Happy New Year!

What a spectacular year. Feeling so grateful for so much - the arrival of our adorable guy, our girl getting more gorgeous and clever by the day, my mental health, incredible new friendships and being thankful for the friends who showed their strength by meeting me in my darkest times. And a husband who continues to love us all unconditionally. 2013 was full of lessons and I wouldn't change it for anything. Life is pretty amazing after all.

From our family to yours, Happy New Year!

Dining table and weekend happenings!

Hello!

Hope you were able to keep cool on this hot day!

Sooo the dining table - one of Adam's machines broke - so the processing of the timber is going to be outsourced. Adam also severely underestimated the time it requires and with long work hours and two small kids Adam simply doesn't have the time it takes. He's waiting to hear back from a couple of sources, it will allow him to just focus on the building. Why don't we just buy one? The silky oak is a valuable and pretty wood - will be worth it in the long run. Watch this space!

In other news, I picked up two of the silver pendants for the kitchen from Freedom.

I (finally) purchased some linen for our bed. It isn't this exact quilt but very similar from Adairs (the only picture I had on hand).

Adam has another idea for Project 23,435 haha! He would like to build some permanent seating like the picture below for our front deck. The benefits would be more space to sit and a custom look. We would get cushion bases made.

This is where it would go - along the blank wall and along where the current daybed is.

I was originally against the idea as it wasn't even on my list! Haha! But I'm coming around to the idea. It's a great spot to sit and admire the view.

A spot of Boxing Day shopping!

I received some cash for Christmas and it's burning a hole in my pocket. I have a long list of things that I would like to buy and it included a couple of baskets for storage. Like I have previously mentioned, our bathroom has no storage and I wanted somewhere to store the loo paper! 

The kids have toy storage in their rooms but there is always a collection of rattles and paraphernalia that get used everyday so I embraced the chaos and bought a basket for the living room. Both baskets are from Freedom (both reduced).

Recollections (or Early Settler) have 25% off accessories so I indulged in more blue and white and some bits for the kitchen. Never fails to impress me with cheap prices and lovely finds!

I already had some canisters but they were just 'make do' ones. These are quite pretty (would love to get one more, my local has no more).

And who could resist the other items in the set?! Or the little cloche. (Mortar and pestle is an old one). 

Building a table... Part one of many!

Today Adam's Dad came to help him make a start on the dining table (while I kid wrangled). Adam has been talking about building one for a very long time so it's nice to make a start finally!

The pictures are a little out of sequence but here they are using the jointer to make the timber flat or to square it. And it's purely a man cave, there is so much junk it terrifies me to think of moving so here we stay!

Here is the timber stacked under our back stairs. Adam has collected it over time from wood shows etc.

Selecting the good bits. (They are using silky oak).

It is also processed through a 'thicknesser' which true to its name, ensure the thickness of the wood is straight/parallel. And here is a processed piece of silky oak ready for building. It's a very pretty wood!

It took them longer than they thought today so it will take a while to complete!

Christmas 2013!

I hope this posts finds you all well and hope you had a very Merry Christmas. We had a really wonderful day and we all were spoilt rotten. Especially the kids - but that's what it's all about isn't it?!  Maddy got so many dress ups from Mum I enlisted Adam to hang some a board of hooks to keep them on (idea from Pinterest of course).

Among many other things we got this Wedgwood plate, probably something I wouldn't have bought instinctively but really glad we got it because I love it!

We did get the chandelier which is so generous and exciting - just a few more lights and power switches to buy and then we can get them installed! Yay!

Christmas in a bag ready for next year! 

I need to get my laptop fixed to get some photos off my DSLR to share! 

Pondering decorating...

{All images via Pinterest}

I have been thinking a lot about 'a room should look collected not decorated' and it's really difficult to get the right mix of eclectic and interesting without making it look too forced. I adore images and homes full of unique features, it's a feast for the eyes and is probably why Anna Spiro is one of my favourite designers. I truly admire her bold and extravagant uses of colour with classic and interesting pieces. 

Being a perfectionist is also juxtaposing because there truly is no perfect way to make a home your own. And sometimes, 'collect the things you love' can be such a wide range and variation of tastes - it pays to think about whether you want your decor to stay or ebb and flow with the latest trends.

I guess I'll just try my best and hope for the best too! :) It's quite fun really and I shouldn't get caught up in the technicalities! Haha!

Living Areas - Building a dining table!

Adam is finally on Christmas holidays and has a long list of projects. The problem being, Madeline is his shadow and he simply can't get the space or time to tackle anything big! We need to pretend he's gone to work! We are hoping this week, once Christmas is done and dusted Madeline will be cared for for a day and Adam can tackle our dining table.

If you remember from this post what the dining room looked like when Adam bought the house and the old dining suite and then what I had envisioned for the space here. I sold the old dining suite on Gumtree a little while ago so the dining room is currently a dumping ground for said long list of projects. And kids crap. That stuff breeds! Haha!

We have kept the music box, I think it was a family heirloom of sorts. It's quite pretty really and it does work. The room leads to the kitchen which is gated to keep Ollie out.

I also found this photo on my iPhone from a magazine, I also love the sisal rug beneath it. I would love to get natural fibre rugs for our home, eventually.

So he has enough silky oak timber to make the table, so we will see how it progresses. Plenty of photos to come.

I love the idea that it could be kept forever. No pressure on making it perfect Adam! ;)

Magnificent white!

This is a warts and all post!

I had always wanted a white couch (well, white everything) so we bought one last year. It came with a cleaning and conditioning kit that did a reasonable job. It required a fair bit of time and lots of elbow grease and it still wasn't perfect.

Adam's parents used to own a carpet cleaning business and his Dad did some training in leather cleaning. The secret being that they use a form of paint cleaner because the leather is painted white (I've never seen a cow the colour of my lounge before!)

So his Dad gave us some of the cleaner and we used a $2 shoe polishing brush from Coles. The results are pretty darn amazing - like brand new and you can do the whole lounge in half an hour. (Even I have done it). Look at the difference! I personally wouldn't like anything other than leather with the kids, it really gets filthy. We live on our lounge - feet up, toddler climbing and breakfast and lunch. I'm glad I went against all reasonable advice to avoid white and get the couch I loved!

Magnolia Interiors

The above picture is a screenshot of Magnolia Interiors, a display you can see at the moment. The cushions are to die for, the price, also to die for! Haha! It's situated in Fortitude Valley and it's a real treasure to visit. I could quite simply have one of everything.

There was a gorgeous blue duck egg cabinet that I adore and their natural fibre rugs are amazing.

For now I'll just window shop.

External - Front and back decks

I thought I would just quickly drop by and post the deck pictures as they were when Adam bought the house. They both remain as they were, although with our furniture of course. The front deck has spectacular views with a western aspect, so we see spectacular sunsets. The deck was lacquered and is now peeling from sun damage - we just need to sand it back and re-stain.

We have big plans of extending the back deck one day. 

Lights, lights, lights! (Again!)

I went with my mother-in-law to Restoration Station again to have a look at some chandeliers. My in-laws are incredibly generous come Christmas time (well, even extra than normal) and she wanted to see the chandelier we have been admiring. We shall see what Santa brings! I had another look at the pendants for the dining area, I quite love the ones above!

I quite like these as an option for the kitchen, two of these hanging lights? I seriously can't decide!

I also managed to get a picture of some ceiling roses. Wouldn't they look stunning to hang with a chandelier?! 

Much like this image from Pinterest. If only money wasn't an object!

Living areas - The Cabinetry

I had fallen in love with the below image from Pinterest, it was cabinetry of Brisbane blogger, 'The House that A-M Built'. I looked longingly at the space in our entryway and suggested to Adam it would look great and solve one of our many storage problems.

To my absolute surprise he agreed and we called in the cabinet maker who made our kitchen for a quote. I opened the image on my iPad and said 'just like this!' (I wonder how many times he had heard that!) We were happy with the quote so gave him the go ahead to have it built and installed before the birth of Will.

It took the cabinet makers half a day to install due to the wonkiness off our home!

And complete! (And empty!)

It ended up being the day before Will was born! Here I am in early labour! My belly is so low!

And here is the gorgeous boy who waited for my cabinets to be installed. Bless.

Now to decorate the shelving, I have started, another post to come!

Living Areas - During the painting!

After writing about the before I have a few photos of the chaos during the paint. Namely toys galore! In the top picture you can see the pink in the hall and the trims were still a cream - the white has certainly made a difference!

This is our leather lounge, I know, white. We have an amazing cleaner that gets it back to new in half an hour - Adam's parents used to have a floor/lounge cleaning business so we are in the know. It is due to be done again so I'll take some before and afters! 

To be continued!

Madeline's Room - Old progress shots!

 

I found this photo today while I was searching for backyard photos. Since the original post I have moved the shadow boxes and introduced a big girl bed (from Snooze). I also purchased old season Sheridan linen off eBay as the pink was perfect - however due to the synthetic nature of the ruffles - Madeline slipped off one day and is scared of the linen! Haha! I have since changed it up a bit.

 

This photo was even earlier, pre-big girl bed. I wanted to post this as it is a lovely shot of the personalised cushion and others - excuse the non-styling of the throw!

And a picture of my little darling, I adored this Country Road dress so much I have kept it.

So a post for my own record really! As you were!

The Backyard - Part 2

 

Adam's vision for the backyard included a fenced playground for the kids. To keep the dog out and the kids in. I can't seem to find the images but Adam hired a mini digger and dug all the fence post holes with it. (His Dad was also an integral part of the build!) Once the posts were in and the general structure erected the fresh turf was laid.

 

 

Another productive weekend saw Adam and his Dad nail the palings on, and so the playground had a fence!

 

 

To be continued.

The Backyard - Part 1

 

We are lucky to have a large block, around a quarter acre. Unfortunately these pictures don't show the full back block including a gigantic Moreton Bay fig in the back right! Just off the back deck was a gardenia hedge, it was growing quite out of shape and was becoming spindly. It still flowered beautifully but was a bit of a barrier to the backyard.

 

 

So despite our big block, we didn't really use it. It was our Ollie dog's domain and quite honestly we weren't/aren't very good at keeping up with the pooper scooping so it was just a waste. So Adam had an idea and before I knew it, a mini digger was climbing the back retaining wall to tidy up a bit!

 

 

The driver absolutely loved the challenge and I emailed him a few pictures for his files.

 

 

Before we knew it (and with the help of a labourer who chopped and carted rubbish/greenery away) the backyard was clear and a blank canvas.

 

 

To be continued.