Another year.........

A very warm welcome to Marlies, JFolk, Marie Jose (Marivigano), Susan (minicrochetmad) and Nuria (Nuri).

Complementary champagne for you all.

Merry Christmas.....

The staff at Apples Tea Rooms wish all their customers a very Merry Christmas X

A warm welcome to Norma, Pilar and Muriel. Thank you for following my blog. It's nice to see you here.

A wee update........

I've changed the lamps outside the Tea Rooms. While I liked the green lanterns I always felt there was something not quite right, then I figured it out - they're green! I found some black lamps (with globe shades that tie in with the interior light fittings) and here you are.

More followers....

Welcome Marlene and MiniMaker. Thank you for following my blog. Please help yourself to a complementary coffee.

My very first follower......

Here's a complementary coffee at Apples Tea Rooms for Janne, my very first follower. Welcome! I'm very pleased to see you.

Printies

I've discovered printies. This is a selection of little bits I made at the weekend for the Gift Gallery. I'm not sure about the clocks as I prefer "real" ones but I might get away with them at the back of the shop. The pictures turned out pretty good, I think. They're mounted on foamboard to give the impression of frameless canvasses. It would be too easy to get carried away with those. There are one or two other bits waiting to be made but I'll post pics of those another time.

Something I've made

I don't normally make bits for my properties (other than curtains, I don't mind that) but I thought I'd have a go at some magazines for the Gift Gallery. Once I figured out how to achieve it, I'm quite pleased with them. It might not be a big deal to a lot of you but to me, it's good!




The little magazine rack was originally mahogany but I painted it white to fit in with the shabby chic look I'm going for in the Gallery.



Hot on the heels of that little success I purchased a little Hat Box kit so I'll be back to let you know how I got on with them.

The Gift Gallery

It's been a little while since I've posted new pics here but I've been busy decorating. The Tearooms now has a Gift Gallery. All I have to do now is get some gifts. I'm hoping for a shabby chic look but a lot will depend on the gifts I manage to get for it. That's the intention anyway.

Here are the two rooms side by side

The right hand side of the Gallery is a smaller room. I'm not quite sure yet how I'm going to link them but I'm working on that. I'll probably have the cash desk on this side.

Here's the left hand side of the Gallery. I've decorated both rooms identically as they're going to be quite busy rooms and I didn't want it to be too much on the eye. I've used a Brodnax paper with co-ordinating curtains but they've still to be made yet.

The little sign on the staircase says "Private" as this leads up to the living quarters of the owner.

The Tea Room

"Eggs Benedict" and "Baked Potato"

The right hand side.

The door on the left "leads" to the kitchen and the door on the right, to the WC

This is the left hand side. The tall cabinets are back-lit.

This was a good sized space to work with and offered a few possibilities with the placing of the furniture. It did mean, however, that I had to make the tables as I needed a couple measuring 2" square.

Office/Store Room

This is a close up to show the items on the desk.

Here's the fully functioning room with store cupboard, office supplies and first aid kit. There's still scope in this room to add more items and that will come in time.

I'll post pictures showing the details of the items on the desk as it's a bit difficult to see what's there from this angle.

This is the "engine room" where supplies are stored and orders are made. Of course, we need somewhere to put the central heating boiler as well!

I made the little desk from balsa wood, then waxed it. It was my first attempt at making furniture that wasn't in kit form.

The Kitchen

The finished and fully functioning room. In keeping with Health & Safety Regulations, there are smoke alarms and fire extinquishers! There will still be items added here but for the moment, I'm very happy with it.

Another view of the kitchen showing the right hand side. I love the dishwasher - press the button and it "fills with water"! This was purchased, along with the fridge, from Miniatura.

I've gone for a traditional country style kitchen in The Tea Rooms. The units came in kit form which enabled me to have exactly what I wanted, where I wanted it.

The flooring is iron-on and waxed. I've discovered I like waxing floors, it's much quicker than varnish and gives a lovely soft finish. All the woodwork in The Tearooms is waxed.

Time for Tea?

Have you ever wanted to visit a traditional tea room where the tables are laid with white cloths, the coffee and tea are poured from silver pots into white china and the cakes and savories are a feast for the eyes? Afterwards, you can step upstairs to the Gift Gallery and browse through the wonderful selection on display there. Well, at Apples Tea Rooms you can.

Inspired by trips to Yorkshire, hopefully Apples Tea Rooms will take you back to a more refined and traditional era.