Monday inspiration - Artist Leslie Oschmann. wow her work is beautiful, after I discovered her work through Pinterest I felt the urge to immediately check out her website and see more. Leslie's work has had me thinking about new possibilities for vintage furniture... maybe learning a new skill in decoupage, could be interesting using old maps or newspaper illustrations, but I cant imagine them coming out look as amazing as these though, but worth a try.

 Leslie relocated from the states to Holland where she set up her studio in Amsterdam, she finds old furniture and paintings at the local flea markets and revamps them, giving them a unique twist.

I love the way she has used full size images on these chairs and used different angles for the top, to make them current and fun. hope you guys feel inspired and give you a creative boost. Happy Monday!

Yard Of Bleu Shop Update :: Lake Blues & Oyster Whites

Today we have put together some of our favourite vintage home wares fresh from the shop. Lately we have been drawn by smoked blue linens, old white china and petite glass perfume bottles.  These muted tones work well with natural light interiors and bare wooden surfaces for a more rustic look. We also have introduced some women's wear to the shop, we couldn't resist these pretty vintage blouses, could you?  

Elegant oyster white and French grey tea set, grey Monday tablecloth, ivory Selfridge blouse, pale tinted goblet glasses, smoked scalloped blouse, glass jelly mould, petite femme perfume bottle and champagne rose embroidered trinket.

 

Psss..... for more deets or to buy head over to the shop , these beauties wont be there for long!

 

Enjoy your day.





Upholstery Trend :: Back to basics.

Spotting trends; looking through magazines, pictures on Pinterest and a few beautiful inspiring interior design books that I got for Christmas I've noticed the " deconstructed chair" popping up quite a lot lately its caught my eye every time and I love things that look old, handmade and have that vintage charm. This trend is going back to basics, keeping traditional method's of upholstery alive and bringing it in to our modern world once again.

 

 I've just been given a beautiful French armchair and I think my next move is to try this look. Upholstering the armchair in a traditional method with hessian and tacks and then leaving it exposed so you can enjoy the craftsmanship not only of the wooden frame but the upholstery technique, and it looks just perfect mixed with modern interiors, having the mix of old and new or kept in a more vintage inspired surrounding.

 

Here I've gathered a few images of some rather beautiful deconstructed chairs from Pinterest, Ralph Lauren Home and Interior Stylist Nina Hartmann.

 

 

 

 

 

 



All pictures are sourced from Pinterest. Join our new board "upholstery" for daily inspiration.

 

Some chairs may be slightly fragile and unpractical for living with and more suited for photo shoots but there are some that look newly upholstered in a traditional method and sturdy, if they are upholstered well they will last a life time.

 

 

Do you dare to bare your chairs inner beauty ? 

Rustic Autumn Home Wares at Yard Of Bleu.

 

We have put together a little recap of some of our latest vintage stock that is featured in our online Etsy shop.

 

Autumn is an inspiring season, we love seeing the first signs of leaves turning golden, apple picking and catching the last glimpse of the sun before the short wintery days. At Yard Of Bleu we have some gorgeous vintage home wares that is perfect for autumn interiors, we are all about the soft natural tones, still life drawings and simply antique glass ware.

 Add some rustic vintage home wares to your interior decor to create a cosy feel.

 

 

 

October's hand picked vintage.

 

 

 

 Head over to Yard Of Bleu Etsy shop to see all the deets!

www.yardofbleu.etsy.com

 

The little farmhouse dresser....

 

Don't you love it when you see country farmhouse kitchens full of charm and character...little wooden breakfast stools, the big island in the middle, baskets of potatoes and vegetables resting on the table, the muddy wellies by the back door and that rocking chair in the corner, but you may not have the room for the island or a big farmhouse table in your kitchen but you may have room for a small dresser that you can feel with all your lovely things and create a country farmhouse feel in your home.

 

A friend of mine was redecorating and had a old dresser sitting in her garden ready to be thrown out, when I spotted it sitting there I couldn't help ask if I could take it home with me and she was more than happy to see the dresser out of her garden.

 

when I got this dresser home and started to have a look at the small details I couldn't believe how cute this dresser was, I love the panelling at the back of the dresser and the matching carved details at the top and bottom.

 

Before pic.... yep kind of gross and dated.

 

 

 

After pic ... ta-daa!!

 

 

A bit of love and yes it looks a lot different, I painted the dresser in Annie Sloan - french linen, a new favourite of mine, I also got rid of the glass panels and replaced with chicken wire to bring it up to date and created that farmhouse feel, I distressed the edges and finished with Annie Sloan clear wax.

 

I really was surprised how good the dresser looked, the chicken wire really has made all the difference. The best thing about having a dresser is you can display all your lovely kitchen ware, recipe books and linens in one place and it brings a personal touch to your kitchen instead of hiding your stuff behind cupboard doors you should display the things you love.

 

 

 

 

 

The dresser is filled with all my vintage home wares from my online shop so if there is anything that caught your eye then make sure you take a look.

 

www.yardofbleu.etsy.com

 

 

 

Provence Roses and Feminine Poses.

 

 

Yard of Bleu  ::  Shop update

 

This week were having a 'Provence roses and feminine poses' moment here at yard of bleu, our Cath Kidston Provence rose chairs and table collection will be available to shop by the end of the week, and our gorgeous eye candy home wares are also available too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Create the feel of a Provence rose garden in your home by adding soft pink linens mixed with rose florals, a wild green bouquet and to finish off with a feminine antique illustration, this will add some vintage charm.

 

 

You can shop the look here at www.yardofbleu.etsy.com

 

available to shop at Yard of Bleu:

 

Pink linen scolloped tablecloth

Antique rose straw hat

Cath Kidston two chairs and table collection.

Vintage white girls pinny

Bavarian white cups

18th century 'lavinia' illustration

Decagon glass vase

 



Yard of Bleu launches at Etsy

Thursday was an exciting day we finally launched our online vintage home ware shop at Etsy. As you can see down the right hand side, a quick glimpse into my shop.

 

My love for vintage interiors has lead me to upholstery and hand painted vintage furniture, but a home isn’t anything without the finishing touches .When I’m on my adventures hunting for the big things, its always the little things that catch my eye, when I see something that I admire I just have to get it , a bit naughty but It’s a old habit that I learnt from my Nan as she was the one that introduced me to the world of vintage treasures and taught me that if you don’t buy with your heart your live with regret, as the beauty of buying vintage is  you might not see them again so it’s best to always buy, she would say . so as I started to build a beautiful collection ranging from 1950's floral linens, pastel French tea sets to painted garden coffee pots I knew it was time to open a online shop and there isn't a better place to start with then Etsy . I really really love this site, being able to shop anything vintage from across the world is a dream come true, and not to forget all the handmade products you can buy from talented artist and designers it’s just a magical place to start a business.

 

Here are just a few of my favourite pieces selected from my online collection

 

 

 

Upholstery update :: sky blues the limit

when you start with a chair that looks like it’s been kept in a skip for the last 20 odd years its exciting knowing that you are going to bring this poor little chair back to life and by the time your done with it, it’s going to be a complete head turner.

I took this pic after I stripped it down, originally it was upholstered in red velvet with brass studs, making this chair look OTT and tacky as the wooden frame is already elaborate enough, I wanted to make this chair look elegant and more simple.

 

I got to learn how to button this term which was really interesting, working out the dimensions for the diamonds and covering buttons by hand is a lot harder then I imagined and the little arms can be fiddly to, but the end result is worth every minute as I’ve fallen completely in love and this will be a hard one to let go.

 

 

I painted this chair in Paris Grey - Annie Sloan {new addiction} I sanded the edges, I think this also helps bring out the beautiful detail that’s in the wooden frame and I decided to go for natural linen in sky blue.

I think this chair would look amazing in a bedroom or if you had a walk-in wardrobe you could have this chair to sit and try on all your beloved shoe collection. {I think Carrie would approve} yep I think I've found the perfect excuse ladies for us to own a chair like this.

Giving your books the perfect ending ...

 

pic was sourced from www.bookabookshop.co.uk

Inspiring hand crafted hare bookends by Carol Ridler painted in Farrow and Ball with two beautiful shades to choose from - Charleston Grey and Downpipe.I do think this pair of little hare's are stunning and any shelve would look super chic with this style bookends sitting nicely against your beloved collection , so today I got excited when I came across these vintage nautical bookends, I decided to take some inspiration and create a chic rustic look, painting them in Annie Sloan - Paris Grey and giving them a distressed finish and adding natural twine bows to give some charm... tadaah!

Milano Shop Envy

 Flicking though This Months ELLE Decoration ( June issue ) and boy did I fall in love with this antique atelier L'Utile e il Dilettevole which is hidden in the backstreets of Milan, The shop stocks 19th- Century furniture, vintage objects and textiles. As you know I dream of one day owning something so pretty filled with vintage treasures, and this had me daydreaming of that day...  I think next time I'm in Milan I might just have to check it out.

 Photography - Fabrizio Cicconi

  

 

 

 

 

Grey Love

Having been inspired by grey interiors {from my last post} this week I made it my top priority to work on a few projects using grey as my main colour scheme, I came across this amazing vintage cupboard with gorgeous column details which I knew was going to look amazing painted and also this big chest of drawers with the original key lock features which I fell in love with.  



Painted in Annie Sloan - Paris Grey and finished in Clear wax.

Painted in Annie Sloan - Paris Grey and finshed in clear wax .

 

 

I'm really pleased with the way they both turned out. next time I will take a before shot so you can see the transformation from start to finish.

 

Dreamy Greys & Pale Shades

 

 

Living with light and natural shades, adding a relaxed feel to your home is the key to beautiful interiors and I feel that chalky shades of grey and pastel touches are the way to go.

 

This week I have been looking into grey interiors, and to be honest with you I can’t get enough.... I love absolutely anything and everything in grey and it’s amazing how calm and dreamy it can make a room look. I’ve search the web high and low for some inspiration for my up and coming projects. Enjoy!

 

 



I love these charcoal walls with  stone painted furniture, odd chairs and cage lighting, to me this is perfect. Also some of my favourite things are the little touches that seem to make all the difference, silver antique finds like this adorable jug is simply stunning.
Photos are sources mainly from Pinterest

 

 

A girl can only dream of having a lining canapé draped over the bed....this is magic and I love the chipped painted furniture against the soft knitted blankets and natural linen.
Photos are sources mainly from Pinterest