Framing Vintage Wallpaper

Forget vintage, antique most probably....

So we are moving the fake beam covers from the real beams (crazy I know, but another quirk of the previous owners taste), and generally re-vamping the littlest bedroom, and suddenly, from some dark corner of the room, hidden behind a panel that had been in situ for perhaps one hundred years, we spy a little fragment of colour:

Above: The wallpaper in situ, as we found it behind an old panel.

The style, and the age of the wallpaper immediatey gets me in an excited tiz and so the boy carefully extracts the rest of the strip as carefully as possible.

With a hessian back I'm guessing this is pretty old, and I LOVE IT!

Funny how tastes turn full circle!

So I brought a large white frame to display the wallpaper, and it is currently the centre piece over the fireplace in the snug. 

Above: The wallpaper fragment has pride of place on the mantel in the snug.

I love the fact that it is from the house - it feels like a present, and we get to preserve a little moment of the property's history. :)

My little secrets:
Frame fragments of wallpaper from your house - the weirder the better! Create a collage and they will great, and represent your house's past style (no matter how unlikely you would be to choose them yourself!).
Frame: Approx £10 from The Range
Ickle Teddy bear - Steiff (a much treasured gift).

Vintage Mirror Makeover

Mirror mirror on the wall...

So we went to an auction at our favourite auction house that specialises in antiques and bric a brac, where things sell for as little as £1 right up to £1000's and more often than not it is possible to pick up a bit of a bargain, and I spotted a lovely oak framed mirror which was ornately carved with flowers all the way around.

the original frame was in good condition, although it did have a couple of cracks and the wood had a dark varnish on it, making it look a little dated and gloomy.

Sooo, with a tin of F&B's Lamp Room Grey (I know I'm so predictable), I set to work and this is the result I am more than happy with:

Now it is just a case of deciding where to hang it - I am thinking sitting room? hmm....

My little secrets:
Mirror: From a little weekly bric a brac auction, we paid approx £40
Paint: Farrow and Ball's Lamp Room Grey (emulsion - I know) painted with a little craft paint brush in front of the fire whilst watching the TV! ;)