Saturday, January 30, 2010

A bit of Thomas will cheer you up

 
 Hub and I went back to Village Antiques in Bungendore today to try and haggle them down on the ridiculous asking price for the outdoor setting.  No deal!  They said they would only drop the price by 5%, so we told 'em they were dreaming.  Sigh.  No lovely chairs for me.

Isobel, however, had a great time discovering a very sad looking Thomas the Tank Engine.  So the trip was worth it just for her to have a little play.  And I had fun trying out my new Shake It photo app on my i-phone.  Apparently this is as close to vintage as I am getting today!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Inspirational bedrooms - kids

Isobel is nearly three.  Time to ditch the cot and get a big girl's bed.  An excuse to redecorate.  Hooray!
 



  

  
 Catherine Martin for Porter's Paints


Catherine Martin for Porter's Paints

 
Living Etc - Cath Kidston wallpaper



  

 



Thursday, January 28, 2010

What type are you?




 I am Archer Hairline.  Love it!  Find out yours here.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Salt and pepper

Look at this lovely little japanese condiment set I found at Bernardoff on the weekend.  I just love the organic shapes and the grain of the timber. 



 

Monday, January 25, 2010

Vintage finds

We had a lovely day trip to the beach (Bateman's Bay) yesterday, as our friends Pete and Mel are visiting from Melbourne.  Perfect opportunity to stop at a couple of my favourite vintage stores on the way home: Bernardoff in Braidwood and Village Antiques in Bungendore.  Oh, HELLO. 

This is the first beauty I stumbled across at Village Antiques. A mid-century outdoor setting with two chairs and a table. Not in fantastic condition - but I did still fall a little bit in love.  And then....around the corner.......

Ahhhh!  Enough already!  Once again, not in perfect condition - but oh how I adore these chairs.  Slight problem. I really don't have any need for an outdoor setting. But these ones conjure up images of lazy summer afternoons, swanning about in a swirly dress, chilled martini in hand.  How can that be ignored?

One thing I'm not loving is the price.  The first setting is listed as $120 each chair and $85 for the table.  The second setting is $750 all up.   I think that's a bit crazy as they both need a lot of work to de-rust and restore.

Thinking about it overnight, as much as I love the second setting, where on earth would I put it?  It's not suitable for replacing our current setting out the back as it's more about cocktail hour and that space is all about big family lunches and dinners.

The first setting however, I have already mentally placed out the front in our newly graveled area, enticing anyone who passes by to stop for a cocktail and a cigarette.  I think I will send my hubby in to bat for me on this one.  He is the haggling king, I am crap.  They will surely move on price as the chairs aren't in great condition.  So fingers crossed....and watch this space!

UPDATE: Went back to look at the first set today and offered them less than half the price they were asking for. She said they would only reduce the price by 5%! Outrageous!

So...goodbye lovely chairs.

Friday, January 22, 2010

More plants


 



Oooh, and a sneaky shot of our new car!  

I love that I own a car with the word turbo on it. 

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Progress in the front garden

We started work in the front part of the garden this weekend.  Here are some scary before shots, followed by some that show our progress.  Still a ways to go! 


Let's take a moment to admire the current external colour scheme of poo brown bricks with terracotta and green trim.  Noice.

 
See what I mean about it looking a bit like the surface of Mars? We partially cleared this area a while back, but then got pre-occupied with things inside the house.

 
Due to the severe ongoing drought and a major case of neglect on our behalf, most of the garden is struggling to survive.  Hence, we are embarking on a complete overhaul to simply things and introduce hardier, lower maintenance plants and trees.

 
Once cleared, the weed mat goes down. 


 

 
Mid-gravel installation! Love a good action shot.



 




Isobel helps out

 
Turns out shoveling gravel is rather noisy

 
This is where the path will be laid


 
New planters

 
New plants - Evergreen Giant. Should grow to around 60cm tall.

 
New trees - Chinese Pistachios

 
Two pavers laid, about 15 million to go.  Who would have thought the Wiggles 'Big Red Car could come in handy for shoveling dirt?

Friday, January 15, 2010

Pavers



This is what I am thinking for a small path of pavers in our front garden.  

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Goodness for the garden

A look at some of the plants I would like to incorporate into our new garden.....


 Blue Fescue via Nativesungardens 

 
Helichrysum White Licorice


 
Alternanthera

 
Purple Fountain grass




Swamp Foxtail grass

 
Agaves via Jack Merlo Design


 
 Lomandra

 
 Grass Tree via Flickr

 
 Little Gem Magnolia via Flickr

 
Chinese Star Jasmine
(so beautifully fragrant!)



 Chinese Pistachio


Autumn Blaze Maples via Hamilton College

Charcoal + green



I am planning on painting the exterior of our house a beautiful charcoal grey.  Don't you just love how green foliage contrasts with it so beautifully, as in these lovely pics by Martha from Uniform Studio?  I am currently planning a small area of our front garden which we intend to tackle this weekend. The plan is one teensy bit at a time, otherwise I get completely overwhelmed.  I am no landscape designer.....and definitely no horticulturist! So I am finding it a challenge, but also that I do quite enjoy it and excitement of all the possibilities. 



Monday, January 11, 2010

The kitchen! Finally!

Finally, some pics of the long awaited kitchen reno.  It's mostly finished - just some things we need to save up some extra $$ before completing - like blinds and/or s-track curtains for the windows and new sliding doors (out onto a super sexy brand new deck - designed in my head, but nowhere near being built.....).  Oh, and a delicious Stella dining table.



Here are some before shots, from when we first moved in:


The previous owners left us a maiden hair fern which I promptly killed.  Indoor plants are not really my gig. Not ones that need tender loving care anyhow.



One of my favourite features - the public toilet-esque flouro lights.



Mmmm, loving those vertical blinds. And the shark grille sliding door.  Which we still have, but will eventually be replaced by something much easier on the eye. And harder on the wallet.




The piece de resistance, the mural of a french country kitchen on the splash back.  In our beige laminate 80's kitchen.  Weird.


Cork tiles in the kitchen, old and crusty carpet in the family room.  Not so handy for those with a two year old with a food throwing fetish. See her skulking around in the background? Looking all innocent and cute and stuff.

And so the demo begins.......







And finally.....it's all sparkly and new! 


The Tom Dixon Copper Shade's I lusted after for so long.  With the Osborne and Little Trifid wallpaper on the rear wall.  This combo makes me weak at the knees every time I enter the kitchen.



Shame about the massive ugly air conditioner, but with 40 degree (Celsius) days all this week, hell - I am not getting rid of that sucker.




I ended up going with the Sebastian stools from IKEA.  At $69 a pop, I say you can't go wrong.


We went with a Smeg freestanding cooker and range hood, and got the Smeg microwave for free as part of a very handy promotion running at Domayne.  Some people are all matchy-matchy with their appliances and insist on going with the same brand for everything.  I say buy exactly what will work best for you and fit your budget.  I am yet to have anyone visit and gasp 'Oh my!  A Smeg cooktop and a Miele dishwasher!  RUN!'. 





In the end, I went for a large 900 x 300mm polished tile splash back (with a pinstripe you need to be up close to see running through it).  If I could have found the right subway tiles, I still think they would have been the business....but these guys are super easy to clean and leave all the attention to the Copper Shades and the wallpaper. 


The freestanding bookcase is from Decor Living.



I adore my Iittala Ego coffee cups I picked them up from Unit Concepts in their pre-Christmas sale.


Some of Isobel's little skittle monkeys I have stolen and put on the shelf.  Insanely cute.


Paper Vase from Papaya, porcelain bandage votives from The Hive Gallery.






The view from the front hall.  I love that you can see the wallpaper through the  glass of the front door side panel as you come to the entry.  Once again, it's a shame about the ugly air con, but a girl's gotta keep her cool somehow.