The diary is empty. A blank canvas. We live in a bubble. Cocooned in our homes. Everything around us is still. But life at home is buzzing. There’s music, all the time. The Aga is going full steam. The washing machine and dishwasher are over worked. There’s lots of chatter, especially in the kitchen. The hub of the house. We recently redecorated our kitchen.
The main working end of the kitchen is painted in Farrow and Ball’s setting plaster. It’s so calm and peaceful. We removed some wall units to make way for art work. Lucy Boydell’s charcoal Pangolin takes centre stage. There’s also a very peaceful watercolour of The bay of Islands in New Zealand where we are supposed to be right now. But we try not to dwell on that.
You walk to the end of the kitchen, a former barn, where the Victorian’s would have used to store hay and possibly livestock. It is now a jungle of baboons, chameleons, hoopoes and great flora. This wallpaper is designed by the cleaver artists at Ardmore for Cole & Son. It certainly adds drama to the kitchen. And proves to be a talking point for friends when they pop over for dinner. If only we could do that right now. Even the budgies love the jungle look, observed from their new Geo Bird Cage courtesy of Omlet.
As I write and turn my head to focus on the outside world I can literally watch the spring leaves sprout from the trees. I don’t think I have ever observed the garden more closely than now. The house too. We are all noticing the bathroom tap that doesn’t work, the room that could do with a lick of paint, a window that needs a blind and oh! The sofa, the much loved sofa, which has been screaming for a new cover since the turn of the last decade. I’ve started making a list. I’m not in the habit of writing lists but this one has purpose and is quite fun.
Am gathering swatches and paint colours and putting them together like a puzzle. The children are creating their own grand design on Minecraft. They present them to me as if they are hosting Look Through The Keyhole. It’s exciting to see their plans take shape. I may even incorporate some of their ideas into our grand design.
The sunshine is glorious. Beating vitamin D into our skin and bone. Daffodils sweep across the lawn. The garden is a blaze of yellow and green. A great colour combination I could never tire of.
Amazing how mellow and homely yellow can be. The Porcupine Rocks studio is yellow. Linseed Yellow to be precise. I’ve been giving it another coat of paint during this hot weather. This time I used a satin coverage, like egg shell, giving the walls a smooth matt finish, something which normal emulsion can’t achieve. I used the left over paint from our pantry pictured above. This eco-friendly paint is from Konig Colours.
Last year Vanessa Konig launched a new range of paint. More recently she has been feverishly drawing. Her illustrations transport you into a fantasy world … The sketched library (below left) is a place I would really like to be right now.
I really hope you are enjoying being at home right now and take time to be outside if you can, soak up the suns warm rays and stay well.
