RENOVATION STORIES – ADDING MOOD TO THE KITCHEN

Time for some renovation updates! The new year arrived during a hideous bout of flu. So I spent a full week horizontal over the festive break with all kinds of plans and ideas swirling around my mind and no chance of achieving them – no fun at all. But over the last couple of weeks, we have been chipping away, getting a couple of small jobs done each day. Finally adding some shelves for storage and a curtain for privacy and mood to our sunny kitchen.We found our kitchen table at a local plant nursery on the Saturday before Christmas, just in time for a festive feast to be laid out on it. On bright days, the sun pours into our south facing kitchen, joyful and warm. We have bi-fold doors on one side and a huge hole in our fence too, so I wanted to add a little shade and some privacy (our neighbours are lovely – but no one needs to see me wandering about in my undies to get a glass of water first thing in the morning). We have used a bed sheet dyed charcoal grey at the window in the office simply hung with cafe clips to great effect. I think linen sheets make great curtains, they are durable, multi-functional, let enough dappled light through and way cheaper than purpose made curtain panels.My friends over at Soak & Sleep have the moody hues already made up so no washing machine dying needed. After previously working with them and their beautiful French Linen – I got in contact with them to see if they’d like to work with me on my window treatment DIY and they said yes. Thanks so much S&S peeps! I chose a Charcoal Flat Sheet in Double but they also have a new midnight grey colour in their range too.I can never find curtain poles that I like. They are always a bit too chunky or modern. When we were at the plumbing centre recently I found these amazing brass pipe clips and thought a combination of those and the copper pipes we rescued from under our floor during renovations would make a great upcycled salvage project. Even if you buy copper pipe new it is definitely less expensive than industrial style curtain poles. Just leave it outdoors in the yard for a week and it will be perfectly aged!We also used some copper end caps (see above picture of our mini version for our tea towels) for our size pipe which only cost about £1.50 each. The curtain cafe clips in antique brass were an eBay find. Excuse the dirty windows, it’s so windy up here and they look like most of the sea is stuck to them! Our bi-fold doorway is quite wide so we used a brass Munsen ring and backplate at each end and one in the middle for support.My trusted partner in DIY crime levelling everything up here, hanging this curtain and copper pole was a super quick job and it has made such a difference to the kitchen and dining space.We also put our shelves up at last. Made from an old eucalyptus tree that fell down in our garden in the gales the first winter we lived here. We had it planked and left to season in the garage and now it’s the perfect reclaimed rustic surface for our favourite ceramics to reside on.I am on a mission to turn the surface of this table pale like the scrub top one had on our beautiful weekend at Luttrell’s Tower. Any tips for this would be greatly appreciated especially if there is a way we can avoid using bleach?! :)Our bistro chairs are a mix of junk shop finds from various eras and a couple of more modern ones that my dad found on the street near his house – thanks, dad! We love drawing the curtain in here and feeling secluded and cosy during the day or evening. Now to finally finish all the shelves on the other side so I can share the whole room with you! Have a magical weekend and stay cosy x