The chair was £5 from a charity shop and I painted it black and then asked a carpenter who was doing some work on my house to take the seat out and fit a wooden box in the base and he drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage.

Before filling with compost put a few crocks in the bottom to stop soil clogging the drainage holes.

The chair was planted up last autumn with pansies from B & Q’s range of tea bag plants which are a great idea as they are very eco-friendly – no polystyrene packaging to clog up landfill. I also added some small ivy, a grass and a heuchera for added interest from the extensive range of evergreens at B & Q. Initially I planted a couple of sweet williams but they were crowding the pansies so I pulled them out and the grass had to go as it was lost in the mass of pansies.

The photo was taken in June when everything had filled out nicely although the ivy will take a while to climb around the back of the chair. I added a few diascia to trail down the base and give a shot of pink. A pretty addition to any garden and a great way of adding colour if you have limited space. It’s also very easy to replant when you fancy a change. The pansies could be swapped for summer annuals such as cosmos or pelargoniums but leaving the evergreens so you always have a basic structure of planting to add to whatever the season.

Jacqui x

Photography: Amelia Brooks/ Styling: Amelia and Jacqui Brooks

‘How to Make a Chair Planter’ written by Jacqui Brooks

This post was sponsored  by B&Q

I gave the chair a light sanding just to key the surface and then several coats of paint. Autentico paint dries really quickly which helps speed up the process.

1. Choose your fabric or paper and cut a few pieces out and play around with the placing until you are pleased with the effect. By using a fabric with a black background which matches the chair colour it makes the cutting out of the fabric much easier as the edges blend into the paintwork.

2. Brush PVA glue onto the back of the fabric making sure you cover the entire surface, including the edges. Place the fabric onto the chair and pat it into place gently.

3. Use a piece of sponge to smooth out the fabric making sure there are no air bubbles.

4. Leave the chair to dry for a couple of hours and then paint chair and fabric with varnish to protect it. I used Polyvine decorator’s varnish which has a matt finish and dries quickly.

Decoupage is a great way to give your home the individual look and let your creative side loose.

Jacqui x

Photography: Amelia Brooks/ Styling: Jacqui and Amelia Brooks

‘How to Decoupage a Chair’ written by Jacqui Brooks

Vintage Pictures

Vintage pictures with reclaimed hand painted frames make a lovely feature on the wall.  We don’t like things to be too ordered, so we find that a selection of different sized frames really adds interest, though this usually works best when the frame colours are kept fairly similar, so as not to create too much chaos and it keeps it looking quite balanced, despite the different frame shapes and sizes.

What do you think to this look?  Funnily enough, my Sister wanted to hang her textile artwork for her degree show in different sized vintage frames (all painted black) and her lecturer told her that they should all be in exactly the same frame.  Amelia stuck to her guns and chose to use different frames anyway, which I think made a really striking feature.  Although sometimes the same frames can make a nice effect, I do think it’s nice to mix it up a bit, especially when it comes to vintage pictures- it adds to their charm and eclectic feel!

Vintage Hand Painted Furniture

Finding vintage furniture can be very time consuming, it means many an early Saturday morning at the auction houses, up and down the country, trying to find the best stuff!  It can also be heart breaking sometimes when you really have your eye on something, but then it ends up going for more than you can pay.  But that’s the beauty of it- sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t!

This beautiful Singer sewing table was a beauty of a find at an auction that we went to, which we then painted in a lovely chalky pink.  Isn’t it gorgeous?! If you enjoy painting, then the easiest way to update your room is to re paint some of your favourite pieces of furniture a different colour and update them for the new seasons colours.  We painted this in a pastel pink, which gives the room a lovely Spring feel now!

Vintage Textiles

My Mum is an avid collector of textiles, in particular vintage textiles- be it quilts, tables cloths or simply just a roll of fabric.  The beautiful quilts in the picture are from a lovely site called Vintage Home, and the linens have just been picked up at various antique fairs and markets over the years.  But a really lovely way to display them is stacked up, even with the quilts very near to the linens, I think this works really well- what do you think?  It’s so simple, but it creates a really nice display and if you have beautiful vintage textiles it’s such a shame to hide them away.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our tips for a vintage home and have a lovely weekend… maybe even experimenting with some vintage interiors of your own!

Audenza x

Vintage Interiors by Hollie Brooks