Years ago at college my friends used to joke about my obsession with the eighteenth century and nick-named me the"Rococo Kid" There are some passions that never die and it is still true that the sight of a well carved, gessoed and gilded scroll or acanthus leaf will send me weak at the knees!We currently live in a seaside cottage which cried out for a fresh treatment of white-washed walls, scrubbed boards and fabrics of stripe and gingham, but to restrict the house to such a two dimensional response would be dull, dull, dull! An English home or for that matter any home should never in my opinion look too schemed, too predictable but should reveal itself in layers, tell a story have surprises in scale and in levels of grandeur or humility. In short it should feel unique... it should have athmosphere!!
Take this pediment over the door of a humble cottage in Appledore in North Devon. Doesn't this look as if it may have originally come from the wreck of a grand old ship? Now weather beaten and salty it adds a dimension to the house which is perhaps unexpected but it allows the imagination to flow and it begins to tell a story. One genius of storytelling and a super-heroine of mine who successfully evokes atmosphere in her novels is Daphne du Maurier. In her Cornish novels particularly she paints her scenery so succinctly and places the reader in the period of her choice with often sinister and mysterious supporting characters surrounding her protagonists. This is a perhaps rather long winded way to explain my approach to interior design or for that matter any kind of design.Fundamentally it is about storytelling! If I am not yet making myself clear please bare with me. if I don't bore you to tears in the process then the motivation for beginning this blog will soon be revealed.
In the same vein as the over door pediment above, the carved back of the french chair, taking pride of place by my fireplace with its original paint finish has both the qualities of "old galleon" and "driftwood" at once.
And above the window of my kitchen sink I placed an old pediment ( once dark oak in colour) and repainted in driftwood/french grey it immediately at least in my mind is suggestive of the "reclaimed galleon" effect I was after. Touches of grandeur in the right context and the odd rococo swirl in an otherwise humble environment is hopefully beginning to illustrate the layered effect, the story telling in an interior that I always aim for.
Another corner of the room with ancestral portrait from the thirties in a crumbling gilt frame and an old french garden chair...........
and a dresser laden with early "smoky transfer" plates with an eclectic mix of pretty jugs and the look is really nearly complete. I will for the next few weeks continue to talk about my passions in the context of my approach to our present house. HOWEVER we are soon to move (please GOD) to our new place in the none too distant future. To the eponymous Victorian vicarage of this blogs' title!! The aim of the blog at this stage will be to describe the step by step process, the before, during and after charting the transformation of our new home. Bye for now!!
