Bernard Rooke floor lamp

Vintage Bernard Rooke studio pottery floor lamp | H is for Home

This fabulous floor lamp came into our lives recently.

Bernard Rooke pottery stamp | H is for Home

It’s by artist, Bernard Rooke and dates from the 1960s/70s period. Bernard Rooke was born in 1938. He attended Ipswich School of Art and Goldsmiths College, London where he took up pottery. He set up a workshop in Forest Hill in London in the 1960s, sharing the space with Alan Wallwork whose work we have sold in the past. Bernard’s pieces are very sculptural and he found that producing lamp bases made his pieces even more acceptable and accessible for the public to have in their homes. They’ve remained a mainstay of his output over many years.

Vintage Bernard Rooke studio pottery floor lamp | H is for Home

There are bulbs both at the top and internally, and this gives a great effect when illuminated – light diffusing through all the little holes and casting shadows on the wall behind.

Detail of a vintage Bernard Rooke lamp with the light diffusing through | H is for Home

We’re now on a hunt for the perfect shade. It has to be Hessian or raffia, we think – and a fair old size too – the lamp base itself stands 3½ feet tall. Let us know if you have one for sale or know where there’s one lurking. We currently have around five lamps that need shades, but this one’s probably top of the waiting list!

Collection of studio pottery stoneware vases | H is for Home

We’ve placed the lamp in our bedroom where it shares the space with other studio pottery from the same era. We like these little groupings of pots. They’re all in quite subdued tones of brown, beige and oatmeal so don’t shout for attention, but we love these subtle variations in colour, shape and texture.

Vintage Bernard Rooke studio pottery floor lamp | H is for Home

The lamp has real impact when you walk into the room. It has the potential to work well in all kinds of settings – from boho-chic to mid century modern. In addition to working well with the other pottery in the space, we also like the way the circular form is echoed by the cane mirror. There’s a classic 1960s starburst clock on the wall close by too. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but we really love it. And we know a good friend of ours will be eyeing it up jealously (and we have to admit that it would look perfect in their house)!

Vintage beaten copper plaque

Vintage beaten copper plaque above the bed in our top-floor bedroom | H is for Home

Last week, we published a post about our recent decorating exploits – specifically our top floor bedroom and its shades of grey and black. At that point, there was a large space above the bed waiting for a suitable piece of art. We’d mentioned that there are lots of things relating to nature in the room – and also copper highlights dotted about. Imagine our joy when we found this gorgeous vintage 1960s beaten copper plaque at a local flea market this week.

Tail detail from vintage beaten copper plaque | H is for Home

The first thing we saw peaking out were the feathers. “Oh, that looks interesting!”, we thought…

Head detail from vintage beaten copper plaque | H is for Home

…and, as we pulled it towards us for a better look, the bird’s head was revealed.

Vintage beaten copper artwork above the bed in our top-floor bedroom | H is for Home

We absolutely love it – the stylised bird, so typical of the era, the materials used, texture, patina and colours. We thought we’d be waiting quite a while to fill that long, narrow space with something suitable – but a few days after taking the initial photos, there it appeared. We very nearly missed the market that day too, but fortunately fate intervened!

A new look for our top floor bedroom

Dark decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

We’ve mentioned our top floor bedroom a few times in past posts. It’s been well over ten years since it was last decorated so a spruce up has been long overdue. We thought we’d share a few photos of progress to date.

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

We love this room. It’s our retreat of choice in the evening – particularly dark, cold winter evenings when we light the stove, watch TV, listen to music or work on the computer – all from the comfort of bed!

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

We like the structural ‘bones’ of the space with its exposed stone wall and original, wide floorboards.

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

It was a great opportunity to introduce some darker colours into our home décor which we’ve intended to do for many years! These shades have a real sense of atmosphere and drama – particularly on said dark winter evenings with fires, candles and fairy lights flickering away.

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

They look good by daylight too – contrasting very well with warm natural shades of wood and wicker – and providing a great backdrop for artwork.

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

The bed is a very important occupant of this space, so we decided on a complete re-vamp. We exchanged a very old, squeaky frame for a new powder-coated metal one; the fabulous people at Tweak supplied us with an amazingly comfortable luxury mattress that we recently reviewed. And last, but certainly not least, some lovely black cotton satin bedding – bought locally (at generous mates’ rates) from good friend, Shaun who owns Rochdale-based textile company FabTrad. They’re wholesale suppliers to some major retailers, but also sell on eBay.

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

It’s hard to put our finger on the exact look of our top floor bedroom. We wanted to furnish it with interesting objects and specimens from nature (in a Victorian gentleman’s study kind of way).

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

So you’ll find shells, coral, fossils, skulls and the like…

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

…favourite antique finds too – that form interesting little vignettes on tabletops and walls.

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home

We also dotted the room with brass, gold, copper and pewter (desperately trying not to overdo it and ending up with a pub snug style). We do love these flashes of metallic though – they give the room a real lift and look fabulous when light catches them.

Our dark-decorated top floor bedroom | H is for Home
It’s still work in progress, but we’re getting there. We hope that you approve!