Frayed And Tattered And Built

A Royal Inspiration, Union Jack is all the talk. After visiting inspiring friends I had to join in and make one of my own. Taking time to sew and create will add a sense of calm, and a peaceful passion for the creative artist in you. I was not only inspired, I was driven to create one of my own, frayed and tattered, white and grey.


Our home is of mild tones, white, natural, and grey, it made sense that my Union Jack would be exactly those tones. I taught myself to sew after sewing lessons in school home ec class. My Mother always made clothes for my siblings and me when we were little, sitting and watching it's no wonder it's in my blood. I would make bits and pieces, and in later years started sewing up a house filled with moppy-ness and fluff.



Britain's Union Jack scene is this years inspirational look, we will be seeing a lot more of Jack on everything from clothing to furniture to our favorite textiles. By changing things around in my daughter Hannah's room and adding a Union Jack pillow case sham with a plump feather insert it made it feel like a new room.


While enjoying our Union Jack tea cookies from London England I was also busy creating a much needed nightstand for Hannah's room. One that toned down the elegant pieces by adding rustic elegance in distressed white.

I wanted a piece to convey that it was brought in from the yard, shed style, and the designer in me wanted one to be original but seeking out to find one this size I knew would be next to impossible. I started to design and build one out of salvaged 2x4's and oak ply for the top planked style and making sure the wood used was in a damaged less than perfect state increasing a rustic French farmhouse feel. 30" in Height 22" in Length 13" in Width. An old lamp of sorts will light this corner up perfectly.

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Inspiring: From sewing needle's to building tools.

Creating European Rustic

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My latest thrift shop find, I have been painting and building this past week.

“The richness I achieve comes from recycling, the source of my inspiration.” A distinctive characteristic of my home embraces pieces that have been created from salvaged scraps of wood or collected pieces that have evolved over time creatively. A key to decorating a room with recycled or salvaged pieces is to keep them from competing with one another letting each piece speak for itself with a language the room understands. When picking the right recycled piece for a room I let the lines of the piece, it’s age, and rustic European feel tell me how it wants to be painted adding a paint treatment it deserves giving each piece no reason to argue with one another.

It's European rustic rooms like these that inspire creating rustic country.

I like to think when I make a purchase in a piece for my home that’s old and rustic that there are no other options in creating perfect imperfections unique and necessary.

With a little resourcefulness I can share another great find in my home with a piece that adds to creating an idyllic French flea market style home that touches the edges of my heart soulfully. This sideboard (5 foot long 31" inches in height) was a piece that called out to me at my local thrift last week; it was covered in scratches and dated itself with an old dark stain finish. The sideboard chest tag read $22.00 dollars having to then take a double take questioning did I read this right, was it $22.00 dollars or $122.00 dollars? Placing my hands on the piece to assure my claim that clearly read $22.00 dollars I then took notice of the name inside the sideboard chest marked Century from the Century Furniture Company. As an interior designer and familiar with the Century name where the best is produce in Hickory North Carolina that Century name spoke volumes, and with a gasp I knew I had a piece to love. I stripped off its old scratched up dark stained finish and gave it a French paint treatment adding a European flea market appeal to it, a perfect patina for my home. After researching the piece by sending off photo's and logo name with serial numbers I was able to find out what a beautiful rustic find this piece added to my home.



This sideboard chest came from the Coventry group (Spring 1967 - Fall 1969) 17th and 18th Century English reproductions. African Mahogany solids an exotic wood and very expensive mixed with Cherry and Pecan. If replaced now I would be looking at a price tag in the upward amount of $2,800 - $3,000. Century Furniture Company offers beautiful stain grade and paint finishes on their pieces. I feel with my paint treatment of a dusky whitish grey and the up-styling of its hardware I did this piece justice in keeping with my European country home. Blending this English piece was easy with the era of 17th and 18th century French style throughout my homes collective designs making this piece a perfect blend to a rustic European cottage.

It's European rustic rooms like these that inspire creating rustic country.

This is proof that creating rustic country can be built from salvage wood scraps that I have salvaged from a wood pile of discarded pieces that allowed me to build a side table that would charm any French farmhouse. This side table cost me nothing to build due to the fact I was able to build it from scraped out pieces of building materials. I never over look the charm and age of pieces with nail holes and pieces that has weathered in outside climates.

A little pale paint and distressing of the piece adds rustic romance to a side table French country in style. I love the conversation it makes with my guests when good things are built, not bought.



Inspiring European rustic in my home. source 2 and 7 internet inspired.