#colporter

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Catholic calendars, Trg bana Jelačiča, Zagreb, 14 January 2022

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I thought I would do a little series of Tumblrs showing you art I have acquired affordably for the new gaff. We have a lot more walls now we are out of London so I needed cheap solutions to blank spaces. It is so hard to find original art and when you do go to a gallery you can find the prices are eye watering. This one is from ebay. I think it was under £25 but I absolutely love it. It says to me Happy Children. The colours are vibrant, the style naive but there is something about it. It is by a Russian Artist whose name I do have but cannot pronounce nor spell from memory. The frame was an old photo frame where the glass had smashed and it's simple colour and look seemed to suit it.

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Inspiration Station or Aide memoire?

I love a pinboard. It is a place to bob things which are visually pretty enough to be displayed temporarily, like a 40th birthday invitation or Christening, a stylish business card, you know what I mean. Just nice "stuff". We have a few in the house, this sort. They are good as you kind slip things behind the ribbon if no pins are to hand.

Ideally, it should be pleasing to the eye. My eyes are not pleased by mine at the minute. They have moved from "inspiration stations" to crucial reminders of where and when my children need to be and cheques I need to write.

I need to edit my pinboards like the above to just be pretty and I need to find another way to sort out the clutter of invitations and school letters. I perused pinterest - the amazing internet pinboard which is my salvation when I have an idea but cannot find an image that shows what I am after.

Here are some of them...

A cluster of clipboards...interesting but a bit contrived for my purposes.

I like the fabrics on this one though. Maybe a thought for the office.

Then there is the notice board, a different beast. The things one displays on there may not necessarily be beautiful, stylish or "you", but they need to be popped somewhere to remind you to do something, go somewhere etc. Most people's noticeboard is their fridge but I am getting annoyed by my fridge magnet clutter and only the sides are magnetic. Irritating. I am going to frisk the fridge, and ditch the unnecessary newspaper clippings (a picture of David Cameron and Sam Cam - apparently mine and my husband's famous lookylikeys!?), a funny Nigella clipping and a courgette recipe I will never make.

What about a chalkboard, or chalk painted wall - great for shopping lists, quick reminders, kids colouring and inspirational quotes. But messy handwriting on it would bug me. 

When you have as many kids as me then the stylish pinboard starts to morph into cluttered noticeboard, cluttered hall table and cluttered coffee table. My reminders for rugby, hockey, world book day, HMRC bills blah blah blah, are in too many different places that they are not reminding me of things they are just messing up my living space.

I think therefore I need to embrace a pin/notice wall in the heart of the home, the Kitchen. Eek. I think I have got a bit too used to plain walls. Can I let go?

I am thinking an enormous pinboard painted the same colour as the wall, almost flush to the wall. I will be strict about each item having 4/2 brass pins, dependant on size. Some things will be ugly, some beautiful but it may make me slightly more organised. This in Livingetc this month was my inspiration. Pictures can break up the boredom of the school letters.

Watch this space for my solution which will involve some DIY drilling, always dangerous for me but I will give it a go.

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Like “Age Progression”, but decorating progression…The wonders of washi tape. Masking was rubbish!

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Kitchen reinvigoration

We have had decorators in giving the new house a lick of paint since August. I have teased you with a few pictures but it is now practically there. They have finished the painting and so I can finally finish unpacking and titivate.

The Kitchen was the room I most wanted to get finished but it has been the last to be completed. Since finishing it we have been enjoying cooking and socialising in here so much - well worth the wait.

So some before pics, It did not really need anything doing to it, as lots of people told me but we just wanted to put our stamp on it cheaply using the existing layout and units. It already had wonderful features, wooden painted units, lovely floor tiles and the best bit, a large Black AGA.

And now, a couple of days of Carpentry work, lashings of different (yet barely distinguishable except to a grey fiend's eye) grey paints, some Colporter vintage lights and here we are....

I have to acknowledge taking some inspiration with the horizontal panelling from the gorgeous Abi's House, previously blogged about. We did that on one wall and had our chippy create a "dummy" cooker hood above the AGA to make a focal point.

I sourced us a new yet old bench which can fit a number of small bottoms on it - perfect for playdates. Our old OKA chairs which were once wicker based have been reincarnated with an MDF seat as they were NOT built to last originally. Many a friend with a slim bottom perched precariously on these prior to their makeover. Mine was fine!

We admired Nigel Slater's kitchen windows - black crittal - but could not afford, nor wanted to remove the lovely existing windows. We took the plunge and painted them Dulux Flint (very similar to F and B Downpipe). I think Nigel would be quite impressed with these, if not by our AGA disasters (of which there have been quite a few - no-one mention the Pork Belly in the warming oven incident).

A few trips up to the loft to raid some Colporter stock has really helped get this project over the line. I could not have restored these enamel lights without our great Sparky "Down to Earth Electrics" (oh how I laughed) and Gravel Hill Designs (on ebay).

We also needed some open shelves for all of my "bits and bobs", read various sized Charity Shop plates.

Off to prepare a scrumptious meal now - or should we get a take away...

PS sorry about poor picture quality. Proper camera charger is missing. Grrr

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Promise I will be back soon… Bit busy with my new project…getting there though.

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New house to lust after...

I go through phases of being obsessed with certain houses I have seen online or in magazines. I revisit the picture or website and examine it. Repeatedly.

You may recall the Annabel's House obsession. Finding the website 1st-option.com was the worst thing that could have happened to a stalker like me. Anyway, there is a new house on it. It may even trump Annabel's. I think there must be some connection between the two as the style is remarkably similar. Maybe Abi is also a house stalker like me.

So here is a link to it in its full glory. And here are some of my favourite kitchen pictures reproduced from 1st option with a bit of a commentary...

  I really hanker after some horizontal panelling. I like that it is a twist on the traditional tongue and groove. Taking inspiration from New England clapboard but working so well as a foil for edgier vintage finds. It gives a depth to the kitchen. Much more homely than bare walls, not as fussy as wallpaper. 

I have quite a bit of train memorabilia and the Station Sign with industrial lighting and school radiators is a look I really love. Get in touch if you require any help sourcing Industrial lights. I have a stash about to be refurbished.

Could this room be any more up my street?

Painted kitchen, exposed shelving and more vintage loveliness. This is the perfect kitchen diner to me. Everything on hand. Both practical and pretty. Thumbs up.

We will have a pantry in our new house, yay. I will definitely take some inspiration from Abi's. Love the simple shaker shelving and light stone worktop.

  How original not to have the side return window used as a second kitchen entrance. So clever. I have never seen this but it has to catch on. It still allows light to flood into the original rear reception and is stylish and ever so useful. I love the 7 up and Pepsi crates. Colporter had loads of these until Ben snaffled them all up for Ben's Canteen.

Kitchens are now more than just a place to cook or eat, they are where the kids do their homework, Mum or Dad work on a laptop etc. A space to sit and relax is also now essential. And doesn't this work a treat.

I could go on and on about this house but I will save the other rooms for another post.

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TOTA - The design diaries...

So TOTA has opened, finally! Now most people have had a few weeks opportunity to visit themselves I can blog about the design and branding.

So how did we go from this...

and this...

to this...

Let's start at the beginning, how did Colporter get this gig? Well it is all thanks to this blog. This time last year I blogged about Tooting and what I love about it. Someone posted that blog to Streetlife where Victoria and Gary (The TOTA owners) read it. Victoria had never read a blog before but got a bit sucked in and read back through my archive of posts. She decided that we had a similar aesthetic and that she would get in touch to talk about the interior of their planned restaurant.

My husband and I went to have a dinner, cooked by Gary of course, where they told us the plan to bring a neighbourhood restaurant to Tooting. We were so excited to get some Tooting goss, let alone to get the job to pin a design down.

Many coffees and Pinterest boards later I came up with a mood board which had to try to marry up two people's needs and wants for the restaurant. Victoria fancied a smart Farrow and Ball paint job but Gary wanted industrial, urban, warehousey feel.

What about budget? What about living with some parts of the unit from the Spice Lounge days? All considerations. And when would the lease exchange. It came in handy on occasion that I am also a property lawyer as well as an interiors addict!

Working from the outside in.

TOTA Exterior

We knew from day 1 this place had to have major kerb appeal. Tartine is nearby and nice looking, but the rest of the block is a bit bland and we wanted to stand out. We had to "arrive" in style. The vital ingredients were as follows:

 Smart logo

 Wow Factor shopfront and paint job

 Upper floors to match

 Window boxes

 Awning

 Black and white tiles.

Check out my little pen and ink drawing on the mood board. Spookily like how we ended up.

TOTA Main Restaurant

Lighting plays a big part in TOTA. Gary loves factory lighting so I took him off hunting for vintage goodness at my favourite antiques markets.

I got them rewired and now they look like this.

Mixed in with some smaller french disc pendants and some bare bulbs on different coloured flexes and spot lighting. And the "chandelier" we had "Mark the Spark" make us.

Floor

We wanted a stripped wooden floor but as Spice Lounge had a perfectly serviceable, albeit cherry wood, engineered wood floor we thought we might be able to make do and paint it grey. As luck would have it the builders noticed that the original floor was underneath, intact up to the bar where it was a patch of concrete. We kept both, the concrete although rough and a bit unfinished looking is industrial and therefore right up our street!

Walls

As with the floor, the strip out revealed some cool original features...the red wall, the green steel and the bare brick wall. Playing right into the Industrial Brief!

Seating

Tolix Style Chairs are having a moment. Comfortable and complementing the look, I sourced these reproductions from a contact I use for some of my vintage stock.

The Banquette seating pulls the scheme together in a modern vibrant green colour but traditional chesterfield style.

Bathroom

So glad we decided these loos were not liveable withable. I have seen worse but the new ones are much more TOTA.

Continuing the accents of green in the lighting and seating, the tongue and groove in the bathroom is Calke Green from Farrow and Ball with the Limehouse crackle retro metro tile from Tons of Tiles. Yes, we know metro tiles are ubiquitous but we all loved them and they are so reminscent of Tooting Broadway and the Northern line we just had to!

The F and the M signs on the loo doors are from the wonderful vintage website The Vintage Wall and from an early numberplate from a vintage car. The Men's mirror is from a little boutique I know*. The Ladies' mirror bought on a Colporter antiquing trip with Victoria.

*that is my euphemism for TK Maxx. 

The Bar

The mood board and our Pinterest Board had an image of a bar that Gary just loved. Our clever Project Manager had it copied in mild blackened steel.

Check out those corners.

Little Details

A french sign.

Vintage tins for the bill.

An optician's poster...

Some vintage office trays from Northcote Road Antiques in TOTA green and grey are a different way of displaying the pastries.

And finally...all the little branding details which I will blog about next time. Until then give it a try and see the design for yourself.

Coming soon...the branding materials...

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