tEaPoT uPdAte...

A little while ago we were researching the possibility of using beautiful teapots made by zero japan.  A friend (thanks Jane), then alerted us to these beauties, made by Typhoon with Ching He Huang.

So we have ordered some and as you can see they are just as beautiful and come with their own fine mesh infuser, perfect for our delicious loose leaf teas. Can't wait to try them out!!

Follow the Sign...

Design by Stuart Hammersley 'Give up Art'

Our lovely friend Tim, a local artist, has painted our sign! It will be going up on the front of the Loft over the next couple of days.
Tim is a brilliant artist and has studio in the village that he shares with his also very talented wife Julie.  Check out their blog 'Saunders & Co' to see some of their brilliant work. 

Tim and Julie will hopefully be displaying some of their work at 'The Loft'. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks Tim - Love the Sign x

Getting there .....

Had a full day at the Loft today with the help of mine and Emma's husbands!! we have managed to put up all the lights, shelves, cupboards etc. we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel, hurrah!!

Stitch up

Been doing some sewing for the Tearoom! 

This lampshade is planned for the standard lamp in the cosy corner. 

Originally a nice peach satin number!

Progress Report

So we have had the end of term madness!! followed by a week of camping and now ready to start really moving on 'The Loft'.  While we were away the kitchen was fitted, the flooring laid in the kitchen and bathroom, and now Bel is busy finishing the painting.  My fave second hand furniture man - Geoff, is busy sorting through his abundance of tables and wood etc. to hopefully find a suitable counter top.  As the pic shows, the counter has been made by recycling the wood from the wall that was removed, and is now being given a nice oil eggshell finish!

 The bathroom (previously the kitchen) is

nearly complete!! Just waiting for our dear friend Chaney to make the unit for the butler sink, and Bel to finish  some painting and it will be ready to go!! well with a bit of styling first of course!  Really want to try and open to catch at least some of the school holidays!!

 And finally......... HOOOORRAAAYYY - we also have some nice front steps!!!

W e L C o M e !!!!!

For the Love of Formica

This week we have been mostly...... driving round Essex picking up our Vintage Formica Ebay finds!!

Consent at Last!!!

Hi - Yes we are still here!!
It's just that my enthusiasm had been taking a battering due to the slowness of the Local Council, but now we can moooove on at last!  We have been granted our Listed Building consent to remove the internal wall - hurrah!

So this week it has been removed and we can now plan our kitchen space properly.  I'll post a photo of our progress so far in the next post.  So apologies to anyone who reads this blog and has been waiting for the next instalment!! Posting now will be a bit more frequent!

We are also now sorting the china that I have been collecting for the last couple of years and there were some beauties that I had forgotten about!  It allowed us to see what we still need to get too -
t E a P o T s!!!
We haven't enough teapots!
We do have a couple of brown bettys' but I have been trawling the internet for some alternatives.  A friend of mine recently attended a course with Esther Coombs. She upcycles vintage china with her beautiful hand drawn illustrations, (although watch this space, my friend is hot on her heels with her own designs which are beautiful too!!, we shall be selling them at 'The Loft').  Ok, so the course she attended was held at High Tea of Highgate  a gorgeous tearoom and we are loving their teapots!

They are made by Zero Japan and as you can see come in a range of beautiful colours!!  There are a couple of suppliers in the UK, so these are on our shopping list, the hardest thing will be to decide which colour(s)!  They are perfect for loose leaf teas as they have an inbuilt infuser - so no need for a clumsy strainer. Nice eh!