Who Polishes These?

Passing Opera today I looked up and have never seen the 2 gold statues on the roof looking so immaculate. Surely the cleaner doesn't shin it up there every night!

Clever Use of Cutlery on The Champs Elysees

A Pan Handle on the entrance door of a Champs Elysees restaurant.

A bit Ghost Furniture me thinks

A spoon laden lampshade

Look carefully above the basket and see how the wall light is fixed to the wall. Ingenius all!

Brocante Purchase - So Handy

This is one of my finds when I visited the Bastille Antiques Fair on Sunday. The others were 12 little oval vintage mirrors. Ever tried to photograph 12 mirrors?

Food For Thought

I don't know why it is but food always looks better in Paris. Actually it tastes better as well.

Laduree was honoured with my custom - I will show you a picture of my purchase tomorrow.

Fauchon know how to pack a fruit basket.

Even Charlotte's local supermarket sells exotic fruits:

Marie Antoinette Was Out

I was up bright and early this morning and was so excited as we were going to The Marie Antoinette Exhibition at The Grand Palais. Well it was SHUT!
I won't go on as I may be censored.
This is what the Grand Palais looks like when it's shut - note the doors are open.

A Day at The Bastille Antiques Market

I had no idea just how big this market was going to be. My feet are still killing me. Well you can sit back and enjoy it without the pain. Tomorrow I will show you what I bought.

Harvey and I met up with Helen Morris of The Stencil Library for the day. Helen is a great person to wander around with always brilliant company and a has a great eye for design, the other one's quite good as well.

Isn't this just the best ever Armoir? My favourite find of the day, just sorry I couldn't get it on the plane.

You never know what's going to be around the next corner.

Loved these little Knife Rests with little birds sitting either end.

Gorgeous storage items on this stand.


Dyed Linen Napkins - the choices are endless. Each one was monogrammed. The French do dying so well.

Just a gorgeous contraption for making hot drinks.

Even a surrey with a fringe on top.

Even an old drinks crate with some flowers flung in becomes a style statement.

Portable beer pumps????

I was dying to ask the stall holder here if she had any soda syphons but wasn't sure if she would understand my sense of humour.

A totally weird chair with a built in ashtray.

No expense is spared when it comes to the stallholders lunch.

A unique Art Deco Desk. The top tube contains a light. Seems to defy gravity.

A stunning Art Deco furniture stand.

And why not stick a donkey's head on a stick?

It was hot but there was no need for this. By the way she costs 2,000 Euros;

Just loved this poster with the pincers.

I'm not 100% sure what this is for but I absolutely adore it.

OK I'm Here In Paris

One of my favourite things about Paris is that whenever anyone is working on the outside of a building there will be an inventive hoarding to hide the mess. Just love this one.

I'm Off To Paris To.......

This time we are flying over to Paris.

Up and away

To spend time with our lovely youngest daughter, Charlotte, who is more French than she is English after living there for over 4 years. I would kill for that hair!

To stay in her lovely little town with the most exquisite medieval part to it and one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten in

To visit Brocantes in strange little places taking away all the items the French appear not to want anymore.

To wander around the flea markets, oozing with gorgeous vintage finds. This time there is Antiquites Brocante at Place de la Bastille

To see the big white domes of Sacre Coeur against a clear blue May sky - nothing quite like it in my book

To sit outside stylish Parisian cafes - people watching and sipping coffee, the likes of which only the French can make.

To lick the windows of Laduree, Maison du Chocolat, Fauchon well anywhere that sells food I suppose. Buying little tasty items just to get the boxes and bags

To shop until I DROP and see the stunning vitrines - yes their shop windows are just like glass cabinets, full of fabulous items and they do the best styling in the world

In fact Paris is so good I could eat it.
I will be reporting daily - watch this space.

Fabulous Flowers

Sometimes I come across photography that I just can't stop looking at. This is that sort of photography. It's so good I can't begin to explain what I see. It is somehow to real to be true.
By Tony Mendoza. Loads more to see here.

Trust

When I design Ghost Furniture pieces I cannot always achieve the end result alone. I have to use people I trust 100 per cent to give me what I want. Sabina Rose is one of those people. This is her work, so you can see why I trust her can't you?


I love this little niche she helped create in a house in The South of France. This was achieved with the help of a stencil from The Stencil Library. I stole this picture from Design Inspiration the Stencil Library's blog but Helen won't mind - she is a treasure.

Sabina is working on this old sewing table, for me, at the moment. She is doing a trompe l'oeil effect by painting all those items (above) scattered around the black lid of the cabinet. I trust her implicitly and believe me it takes a lot stress away from me when I can trust someone like this.

Belinda Berger Crazy Ceramics

Oh yes crazy but such fun. Ceramics by Belinda Berger in Germany

Not What It Seems

This may appear to be a candlestick but oh no, it's a flashlight. Don't you think it's a bit Cluedo? You know Colonel Mustard, with the Candlestick in the Hall sort of thing.
From Kikkerland

Morgane le Gal - A Parisian Photographer

I urge you to go and take a look at some of the work of Morgane le Gal. You will not be disappointed I promise.

Do You Want To Come To Scotland Today?

Just 15 miles from my cottage is Scotland and it's such a gorgeous day today that I thought I would take you all for a trip there. Seat belts on and be prepared for some stunning scenery.

The minute you cross this point the landscape and the architecture changes because you are now in Scotland.

The hills are dotted with bright yellow gorse and dead volcanoes scatter the landscape.

Now this is Jedburgh and this was the home of Mary Queen of Scots. Not very big is it? Then Queen Elizabeth didn't much like her did she?

She must have been very small just look at her front door it's tiny.

This is the remains of Jedburgh Abbey which looks as though it has given birth to another abbey (look to the bottom right)

An Indian elephant in Scotland. You may ask and I'll tell you - this is in the window of an Indian restaurant. No time to stop we have to go to Melrose which is a gem of a town.

Melrose Abbey sitting behind the blossom trees. I love the pink stone don't you?

Harvey's surname is Roll so if you put my first name with his you nearly get this. Looks crazy to me.

Now here is a lesson in how not to do graphics. Such a sin to put such an ugly sign in such a beautiful Art Nouveau frame. Off with their heads.

Melrose is dominated by this big hill and it keeps the wind from the town. In fact I'm getting a bit hot I need to go into the shade.

Two identical window displays on the shady side of the street. I love the layouts.


Melrose and lots of the Border towns are filled with secret alleys with little delights in them like this Garden Shop. Well we had better set off back now. I'll drive.

Ooh look we are back in England. There was a time hundreds of years ago that only the very brave would cross these borders as these were debatable lands and the Scots and the English just did not get on. You look out for them and I'll make a dash for it.

Oh and I forgot to mention I picked these up in an amazing little antique shop whilst you lot were having a cup of tea and a Scottish pancake in that lovely little cafe.
These are for my new extension. They are both original Georgian balustrades and the one on the left even has some of its original paint on it. This will be left exactly as it is.