CREATING A GARDEN RETREAT – DECOR SOURCEBOOK

Thank you so much for all the shed joy! I am back as promised with more images of our Walton’s Garden Room collaboration and lots of links for items I used to make our garden retreat cosy and comfy. To keep the budget down (remember this was a thrifty garden retreat challenge), lots of the items we used inside have been found and handmade – including all the reclaimed wall. The hand carved plate and woven mat are vintage finds from Etsy. The plastic plant holder was a 50p boot fair find and the twinkling, mercury tea light holders were from West Elm last year.Marlo is modelling a Recycled blanket from our store – The Future Kept and most of my teas are part of an obsessive collection I have with Clipper Teas – I just love their teas, packaging and ethos! The mint ones were found in France and the Kusmi makes for a perfectly fruity iced tea.The plant shelf in the window was a pallet that has been kicking around the garden for a couple of years. Nicely aged and silvered we sawed it in half, dusted off the mud and cobwebs and ta-da!I also rehomed as many things as I could salvage from the boxes of stuff we have stored up in the roof – from our old home and things we have been saving for a project such as this! This crate shelf was in the office until a couple of weeks ago but it had been empty so we moved it out here. It was picked up from a junk shop in St Leonards a couple of years back, but you can usually pick up things like this very cheaply at boot fairs and garage sales.Vintage style geranium poster – Cavallini and co £2.95 from a local store called SHOP. I had to have this to show all the petal and leaf variations of my favourite flower. The small Mid-Century style table was £1.00 and also from a boot fair?! All the plants were moved down here from the house. I almost always buy a new geranium home when we visit our local nursery – at £2.50 a plant – they are cheaper than a bunch of flowers (last for ages/forever if loved) and I can constantly add new colours to my collection!The larger crates we used to make the daybed were £29.50 and the foam mattress was £46.99 – both from eBay (keep reading for a link to a collection I made on eBay with links). The gorgeous crumpled pink linen pillow cases were from the Soak and Sleep sale!I have become quite obsessed with these new covers for classic novels by Sarah Gillespie for the Brontë sister books and Leanne Shapton for Jane Austin. They are so beautiful and I cannot wait to spend a few hours a week down here in the autumn reading – while the wind whips around the cabin! I grabbed all my favourites from Wordery. My candle sconces were made from an old piece of window frame that I sawed in half. I then added a 35p bracket to each and painted them with chalk paint to blend in with the wooden wall. On top, I popped these mini candle holders – et voila. I have had my candle holders for a while but I love the idea of these too. Remember NEVER leave naked flames unattended! The picture frame was 20p at a boot fair and the picture was ripped out of an old poster book that was headed for the recycling. My vintage tins have been collected over the years and inside I am storing teabags and nightlights. The shelf was £20.00 from an Old Town junk shop and the Falcon teapot was snatched from our kitchen! The galvanised magazine holder was another eBay find and the retro record cabinet has lived in all the rooms of our home previously. I gave it shiny new handles for the occasion.I grabbed these delicious looking fruit liquors on our recent visit to Sissinghurst. The glassware for the mini bar is a mix of vintage cut crystal coupe’s we have had for ages and a set of four new but vintage style etched ones from Grand Illusions. Local Hastings peeps – you can pick them up in SHOP in Norman Road.The rose picture was snapped up in a welsh antique store (for £2.50) while we were visiting The Welsh House earlier this year. The other little pictures and plate I have had for years and dug out of a box.Awesome gin and books about seasonal drinking were purchased on a supermarket sweep at our local branch of Borough Wines. We love the owners and all the exciting booze, books and everchanging art/crafts they stock.The floor was stencilled by hand with this stencil by Dizzy Duck Designs. I wish I had been brave and painted it in bright red now. But it took so long and I cannot muster the will to change it yet!The cushions were whatever we had kicking around at home with new covers made from my Liberty London Tana Lawn stash. I have a LOT of fabric. It’s a problem I am dealing with. The plant pots are a gathering of all my favourites – some very old ones that were in the old shed that was here before and the crackle and floral patterned ones were from my Anthro shoot for 91 Magazine!To make the pompom garland I have linked to the tutorial in my previous post and you can find all of the wool, tools and things you need to make it in this eBay collection I put together especially to go with this post here – or by searching for similar.The teapot (now planter) was 25p – yes 25p – it fills my soul with joy that there are still broken or unloved items out there that can be rehomed or recycled for under one English pound!For more inspiration and to get designing your own garden retreat for all seasons – follow my Pinterest board and eBay collection. I don’t think I left anything out but if I did – feel free to shoot me a question and I can point you in the right direction for the item of something similar! I have rigged all sorts of lights and sparkle up around the Tea Shed – so keep em peeled for my night time post next week – weather permitting. Happy Tuesday! xxx