Riviera Chic

With the adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby dazzling our screens at the moment I was thinking about how Tender Is The Night successfully captures a timeless elegance, a little more understated but this makes it even more wearable. Net-A-Porter's Christa D'Souza simplifies the key principles of the look for us: “The basic rule of Riviera Chic: keep everything super-simple, neutral and of the utmost quality.” Fingers crossed that it's as easy as it sounds...  

Chicken Wire Noticeboard

21st birthday presents are always difficult to choose. For my friends I always look for something special that they won't be bored of / have replaced within a few months but then, being a student, I've also got to throw price into the equation.

Considering all these factors, when it came to one of my closest friend's big 2 1 I knew it was going to require some creativity. My go to source for inspiration was Pinterest and it was there that I came across the idea to replicate this beautiful chicken wire notice board:

 I was attracted to the simplicity and elegance of this design but also felt it was an achievable project which I could complete in the few days I had before going back to university. Luckily I already had the gold frame but you can easily source similar ones from charity shops and junk stores. Here's my step by step to the finished project:

1) The original gold frame didn't really suit my vision so I gently sanded the frame and painted over the gold with 2 layers of cream paint.

2) Once that had dried over night I brushed a grey colour over the top but wasn't overly particular about getting into all the cracks the frame.

3) After all the paint had dried I lightly sanded the frame so that the cream paint showed from underneath to provide a distressed effect.

4) I stretched the chicken wire (you'll need an extra pair of hands to help) and stapled it into the wooden frame using the power gun.

5) For extra special touches I coffee stained the paper butterflies for a vintage effect and made a label (as a substitute to a card) which included spare wooden pegs so she can fill the frame with photos or memos as she pleases. 

I always appreciate hand made gifts so much more because you know that someone has put a lot of love and time into it. Overall I was really pleased with the creation (and so was she!) but think it's a great example of a 'money can't buy' present - quite literally in this case because it didn't actually cost me a single penny to make as I scavenged all the bits and pieces from around the house but ssshhh, she would never have guessed...