Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Decorating with light

In the UK it's hard to imagine that someone would build a house with deliberately shaded windows, but in the south of France that's a traditional building style which still makes a lot of sense - our house is a haven of cool on a hot summer's day...
... but seldom light and bright, especially in January and February. It was Ben's idea to start dealing with this by building up a collection of mirrors, but I think my collecting drive has kind of overtaken his... he bought me the carved bone one on the left, which is a great shape, and I carried the middle two back from Edinburgh trips (the left middle mirror is a secondhand Ikea find, while the right middle is genuinely vintage, blogged about here). I found the final, 'feminine' mirror in a Vide Grenier - it's French and dates from 1964.
In front of the mirrors are an earthenware chipmunk, one of a pair my sister and I bought our mum in the '70s, a miniature portrait which I've always loved, also inherited from my mum, a silver gravy boat which was a wedding present from an antique dealer uncle and another wedding present, a modern decanter which reflects the light most beautifully.


It's what's UNDERNEATH the mirrors that's a bit surprising... I was in the utility room looking for anything reflective, when the gleam of a coffee tin caught my eye! We save all the coffee tins (our Fair Trade decaf comes in tins, there's no alternative) and we use them for all sorts of useful things, particularly seed storage, but I'd never thought of decorating with them before. But one of them gleamed at me, and, well, why not? The light is bouncing around the dark entrance area like it's never done before, and the coffee tins will stay there a while...

8 comments:

Pom Pom said...

Hi Floss! Great idea! So glowing!
I like the idea of coffee in tins like that.

Lorrie said...

What a great way to bring light into your home. I love the mirror collection.

Josie Crafter said...

Such a great idea Floss ! Lots of shiny things to brighten the late winter days.
Thanks for popping by. Have fun when your seeds arrived! I'm going to order mine in next few days.
Xx

Kezzie said...

Super idea! My house is really dark and this would help it!

Elizabethd said...

They look amazing! Such a god idea, and they really reflect the light.

Sue said...

What a good idea to bring extra light into your home at this time of year. A great idea with the coffee tins, I know I would not be able to throw them away either.

Kit said...

What a great idea! I am so grateful for the windows in my house during the long Montana winters. We do not get much sun, but when we do, yay! Kit

Angela said...

Let your light so shine...

Floss, are you doing a 'Pause in Lent' this year?

blessings xx