Forest by Rose de Borman
Close up of Spring Forest (it comes in two colourways, Autumn being the other one.)
Obviously I love the fabric. Love the fabric. And I'm now wondering what I can cover in it - I'd quite like to reupholster our sofa, but it might be a bit extreme to commission new covers just because I'm hopelessly besotted with (yet another) fabric. And anyway, via Virginia White, I discovered Mystery Lampshades, by Alexander Hamilton for Virginia White:
A depressing view of Scotland that only shows when the lamp is on. Amazing! It reminds me of my Grandfather's place mats. I have a kind of love-hate relationship with Scotland. I went to university there and loved it. And then, before my husband was my husband he was living in Edinburgh and I was in London so Scotland became this place I had to go to for miserably cold weekends and then depart again, leaving my not then husband behind. (And I blamed Edinburgh for our separation. I find it helps when irritated to entirely wave goodbye to logic.) But now every time I go there I remember that I love it. Mostly. And I love the lampshade. It is making me want to crack the spine of one of Scott's novels, before attempting to construct a haggis and whisky soup (we had it at a wedding recently, literally one of the most delicious things I've tasted in ages.)
And Alexander Hamilton, it transpires, does a lot of decorative painting:
Linen Bed Hangings
A bathroom in the Palazzo Budini Gattai, Florence
Bolza Family Chapel in the courtyard of the Castello di Reschio on the Tuscan-Umbrian border
Some of these jobs were restorative as much as anything else, all I know is that I just don't understand why I didn't inherit a palazzo somewhere - anywhere - in Italy, where the houses, even in states of disrepair, are always less depressing than those in Scotland, simply because it's a warmer climate. And I really want to live in a house with a chapel. But I've wanted that ever since I read Brideshead Revisited, so it's not exactly new.
In the mean time, both the lampshade and that fabric are taking up residence on my slightly more attainable wishlist.
www.virginiawhite.co.uk
