Country Home

This is not a craft-related post.  But it features beautiful things, so you may want to read on.

Several readers commented that my house looks like a country home.  Yes, I am partial to this style of furnishing (although I can't say the same for my poor hubby who everyday must be questioning his masculinity amidst flowers and pastels).  So imagine my delight when I discovered a shop in Bukit Timah Plaza which sells lots of beautiful country home stuff.  They even custom-make furniture.  Hmm, I wonder whether it's time to renovate my house.  

Here are some of the things I picked up...

Guess what is this?

 

Here's a clue.  Need another?

Still no idea?

It's a recipe cardholder! You keep your recipe cards inside... 

...and when you need to cook something, you put the recipe on top, just so!  Clever, isn't it?

Now, guess what is this.

Need a clue? 

Teehee...I realised that my clues are more distracting than helpful.

So, for the lazy amongst you, why don't you give up and enjoy the intricacies of the artwork instead. 

Enjoyed enough?  No?  Here's one more.

Ok, I think you've had enough.  Here's the revelation. 

It's a remote control holder (duh).  Of course, some of you may use it for storing other things, such as cutlery, stationery.

Want some more?  Ok, anything for your pleasure.

What is this?  Ok, ok, I promise that this will be the last guessing game for this post.  I wouldn't want you to overtax your brain on Monday morning. 

It's a collapsible fabric box, which folds out into a storage box.  And no, it does not change fabric in the process.  I just used a different box for illustration (roll eyes).

I like that it's roomy and matches my armchair perfectly.

Notwithstanding that HSH makes lots of fabric bag, I couldn't resist buying a fabric bag for myself (purportedly for market research but actually because I have a weakness for country flowers).

So, tell me honestly, do you all also like such fabric?  For next month's MAAD shop, we'll be selling bags which are more floral than cartoonish.  We figure that as upwardly mobile career women (and man), such prints would be more befitting for you (well, not for the man).  

I have to admit, although the fabric is gorgeous and the bag I bought has lots of pockets and zippers, it still feels rather mass-market produced (it's got this weird smell).  It is in fact, made in China, by the millions.  Now, by comparison, here's a bag I recently made for myself.

Somehow, I treasure this more, knowing that I took a grand total of 6 months to make this, stitch after painstaking stitch.  I wouldn't throw this away even after many years and even if it is moth-eaten.  But for the fabric bag I bought, I know it'll be a matter of months before I discard it for something fancier. 

 

I guess that's the difference between man- and machine-made.  For those of you who bought something from us, I hope that you will treasure it.  Because if you throw it away, you are throwing a part of us away.  And we'll be very, very sad.