Day 29: Christmas is time to get creative!

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Day 29: Christmas is time to get creative!

Stockwell-SW9-london-houses-028-1200x1800.jpg

Before I started hosting, the days between Christmas and New Year were blissfully quiet. Free from the usual demands of my ‘day job’, and with the housemates on holiday, I could crack on with the more enjoyable home projects normally put on hold. What luxury!

 

For me, that meant upcycling vintage furniture. I’m a firm believer in ‘make do and mend’, and that has allowed me to furnish my listings in a unique, but inexpensive, way. Plus, it’s so therapeutic. I miss pottering about, paint brush in hand, with newspaper strewn all over the dining table and floor, neither pressed for time nor bothered about the mess.

 

If you are taking a break from hosting this holiday or find yourself with time on your hands at any time of year, why not get creative? Perhaps you are hanging out with family and friends, but making, baking or painting things together can often be more entertaining than the television, especially if you can get the kids (and pets) to join in.

 

Painting furniture may not be for you, but there are plenty of other projects, big and small, you could try your hand at. You don’t need to like the vintage look either – just search for ‘Ikea hacks’ on Pinterest and you will see what I mean!

 

There are far too many potential projects to include in one post, so I’m going to start with the simple picture frame (PS none of the following photos are mine, but I will try to add source credits when I have time). Do you have any old picture frames or mirror frames knocking about where the glass has broken? Or maybe some random ones in different colours and styles that don’t go together or match your interiors? I’m always on the hunt for bargain picture frames because there are so many uses for them.

 

One of the most popular extra touches in my guest rooms are the ‘welcome’ chalkboards, where I write each guest’s name. If you don’t have one already, consider making one. It’s so easy with an old picture frame, some MDF and blackboard (or magnetic) paint.

 

368d83b7967f83694241606b788dd27b.jpg

 

With the addition of some backing, e.g. cork, or wadding and a favourite fabric, picture frames can also be turned into pin boards to display useful information, such a tourist leaflets, maps and timetables. You can add brass bulldog clips or a ribbon trellis and go as elaborate as you like or keep it simple – all chic options in my opinion.

pinboards.jpg

 

Don’t have the time or confidence to make something out of a frame? Simply grouping them together can make a stunning display.display.jpg

 

If yours are all mismatched, it doesn’t matter. Just paint them. A trick I’ve learnt is to paint them the same colour as the walls (use the eggshell, satinwood etc. version in the same tone – the smallest pot will do), which looks fab.frames 1.jpg

 

Haven’t run out of frames yet? Turn them into shelving. Mounting them onto some cheap shop bought shelves or pieces of MDF etc. turns them into instant designer bookshelves (or shelves for any manner of things - I have something similar in one of my bathrooms).

 

graham and green.jpg

  

Et voilà! I hope you’ll never look at that humble picture frame in the same way again 😊

32 Replies 32
Susan151
Level 10
Somerville, MA

@Huma0You have such a sense of style. I bet you are one of those women who always has the right outfit for any occasion. Everything that you have in your home looks like it was selected and placed with great care, creating a tableau of beauty and comfort.

 

Your post brought a story to mind, and with your indulgence, I would love to share. Though this story is about my grandmother and painting furniture, it is really about pendulums.

 

My grandmother didn't marry until she was in her late 30's. She married a man who was already over 40. It was a first marriage for both. Considering this was the 1920's, their advanced age was extremely unusual. She was from a well-heeled family while he was from the back hills of West Virginia, the only member of his huge family to work his way out of a back holler and get a college degree. My father was born a couple of years later. My grandmother had already turned 40 years old! Most women her age at that time in this country were already grandmothers. She insisted on a hospital birth. [Yes, she was a very unusual woman. She had a science degree from Smith College and understood the risks of a home birth at her advanced age.]

 

My grandfather died, leaving her a widow, when my father was 17 years old during his freshman year of college. He was at sea [ROTC requirement.] He was allowed to go home to Cleveland for a short leave to attend the services before he was headed back to the Pacific. My grandmother had a big decision to make. What now? She wasn't that old. She needed to make a living. Her son was attending Harvard on the East Coast. Her family home in Cleveland was now in a marginal neighborhood and was far too big for one person. By the time my father was back from sea for the next semester of school, she had sold her home in Cleveland, purchased a huge Colonial home in Wolfeboro, NH, a lovely resort town on a large lake, and moved her possessions East. Her plan? Open a B&B!

 

This was 1948. The depression was in our country's rear view mirror and people were optimistic about the future and enamored with mid-century modern. Families across New England ripped out their kitchen pantries, stripped homes of their original woodwork, and modernized as quickly as they could. That old wood furniture, true antiques that had been abused, painted and otherwise "modernized" was put out to sell on the roadsides and "flea" markets. My grandmother traveled around the area, purchasing old furniture for pennies. After all, she had a 7 room B&B to furnish and since it was a Colonial home, she wanted all Colonial furnishings. She moved her finds into the barn and got to work. She spent all winter stripping paint from furniture, restoring it to its original condition. My favorite piece is a bed, with holes in the frame for running the rope to hold the hay for a mattress. The wood that she found under 6 layers of pain? Birds Eye maple, one of the most beautiful woods found in New England [well, not so much anymore.]

 

And so the pendulum swings back. You are saving vintage pieces; painting them to make them relevant for your space so that you can build a home and business, while my grandmother was doing the opposite; saving other's families histories so that she could build her home and business.

IMG_2071.JPG

 

IMG_2073.JPG

 

 

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Susan151

 

I've tried to respond to your post about four or five times now but the site keeps crashing everytime I do. Let's see if this shorter message works and then I'll try again tomorrow to reply properly!

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Susan151

 

Well that seemed to work, maybe because I typed in the 'Join the converstion' box rather than hitting reply.

 

Anyway, what I wanted to say was thank you for sharing your lovely story. Both your grandparents sound amazing. Actually I am with your grandma on this one. I wouldn't slap paint all over an antique either. Most of the pieces that I upcycle are mid-Century repros of 18th and 19th Century furniture - vintage but not the real thing. You can usually tell because while the fronts, tops, sides and legs are often a decent wood, the back and insides are frequently just some sort of cheap board.

 

Sometimes I come across an antique piece for a bargain price, but I can't bear to paint over the lovely grain of the wood or inlay detail etc. so I usually pass. The dark wood generally doesn't go with my decor so I will leave it for someone who appreiates it more. I have also given some pieces unpainted to my mother, who likes them just the way they are. 

 

It's funny how fashions changed though, like how orangey pine was so fashionable in the 80s. The previous owner of my house, who bought it in the 80s,, must have spent a lot of time stripping back the doors and some of the other woodwork. For that reason, and because my previous builder refused to paint them, I have lived with them like that for some time, but I'm afraid it doesn't work for me, so bit by bit, I'm painting it. Now that I've taken the plunge, I'm glad I did. The doors look much better painted and actually, that's exactly what the Victorians would have done. They would not have stripped the pine and had it bare.

 

Your comment about my outfits really made me laugh. I am one of those people with lots of clothes but nothing to wear. I spend most days in paint splattered jeans and a moth-eaten sweater!