Wednesday 29 August 2012

Sewing Cabinet





On the other wall to the right of the door as you go in, is another shelving unit. On the bottom shelf on the far left is a small folding cabinet.
The sewing cabinet is wooden, and has lots of compartments. Most people had one of these in the 1970's. It holds many delights: ribbons, ric-rac, threads and buttons (some of which are still on their cards). My favourite item is a small needle-case with the inscription that reads, 'Trouble Are Ended When They Are Mended.'(second pic down)

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Green Cabinet



There isn’t really enough room for this cabinet in the kitchen – or anyway else for that matter – but I like it too much to sell.
I actually bought this from T, who was moving house and had nowhere to put it – her loss was fortunately my gain. She bought it from a junk shop in Nottingham and when I first knew her she lived in a house with a very tiny kitchen, this cabinet with the drop down leaf was her only work surface in the entire kitchen, good going on her part I think! When I initially bought it, it was for a house with a dining room, where it fitted more comfortably – this seems to be an ongoing issue with the furniture in this house!

Thursday 23 August 2012

The Typing Pool Upstairs

So, we were going up the stairs ... at the top you turn back on your self and walk to the end of the hall into this room. It's traditionally supposed to be the 'Master Bedroom,' but we have it set up as a library/ work room/ spare bedroom. It's where our collection, of 18 (and counting), typewriters live. Aren't they lovely?

As you can see, we haven't 'restored' the door yet. It did have two large pieces of hardboard (a common occurrence in this house) nailed to either side, for that 70's flush look. Amazing that the original bubble glass and door was underneath - good old DIY'er Albert again.


From top[ left, an Olivetti Valentine 1969, Adler Tippa 1971/72,  next shelf from left: Olivetti Lettera 22, Olivetti Lettera 32, next shelf two Imperial 66's 1959, last shelf from top Olivetti Adding Machine, and a Hermes 3000.
Yes the cases underneath all contain typewriters too!

Sunday 5 August 2012

Light. Bright. Extravagance



The kitchen faces north, east, east and our main aim has been to make it lighter and brighter – we refitted the kitchen after a couple of years of living here, and painted everything white including the floor, which is now becoming nicely worn.







As you can see the room was previously painted a quite dark blue/purple. We also removed a lot of the wall cabinets, partly because the wall was damp and secondly it made the room seem bigger without them!

We put in a planning request to change the window to patio doors, but as the house is Grade II listed – the request was unfortunately rejected, I would never buy a listed house again – too restricting, although as discussed in the previous post I can fully appreciate the system for preserving houses.

The white light fitting above the table is the most extravagant item (in monetary terms) in the entire house. We first saw it in a shop in Nottingham, but dismissed the idea of buying it because of the price. However, I coveted it for several weeks and eventually found an ex-display model on the internet; I really wrestled with decision of whether to buy or not to buy – and eventually managed to justify it to myself because of the slightly reduced price of the display model.


I must admit to being a little shocked by its size when it first arrived (it looked so much smaller in the shop!) but luckily the house has tall ceilings, and it does double as an excellent drying rack! 




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