Monday 10 May 2010

We Are Moving To Wordpress!

Hello,

Well, the blog has only been running for a few month, and after much feather pulling, I have decided to move the Roost to Wordpress, as I have been having so many troubles with Blogger/Feedburner's shoddy subscription and posting services!

I  apologise for not responding to any comments that were missed due to technical problems! (and a HUGE thank you to the people who wrote comments. I hadn't realised how much of a vacuum you can be in writing a blog! The comments are VERY welcome).

The new nest address is http://winstonsroost.wordpress.com

image via flickr

I hope you will all join me there and resubscribe on the new system, so I can continue to share my odd tid bits with you.

T-wit T-woo
Winston

The Natural Linen Bed

As I am the type of person who feels ironing is a huge waste of time, and ironing bedsheets in real life absolutely nutty, I love the styled shots of rumpled linen beds that are cropping up lately.

It just makes so much sense. Like linen summer trousers, linen is supposed to be soft and creased, showing the traces of how it has been sat on and folded.

This bedroom featured in Caroline Clifton-Mogg's great book, All In The Detail (I highly recommend this book as a keeper and plan to get it as soon as!), is a perfect example. Simple and unfussy, the creased linen looks warm, soft and comfortable - the texture contrasting beautifully with the lushness of the velvet pillows.

I love how inviting and casual this room feels. Elegantly pulling on elements of old school luxury -crystal chandelier and velvet pillows, while combining ethnic detailing -the chunky side table and crude wooden bowl by the radiator, and elements from nature -antlers and twigs in the vase by the bed.

All colours are kept neutral, warm and faded, creating a serene and tranquil space.

The formal, tufted headboard in the bedroom below is a nice contrast to the casual treatment of the bedcover.

Here is another beautiful example of linen left to it's natural qualities. Love how the pooling curtains in the photos below crinkle their way into a puddle at the floor. So sumptuous.

images directly above via Greige

The two bedrooms in the open plan space above intrigue me. I would love to see what the actual 'rooms' felt like from the inside with the curtains drawn. Guessing they would feel like a cosy little nest. Sigh.

Saturday 8 May 2010

Bottled Buddha

Ever put something together, and know it is just wrong, but it feels so right??


Posted by request of the most royal Mishgee. All hail the giver of Buddharupa...

Friday 7 May 2010

Granny Glass

On a follow up to my gnomey bedroom post, have you noticed how popular cut glass items are at the moment? The kind of kitsch ones that a few years ago you would have looked at with derision, but now think about with words like 'quaint' and 'vintage'!?

Case in point are the items below. Not long ago these would have been the envy of grandmothers everywhere, but now they have crossed over into the mainstream with a vengeance. (I am quite certain the the purple carnival glass goblet on the right in the photo is a new Iittala one.)

Pretty, though, aren't they? All jewel coloured and jellybean-like.

Below are another couple of joyously colourful groupings.
  images above via All In The Detail
 image via The Selby

I keep telling myself I am going to start collecting vintage glass candlesticks, but haven't gotten a start on it yet. One of the main reasons is that I can't make up my mind whether I will go for the multi coloured approach or stick to a more minimalist one like the elegant all clear one below.
image above via All In The Detail
Decisions, decisions, sigh.

It would be great if I could have the kind of patience it takes to collect something over time...that friends and family could contribute to on special occasions. Unfortunately, I always want the completed collection - yesterday!

Think this might be the collection I work at slowly. Let's see how it goes.

Thursday 6 May 2010

Ceramics and Glass - Ionna Vautrin

I realized the other day that with my obsessive 'back-looking', I have been missing out on sharing some interesting contemporary items with all of you that I have seen in the last while.

In an effort to be more well rounded, let me present the ceramic and glass works of French designer Ionna Vautrin.

Many of the pieces on her site were created in collaboration with with Guillaume Delvigne and there is a strong industrial influence to the pieces.

These 'Fabbrica del vapore' vases are inspired by coloured smoke leaving chimneys...

...these ones were influenced by blast furnaces and industrial landscapes...
Rombas, 2008

...and these Bovisa meshed vases by gas tanks.

Many of her pieces have separate elements, as in the Bovisa below and can be reconfigured in different ways, making them more versatile.

I am quite interested in this pair's porcelain works and would love to see the textures in real life. They have combined glazed and matte textures which would feel lovely.
Vases texturés, 2006


Chapeaux pour vase - Industreal - 2004

These pierced baskets and boxes allow for self expression. You can either leave them plain and white, or you can cross-stitch any pattern or image you want onto them.

 Panier percé, 2005


Perfect little shot of gnomey-ness for the bedroom, perhaps?

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Dear Bubby...It Takes Boules

I am currently bidding on this lot of antique English lawn bowling balls and have had to explain to Bubby, that no, I have not lost all leave of my avian senses!

Apparently he was under the misguided impression that there was some kind of design strategy happening with the flat, and has now come to the realisation that, instead, the theme is just plain random 'I like-y, therefore, I want-y', with the belief that it will all tie in somehow in the end!

At my first car boot sale a few weeks back I saw a woman selling these for £8 each. She had them stacked in a big bowl, like below. They looked lovely.

Here are some more basket shots:

What a fantastically styled flea market stand! Yum.

They do seem to look better in a basket/bowl when you have enough to pile up on each other. This display below looks a little lonely.
images above via Velvet and Linen 

Here are a bunch of mixed balls in a grouping.
image via Graham Atkins Hughes
 
If you only have a few, this minimal kind of display is more effective. The row of three looks quite nice.

A solitary minimalist one?


Or maybe a pair, like these two 'nailed' (or cloutées) antique French boules. 
image via Home and Design

During my research on the different kinds of lawn bowling, from country to country, I discovered something interesting. The French balls are a little smaller than the English, and they frequently covered them in metal nails to make them stronger and also to repair cracks.

They developed an amazing array of techniques with different nails to cover them, some looking like fish scales, other like hob nailed little wonders. Of course, decorations began popping up and everything from numbers to initials were worked into the designs.

Here is a gorgeous old sign from a French Boules manufacturer in Paris via website on the history of boules, Les Boule Cloutées. You can see the star and circle designs that they would have done in the illustration.

The workmanship is absolutely stunning. Here is an real example of the star design:

An example of the overlapping 'fish scale' method:

It is pretty amazing to see the difference in before and after restoration of the boules.

Here is the rusted, neglected before:
And the carefully polished after:
images above via Les Boules Cloutées

How satisfying a project would that be?! Below are some boxes awaiting restoration. Would love to get my claws on these.


Some lovingly restored examples.
images above via Joy of Bocce


images above via Ruby Lane

What beautiful objects, with such a rich history!

It makes you wonder what will happen to this sport over the next few years as the few, older people still playing the game trundle off to aviaries in the sky.

Maybe it is time to take up a new, gentle on the joints, sport as we creep into our own old age?

Boules, anyone?


Tuesday 4 May 2010

The Selby - Vincent Darre

The Selby featured fashion and furniture designer Vincent Darre's home a while ago, and some of the vignettes stuck with me as things to note.

The rest of his place is pretty over the top gothic, but I loved all the anatomical references around his Paris flat.
10_16_09_MartinDarre09428

I love the multiples of similar, but varying in size, prints in this display.
10_16_09_MartinDarre09461

The irreverant sideways display here feels very casual but visually striking.

Below are his subtle etymology wall paper panels that he sells from his shop.

I know I should be getting tired of the whole 'natural history' decor look already as it is EVERYWHERE now, but...I haven't...yet.