#hillfieldtrading

A very good friend of mine who runs a successful business down South sourcing, restoring and generally making quirky vintage finds beautiful once more, brought me a fantastic addition for my garden the other weekend which I’m so pleased with. A used cable reel! ...well I think it’s exciting!

Originally I’d asked Clive (of Hillfield Trading) for some old pallets to see if I could make a table out of them but when he swung the door open of his beast of a van, called Kimmy!, I was literally tripping over myself to get the reel out of the van, wheeled through the house and onto my decking!

Now I was pretty pleased with it as it was. After a little inspection and some wise words from Clive suggesting I give it a quick sand to smooth the edges, and some varnish treatment to ensure the wood doesn’t get damp and ruined too quickly, I figured it would sit nicely where it was and required minimal effort. Perfect.

This was, however, until a few days later when another fabulous friend of mine, Em, very nonchalantly handed me a bag of beautiful tile samples she had collected from her time on Skye and asked if I’d have any use for them. I was stupidly excited, much to Ems ammusement! I had an idea for them immediately. I am attempting a coastal theme for my garden (being as I love the sea but live a million miles from it, this is my way of bringing the sea to me) and these tiles are a beautiful mixed of aqua marine colours, some mirrored, some sparkly. So I am going to attempt to mosaic the top of the cable reel and hopefully create a completely unique table.

I’ve never tried mosaic before but I’ve had a quick read through my many many craft books and Kirsty Allsopp’s “Homemade Home” book came up trumps with a section on making a mosaic table. I have a busy old couple of months ahead but if I can get my materials, tools and grouting head on, and manage to steel a few hours here and there I think I can turn it around in time for the proper summer to arrive. Please let that be soon… :-)