New Soft Furnishings

Thanks to friend of Balintore Violet for supplying the latest soft-furnishings to the castle! The basement kitchen which I have been using as a home office faces directly east, and over last winter the morning sun would shine directly into my eyes making working on my computer very difficult. My solution was to move a sheet of plywood around the window opening over the course of the morning. I realised that curtains would be a better as well as the more conventional solution. :-)

Violet delivered her home-made curtains this week after a final fitting for length last week which she wanted to do in situ, being very much the perfectionist. The fabric was going spare, so we were aiming for something functional and neutral in a kitchen space rather than a design statement. They may well have been re-fashioned from an older set of curtains (I forget) but Violet has done an excellent job in any case.

Below are photographs taken before and after the hanging. I was so eager to get the curtains up, I didn't remember to take a "before" until after the right-hand curtain had been hung.

before (ish)  curtain hanging

after curtain hanging

Now with the curtains closed at night the room is warmer and cosier looking. I don't think the human condition likes a big black void that is an un-curtained window at night.

Restoring the castle has made me appreciate soft furnishings for the first time in my life. Rich fabrics can transform an interior: from sterile and pedestrian to welcoming and sumptuous. Even plainer fabrics can soften an interior to good effect. Below is Violet's window seat cushion cover, also delivered very recently on the final curtain-fitting visit.

new window seat upholstery

For the first time, I have been resting my bottom here just for moments of comfortable contemplation. Normal houses take for granted things like curtains and window seat upholstery. However, when you are restoring a building as large as a castle, it is easy to overlook these niceties, but once installed you realise what you have been missing.