Old lace clothes

Jan25

Many of us inherited a big amount of lace clothes from our great grandparents and grandparents which they cleaned, stored and starched with ultimate care. These collections contain pieces in several sizes, forms, thickness and colors. What can we do with them if we don’t want to sell them because of the memories? There are many possibilities for reusing them.
Old lace clothes were made of cotton by hand. It doesn’t worth to cut them because they almost immediately unravel. But they are easily dyeable and this way they could be fitted to the color palette of the room.
Let’s stitch the lighter, smaller pieces to each other by their edges and make a curtain of them. It doesn’t matter if the bottom or side of it is not straight. We can make it from even round shaped clothes, the outcome will be more unique. We can decorate the simple, plain lampshade with lace also. The simplest way: stick a narrow shelf stripe lace on the bottom of the shade for the vintage mood. Even the original fabric can be removed from the frame and the lace itself can be sewn to its place, but the lace has to be carefully starched before the procedure.
Let’s sew a patchwork-like blanket from the bigger, heavier clothes. If we don’t have enough for this, we can combine them with any cotton fabric. For example lace inset can be placed as decoration in the middle of the blanket, as overlay on the bottom or as edge on the four sides of it.
Let’s have a glass cut for the coffee table, flower stand or console table and put the showy lace clothes between the glass and the top of them. This way they will be protected from dirt but fulfill their function.
We can hang smaller laces in picture frames on the wall. If we don’t want to alter the white color of the clothes but the wall is white also, we can use colored mat board or ornamented frames for highlighting them.
Handmade objects made of quality materials are always valuable even if they don’t fit to our home. However, we can still enjoy them with a little fantasy, handiness and expending little time. Ask for help of an interior designer for more ideas of reusing them.

Old postcards 7.

Jan1

New Year on old postcards

Old postcards 6.

Dec23

Christmas on old postcards

Old postcards 5.

Dec4

Santa Claus on old postcards

Old postcards 4.

Oct30

Halloween on old postcards

Barn doors inside

Oct28

Nowadays beloved solution to use old barn doors as interior partitioners

Reupholstering

Oct12

Our antique chairs, armchairs, ottomans and other upholstered furniture that are worn by use, can be the ornament of our home again after a small prettification. If the wooden parts and joints are in good condition and the color of the frame is also adequate, it’s time to reupholstering. Any style of furniture can turn fashionable again by upholstering with a new fabric.
If it is a real antique piece, the job should be done by a professional! The upholstery made using old, forgotten, manual techniques is worth to be restored or changed in the same way. There are many techniques in the history of upholstered furniture that are not in use anymore, for example strung linen bands, horsehair padding and tumbler. These are replaced by foam in modern furniture which can worn out in a couple of years.
The most exciting task is choosing the new fabric. It’s important for the fabric should bear the strain of hard using, it should be thick and dense woven. The fabric shops can help you for choosing one. The pattern and the color of the textile should be fit both to the interior and the furniture! Let’s be brave but keep the character and the history of the object. It doesn’t worth to make an antique piece of furniture garish by an extremely modern upholstery. We can use more fabrics in the case of a sofa or armchairs, the back and the seat can be different. We can choose also different but matching fabrics for the back and the front of an upholstered-back chair. Cushions of a sofa can be also different from the upholstery, rather complementing it. The variations of possibilities and fabrics are almost infinite.
In case of uncertainty, ask for help of an interior designer for furbishing your old upholstered furniture!

Trunks

Sep16

Old trunks are reborn as coffee tables

Silverware

Sep14

In old times, silver tableware, serving dishes, candle holders and decoration objects couldn’t be missing from the household of the nobles. Nowadays many people still own some inherited pieces which are taken out from the dresser only at special events. The silver’s cold, subtile shine (compared to gold) provides more sophisticated, luxurious atmosphere to the table or our complete home.
Frequent usage keeps clean the silver objects, but after a longer storage they might become black. Various chemicals can be bought for cleaning silver (e.g. Sydol) but we can solve the problem with homemade practices also. The combination of kitchen foil-cooking soda-salt-warm water is the most common method. As far as possible, do not scrub the surface, rather soak the object in the liquid. Don’t put them into the dishwasher!
We can look after the authenticity of the inherited silverware by the hallmark. Most of the silver objects were signed, referring to the year, company and place of production, commonly in a less visible part, e.g. inner side of the foot.
Alfenide was a prevalent material in Hungary which was used instead of silver because its production was much cheaper. This is an alloy of nickel, copper and zinc which gives a well-workable material – then the end product was coated with silver. In this case scouring powder shouldn’t be used for cleaning because it scrubs the surface.
Ask for advice of a professional for buying antique silverware or evaluating your own collection. An interior designer can help you with arranging decoratively the silver ornaments and planning a really festive table set.

Gobelin

Jul6

Gobelin tapestry got its name after the fabric painter family that had moved probably from Reims to Paris in the XVII. century – founding the famous weaving workshop. Louise XIV. raised it to a royal manufactory and supported the production. The technique itself is being used since the middle of the XV. century. Gobelin is an illustrated tapestry used primarily for covering the walls or the floor. Knight-era scenes, Biblical stories or allegories related to the customers were the most common illustrations. First the base material was wool, later then the carrier yarns were replaced to linen ones. In renaissance era, golden and silver threads were also used. As time went by, the technique continuously developed, the result became more colorful and flexible. The loom itself could be horizontal or vertical also.
Petit point is a handwork simulating this weaving technique, started at the XVIII. century in France. Its base material is silk or linen, but they are completely overlaid with embroidery. The topic can be practically anything. Upholstered furniture, cushions, table linen and female handbags were decorated with this method – such as everyday consumer products.
Conservation, professional cleaning and handling of such an antique tapestry is an important issue, since they are quite vulnerable, they can be damaged or even destroyed during use or incorrect storage. If we own such an antique one, let’s ask for the recommendations of a professional. Of course, modern gobelin imitations or gobelin-like mechanical products can be purchased in the shops. Cushions or blankets decorated with gobelin have returned to the fashion. Weaving and colors can easily tell us, if the product is not antique, anyhow they can provide the same feeling in a proper classic style interior.
If you would like an antique or new gobelin in your home, ask for help from an interior designer for the optimal arrangement and usage.