In recent years I have found myself buying nearly every copy of Romantic Homes magazine, finding something within each issue I can't live without or find so inspiring!.
The September 2010 issue offered that inspiration when they featured this apartment in Brighton, England.
Home to a cute redheaded Swede and her husband, they strove to bring light and the simplicity of Swedish design into their home.
I especially love the white furniture with the details picked out in gold leaf, with the gilded chandeliers and sconces adding old world flavor and real beauty. The pale wall colors keep it clean and open while the Swedish throw rugs add warmth.
The dining table with the Swedish style bench is where I'd spend my time if I lived there....its so fresh and comfortable looking and I'd delight in sitting there every morning eating breakfast and taking tea.
I was just sharing my experience with reupholstering a piece of furniture on the Victoria magazine forum when I tried to upload a photo of my project and it repeatedly failed. So, frustrated, I decided to blog about the piece instead and then let the VF readers link to my blog if they wished, to view the settee. Here's the history behind it: one day at work, probably 8 or 9 years ago now, I checked into my email and saw one had just come thru 3 minute ago from my boss's antiques gal. My boss had a bunch of stuff she was giving away and it was located on the 2nd floor landing of the privately owned office building I worked in. Without a word to anyone else (it was first-come, first-serve) I bounded up the stairs, three at a time, to the landing and practically landed on top of this gorgeous old settee with very Rococo lines. It once had a broken front leg which was repaired but very obvious. And on it's front was a horribly ugly purple tapestry with tiny white daisies. It was badly stained with white paint. On the back was a soft peach damask but was rotting and stained badly with a bright green paint.
Needless to say, I was given the settee as I was first to see it and put in a request for it. So once home, I had to make it usable. I tried my hand at reupholstery - my first try. I found and bought the fabric I wanted - a denim-shade of blue and white stripe ticking stripe for the front and a solid blueberry blue damask for the back. I took photos of the piece before I began to remove the upholstery and as I removed each piece, I set it carefully aside, labeled, to use as a pattern for the new fabric. Under the purple fabric on the seat I found an old layer of modern batting and then what looked like horsehair. Hand made nails. I lifted the hair and saw underneath the original peach damask still intact.
Not wanting to destroy what I'd found, I decided to put a fresh layer of batting over the horsehair and then my fabric on top of that. When I can afford it, I'll have a pro redo it for me. Once the front was done, I did the back and then added braiding to the areas where I tacked the fabric unto the frame. All in all, it looks acceptable and I have used it in my living room ever since.
Since the people way back then - I assuming 18th c - were so short, I needed to raise the seat a bit ) I am 6' tall and when I sat on the seat, my knees almost came up to my ears!) hahahaha very graceful looking. So I bought a king sized bed pillow and sewed a blue toile ruffled and piped cover for it. It sits comfortably now and I'm happy with the piece except for one thing - I still want to gold gild the frame. So this is my "before" photo - before I add gilding. When I get it done, I'll repost the photo to show how it turned out. I have never water gilded so I will do it the lazy way and oil gild.
