Where old meets new
WE all love a touch of vintage from time to time. This fabulous chic look is great for accessorising as well as creating an entire theme in your home.
I love looking in markets and second-hand stores for dressing tables and pieces of furniture and many DIY stores have great ready-made sprays like crackle glaze by plastikote.com so you can carry out your own transformations.
My new best pal Peter Andre loved spraying stone effects crackle glaze as quick designer upscale projects last year on allnew 60 Minute Makeover. Safe and simple to use — just make sure you work in a well-ventilated space and surfaces are all good for decoration.
It’s great reinventing old pieces but stores like Matalan and Homebase often do vintage style glass and mirror objects which are ideal for accessorising.
For a total vintage look I was inspired by the Little Greene Paint Company. They’ve scoured the archives of London and Paris to source their latest heritage wallpaper collection, the aptly named ‘Révolution Papers’. The title of this range refers not to the storming of the Bastille in 1789, but to the groundbreaking advances in the production and distribution of wallpapers in the ensuing industrial period.
During the 18th Century, London and Paris were independent hubs for wallpaper production, each centred on artisan studios creating bespoke papers for the decoration of the homes of society’s elite.
However, as new trade channels evolved so did new commercial markets, resulting in an inevitable confluence of English and French design styles and manufacturing techniques. Efficient block-printing production lines meant complex, multi-coloured papers could be made in long lengths — in rolls rather than individual sheets — on an unprecedented scale. This meant they were both more affordable and accessible than ever before and resulted in the first big boom in wallpaper usage worldwide.
‘Révolution Papers’ comprises seven designs that typify the period: traditional damask and delicate toile patterns, a sophisticated (and sometimes surprising) treatment of colour and a beautiful surface quality only achieved by traditional block-printing.
These bold papers really do make an impact and I love the use of new colourations to adorn traditional styling. As you can see from the props it’s about layering up and creating a really eclectic mix from new and old!