With vintage style and shabby chic being so popular, a Care Home in Scotland finds itself in fashion with its latest 1940s inspired tea room.

Residents at Berelands House have been given the unique opportunity to step back in time.

The nostalgic tea room has been created within the Priory Adult Care (formerly Amore Care) facility in Prestwick, Ayrshire, and allows the past to be relived in glorious colour.

Being romantics at heart, the residents were happy to have the tea room as part of their facilities and had the pleasure of naming it Earl Grey House. It is a celebration of all things classic and beautiful from the 1940s era, and provides a daily haven for them to enjoy a cup of tea with fellow residents and visiting relatives.

Berelands asked its Activities Co-ordinator, Ann Seabourne, to create the tea room. Ann asked her friend, bestselling author De-ann Black from Ayr, to help with the project. De-ann, whose latest romance books have a tea dress shop and vintage theme was happy to provide artwork for the tea room sign (based on her current bestselling book The Fairytale Tea Dress Shop in Edinburgh and her latest novel The Vintage Tea Dress Shop in Summer) along with various artwork, photographs and fabrics from her new modern vintage and tea room collections.

Ann Seabourne, whose vision it was to make the tea room an environment where residents can participate in various activities including sewing, knitting, home baking and art, said: “I started to create the tea room with a few basic things, and over the past months I’ve relied on finding vintage charity shop items, and in the generosity of friends and family members of Berelands residents who have given various memorabilia.”

Said De-ann: ‘I’ve never seen anywhere quite like this tea room. I’m delighted to have been part of putting it together. The residents obviously love it – but so too does everyone else!  People think it looks fantastic. The 1940s vintage theme is so fashionable right now, as is shabby chic. This makes the tea room the height of nostalgic fashion. Ann and everyone involved have done a great job achieving this.’

It’s seventy years since the 40s, but for many of the residents this was the time of their childhood. Encouraged to actively participate in using the tea room on a daily basis, they have now got a niche that they remember well. Part of Berelands also cares for those with dementia, and this is of particular benefit because often with dementia, short term memory is lost but long term memory remains. The new tea room provides a valuable initiative as part of the Reminiscence Therapy. It is available to them and their visitors to have a cup of tea from vintage cups and enjoy the bygone experience.

Ann added: ‘The tea room is open on a daily basis for the residents and their visitors to use. I’ll be organising sewing, knitting and art related crafts for the residents to try their hand at while enjoying a cup of tea. It’s an environment they feel at home in and it has such a great atmosphere.’

For more information on the specialist services Priory Adult Care can offer, please call the enquiries and referrals team on 0808 208 2147 or click here to make an enquiry.