New wall art + a familiar story

Some of you may remember the lovely hand-stencilled wall button (on the left) I had hanging in my studio

  (boy, it was tidier back then). It's by local Tassie textile artist, Penny Malone. Well, the other day I finally added another to my collection. There is it below :)

The design is based on a building at 80 Collins Street, Melbourne. It's funny as I'm not a huge fan of the colour orange, but I just love it in combination with pink and red.

I decided to hang them in the lounge room as we have a couple of big bare walls.

Bit of a quirky combo but I like it.

I'm not sure if I'll leave them there, or even together, as I like the idea of the geometric one by itself or even hung with a pink/red graphic print or two. I suppose that's the beauty of picture rails, you can move art around and not have to patch walls :)

And my familiar story?

 Well, you know the old story about the plumber's house without decent plumbing, or the builder's house that is never fully built? Same goes for electrician's homes. We have been here for almost 3 and a half years and I had a power point in the kitchen that had only one switch that worked. I have been juggling appliances, constantly unplugging and plugging in again. The other night I was cooking on "George" the grill and wanted the rice cooker going at the same time. Lyndon decided on that moment to fix the power point.

Would you believe after 3.5 years it only took him 5 minutes to fix that darn thing?!!

I was so excited. Now if I could only get him to replace the power points in the lounge room...

xx

Bedroom thoughts and wardrobe update

I love blogland, I really do. I was so impressed by all the wonderful comments received on my last post about my new/old wardrobe. The response, not surprisingly was an overwhelming NO! to my thoughts of painting our wardrobe. Thank you so much to those of you that took your time to write such passionate and thorough responses. It really was fantastic.

You will then be glad to know that for the time being, you have talked me out of painting the wardrobe.

I've posted a couple of images here of how I'd like the room to feel. Light, relaxed and cosy.

Look at that pretty wardrobe below. Inspiring? No really, as much as I love this look I will resist the lure of the paintbrush :)

Apart from my lovely wardrobe, the only other pieces in our room that I like is this antique chair.

Really, it's a bit of a blank canvas.

Paint the walls, consider a feature wallpapered wall, patch the skirting, install picture rail and cornice, sew a pretty curtain, acquire a new bed and some bedsides, paint the set of drawers and Bob's your uncle. Sounds easy?

So why hasn't it happened yet?

Do your renos and spruce-ups take forever or do you just get them done?

xx

ps, unfortunately we missed out at the auction at the weekend. We unsuccessfully bid on three doors that would have been great at our place. Oh well, hopefully there's a next time.

Images 1- via Brabourne Farm, 2&3 - Irideeen blog

last image - moi!

Furrniture Friday... to paint or not to paint?

After 3 years of living without a wardrobe we hit the jackpot at the start of this week.

Behold the wardrobe!

It's solid Blackwood (a Tasmanian native hardwood), probably from around the 1920's. Found on good ol' Gumtree website. How good is Gumtree?

It has some nice details but most importantly, it fits a whole heap of clothes.

Inside, the right door conceals shelves and drawers and the left-hand door and behind the mirror is hanging space with a handy shelf above.

Mirrored door strategically placed to hide the messiest of all bedside tables :)

Getting this puppy inside was no easy job. Thankfully, we were able to borrow a big truck from Lyn's work and perhaps even more thankfully, the wardrobe came apart into 4 sections - hanging section, drawer section, base and top pelmet thingamy.

Boy oh boy were we pooped!

The big question now is... to paint or not to paint?

A lot of people would think it terrible to consider painting over solid timber, but I suppose it could always be stripped. I am considering milk paint, but more so I think I need to paint that awful purple feature wall a nice clean white and then see how I feel about it. The room doesn't get tonnes of sun so I'd like to create a light feel I think.

Of course now that I feel slightly more enthused about this room and how we could decorate it (another post on that to come), the boy decides that maybe the hallway should be next to attack. Whatevs Lyndon :)

More on that later no doubt...

Above is the crappiest pic you have ever seen me take, but I had to share it. Here is the little girl being the total life of the party last weekend. She was festooned in streamers and chased and popped as many balloons as she could. A real party animal that Mollsie girl. It made me feel really happy just to watch her have so much fun.

As you can see I have been playing with camera apps.

I love my furry girl just sooooo much. Way too much.

I know I have posted the image above before, but it I've re-fiddled with the filters and thought I'd post it again. We always need some flowers on Friday, after all.

Yay for the weekend. Anything good planned? We are off to an antique auction tomorrow.

Looks like being rainy so keep warm and dry my friends (and enjoy the summer those of you in the northern hemisphere)

Love to you all xx

Interior designing dilemas

Pretty Iceberg roses in my new Ikea vase thingamy

We have been in our house for just over 3 years and we are still using an old sheet as a bedroom curtain and have no decent storage in the same room. Everything is crappy, nothing matches, in fact it is all very mismatched in a bad way (as opposed to funky mismatching).

We have had enough. It's time to start sprucing it up.

Being on a budget and not living near Ikea is rather a pain at times. Built-in wardrobes are not a budgetary option and the hardwood to build out own built-in would be scary expensive, so it's looking like secondhand, or "vintage" is the way to go.

I just can't decide on what "look" I am after for the room. Soft and romantic, contemporary, dark and moody or "eclectic" (ie I can't decide so just mix it up).

Sometimes I wish I wasn't so indecisive! Do I want light coloured walls? A feature wallpaper wall? I was keen on some nice silk curtains but do I go for a print or plain?

I found a heavily marked down Louis-style bedside table the other day. Took a photo off home to get Lyndon's opinion, decided to go for it and wouldn't you know it the darn thing sold. Arrgh!

I wish I knew what I wanted to do. By the time I decide another 3 years will have passed.

I'm too embarrassed to show you the current shots of the room (hence the nice rose image) but hopefully there might be something nice to show before too long. Don't hold your breath though.

How do you guys make these decisions? Do you just know what you want? Do you have distinct tastes or are they many and varied like mine?

xx

MOD mantelpiece

Hi friends, a good morning to you all.

Whilst I was in Melbourne the other week I was very excited to be attending the Finder Keepers Markets where I knew I'd be able to see ceramics by The Mod Collective.

I'd seen their beautiful porcelain pieces online and thought they were beautiful. It was overwhelming to see all those beautiful colours and textures in the flesh.

How on earth I managed to decide on these two, goodness only knows.

Aren't they pretty?

The insides are glazed clear and the outside surface is matte in finish, but shows off the amazing textures well.

I'm very pleased with them and they now adorn the mantelpiece. I think they look lovely near my painting.

By the way, see that cute blue milk bottle in the top image? That's another coloured porcelain piece I discovered at Rose Street Markets. It had to come home with me :)

It's difficult resisting adding a few more colours to this small collection, but you really only need so many knick knacks, don't you think?

Well, I best get on with my day. This would have happened a LOT sooner if Blogger wasn't such a pain in the butt and posted this post back in time when I fist drafted it (last week). What use is that? Then when I tried to fix it, it deleted all content and posted it blank. Again, very useful and just the 'look' I was after Blogger, thank you.

Arrggh, so I have retyped and fingers crossed the darn thing works this time!

I hope you all are having better luck :)

xx

Tablescape

I don't think I had heard the word 'tablescape' until I read it recently on Deb's blog.

But it seems tablescaping is something I like to do :)

I gather my bits together in different combos, currently a slightly French theme, though that's a bit of a stretch of the imagination.

My little grocery shopping treat. Beautiful pink buds for only $5. I just couldn't walk past.

Little white animals, geranium and my lovely big dome containing a red tin heart and some beautiful antique French tricoleur ribbon.

A closeup of the buds :)

Do you tablescape at your place?
It looks like being a beautiful day today. Have a lovely one :)

xx

Fresh mantelpiece

I have been a bit slow to post my post-Christmas mantelpiece. I decided to go with fresh, clean colours.

A very quirky raku-fired ceramic bird by Valerie Willy. Hasn't she got character?

A beautiful hand-printed paper dress by my talented friend, Leonie Oakes, flanked by some cute white bits and pieces.

A close-up of my gorgeous dress :)

A pretty Tord Boontje vase with a couple of candles, both too pretty to burn. The jar is a Voluspa candle and the other is from Vintage by Lou Lou and smells divine with its French Pear fragrance.

I am still working on some art for over the mantel. I have printed a couple of images which I'll show you soon.

xx

Tord Boontje garland

Obviously this is NOT a Tord Boontje garland :)

But, I was lucky enough to receive one for Christmas from my sister. Thanks Rachael :)

I love Tord Boontje design.

SO, I decided to set it up in the hallway in place of the grotty paper lantern shade that had been hanging there since we moved in.

It was so dirty!

Here is the garland flat packed.

I had read on Anna's blog Door Sixteen that setting up the garland is like organising a pack of wild ferrets.

But there it is! It wasn't too difficult at all.

Look at the shadows..

Not the best pics, but you get the gist.

Ooohh, pretty!

Pretty cushion from Ada & Darcy

A very pretty parcel arrived in the post the other day. After being very stingy with myself for quite a while, I decided to treat myself with a sweet cushion from Ada & Darcy. Look how prettily it's wrapped!

Nice and bright!

I have decided to spruce up the lounge with some new, bright cushions so this one is a good start. I have to recommend Kellie's lovely online shop - so many gorgeous and tempting things. Thanks Kellie :)

A nice idea

I discovered this idea whilst surfing around the blogs yesterday. So simple yet very effective.

It's from Purl Bee. They're just simple embroidery hoops with pretty fabric. Nice!

Shades of blue

It seems like such a simple thing, choosing a paint colour for walls. But, let me tell you it's not easy. I know I want to do my studio room a super pale blue but am tearing my hair out with which 'sort' of blue I might like. I found some lovely blue shades in my magazines and chose a bunch of colour cards at the hardware store.
The wall in the magazine on the left is painted in Blue Glace and the swatch is sitting on the page. They look quite different. It looks almost white but when I stick it up on the wall it definitely looks blue. My other choice is a more duck-egg colour. I'll work it out eventually.

My other dilemma is the light. I just love the Ikea Maskros dandelion light but at a diameter of 80cms I would barely fit in the room with it! Darn, the search goes on...

Famille Summerbelle map

I rather fancy these prints made from original papercuts by Famille Summerbelle. Gorgeous!
I think I'd like to place one over the mantelpiece in the lounge. I haven't convinced Lyndon that we need it yet but when I do I will then have to decide on the colour and city. We've both been to London, I've been to Paris and Lyn has been to New York.
I like the hot pink and turquoise colours though am thinking maybe red or sage green might be good in the space. Do you think that would make too much red, given the huge Marimekko canvas in the same room?

Roses and freesias

I love the smell of freesia's and these wild ones picked by Mum by a roadside smell amazing. I'm not sure what the other flower is but I would like to find out.

I discovered my couch in a magazine via a blog I cannot remember ( sorry - I look at so many). It looks so lovely with all those cushions and framed piccys. Very nice.

Curtain dramas

Ugghh, am so frustrated by curtain people who after 8 weeks rang to say they didn't have enough material to make my curtains. Not happy.

Have to find new fabric now which is, of course, going to cost more and break the budget further. Fun fun fun.....

Meanwhile, here is a stunning curtain piccy taken by my buddy Steph whilst she was holidaying in the Loire Valley, France. How luxurious is this curtain?