19
Feb
Period Features: Knock Knock Knocking
Is it just me or does the Bafta trophy remind you of a big brass door knocker? It struck me again last night, so I thought I would take a closer look at the history of door knockers. And yes, even door knockers have a history.
It is believed that the first door knockers origina ...
12
Feb
Period Features: The Appeal of Aspidistra
The Victorians adored filling their homes with greenery. Conditions were tough – with most houses suffering from poor light, ventilation and air quality caused by tobacco and pollution from oil, coal, and later in the period, gas lamps. Room temperatures were difficult t ...
8
Jan
Period Features: The Penny Black
Can you imagine a world without the postal service? I am guessing if you are under thirty you probably can but for the rest of us there is a certain romance about getting a letter in the post that hits the spot. Before 1840 this romance came at a high cost, only the very rich c ...
18
Dec
Period Features: Christmas Cards with a Twist
Do you keep the Christmas cards you receive from year to year? I pick out one or two because I am a bit of a hoarder, and sentimental with it. If you happen to have one like this in your family collection let me tell you it is worth thousands because this is the first Christ ...
11
Dec
Period Features: Victorian Christmas Tree
How do you decorate your Christmas tree – tasteful and co-ordinated or colourful and kitsch with a bung it all on vibe? Take a look at how the Victorians did it – maybe get some inspiration.
The Victorians liked to pile on the decorations so they favoured a big tree ...
20
Nov
Period Features: Fab Colours from the 1950s
Continuing my lightening survey of period colours, here is something completely different from the Georgian-Victorian-Edwardian vibe: the happy, zappy, 1950s colour palette. If you ever have a chance to see the brochure for the Battersea Pleasure Gardens in the 1951 Festival of ...
6
Nov
Period Features: Georgian Colour Palette
It is really interesting to consider what colours would have originally been associated with the era in which your home was built. Over the next few weeks I will be looking at the colour palette used by any particular age, starting with the Georgian period (1714 – 1837).
Geor ...
30
Oct
Period Features: Kokos and the Boot Scraper
There are some beautiful shoes in the window of our Spot-it! partner this month, Kokos of East Finchley. They have been around for a good forty years and are still delighting local customers. When I went in to have a browse I was rather taken by their soft suede and nubuck sty ...
23
Oct
Period Features: Up the Garden Path
The Victorians were very house proud and, for them, the front garden was an important reflection of the interior of a home.
This reconstruction of a Victorian entrance hall in the Geffrye Museum includes many features which will be familiar to people living in north London; i ...
16
Oct
Period Features: Sash Windows
I am in the process of changing the modern-style windows, which I inherited in my early Victorian home, for wooden sash style windows. It’s a style of window which I strongly associate with the Victorian and Edwardian homes in our area – but what exactly are they ...
9
Oct
Period Features: Need a Newel Post?
I don’t know about you but one of the things I love about our period homes is the newel post. This, as you will know, is the main post which supports the stair handrail,
and may seem a slightly strange feature to pick on, but think about it – it’s one of the ...
25
Sep
Period Features: Corbel or Console?
Much of our housing stock is Victorian or Edwardian. These beautiful homes are stuffed full of period features which are splendid but are not well understood in our modern era. For instance, do you know the difference between a corbel and a console?
Take a look at this decorati ...
