Kate

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Our Vintage Life

Most of the week has been filled with prepping vintage stock for two great fairs that we love to do. The first was the Furniture Flea in Bethnal Green, London. It is crammed to the rafters with affordable mid century…

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Link Love

We love these decoration ideas of using vintage pieces in unusual ways. Every week we fall just a little more in love with Betty Pamper and with posts like this it’s no wonder! Fat = failure? er I don’t think…

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K: Kathie Winkle

Last week we were in love with Jessie Tait (well, we still are!) but this week we have moved forward a decade. We love Kathie Winkle’s designs also on ceramics. source  Kathie started her career as a painter (or a…

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10 of the Best: Vintage Sewing Boxes

With all the buzz happening here with the growing popularity of The Great British Sewing Bee, today’s 10 of the Best is all about sewing boxes. Vintage ones, pretty ones, retro ones…..here are the ten best ones available to buy…

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Restoration Tip: 1960s Teak

Vintage teak looks lovely in a mid century home, but boy is it prone to scratches! If it’s teak veneer or solid afromosa, scratches leave a lighter line which can stand out. So here’s how to blend it in seconds.…

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A Sunday Retrospective

I love my vintage telephone collection: it’s got a Trimphone,  Ericofon, Genie…even a Mickey Mouse. But it is missing an American Princess phone which I can only dream of finding here in the UK. They were the original “bedroom” phone with a…

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Our Vintage Life

Last Sunday I wanted to go for a day out in the camper van with the family, to enjoy the last day of the holidays. But Mr YVL had other things in mind, namely to sort out the potting shed.…

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J: Jessie Tait

Jessie Tait was born as Dorothy Tait in 1928 and became one of the most famous and well loved ceramic designers of the mid-century period. She joined Midwinter in 1946, staying until 1974. She went on to Johnson Bros and…

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10 of the Best: 1930s homewares

After yesterdays Styling Tip using 1930s crochetware, we thought todays 10 of the Best should feature some more vintage lovelies from this era. All are available to buy right now online. 1. First up, let’s start with some real WOW vases.…

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Styling Tip: 1930s crochet

I cannot stop buying vintage linen. I have bags and bags of it, from large embroidered tablecloths to small doily like tray covers. We do not use them in our home (which is a 1960s affair) and to be honest, we…

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A Sunday Retrospective

Just a short look back today as it is so sunny outside! Wow, the sun has arrived (finally!) This advert is from 1968 for Spode china. “We women like china absolutely white……” “White as Spode, I said. (Spode make the whitest…

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Our Vintage Life

It has been another busy week in the YVL house, filled with children’s activities (it is the holidays after all) First up was Herbie’s girlfriend’s party. Yes, my 5 year old has a girlfriend! They have been together for about…

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Link Love

It has been a great week online, with some great inspirational pictures and blog posts out there. Share the Love with us, click away and let us know what floats your boat this week! We love it when our kids…

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Vintage by the seaside

Last year we sold some mid-century furniture to a couple who were renovating a hotel down in St Ives. They wanted the furniture to be of this vintage era…which sounded like a fantastic project. They talked of making sink units…

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10 of the Best: Vintage Wallpaper

After yesterday’s blog featuring our wallpaper styling tip as well as TK Maxx’s fab new campaign, it made sense for this week’s “10 of the Best” to feature vintage and retro wallpaper. There is a lot out there, many to…

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Styling Tip: Vintage Wallpaper

A while back we wrote about the fabulous FiFi wallpaper which we chose for a feature wall in our bedroom. It is a reproduction of a 1950s design by Sanderson. The story goes that someone found it in a loft…

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