How's your granny?

TRENDS:If it shows its age and looks like it has a story to tell, it probably qualifies as Granny Chic, the latest interiors craze

‘IF,” DECLARES THIS spiffy new book about Granny Chic by fabulously named duo Tif Fussell and Rachelle Blondel, “you have a fondness for vintage fabrics, yarny goodness and forgotten finds with a tale to tell, then this book will be your cup of tea.” They mean a slightly chipped flower-splattered vintage cup, mind you. None of your clean-lined Ikea nonsense here. What is Granny Chic? Is it very much different to Shabby Chic? Is it curmudgeonly to refer to it as “That Doesn’t Look A Bit Chic To Me Chic?”

Those searching for the definition could do worse than visit the website of actress and author Pauline McLynn. For some months now, the former Father Ted actress has been flogging her own hand knitted tea cosies, ingeniously called Go Ons, in honour of her tea-addled character Mrs Doyle. They are colourful, bobbly explosions of wool decorated with beads and ribbons. They are not for those with a subtle aesthetic and they cost between €50 and €90. (Ah here, you might very well be saying to yourself at this point, go on.)

Granny Chic is everywhere and it’s no longer cheap. The days when you could pick up an old fashioned butter knife for a few cent in a charity shop are long gone. If it’s faded, or mismatched, or looks like it might fall apart with too much handling that’s Granny Chic. If you crafted it out of old doilies while wearing a handmade pinny that’s Granny Chic. If you walk into a house where the furniture is covered in vintage wallpaper and you can barely suppress the urge to sweep everything into a skip, it’s fair to say you’ve hit the Granny Chic motherload. We’d like to say we’re over it, but this is one craze that is not going anywhere. And if you can’t beat them, then cover an old kitchen chair with scraps of vintage material. Obviously.

Granny Chic Crafty recipes & inspiration for the handmade home from dottie angel and ted & agnes, by Tif Fussell and Rachelle Blondel is published by Kyle Books, £16.99