Cupboard Love

When I received three of these gorgeous Cath Kidston hat boxes for my birthday, I knew the time had come to clean up and sort out my laundry cupboard.

We live in a four bedroom Victorian house.  I love Victorian houses, for their character and their large rooms.  But why oh why on earth did they make such ridiculously small wardrobes?  We have two 'built in' wardrobes, both of which are not deep enough to hang a hanger the right way round, you have to hang them face on.

So, I have converted one of them which is on the landing outside our bedroom into a bookcase for the childrens' every growing library of books

and the one in our bedroom into a laundry cupboard.

which suits this little lady very well..

More on her, and my fledgling plans next week.

Have a great weekend everyone, despite the weather! x

Comments

[mandy]

that looks like a good idea making them into bookshelves, and I remember reading all those enid blyton books, a very fond childhood memory indeed.

[Louise]

Hi Nicky, how I would love to live in a Victorian house, we live in a very uninspiring 1960s bungalow, not that I don't love the way we have made it, but I would much rather have character, maybe one day? Maybe the Victorians just used to hang their very few garments face on in the cupboards, they probably didn't have anywhere near as much as we have today? I was so pleased to see your array of Enid Blyton books on your bookshelf, how I used to love her stories when I was a kid, remember Amelia Jane and Folk of the Faraway Tree, to name but a few, and when I was older, St Clares and Mallory Towers, they really were great books. I may have to blog this fact sometime? That is a lovely old bear I can see too. x

[Elizabeth]

Ahh, those Enid Blyton books bring back wonderful childhood memories. I was a demon for reading anything by Enid Blyton - I started off with the Noddy stories and progressed through the Famous Five series on to the Mallory Towers series. Many of the copies I had had been my mother's and were wartime editions. They're all safely stored away in the loft in the hope that my nephew (who's four) will eventually want to read them too.

[Jackie Morgan]

Hi Nicky, I've just caught up with your last few posts and have been enjoying them very much. What a good idea with the wardrobes, they look great. Love the teddy, I'm intrigued to know what your plans are now. I kept all my old Enid Blyton books and my daughters enjoyed them when they were younger too. Really agreed with your previous post about the lovely old traditional games to play with children, it sounds as though you are keeping to a good balance by showing them alternatives to computer games. Jackie Mx

[Kathy]

Please can I come and live in your lovely cupboard?!!

[Ram in the Thicket]

The cupboard looks lovely! I'm in the same boat you are, a four bedroom house built in 1930 without any closets! 3 were added later, but they're insufficient. Oh, closet woes ;o)

[Michele]

OOh I do like a bit of order !
Lovely cupboards and tidy tidy shelves.. I wish I could turn the chaos of our shelves into something as attractive as yours.
As you know.. we live in a Victorian house too but without any built in cupboards for clothes.. we still live with a clothes rail in our spare (ha ha ha) room..Did Victorians not believe in cupboards or did they have a phobia of them I wonder???
Our two original cupboards are just wide enough to store a mouse!
Michelex

[Lucy Bloom]

Hi Nicky, oh I do like your cupboard, I love old built-in cupboards like that, no matter what size. I guess maybe the Victorians didn't have a lot of clothes so didn't need huge cupboards?
best wishes,
Lucy x

[Gill]

Oh I'd love to live in a Victorian house too,it's one of my ambitions as they have so much character. The cupboards look so pretty, I adored Enid Blyton as a child, St Clare's and Mallory Towers were my favourites and I used to dream about going to those schools..it seemed a different world when I was gowing up in the sixties on a council estate in a new town! (not that I was unhappy). I think the average Vitorian had very few clothes so no need for huge wardrobes in those days. But you've made the most of the space in them.
Gill

[gayle]

I love the way your wardrobes are. It is inspiring me to sort out my own. I have a roll of floral laura ashley wallpaper that has covered a notebook and my 2008 diary, so it may go to the cupboard too. I love your blog. Am adding it to my favourites today.