I bought an old fire surround for not much money from an antique market, it has pretty tiles and I liked it a lot, I have never had a fireplace in this house just a brick central pillar with a fire attached to the wall which I always disiked. I bought some of this new fangled old style paint in a lovely antique cream and started to paint it I used 5 coats of primer undercoat and then started with the antique cream I have done 2 coats so far and I think one more will do. I can't wait to remove the masking tape and get it fixed to the wall so that I can dress it in pretty things, I have a lovely old oval mirror that I bought from a charity shop and I think that will look lovely above the fireplace. This has been a real labour of love, and whilst I have been doing the fire surround we have also put a few coats of paint on the walls to freshen things up, so my house is a real mess at the moment with dust sheets and covers all over the place but we are nearly at the end. I am now going to hang out my winter sofa covers in the lovely autumn sunshine to dry and then when everything is finished with the paint I will put them on. I am so easily pleased.
This has been a real labour of love, I think it's lovely now it's finished but it has been one of the most fiddly things I have ever done. The window and the door took for ages, all the cakes had to be done and then embroidered and there were lots of pieces, then the door which also had quite a bit of work. The next time I make it I will have a better idea of how to do all this work so that will make it easier. It is a pattern by Gail Penberthy which I bought at Malvern quilt show, you can call it The Tea Room or you can personalise it and as you can see this one is Kate's. I have finished the fireplace and Tony has fitted the fire, I am now going to make some new cushions and then we will be ready to start looking forward to Christmas.
