Decorated ceilings

Have you ever thought about wallpapering or painting your ceilings anything other than white?  I love dark painted ceilings and I first came across a dark painted ceiling while lying in the bath of a Malmaison Hotel. Very effective to have a plain white bathroom and an unexpectedly coloured ceiling.  I also love wallpapered ceiling and my first memory of this is my bedroom when I was a child having a black wallpaper with stars on it.  Very forward thinking for the 60's!!  Check out the images below, my favourites are the black ceilings.

Country style kitchen - 'achieving the look'

The kitchen in a country style home is often the warmest and friendliest place in your home.  It's easy to create a relaxed and inviting country style kitchen where friends and family are sure to gravitate to.  These kitchens often have antique looking furniture, either painted or made from natural materials.  The pieces you use don't have to match, they only have to be in keeping with each other ie you wouldn't use a sleek modern piece here.  Consider refurbishing a wooden table and chairs, or use layered paint on a new piece and bash it up a bit to create an aged look.  I crackle glazed my dining table nearly 20 years ago and it's still going strong.  Large farmhouse sinks are good, mine is from Ikea and didn't cost a lot.  Install butcher's block work tops and remove cupboard doors to create open shelving to display your china, crockery etc.  Hang a wrought iron pot rack from the ceiling.  We had lovely cream ones in the shop, which weren't expensive and have since sold out.  I'm trying to get more in again.

There are loads of ways to incorporate inexpensive country details into your kitchen.  Hang old fashioned cake tins, wooden signs, old advertisements made from tin; these are all ways to create a vintage look and it's what we sell in our store ANGEL & BB.  Another good way to achieve an instant country look is to paper the walls or splash back areas with a decorative wallpaper.  I've used a Cath Kidston wallpaper as a splash back in my kitchen and it looks great!

Happy decorating and if you need inspiration come and see us at ANGEL & BB, 27 Carmunnock Road, Mount Florida, Glasgow G44 4TZ.  We're going live soon with the shop on the web so you can buy the goodies and we can even ship to the US.

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Quirky chandeliers

I was doing some research this week for Chandeliers and came across these amazing ones.  They are all using up-cycled items; from plastic bags, to banana boxes through to vintage crockery and cutlery.  The plastic bag ones as very pretty and are stocked in Anthropologie.  Actually I read somewhere that Michelle Obama bought one of these for her daughter's bedroom!  We now have two Anthropologie stores in London and I love walking around them, their merchandise is so quirky and unusual and not for the faint hearted.  I also love the ones using Vintage crockery, I have a huge amount of Vintage crockery at home and I'm thinking how I could make one (if I had the time!!)

The Chandeliers above and below are trimmed in up-cycled plastic bag!