Pimpernel & Partners, SW6

Say bonjour to beautiful French bargains...say hello to Pimpernel & Partners on the King's Road.

If I say 'French antiques' and 'the King's Road' in the same sentence, I'm sure like me you'll be thinking 'far too expensive' and 'the credit card bill'. But in a lovely chance stumble I happened across this fab store of French furniture and vintage accessories, that is very nicely within my budget. Bravo, indeed!

The products are all sourced from France directly by the owner - who I must applaud for having the most fabulous taste. Furniture is either available beautifully restored or reupholstered. While the accessories are picked from vintage markets.

As a child French holidays were the highlight of my summer. A couple of bronzing weeks spent living under canvas a short walk away from a sandy beach. Bliss. This shop takes me happily back to those heady days - there were so many items here that reminded me of then, lazing around in the sunshine and the markets Mum used to drag us to:

I'm sure a French camping neighbour must have had these...1960s garden chairs. I love them, the seaside stripe in the best colours on the deepest green metal frame. Want. Only £69 - amazing.

And I don't think I spent a summer holiday without smelling a whiff of the annual Pernod my dad insisted on. We never had such a lovely bottle though...

The pricepoints really got me for the King's Road. As I'm usually happy to just browse on this super posh, super snazzy shopping street. But it was this vintage set of sailing boat illustrated glasses and jug for just £22 that really got me hooked...

Here are some of my edited highlights (there's plenty more loveliness in store):

Vintage fabric lined storage, I like this kind of upcycling very muchly...

Lovely measuring jug...

How much cooler is this than those Unigate milk crate monstrosities?

More nice little French-y touches...

A vintage, panda rocking thingy, I need say no more...

Smart and cosy looking, tres bon...

Teatime. With lemon of course...

Love these - 50s coasters, jelly-mould style...

I am sold and sold again. I cannot wait for my Christmas shopping now (yes I am well aware it is still August) family and friends prepare for le gifts magnifique.

Birthday treats 2011

Happy birthday to me. I got me some treats...

The best tasting lemon drizzle cake ever, baked by my fabulous mother...

Best storage solution ever...I actually want to not finish my food now so I can use these...
Habitat tea set. So elegant...Fred Perry knits...
A retro alarm clock that is worth getting out of bed for...
A trip to Hampton Court...look at the colours of those flowers!
A little bit of Latitude...
Dinner treat at Morito on Exmouth Market...
A bit of Tatty Devine personalised marvellousness...
And a little pressie from me to myself from Our Shop.
Good haul.

KEMPTON, TW16

All my car boot dreams came true this week as I *finally* made a long-awaited visit to Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Racecourse.

You know when you've gone out of your way to visit a market...and it ends up being the one that had everything you were looking for but it was all far too expensive? Or that one you got up early to go to and then found it was all mouth and no trousers.

Kempton is neither of those. Kempton let's you forget all that. Kempton is cheap. Kempton has endless stalls. Kempton has everything you were looking for, but still keeps you guessing. Three words: Dream. Car. Boot (well it is officially an antiques market but check out that all those boots!)
So much to tell! Here goes...firstly you must note that the market is only held every 2 weeks, annoyingly for us 9-5ers, on Tuesdays. Which is why I took one for the team (no need to thank me) and booked a sunny day off work especially. I really did - don't laugh.
Luckily for me everything I'd heard about Kempton made it well worth it. No egg on my face for me then. However getting my charming young man out of the house before 7am was not quite as easy.

As the market actually opens at 6.30am. Entry is delightfully free and parking is free too. It's worth taking wheels if you can (who knows what you'll end up with!) but there is train access too, so don't despair.
There are over 700 stalls with everything available that you could imagine (well pretty much). As you'd expect most of the stalls are selling older pieces, with everything from antique furniture to mid-century delights, while accessories span from collectables to knick-knacks, there is even a smattering of vintage fashion and jewellery to keep you hooked if you've had enough of homeware...as if...

I don't think I could ever get bored of old printing press lettering..
And I might even take up snooker to have an excuse to get this snooker-scorer-thingy...
Now I've been on the hunt for bottles of late and these are some of the nicest I've seen...
Lovely old advertising mirror (for fags but let's ignore that shall we?)...
The main part of the market was outside, but I'd imagine the indoor section gets pretty busy in the winter months. On my visit it housed stalls for china, kitchenware, clothes etc and these fellas that caught my eye...
I had a brief moment of pure joy when I found the most perfect vintage sunglasses I had ever seen, for a snip at a tenner. However I found out the perils of having a pinhead when they turned out to be too big for me and practically fell off my face. Dammit.
One of the main reasons (read: excuses) for our jaunt to Kempton was the ambition to buy a new (read: old) sofa. We found one real contender, again for a steal at £350, but we had to leave it be...for a perfectly legitimate reason and nothing to do with the disembodied leg on it, oh no...
The stalls were mainly British but there was also a nice selection of stallholders from farther afield. Including some ever-fabulous French furniture...
A few old classics sprung up like this Alessi kettle, we only let this one go as we are slaves to our beloved whistle kettle...
I loved these! A very apt spelling for an antiques market...
More classics...
There were some really lovely crafty stalls too with ribbons and thread aplenty...

Green fingered market lovers would be happy too. This innovative stallholder was recycling industrial style products for the garden. My fella picked up a few of the long steel plant holders that had started life as part of a now closed-down farm - they are now growing poppies on our central London roof terrace.
These beautifully made tables were newly made, but from reclaimed wood too...
Cloches or models of Jesus? This way please...
Lovely, cheap vintage books, magazines and pictures...
This sweet rocking chair was quite clearly made for a child. I still seriously considered buying it for my bedroom. Everyone needs somewhere to throw random clothes, right?
Even more lovelies...ah it was fun...
Despite my giddiness about Kempton I was impressed with my restraint at the market. I only really picked one thing up for myself. This very cute, if a little battered vintage storage box. My fella was reluctant to buy...until I explained that I could hide all my crafty crap away in it. Now it is my very own to do up nicely and then fill with...well crap.

Kempton is a real winner. I advise that you go (hint: next market is on Tues 9th Aug), love it and then go again. I most certainly will.