Pretty in Pink

Spring seems the natural time to do some general maintenance on Daviot House.  Sometimes rooms seem near completion, but for a few tasks that I keep putting off.

  In the Drawing Room, the window seat had been bothering me for a while - there are the vestiges of an awful shade of turquoise that the paint tin promised me would be 'Eau de Nil'.  Over time, the Drawing room has become a bit of a frilly refuge of pink and roses, which is strange, as it is a combination I am not overly fond of in real life.  But our miniature houses have opinions of their own, don't they?

This room is on the first floor in the Old Tower of Daviot House,  the original 14th century Tower House that was later converted by the family in the 17th century into a large family home.  You can still see the old stone parts of the walls, which gives a sense of the weight of centuries passing.  The current decoration dates from the late 18th century, though the panelling was replaced in the early 19th century after a disasterous case of black mould!

The chandelier is staying, and I added some sconces for the fireplace.  I'm not sure about these, as the brass is particularly bright, so they might be changed later.  I gave a fresh coat of paint to the panelling too, as it was looking a little dusty and sad.

All lit up, dusted, polished and cleaned!

Down goes the carpet, after a stiff beating.  I like the rich burgundy and coral colours of the carpet - it stops the room being too pink, and blends the dark wood floor with the lighter walls.  It was the first carpet I made 'free-style', that is, without charting it first.  The theme is roses and scallop shells, which has become a bit of a theme around all of the room.  

With the furniture put back, the room still appeared a little cold, and I decided to finally sit down and make the curtains.  A little drapery always makes things cosier!  I had been procrastinating for ages about what colour to use.  I didn't want pink, and a burgundy colour was too overwhelming  for this small space.

I narrowed down the choice to two creamy dupioni silks, one slightly yellow, the other slightly taupe.  Both had been sold under the name 'cream'!  In the end, I had to combine the two, as there was not enough for all the swags I wanted to make.  I used the taupe cream as a contrast to the yellower cream, and frankly, you really can't see the difference; so much for all the dithering about which to choose!

I like to have a lot of material at the bottom of curtains, as I think it looks more realistic pooling to the floor rather than pleated perfectly but rising up in the air.  I will make some better tie-backs though, of course with tassels!  I may make some smaller curtains to frame the windows, as I still think the window seat looks a little chilly...

I am still ploughing on with the bed hangings for the Master Bedroom, but I could resist making a a few cushions for the window seat...

I love the window seat, it is an element of comfort in an otherwise very formal room, reserved for the best guests, and I can easily imagine sitting down to a few hours of embroidery in the bright light from the window.

My prized grandfather clock (Keith Bourgourd) is gently ticking away in the corner of the room - I imagine that it has a beautiful chime when the hour is struck.  The Fisherwoman by Neil Carter looks out for any guests, and the table hosts a delightful arrangement of pink roses, which look just so happy here!

The sewing table  has been put neatly away, protected from the fire by the tapestry firescreen.  There seem to be a lot of women in this room!  The miniature brooch was a present from a long time ago, and was one of my first 'precious' miniatures.  

I wasn't totally happy with the size of the Tarbena mirror for the mantlepiece, so I ordered a larger one from Sue Cook, which I am very pleased with! It is just a little bit more grand, as you would expect for this room. I had not realised until I put it in place that the arched top of the mirror matches the arch top of the clock.

The bright gold of the sconces definitely needs to be sorted out though, as it looks horrible next to the lovely old gold of the mirror.

I have also decided to decorated the 'fourth wall' of the rooms in Daviot House, as it gives me just a little extra space to put things that would not fit in the main room.

To tie the paintings around the room together, I used mustard gold silk ribbon.

I am particularly fond of this print of a girl and her harp, as it came from an antique dolls house.

I still have a few things to to; polish the floor, install a ceiling rose to match the fireplace, finish the curtains and make a door, but for the moment it was a very satisfying spring clean!

Over time I will scatter some clutter to make the room seem more 'lived-in', but in the meantime, I'll set the table with the best silver for tea...

Jonquil