As you know, we have quite a grand entrance hall in the new house and one of our current decisions is lighting. It’s actually an incredibly dark space when the front door is closed, so ideally we want something as bright as possible.

It’s also one of the areas of the house we are wanting to keep looking as traditional as possible, so that kind of limits our choices. An obvious choice would be a drop crystal style chandelier, but neither of us feel that’s really ‘us’. We’re not over-the-top, ‘champagne and caviar’ types (think more quiet, ‘mug of tea and corned beef sarnie’ types).

So, imagine my delight when I came across this perfect compromise. A retro ceiling light with just the right hint of glamour. OK, perhaps it’s not *perfect* - I doubt it would cast enough light and at £145 it’s way over budget, but if you love it and have the money you can snap it up on Ebay right now.

Retro ceiling light available on Ebay at: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250388537864

Apart from decades of soot and dust, the recent lifting of what was the dining room carpet in the house unearthed this wonderful find. It’s a magazine supplement from around the 60s devoted entirely to flooring. That may sound a tad boring but the photographs of interiors and wonderfully retro ads are really great.

Flooring is one of our approaching big decisions so maybe it’ll provide some inspiration too.

I’m not sure it’s was something to be proud of but the other week I was complimented on my keen eye/superior taste when I pounced upon a Cath Kidston duvet cover in a charity shop just moments after it had gone on display.
I am trying to cut back on my fabric stash but sometimes an opportunity is just too good to miss. It’s so summery and fresh! What on earth will I make with it?

Sometimes you realise that what you think is obvious or just plain old common sense quite clearly isn’t. A recent example of this was when I went out to the house to find all the old curtains had been thrown into the skip! Cue copious cursing from me and many a raised eyebrow from the workers as I proceeded to save velvets and retrotastic lengths from the mud and rubble.

What I’m going to do with them I’ll never know but that’s not the point. Right? Right?!

While clearing out the various cupboards and drawers left full of stuff by the house’s previous owner, we have come across a wide variety of weird and wonderful products. This particular item promises to work miracles on all types of dirt and stains even though it seems to do nothing to promote feminism!

The old pantry was a goldmine of retro packaging and prices that included a half pence so we were a bit reluctant to put it all in the bin. We were thinking of keeping some to put on display but where is the line between quirky and tacky bad museum? Hmmmm.

This week’s Found Friday is what I think would be the perfect little getaway. Let me introduce you to Glenmalloch Lodge.

This cosy little lodge for two is located in Newton Stewart in Dumfries and Galloway. It lies in the middle of a wild glen, framed by wide views of the surrounding hills, with the Solway Firth just a mile or so away.

The cottage was built originally not as a lodge, but rather as a picturesque schoolhouse through the philanthropy of Harriet, Countess of Galloway, some time before 1842.

Not only is this ‘find’ a wonderful choice for a retreat (there’s a great last minute deal here: http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/availability/late.htm#20Jul ) but it’s also some pretty wonderful renovation inspiration.

The Landmark Trust, who hire out the lodge, spent £310,000 on renovating the lodge in 2007. For more great picture details look here: http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/future_landmarks/glenmalloch.htm

If your tempted to experience Glenmalloch for yourself bookings must be made through the Landmark Trust: http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk

The sun is shining, the shops are bursting with sale items, I have just been paid and it’s the end of a particularly stressful month so what better reason to splash out on a little treat just for me?

Not for the house, the husband or anyone but myself. So,  I went online with absolutely no intention of buying anything (isn’t that always the way?) and then someone twittered about a new Etsy shop selling vintage homewares.

I hopped on over to A Good Vintage and, before I knew it, I was the proud owner of this lovely alphabet mug! Combining my interests in typography, alphabet items (remember this?) and the colour red, I just had to have it.

I haven’t decided if I’ll use it for drinking from or on my desk as a pen tidy but am so thrilled with my treat just for me.

Alphabet Mug was bought from:  A Good Vintage on Etsy

In clearing out all of the cupboards and sheds in the new house there have been many discoverys, most of which have induced laughter in their ugliness, but the above is one of my favourites.

This is one of two old deckchairs which were buried in the back of the shed. They are very dirty and I’m not sure how brittle the fabric has become (they take my weight fine so that’s all that matters – hehe). Ideally, I would like to keep this fabric on them but need to find a way to clean them without ruining it (it is unfortunately nailed on to the wood with large tacks).

My mum suggest a good scrub with a bar of Vanish and a friend suggested a steam cleaner. What do you suggest?

If you can see past the gloriously garish carpet you will see our latest thrifty find for the house. We managed to find this lovely Beresford & Hicks dining table and four chairs in a local charity shop. Unfortunately the middle section of the table which allows it to extend is missing so we managed to get the set at a bargain price.

We are hoping to get the chairs re-upholstered and will get a replacement section cut so that we can extend the table when we have guests (and it won’t matter if it doesn’t perfectly match as we’d have a table cloth over it). I’m afraid I don’t know much else about the pieces (please email me if you do) but fell in love with the shape of the legs and just had to have them.

The other week I found this rather fascinating map of Lanarkshire on Ebay and snapped it up for the rather bargainous price of 99p (exc p&p).

It’s from a book published in 1870 and it really is fun to see how the area has changed over that period of time and try and spot familar names etc. It’s going to make a great conversation piece for the new house, once we get a nice frame for it, and it also reflects the period the house was built in as well as where it is.

Keep an eye out for vintage maps of your area in secondhand book shops, auctions or Ebay for similar finds. Good luck!