Any Old Iron!

I have noticed a trend in my buying lately that around 90% of my stock is made of metal. I seem to be drawn to silver, silver plate, copper, tin, enamelled metal, brass and iron. Even when I make a conscious effort to buy something wooden, glass or ceramic I still find myself rushing towards something large, often rusty and nearly always incredibly heavy.  

Luckily I have to keep the weight down on my Etsy shop items otherwise my postage fees would be ridiculous.  Without this constraint I do believe we would have a house and yard full of scrap metal and anyone who's watched the vintage series Steptoe & Son will know that this is not a good thing.

Take last week for example I came away with some lovely buys for my shop but all but one of them (a pretty English teapot) was made from some form of metal.  

I found this super 'Foie gras' set in silver plate

I also bought this gorgeous 'Lu' biscuit display tin from the Belle Epoque era but have decided I can't bear to part with it so it's mine, mine, mine!!!

I did manage to stray from the metal by buying this lovely glass lamp but again it's mine, mine, mine (well it does match my bedside lamp perfectly!)

This money box is a new purchase from my ever growing range of tins

 And this tin I just couldn't ignore because it's so BIG!

These lovely Art Deco knife rests are once again silver plated

And this 1930s Mirror and brush set is a mixture of guilloche enamel and metal so that's kind of departure... isn't it???

This beautiful lantern is made of brass (and a bit of glass!)

And finally, I couldn't pass by this rusty old vintage advertising sign (which was very nearly a keeper but I am resisting... for now!) for the French aperitif 'Byrrh' (please don't ask me to pronounce it).

So I'm afraid that as much as I try to tell myself to stay away from the hard stuff it can be so varied and interesting I honestly can't make any promises!

Glorious French Light

Sadly there is not much sign of the celebrated Charente-Maritime light on offer today so it seemed the ideal time to look at a bit of traditional French lighting.  We sourced most of our light fixtures from flea markets, auctions and antique shops and found it immense fun to chiner these one-off pieces for the home.

However, having moved from a rather grand chambres d'hôtes in the Vienne to our present house a few years back we seem to have accumulated a veritable embarrassment of pendants lights, chandeliers and sconces, some of which we've managed to work into the interiors here and others that have gradually (and in some cases regrettably) become part of my stock!

Here are a few examples of the lights we have been able to hang onto (no pun intended... honest!!!):-

This opulent chandelier greets me every morning as I descend the stairs

A simple and elegant applique/sconce in our bedroom

This stunning antique light takes pride of place in the kitchen

A crystal light to add a touch of glamour to one of our spare bedrooms 

And a few we are sadly going to have to let go:-

Two lovely 1930s appliques - click to view on my Etsy site

A moulded glass light shade from the 1930s (click again to see on Etsy)

A little dome light for the country look (Etsy too - click click!!!)

A chandelier 'Hollandaise' for sale locally (due to weight!)

A slightly shabby but gorgeous light (also for sale locally)

At this dark and dingy time of year lighting the home effectively is more important than ever and I don't see why you shouldn't have a bit of fun with it.  These eclectic pieces are perhaps not to everyone's taste and some of them are unashamedly fancy-schmancy but in my opinion anything is better than the horrible and seemingly growing trend of plain plaster ceilings peppered with endless lines of spotlights (unless you find yourself in the unique predicament of needing to guide a plane in to land in your living room!)