image from The Old Painted Cottage 

Let's get organized!

My work desk at home is a real mess at the moment. I was hoping to be inspired to clean up by some second-hand/vintage organizing finds from etsy

Image From Etsy

Image from Etsy

Image from Etsy

But most likely, I'll end up with something like this

Image from Vintage Indie

i hate estate agents

please allow me to rant.... I wish there is a way to house hunt without having to deal with estate agents. Really, I wonder how much longer before we give up on owning a home in this part of London.

Vintage music sheets

Finding art to adorn the walls is a tough job. Especially after purchasing the furtniture to adorn the floors.

Truth is, as much as I love going to museums and appreciating the emotions and creativity, I can't justify spending that much money just because something is pretty to look at. Hence, at our previous home, our walls remained quite empty.

Using vintage music sheets is one way I was hoping to adorn the walls of my next future home.

Image from Everyday Beauty

Frame them and hang them unaltered

Image from Wisteria

Other people have found plenty of other uses for them too

Gift wrap idea from Joyful

And I love this

Image from Flickr

a very pretty DIY: wineglass + teacups

Just how pretty is that? Next time I break a wine glass (last time was months ago), I'll head out to the nearest charity shop and find myself a pretty teacup. I just don't think this is dishwasher-safe though. I just don't know if I should serve wine or tea in them?

Image from re-nest

On flooring

If and when I get to own my house in London, I wanted to be able to peel the carpets and find original floorboards, and be pleasantly surprised.

Image from W.I.T.W.I.M

I am quite sure that we will not have carpets. ugh! I hate them with a passion - always hiding dirt, cannot just mop spilled drinks away (i even found a real live plant growing in a hidden corner in the flat we're renting).

But I am not sure if we'll not be hiding away original floorboards (if we find any). From what I heard, draft can seep in from floorboards. And I dream of a house with no radiators - I want underfloor heating.
But maybe, we can use reclaimed floors, keep the character and still remain energy efficient.

Image From Timber Home

Image from Old Wood Workshop

Library Ladders

I love books. I guess it follows that I also dream of having a library in my own home. But space is always an issue, so I always get stuck with only a shelf-full of books in a little corner.

What I'd love most is to have a whole wall with floor to ceiling shelves. And one of those rolling ladders to easily access everything.

Image from Woodwork Creations

Image from Delight by Design

But it seems like this kind of shelving is also quite useful for the kitchen as well.

Image from Katy Elliott

Image from Delight by Design

and the wine racks as well as walk in closets...

Image from Alaco Ladder Company

Featured shop: SalvoWEB

I've known about them for a long time now. But never really got around to buying anything yet. Find them on http://www.salvo.co.uk/

I've known about them when we bought our first home but found them too expensive (I was on an Ikea and Argos phase then). The site is quite hard to navigate if you're just browsing. The pictures are almost always poor quality. And most of the items I liked were found in shops quite a distance from us. Not all do delivery and you'd really want to see these items up close before you buy. But it's a treasure trove, if you've got the patience or looking for something specific.

So time for my wishlist from this portal:

Villeroy & Bosch 6322 Belfast Sink at £45 from http://www.kentreuse.co.uk/. I'll take 2 please!

Large Victorian Pitch Pine Kitchen Cabinet from Avilon Antiques, East Yorkshire, UK. But at £2585.00, it will forever remain a dream.

Large pair of circular cast iron windows from http://www.haes.co.uk/. POA. I'd love to use this on top of antiqued mirrors.

English Oak External Arched Doors from Cox's Architectural Salvage Yard, Gloucestershire, UK. At £3500...sigh.

Large Edwardian Pine Archway Doors

Ventilation Doors from sites.salvoweb.com/jonprigmore/. POA. I'd love to use them as a wall decor.

Gupwells Birmingham Haberdashers Cabinet. I thought they're perfect for all your folded clothes.

disclaimer: I have no connection with any of these shops nor was I paid to feature them in this blog.

Vintage Table for the Bathroom

I love to have an element of old in an all white bathroom. But I do worry about having wood in a room that's almost always humid. But, let's leave the worrying until I actually have to tackle this. For now, I dream on.

I long to have something like this. But I'd want a space for 2 sinks, with a shelf underneath and a simple white bowl porcelain sink.

Image from Velvet & Linen

This is absolutely lovely. But I'd fear getting the wooden table top soaked with water. Maybe add a stone/glass/tile countertop and splashback.

Image from Covetable

This is much more practical for a smaller room.

Image from Loghome

These tables might just suit me fine

Image from Velvet & Linen

Image from Mary Anne Mohanraj

Blog to watch: Life in the Fun Lane

I was bloghopping and came across this blog: Life in the Fun Lane. What an inspiration!

I dream to do what she's been doing. Putting new life into unloved furniture. Making the old look fresh, but still retain character.

Just look at her projects:

A before and after

It's called the Kitchen Banquette

I've gone over to Elements of Style and finally had a name for my dining room wish list. Not exactly vintage, but I am hoping I can work in some unique vintage textiles into the upholstery when I make this into a reality.

I've seen photos of sofas, corner padded seats around a dining table and fell for the cosy look. In smaller houses, like here in London, most rooms are multi-purpose. In our flat, where we have an open plan dining/lounge/kitchen/study, the dining table doubles as a work table extension. Alternately housing work clutter or kitchen counter clutter.

So, a kitchen banquette sounds very practical to me. Somewhere to curl up with a good book. Lounge around with the morning news (digital, of course) and coffee. Talk all night with a glass of wine (where you can put your feet up and not get a sore bum). Or an extra place for work when the work table gets piled up with paper.

Image from Aparment Therapy

Image from Apartment Therapy

Image From Metropolitan Home 

Though I am a bit more partial to the built-in nooks as I envision storage space under the seats and less dusting behind and under sofas.

Image from Apartment Therapy

 Image from Kitchen & Bath Design