Homewares, Italian-style

When we were away recently in Italy we stayed on the outskirts of Todi, a relatively small hill top town in Umbria, with a population of almost 17,000. That might sound a lot, but in comparison even Greenwich has a population of quarter of a million (and that was in the 2011 census), so you can see why it felt small to us. But even so, my knack of stumbling across a fantastic homewares shop still managed to find its way, which really is quite something…

And so was the silver sequinned pumpkin. I’m not much of one for celebrating Halloween - I’m the type of person that pulls the curtains and doesn’t open the door, if the doorbell is rung by trick and treaters - but I could have made allowances for the sparkly pumpkin. The smaller plush fabric-ed pumpkins were also cute, but after seeing the sequinned one, there really wasn’t any comparison.

But the pumpkins were a bit of a distraction, once I saw these pots. By now MOH was looking concerned, as there was no way these would fit in our suitcase and I’m sure he was already planning his excuses for not having these in hand luggage either, and I have some sympathies.

My reason for giving these such a close look over was more than that. I was keen to know what they were made of - small wooden discs painted white - and how we could replicate them at home, and if we could use the small mountain of corks that seem to multiply at home.

I mean, I have no idea where they all come from…

But the real star of our visit was these exquisite bowls.

Aren’t they gorgeous?

They’re rustic wooden bowls with a smooth floral patterned interior. I don’t need any more bowls (but please don’t tell MOH) and I was very tempted, of course it helped that they were yellow, but I resisted. I didn’t even get as far as looking at the price, however I did take a picture of the label and the base and hope to be able to track down something similar online.

I’m pretty sure that the floral pattern, which I’m hesitating to call vintage, featured in my childhood wardrobe at some point!

The Italians are shy of using yellow as these zingy scalloped bowls show. They’ve a bit of a kitsch feel about them, but they’re fun too. And we’re getting in on the yellow scene here in the UK now too, although we’re most likely to see a pop of mustard in our homewares, and in our wardrobes, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

I think after all the browsing, and especially the pausing to inspect closer MOH was relieved to leave the shop empty-handed, but that’s partly because we’d already bought a ceramic momento, but more on that next week.

The one with the redecorated loo

Last weekend we celebrated my MIL’s birthday with afternoon tea at Alexander House Hotel in West Sussex, and it wasn’t our first time there. Our previous visit, also for afternoon tea (they’re good) was a couple of years ago, and then I shared how my outfit seemed to match the painting in the loo.

When thinking about what to wear I remembered them matching my yellow dress before, and thought I’d wear something different this time. I’m a fan of colour, often wearing, at least one bright colour but nothing really jumped out at me as I recalled my wardrobe. So, as often is the case, I chose the shoes I wanted to wear and went from there, thinking nothing more of it.

After eating more than I had in a while, and yet still not managing to polish off all the cakes - I know, I was shocked too - and drinking a pot or two of “sparkling white” white tea, a trip to the loos brought a good excuse for a break and a wander. Remembering the loos from before, and knowing I’d already shared them here, I almost didn’t take my bag with me…

It was obvious though, that something had changed.

I noticed the wallpaper straight away, it’s similar to the bamboo wallpaper we have on one wall in our living room, but with more sparkle. Had I known I could have got some sparkle in my wallpaper then maybe I’d’ve had some, as it would bring an element of light to the wall. I was less sure though if the basins had been changed, so later I checked my earlier post and they had. In place of white traditional sinks where these countertop basins, which as you can see bring another metallic texture to the space.

The wallpaper was different too, more metallics and with a geometric pattern - the light in the photo below seems to have played havoc with the colour, but I couldn’t resist showing you this wall, isn’t it great?

In the lobby area, you can see a truer colour of the wallpaper, and it was great to see the picture still hanging in the same place. The padded bench seat though was the star and this is my favourite view of the loos - I know, how weird is that, I mean how many people have a favourite loo view?!

But you know what I mean, it almost seems wasted in the loo (but it was too large for my handbag!)

So that’s another first for the Loo Series, this is the first loo that’s been redecorated and therefore featured twice. I think I much prefer the updated version, but what about you?

A night at The Grosvenor

You’ll remember we went to a wedding at The Grosvenor recently and for ease and a treat we stayed the night too. I mean, there won’t be many other times staying will be on our list, so it seemed rude not to. On arrival we were both wowed by the entrance and the chandelier hanging above the reception.

Our room was a little less grand though.

And as you can see it’s similar to many hotel rooms, although they maximised the London scenes on the wall, which gives you a clue to their more usual market. I think for too much longer than a few nights we’d be running out of room in the room we had. There was cupboard space, but for a short stay we didn’t make much use of those.

I think my favourite part of the room was the soft furnishings, the upholstered chair with the desk and the floor length patterned curtains.

Both added some interest to the room, and looking at it again now, the carpet wasn’t so bad either. Though there’s not many of us that would put checks, swirly paisley-like patterns and stripes together in such a small space, but it didn’t make your eyes hurt.

From the lift lobby - we were on the fifth floor - there was a great view over the station’s platforms. I hadn’t realised before that the hotel was above the station, and even has its own entrance from within the station. Handy for when its raining and you’re in your finery, I’m sure.

So there you go, a peek at our night at The Grosvenor. And in case you’re wondering, the breakfast was good, and I can highly recommend the sausages, but some of the chairs were a bit ‘tired’, but it seems the hotel is going through a refurbishment phase so pehaps the restaurant will get a refresh as part of that.

The rooms that they’ve completed are truly stunning, keeping the traditional style but with a modern touch, and are definitely worth a stop if you’re passing.