Sharing and Shopping

I would love to introduce you to Audrey Friedman and French Vintage Home. 

I plan to be Audrey in my next life. She gets to travel between  Dallas, USA and the Dordogne region of France, where she has restored a fifteenth century Chateau nestled in fields of lavender and sunflowers. When she is not entertaining friends, she spends her time scouring Brocantes to find the gorgeous antique treasures she sells in her online shop, French Vintage Home. Audrey also has a blog which you can follow to read more about her travels, shopping and entertaining, all which she does with her flawless style.

These vintage French mahogany knives give you a taste of what is available in her shop.

You can also access her website on my sidebar.

While on the subject of online shopping, if you follow my blog you should already know about my friend, Miranda with her fabulous South African based online shop NetDécor. Its the perfect solution for those busy people who battle to find the time to go from shop to shop to find that special something for your home. Miranda constantly finds new and beautiful items to add to her store. You can also access the NetDécor website on the sidebar of my blog.

A small sample of some of the lovely items available from NetDécor.

Finally, Oflocal is a website about the best of everything local. The public creates a list of what they consider the best 10 of anything from wedding photographers to craft markets and vote for them throughout the year. Here is a list of the 10 best home decor stores in Cape Town. Have a look and vote for your favourites. My personal favourite is, without question, Block and Chisel. They have a store quite close to my home and if ever I am in need of inspiration or just a bit of cheering up, I go and pay them a visit and just lurk for a while. Their in-store room designs are just beautiful, but be warned, you might go home and want to turf out everything you own and start from scratch!

Block and Chisel's current promotion called "Woven Whimsy" 

So there you go people, some useful info for you. Dust off those credit cards (as if they have time to gather any dust) and get shopping. 

Thanks to all of you that entered my giveaway. The winner will be drawn on Monday.

Till next time

Sharon x

Shopping at Vintage - Etc

Hello to the faithful readers of my blog and welcome to any newcomers! I am still thinking about my next alphabet post....but I'm pleased to report that I'm a few steps closer to an idea for "X" thanks to some of my very creative readers, so don't give up on me!

In the meanwhile, I thought I thought I would address the topic of shopping. I get numerous emails from readers about where they can find the various items of furniture they see in the beautiful homes I feature on my blog. As these homes are from all over the world and I often have no idea where the owners have done their shopping, I can't always provide the info you want, but I can help by letting you in on some of my shopping hotspots!

One of my favourite places for finding those items that fit into the Roses and Rust style is a Cape-Town based shop called Vintage-Etc. 

They have a great selection of furniture and accessories for almost any room in your home.

 Let's start with the heart of the home, the kitchen.

I had this picture on my blog sometime back and a number of readers commented on the island. If you are looking for an island along these lines....this is what you could find at Vintage -Etc.

Mmmm...very nice.............and well-priced!

How about some kitchen storage something like this...



...or this....



....look no further.... This is what Vintage - Etc can offer.

Perhaps you would prefer a French inspired kitchen like the Garnier one below....

Vintage - Etc have this beauty available....

Perhaps you are thinking about updating your bathroom.... these are some of the bathrooms I have featured previously...

.....you would need to look no further than Vintage - Etc for these gorgeous vanity units

....and this cupboard would be great for storage in your bathroom....the prettier things in the top half and the less attractive items in the bottom half....perfect!

For these and other fantastic buys, both furniture and accessories, visit Vintage - Etc in their new premises at  The Building Centre, Platinum Drive, Northgate Estate, Ysterplaat, Cape Town or visit  their website. The link is also on my sidebar.

Have a happy week further and some good shopping. My next post will definitely be "X" is for .......... after which some more shopping tips might be in order while I think about "Y". 

Till next time

x Sharon

A Spot of Shopping

On Sunday, my husband and oldest son went to play golf in Langebaan, sons 3 & 4 had a birthday party to go to, so I decided to take son no 2 to the Design Indaba. He had to be bribed to go with me and this bribe took the form of the biggest chocolate muffin and the most expensive chocolate milkshake available at The Cape Quarter. Just to fill you in, The Design Indaba is a showcase for new and innovative South African design talent. (Indaba is a Zulu word meaning something along the lines of "sharing of knowledge"). 

One of the items that I fell in love with was this gorgeous tea towel which I would describe as "Afro-French". I love the linen and red stripe that is so typically French, and then mixing it with the Kudu motif (the Kudu is one of the largest buck found in Africa) - very clever!

The reverse side has this sweet little star detail on it.



The talented creator of this tea towel is actually a ceramic artist - Liesel Trautman. Below are some examples of her exquisite work.

The next items that crept into my shopping basket were these sweet little dipping bowls from WonkiWare.




They are very aptly named because they are a bit wonky which is part of their great charm. Based in George, WonkiWare is a real South African success story. Apparently it is stocked in Liberty Stores in the UK and in Anthropologie Stores in the US. Di Marshall, the creator of WonkiWare has also collaborated with Nigella Lawson on a range of dinnerware. In fact when I was at the factory outlet in George some time ago, one of Nigella's "people" was there doing some research. Below are some examples of the beautiful WonkiWare range.

 The final item that came home with me from the Design Indaba was this very sweet little Robin made from recycled tin. You might remember from a previous post that I have a thing for birds. This little bird, along with a range of other handcrafts was made by a group of underpriveledged people as part of a community project. She is very cleverly made in such a way that she can perch on the side of a plate.

Below is a round up of my little shopping expedition at the Design Indaba. (I think the milkshake might still have been the most expensive thing!)

On Monday, I had a lunch date with my husband! He told me that he had seen a shop near his offices that he knew I would love, so he suggested I drive through and join him for lunch and then he would show me the shop. What a sweetie! The shop is called T & Co (pictured below) but they were unfortunately closed for a stock take! So I didn't get to see it first hand, but I'm sure you will agree from the pictures that it would be worth a second attempt. I wonder if I will get another lunch thrown in?

 

We had lunch at the little restaurant/cafe which is right next door to the shop called Table Thirteen. (Victoria Junction, Green Point) They do wonderful light lunches - well worth a visit.

I love these words written on their wall!

So, I decided that it wasn't the end .... if I couldn't get my retail therapy there, I would get it somewhere else. On my way home I stopped by one of my favourite shops called "Juju et Moi" and pounced on these dear little birds.

Below are some pics of the shop via the lovely blog, Lanalou Style. I was chatting to the owner of the shop and she actually wants to retire after having her shop for many years so is putting it on the market. So if any of you would like to own a dear little shop in Constantia, Cape Town, here's your opportunity.

Till next time

Sharon x