We have been in this house for a few months now and a lot of time has been devoted to re-arranging the furniture. I really don't want to race out and buy new things until I am absolutely sure it is necessary, so that involves time spent living in the house and truly thinking about how each space is used. If a cherished item doesn't work in one room it might be able to be used elsewhere for a different purpose!
One of the first rooms that I feel is coming together nicely is the dining room. Initially the room had a functional but boring Ikea pendant hanging in it which we replaced with these two converted French wool basket pendant lights from A Country Trader. The shadows and light that they cast around the room is stunning, in particular the reflections on the cathedral ceiling are spectacular.
R fell in love with the antique Turkish canoe (the big wooden object on the left in the photo above) recently at Garden Life and insisted on bringing it home. I could not for the life of me work out how we were going to incorporate it into our house and just had it plonked on the outside table. The outside table which is currently inside as there is no room on the deck for it outside! Then my clever sister-in-law V, suggested filling the canoe with orchids. Suddenly it completely altered the room. The table now looks like a console or a buffet under the window and the canoe no longer looks like something the boys should be playing in the pool with! Well, it never really looked like that but they were desperate to give it a whirl!
We still need to source some more dining chairs to finish the room off though. At our little cottage we had the table against a window bench seat so only needed 4, of the 5 chairs we have, for the other side. We are currently using one of the benches from the outdoor setting as a stop gap while we work out what to do. I would love to try and source some more antique Bentwoods similar to the ones we are currently using but I don't particularly like my chances. My parents picked them up in the early 1980s in Malacca whilst we were on posting in Malaysia. They even have vintage Chinese graffiti on them!
So the chances of me finding some to match these is virtually non existent! I shall start looking for chairs that compliment them, but I shall also begin the hunt for a whole new set of dining room chairs. If I do find something to replace my beloved Bentwoods I will then use them somewhere else in the house. Probably as desk chairs in the bedrooms and study.
Yay!! Your blog just came up in my blog reader! Great to see you are back and writing. I've been very remiss with blogging as well but hope to soon sort that out! xx
ReplyDeleteI am crossing my fingers I stick to it this time! It is lovely to reconnect with people through blogging again too. xx
ReplyDeleteThose lights are fabulous! Also love the chairs - I'd do a harlequin set and mix it up as you'll possibly never be able to find others the same.
ReplyDeleteSo nice to see this pop up in my feeder this morning. I'd removed you from my blog roll as you hadn't blogged for so long and I'd given up hope you ever would again! xx
Thanks Heidi! I am actually enjoying documenting my life again! The lights are truly fabulous. Literally, every evening during dinner I am mesmerised by the dancing reflections on the ceilings and walls. I will do an update post on the dining chairs once we have made a decision, but yes agreed - we are unlikely to find others the same so a mix up or "harlequin set" as you call it, (I suspect this expression will now become a favourite part of my vocabulary!!!), is probably the only solution. xx
ReplyDeleteOh how exciting a new house to style. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
ReplyDeleteThanks Carolyn! I am a bit overwhelmed with how much needs to be done to the garden at the moment but the inside is slowly coming together. xx
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