HOUSE CLINIC
Our expert, Celia Rufey, answers your interior design questions and decorating dilemmas
PROFILE Celia Rufey has been the Homes & Gardens decorating expert for more than 30 years. She has a wealth of interiors knowledge and has also designed her own range of fabrics. WHAT’S THE BEST FINISH FOR A WOOD WORKTOP? We’ve inherited a varnished pine kitchen worktop that I’m going to strip as the varnish is flaking. Which finish is easy to apply and hardwearing, especially in the area around the sink? NB, London N3.
Remove the varnish by sanding the worktop rather than using a chemical stripper, ending with 120 grit sandpaper to open the timber and let in the new finish. Holzöl Worktop-oil by Morrells, 0161 406 5300, morrells.co.uk, is a favourite with kitchen makers: it’s clear, so pre-stain the wood if you want to tint it, £23.99 for 1L from Wood Finishes Direct, 01303 213838, wood-finishes-direct.com. Wood finishes by Osmo, 01296 481220, osmouk.com, are also highly regarded. As your worktop will be vulnerable around the sink, use its Wood Protector first, £22.66 for 750ml, then apply Topoil hardwax-oil, £21.65 for 500ml, in clear Matt or Satin, or Natural with added white pigments to retain the lightness of the sanded wood. Follow all the instructions carefully.
WHERE CAN I BUY LONG TABLECLOTHS?
We have an extendable rectangular table and as it’s our turn to host festive meals I’d like to invest in a couple of large linen tablecloths. Do you know anyone who sells them as I can’t find anything in linen online? AS, Knutsford, Cheshire.
You haven’t mentioned the length of your table when it’s extended but here are some linen tablecloths in a range of sizes. The Linen Press, 01768 372777, thelinenpress.co.uk, has narrow-hemmed Irish linen tablecloths in White, Ivory or Natural and five sizes up to 200x300cm, £250, with bespoke sizes to order. If you love the look of tumbled linen, head to Linenme, 020 8133 3853, linenme.com, for stonewashed linen tablecloths with a deep hem in 10 colours and three sizes, the largest is 170x320cm, £114.99. The
Linen Works, 020 3744 1020, thelinenworks.co.uk, also pre-washes its linen tablecloths with mitred hems (above) that come in six colours and five sizes up to 160x375cm, £160. Linen tablecloths at Volga Linen, 01728 635020, volgalinen.
co.uk, are ivory and 175cm wide. Diamond Stitch with drawn thread work border is in three sizes up to 400cm long, £562.
INSIDER’S TIP “Fill the house with natural decorations at Christmas. I use foliage from the garden and huge pots planted with jasmine to create a fantastic scent.” LULU LYTLE, Soane Britain, 020 7730 6400, soane.co.uk.
ARE THERE ANY CONTEMPORARY TROLLEYS? A friend bought an old trolley she finds incredibly useful and I’d love something similar for parties, but who makes them now? BK, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
The cocktail craze has reinvented the trolley and if cocktails are your thing, look for a bar or drinks trolley. Cox & Cox, 0330 333 2123, coxandcox.co.uk, has several, but for general use its Vintage Metal Trolley (right), H89xw80xd40cm, £225, has three shelves and a more practical industrial look. Among the trolleys at Swoon, 020 3319 6332,
swooneditions.com, the Salina (below right) in Black is super smart with two brass-edged white marble shelves, H80xw70xd35cm, £329. For a more compact model, try the
Mai Tai trolley, classic in oak or jolly in yellow or white, H70xw60xd42.6cm, from
£685, Twentytwentyone, 020 7288 1996,
twentytwentyone.com. The HB 128 bar trolley with its slender framework in chrome-plated steel, black tray with oak edges and leather handgrips revisits a design from 1968, H61xw104xd45cm, £2,946, Skandium,
020 7590 0030, skandium.com. IS THERE A RUG TO MATCH MY BLINDS? I’m searching for a rug for the kitchen seating area next to glazed doors to the garden. Can you help me find one around 240x170cm that includes the blue, brown and off-white in the striped blind at the window? LJ, Croydon, Surrey.
I’m forwarding a sample of Quirky B Shuttle Jack from Alternative Flooring, 01264 335111, alternativeflooring.com.
It picks up the colours in your blind and can be made as a bordered rug in any size up to 3.66m wide, priced at £111.20sq m. A rug laid in front of glazed doors to the garden could risk fading or being marked by footfall from outside. Indoor/outdoor rugs are totally synthetic but still have a natural feel and can be washed. Weaver Green, 0844 414 2155, weavergreen.com, offers simple geometric designs (left), most in a single colour with white that match individual colours in your blind not the mix, but they could still be worth a look – a 240x170cm rug costs
£399. Heal’s, 020 212 1915, heals.
com, stocks rugs by Danish company Linie Design, including Acacia Blue, 240x170cm, £459. You could also take a look at other designs such as Farao and Memo, to order from Heal’s, at liniedesign.com. WHICH GIFTS WILL PLEASE THESE FRIENDS? I exchange small gifts at Christmas with three longtime friends. We love to amuse each other with offbeat presents. Can you help with suggestions for this year? JM, London SE10.
Utility items can be unexpectedly beautiful and make amusing gifts for the right people. Brush64, 01722 711895, brush64.co.uk, stocks a white ostrich-feather duster, £30, below left, to admire as conceptual art after use. A leather fly swat with beechwood handle, £9.50, is handsome, and there are also numerous brushes, such as horsehair shoe-shining brushes, £13 each, below right. Labour And Wait, 020 7729 6253, labourand
wait.co.uk, promotes timeless functional products. Its white or black string bags, £8.50, are newly eco-fashionable, and small marbled enamel spoons, £5, have engaging charm. Don’t overlook the vegetable brush, £9 – a thing of beauty and born to scrub.