6 of the Best...Places to Buy Doorknobs

If you want more decorative doorknobs, perhaps in metal, glass or ceramic, there are many fantastic places you can go to find beautiful doorknobs.

1. Bombay Duck - www.bombayduck.co.uk

A fantastic range of beautiful and unusual home-wear and accessories, Bombay Duck are a fun company based in London that channel the vibrant and eye-catching colours of India into our homes. They have a fantastic range of door knobs, my particular favourites being these pretty ceramic rose ones.

2. Anthropologie - www.anthropologie.eu

An inspirational and beautiful concept store in London, Anthropologie houses some lovely things for every room, from bedding to cutlery, books to plates. They have a collection of very unusual doorknobs that would bring instant charm and style to any piece of furniture, I love these cute little squirrels!

3. Graham and Green - www.grahamandgreen.co.uk

Founded in 1974 as a small shop in Notting Hill, Graham and Green has now grown to come a traditional British establishment, They now stock an eclectic and unusual selection of gifts, home furnishings and furniture, all with a hint of a Moroccan souk and traditional british elegance. They have a lovely range of door knobs, including this delicate and intricate perforated bone design.

4. The Door Knob Shop.com

Described as the "haute couture of door knobs", the Door Knob Shop focusses on the luxury side of the door knob industry, with a single piece costing upwards of £150. If you really feel like pushing the boat out on something cutting edge and luxurious, I suggest that you give this company a try. They have a huge range of designs, all as modern and as stunning as the next.

5. Priors - www.priorsrec.co.uk

If you want something authentic and restored to add to your newly renovated piece of furniture, try Priors, who specialize in reconditioned knobs from different periods. They also offer other pieces for the home such as do0rs, window furniture and flooring. These nickel lion head knobs would give a touch of vintage charm to any chest of draws.

6. Screwfix - www.screwfix.com

For building industry endorsed and purely functional items, you can't beat Screwfix! Also handy for all of those bits and pieces that you might need to finish of your renovations like hammers, screwdrivers and of course things to fix screws with! They really do sell everything including the Kitchen Sink. As well as plain knobs they also stock a range of decorative designs such as this fluted door knob in polished chrome that would give a fantastic 1920's feel to a room.

Project Two - Door Knobs

To update old furniture, sometimes the simplest thing to do is to update the handles. After looking at many different types of doorknobs (some escalating to up to £10 for one!) I decided that I would decorate my own. I bought plain unfinished 45mm doorknobs from Screwfix, and made my own beautifully unique and perfectly co-ordinated doorknobs for my room.

1. As with anything wooden, you have to prime before you can paint. I used two coats of primer and two coats of eggshell on my doorknobs to make them as hardwearing as possible.

2. I decided to use Cath Kidston floral designs as inspiration for my own decorations for my doorknobs, and carefully drew the image onto each knob so it would be easy to follow when painting.

3. When creating my designs, I used Designers Gouache paint, as this gives a beautifully flat and intense pigment that shows up against the flat finish of the eggshell. Other essentials are a very small brush and a steady hand!

4. After I had finished my designs in the gouache, I covered the doorknobs with a varnish to protect the paint and to make them more hard wearing. I was a little dubious about the varnish at first, but it made the paint more vibrant, and they now look fantastic against the wooden wardrobes, really giving them a lift without having to go to huge amounts of work and expense. The plain doorknob is on the left, the varnished one on the right.

Project One - Bedside Table

For one of my first projects, I set about transforming an old corner bedside table that my Dad made about 25 years ago. There is only a small space between my bed and the door, and I wanted something slimline but practical to fit in the gap, luckily it was perfect! He did make a pair, but I decided to just use one.

1. First remove all of the beading from around the edge, be careful not to damage it as you'll need it later. Sand down all of the wood so you are left with a nice smooth surface, and brush the dust off so it does not stick in the paint.

2. Then prime everything with a dedicated primer. you can get several different kinds, but as I was covering a mixture of materials, I used a Melamine Primer which covers absolutely anything! You must always prime wood before you paint it as it prevents your carefully chosen colour from soaking into the grain of the wood. This is especially true if you want to use a gloss, as without a primer it will simply crack and peel off when it dries. Lecture about Primer over, let us move on!

3. Once you are happy that your entire piece has been covered with the primer and none of the old wood is showing through, leave it to dry and then paint with an eggshell paint. When painting furniture, doors, windowsills or other areas that take a lot of wear and tear, use an eggshell paint as it is more hardwearing and wont chip so easily. Eggshell is also perfect for lovely vintage aesthetics as it has a chalky finish. You will probably need two coats, so let one dry completely before starting on the next. I used a fantastic paint by Craig and Rose in their Opulence range called "Pale Cashmere". Have a look at their beautiful range at their website.

www.craigandrose.com

4. Once that is dry, you can start thinking about your decoration. For mine, I splashed out on some beautiful Cath Kidston wallpaper in 'Antique Rose Bouquet', but you can use anything from painted decorations, fabric, decoupage or really anything that takes your fancy.

5. If you're using wallpaper, measure the area you want to cover carefully, and draw out the shape on the back of the paper. If you have beading that you can use to hide the edges, make sure you have a border that you can fold around the edges.

6. Once you are happy with the shapes, mix up half of PVA glue and half water to create a paste. Mix well and spread onto the back of the wallpaper, making sure that you go all the way to the edges. Leave to soak in whilst you cover the wooden surface with neat PVA, and then carefully place the paper on top. I would suggest that this is a two person job. If you have corners, start there and work your way out, being careful to smooth it as you go so you don't get any air bubbles trapped.

7. When the paper is attached and dry, attach the beading back around the furniture. I decided to replace the old nails with pretty gold tacks that complimented the lighter colour.

My Bargain Blanket Box

Whilst looking for things for my room, somebody told me about a blanket box that they were selling. I am always wanted a blanket box as they are such versatile pieces of furniture. Not only can you store things in them, but you can sit on them, stand on them and generally abuse them and they will stand up to pretty much anything!

This particular blanket box is from Laura Ashley, and is made of solid wood. A new blanket box of this size would cost in the region of £425, however I am now the proud owner of one, for the grand total of £35! It had a few bumps and knocks, and one of the inside chains was broken, but with a few tweaks, it is now as good as new. All the little imperfections only give it more character, and the fact that it has been recycled into a piece that somebody else will love is a fantastic example of the Make Do and Mend mantra that so many are trying to live by today.

Bedroom Renovation - Before...

Insert appropriate exclamation of shock. Bleurgh! Or Yuck! spring to mind. These are picture of my room min-renovation. We were just in the process of removing all of the furniture so we could put the dust sheets down and start painting.

As you can see, the walls are a delightful shade of duck egg blue and dark pink, and nothing really matches. However, we didn't get rid of any of the furniture, and pieces were tweaked and re-designed so that they would fit in with the new scheme. The single bed has been swapped for a double, and a new carpet has been laid. The small wooden cupboard has undergone a complete re-vamp, and the wardrobes all have new knobs.

In my next few posts I'll show you how I achieved many of my interiors projects, and then show you how my room looks now...

New Room Plans

Since finishing university, my first big project was to design my new room. I started my inspiration with my colours, and chose calm, country chalky paints from the Farrow and Ball Range for inspiration. I love sage green for it's restful quality, and grey is such a classic and timeless shade, that it works well in any scheme.

The next few images show the inspiration that I found in various interiors magazines, focussing on my colours and the country style that I wanted. Texture and pattern is key to this trend, against a neutral background it is important to have some interest in the textiles, paint finishes and decorations.

The image above shows a very neutral cream colour scheme, but the different textures make it beautiful and restful. I love the wallpaper and also the cupboard with it's stone coloured paint and white details, and also the fact you can see the linen inside though glass panels.

I found these two schemes in a magazine, and decided to combine elements of both of them, the classic grey in the 'Elegant Country' and the green and florals from the 'Cool Country'. The images below show the schemes in different rooms.

'Elegant Country'

'Cool Country'

I loved the use of colour in this room, especially the use of the black and white ticking stripe chair against the chalky green and florals. It's a bold statement, but brings the country theme right into the 21st Century.

'Natural Elegance'

This beautiful bed room, again with a cream base colour, has been lifted with fabric textures like embroidery, a beautiful seagrass carpet and the pale wood of the four-poster bed. This image instantly appealed to my sense of a beautiful, snugly and comfortable bed, and the vintage country appeal shows through in the bed linen and cute jointed teddy.

'Pink and White'

The colour scheme of pink and white is perhaps the most quintessential colour palette for the Country style, it has enveloped to envelop a whole spectrum of pink, ranging from the lightest cherry blossom, through to bright fuschia pink.

Birthday Flowers

To compliment my cakes and the venue, I decided that I wanted small floral displays on the tables along with the candles. Whilst visiting The Pudding Parlour I picked up the business card for a local florist Kirsty Austin of Peony Flowers, and rang her to discuss a meeting for my ideas.

I wanted to create an English Country Garden venue at the party and decided to use only flowers that were in season at the time, such as roses, lavender, rosemary and ivy. Kirsty suggested certain types of roses, Amnesia, Cezanne and Cream Spray, to fit in with my vintage theme, and they truly were the most beautiful roses, perfect for the aesthetic of my party.

Amnesia roses are gorgeous full roses with a beautiful deep dusky pink centre. The outer petals have a faded sepia or yellow tinge to them, giving a truly vintage feel to any arrangement.

Cezanne roses have a bright pink tinge to the edges of their cream petals, so give a shot of colour to an otherwise plain flower.

We also used Lavender and Rosemary in the vases to add fragrance to the room, and as the room became warmer throughout the evening they gave off a beautiful fragrance.

To display the flowers, I settled on a very cheap but pretty way, and decided to use old jam jars. I asked friends and family to collect jars in many different shapes and sizes, and ended up with 15 beautiful and free glass vases! To decorate them I used several lengths of ribbon that I bought from Northampton Market for £1, and wove it together with raffia string to tie around the necks.

The small bouquets were made up with a mixture of the roses and herbs, and then and tied with ivy to be placed in the jars. We dotted them around on the tables, and they made excellent presents to give away at the end of the night to friends and family that had helped with the party.

Unfortunately I didn't manage to take any actual pictures of the flower arrangements, but you can see one in the background with the cakes!

6 of the Best...Inspirational Bakeries

1. The Little Venice Cake Company

As mentioned previously, Mich Turner is a fantastic baker and icing artist, and I would recommend any aspiring cake decorator to purchase her book, Cake Masterclass. Not only does she include basic techniques and recipes, but she provides step-by-step directions of how to re-create some of her signature masterpieces.

http://www.lvcc.co.uk/

2. Peggy Porschen

Beautiful, exquisite girly creations that range from wedding cakes to mini cakes and cookies. She has written several books on how to make her creations from her small cakes and cookies to beautiful tiered cakes for Romantic occasions. A fantastic baker for all those who love pretty and floral designs.

http://www.peggyporschen.com/

3. The Cake Parlour - Zoe Clarke

A whole range of stunning designs, all under the stylish silhouette of a lady holding her cake stand. There are a large selection of designs from confections and desserts to her beautiful wedding cakes. Zoe has written several books, that show you how to create some of her inventive, stylish and classic designs at home, even involving the kids in some of the decorations. You can also learn the tricks of the trade in person by enrolling on one of the cake courses.

http://www.thecakeparlour.com/our-story/

4. Maisie Fantasie by May Clee-Cadman

Stunning and classic wedding cakes mixed with beautifully modern design twists. Her designs range from wedding cakes, cupcakes cookies, to Birthday and party cakes, each one personalized with the client in mind. Her cookies make beautiful favours for guests, and every design is made with the best ingredients possible with tasty and unusual fillings and icings. They also sell their own range of cupcake wrappers, so you can make your own creations look even more delicious and professional.

http://www.maisiefantaisie.co.uk/

5. Lola's Cupcakes

From experience, some of the most delicious cupcakes I've ever tasted! A delicious mound of creamy butter icing perched on top of a moist spongy cupcake, with the trademark colour coded ring to show the flavour. They come in standard and also mini sizes, great fun for trying as many different cupcakes as you want! The 'Making Cupcakes with Lola' recipe book is now available to buy and shows you how to bake the signature flavours as well as a few more unusual tastes, Full of hints and tips, you may soon be able to perfect that perfect cupcake swirl.

http://lolas-kitchen.co.uk/index.html

6. The Primrose Bakery

A jewel in the heart of Primrose Hill and Covent Garden, The Primrose Bakery started out selling simply their beautiful cupcakes. Now, due to popular demand, they have introduced many more capes and pastries to their Bakery, now selling layered cakes, Lollipops and Wedding Cakes. Their new application for iphone, available to download from the App Store, features 70 of their recipes.

http://www.primrosebakery.org.uk/index.php

Cake Decorating for my Birthday

For my 21^st birthday last June, I decided that I wanted a party, and also that I wanted to make the cake! I’ve always wanted to try my hand at cake decoration, and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to develop a new skill that would not only look good but be utterly delicious at the same time.

One of my birthday presents was a book called Cake Masterclass by Mich Turner, which I used for all of my experiments, and also for the tutorials of how to make the decorations. If you haven’t heard of Mich, she is the sugar paste genius behind the Little Venice Cake Company. To look at her fabulous creations and drool just a little bit, follow this link to her website.

http://www.lvcc.co.uk/

Unfortunately, time did not allow me to make all of the cakes before the party, so I took my ideas to a local bakery, The Pudding Parlour in Yardley Hastings. Based in a beautiful rural location, not only is The Pudding Parlour a joy to visit, but the cakes, puddings and pastries made my Denise and her team are simply delicious. For pure decadence try one of her cupcakes, loaded with chocolate butter icing, sprinkles, glitter and the odd chocolate bar, or her amazing brownies in many different flavours such as Smarties, Oreo and After Eight mint. For more information on The Pudding Parlour, follow this link to the website.

http://www.thepuddingparlour.co.uk/Main_Page.html

After a consultation with Denise, we decided that she and I would both make 20 decorated cupcakes, and she would also make me a plain iced chocolate cake that I would then decorate. Enthused and excited I set about baking and decorating my first ever batch of cupcakes, and as you may agree from the images below, I think they turned out rather well!

The Icing Decorations Drying

Top Tip: Let the pieces dry on a foam sheet, as this allows the air to circulate and dry them thoroughly.

The Assembly of the Decorations

Top Tip: Draw out your designs first, so you know exactly how many pieces you will need.

The First Finished Design

The Second Finished Design

All 20 Finished Cupcakes

Top Tip: Do not store cupcakes in a completely airtight container. As the moisture from the cake itself escapes, it has nowhere else to go but into your icing decorations, and this will make them soft and fall apart.

Decorating the Main Cake

Top Tip: Place the Cake on a cake stand and try and get down to eye level when piping, as this will make it easier to turn and see your design developing.

The Finished Main Cake with its Ribbon and Lace band

The Cakes at the Party Venue

A Close-up of the cupcakes, showing a mixture of my designs and the cakes from the Pudding Parlour.

Top Tip: An eclectic mix of cake stands and plates makes a gorgeous vintage-style display.