From Flax to Linen

Ever wondered how homespun linen was made, watch this enchanting short educational video from the Canadian Film Board

Scented Room Candles from The Painted Room

Many of us are so busy focusing on how our homes look that we often overlook how a room scent, with a delicate fragrance, can complete the perfect ambience for us to relax in and enjoy.

A room fragrance should be viewed as a wonderful accessory which can add depth and character to any room.

These gorgeous scented candles from The Painted Room have been made from the finest oil fragrances sourced from Grasse France.

Use subtle florals in living rooms such as Muget ( Lily of the Valley) or Rose. Fleur d'Oranger (orange blossom), Rose and Lavender promote relaxation so are also ideal for bedrooms and bathrooms.

The candles also come boxed in The Painted Room floral cartouche trade mark and are complete with instructions on 'best practices for burning scented candles'.   www.thepaintedroom.co.uk

Pretty French Lavender Hanging Hearts

These delightful handmade lavender hanging hearts are a wonderful adornment for your home.  Ideal to hang on a door handle or to decorate a piece of furniture ~ or simply a gift to yourself or someone special!

Queen Victoria is most notable for making lavender popular across England and it could be found, in one form or another, in every one of her rooms.  She had it used to wash floors and furniture, freshen the air and had it strewn amongst her linens.

The benefits of lavender are vast and varied, it is said to calm the mind from every day stresses, enhance the intuitive process, gently clarify the mind and with its beautiful aroma uplift the mind and spirit.

These pretty French lavender hanging hearts are now available on the website:  www.thepaintedroom.co.uk

French Vintage Fabric Covered Boxes

French vintage fabric covered boxes are incredibly popular and are increasingly hard to to find these days.

I have just added some new boxes, covered in vintage French fabrics, to my website today www.thepaintedroom.co.uk.  The gorgeous vintage fabric was salvaged from a 19th century French quilt.

Originally old French fabric boxes were used to store handkerchiefs / gloves / lace etc but are equally useful today for storing trinkets, jewellery etc or for use as a sewing box.

You can see the boxes in my VINTAGE section.  I will also be listing, over the next couple of days, some new boxes covered with my own printed linens as seen in the above photo.

How to make your own lavender linen pillow mist - a great sleep time recipe

Research shows that the scent of lavender helps ease anxiety and insomnia.

Psychologists at Wesleyan University asked 31 men and women to sniff lavender essential oil one night and then distilled water the next for four 2-minute periods just before bedtime. The researchers then monitored their sleep cycles with brain scans. On the night they sniffed the oil, subjects slept more soundly, they also felt more energetic the next morning.

The researchers found that lavender increased slow-wave sleep, the very deep slumber in which the heartbeat slows and muscles relax. During this phase, the brain is thought to clear out toxins and organise memory banks.

So here’s a little recipe to make your own lavender linen pillow mist.  Always test the mist on an area of linen that can't be seen in case your spray leaves a mark.  

• Use a good quality glass bottle with an atomiser spray (widely available on the internet).
• Distilled water (tap water contains impurities which can clog your atomiser over time).
• Lavender essential oil - it’s best to use the highest quality grade you can afford.  I use ancient wisdom lavender essential oil or you could source an organic oil.
• Vodka! you can omit this stage if you wish but the vodka helps disperse the oil in water and makes the spray more effective.

Recipe

Add 30ml vodka to a glass atomiser spray bottle and 10 drops of lavender essential oil or more if you prefer a stronger potion.  Test for strength before adding more oil!

Top up with 30ml of distilled water.

Shake well before use and you’re good to go.  I've also used this recipe as a room ambience spritzer - wonderful in bathrooms and bedrooms.

What colour should I paint my shutters

Let us begin by reflecting on the fact that ‘bureaucracy’ is a French word, and the planning process in France carries its fair share of it, with some very quirky rules and regulations.

So did you know that essentially any change to the external appearance of a property in France requires a permit of one kind or another, even for something as minor as changing the colour of the window shutters in some regions.  

Some towns/villages even have their ‘own’ colours and a definitive no list!

French And Gustavian Grey

On a visit to Versailles in 1771, Crown Prince Gustav III of Sweden saw how the French used the colour grey in their decor and loved it so much that he took the idea back to Sweden, hence the delicate grey painted furniture of the Swedish Gustavian style.

Grey is a much favoured French Country colour especially a subtle and soft grey, with a blue or pink base.  Soft antique yellow grey is also common.  A lot of antique/vintage painted furniture can often be found in subtle shades of grey.

Grey teamed with creamy white is a very calming sophisticated interior decor colour scheme.   Such neutral tones provide a wonderful backdrop for you to quickly update or change your interior decor by simply adding small accessories and soft furnishings such as blinds, curtains, throws, lampshades and cushions etc…

Europe's Largest Flea Market: Braderie de Lille

The Braderie de Lille flea market is the largest flea market in Europe with more than 10,000 exhibitors set out over 62 miles!

lille, France is just an hour outside of Paris by TGV and the Braderie de Lille (‘braderie’ for sell at low prices) is an annual 2 day event which attracts over 2 million visitors.

The event usually takes place every year on the first weekend in September.

Access to the Brasserie is not possible by car so use the park and ride set up for the event, you can rely on public transport and its sound arrangements to get you safely to your preferred locations. 

Professional antique enthusiasts choose the Boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas, the jumble sellers, the Champs de Mars (where all the noise of the funfair is) and the banks of the river Deûle.

Sadly the market was cancelled this year because of security fears and recent islamic violence.

Let’s hope it is back up and running in 2017.

The following website will give you valuable information on how to get there, where to stay, shop, sleep and much more...

www.lille-guide.co.uk