Rug Love

I have been obsessed with this Matthew Williamson rug from The Rug Company for a little while. I would love one of these for our new house but I think it will definitely be way out of our price range. The colours used are divine and I just love the pattern. Doesn't it look beautiful with that pink sofa and I especially like it placed on the white painted timber floors!

Set of Vintage Plates

A pretty set of plates are available on Vintage by Lou Lou's Ebay store as above. Don't they look wonderful hung on that aqua wall?!

Christie Brinkley's Dining Room

I adore this image {above} of Christie Brinkley's dining room as styled by Kim Ficaro. In particular I am in-love with the April Gornik painting hanging in the background with those gorgeous silver vases filled with peonies on the dining table. Such a beautiful composition!

Love the fabric on her sofa too!!

Happenings

Life as I know it just doesn't seem to be getting any slower or less hectic. Sometimes I crave a more subdued life but I suppose that's just not me. I am one who loves things happening and if I wasn't complaining about how hectic everything is then I would be complaining about how boring and uninteresting everything is.

You see, I am juggling a few large balls in the air at the moment along with being pregnant with our second child, due to arrive early May {thought it was about time to disclose this information as clients have been looking at me in a strange way too scared to say "have you put on weight or are you pregnant?"}, we are renovating the shop which is very, very exciting. After being there for 10 years now, it is time for a freshen up and as the business has grown we are desperate for more space.

We have taken over more floor space in the upstairs section of our building which will accommodate a large client meeting room, my new office which I will share with Kelly who project manages all our work, and a large fabric sample room. This will enable the shop downstairs to extend through to the back of the building where my office and client meeting room is currently. With the arrival of our beautiful Stuart Membery pieces of furniture due late April/early May this extra shop space is going to be wonderful!

Here's a sneak peek above of upstairs. I took this photo on Friday. The painters are almost finished. The floors are still to be sanded and painted {white gloss} and lighting installed. We should be up-and-running upstairs sometime within the next month. I can't wait to have a special room to meet clients in. Downstairs has become so crazy and jam packed...an obvious sign that it was time to expand upstairs.

Not only are we renovating the shop, with the arrival of a newborn on the horizon, we have bought a new house which is larger than our current cottage with more land as well. Although I will be so sad to say good-bye to our little house {and the fact that I didn't really get to finish it off the way I wanted to} it just won't accommodate our needs with our growing family. The new house, which is actually a very old house and was built in 1887, is going to be a wonderful project which I will keep you all updated on as we move forward.

So, with all that is going on it was nice to spend some time pottering around the cottage this weekend. I was inspired by the vignette I posted on Friday to move a few of my things around. I purchased some orchids and clustered them on our entry table on a silver tray my mother gave me. Whilst I pottered around, Ned just couldn't help but bring lots of mud into the house on the white floors. So many people ask me how I feel about our white floors. I must say they are so hard to keep clean with a big Golden Retriever bouncing in and out of the house but I do love them and continue to put up with having to have them cleaned 3-4 times per week.

Anyway, that's it from me for now. There are a few more very exciting things in the pipeline but those things are for another day. I just thought I would bring you up-to-speed with what's been happening in my world lately.

xx

Anna

all images - anna spiro

Pretty Table Vignette

I love a good table vignette and this one by Kim Ficaro certainly ticks all the boxes for me. So pretty! Have a great weekend. See you next week.

Image - Kim Ficaro Stylist via Aubrey Road

Working On

Here's a little scheme I put together today for a client who lives in the country. She is wanting a simple, classic look. She loves blue and white and natural but wanted me to inject some colour to liven the look a little. These are the fabrics I selected for her for some new cushions, curtains, blinds, recovering of 2 chairs. Her room is all-white and she has timber floors....a perfect backdrop. We are going to use a sisal rug on the floor in the lounge area and some colourful accessories mixed with piles of books in the new built-in bookcase.

Betsy's Office

I know everybody has probably seen this but I just had to post it. I absolutely ADORE Betsy Burnham's office as featured in this month's Lonny. It is very much in tune with the look I love.

Rita's Sofa Update

Sofa Before

It really is amazing what some new fabric on a sofa or chair can do to a room. Look at Rita Konig's sofa update above. I think the fabric she chose is perfect. Doesn't it make a difference?! I often encourage clients to recover existing pieces. It's one of the most effective ways of updating a room along with adding some beautiful new cushions and maybe a few accessories as well.

Rita Konig now writes a blog for the New York Times. She is the daughter of Nina Campbell fabric designer. Images by Rita Konig.

Today I Love...

I adore the photos Julie posted of her home today. I have posted a couple of photos above but you must visit Julie's blog, Shelter to see more!! It is stunning!

Colour Connection

There is certainly lots of things to love about this month's Vogue Living which I just received in the mail today. In particular I loved this shot of Hamish Bowles' living room and thought it went so well with the beautiful child portrait photograph at top by Jenifer Altman.

image 1 - jenifer altman photographer, image 2 - stewart shining photographer for vogue living

Thomas Meyer Portrait

Today I was searching for some pieces of art for a client for a cluster wall we are creating in her lounge room and I came across this gorgeous piece by artist Thomas Meyer via Jamie Shelman's website.

Pink & White Roses

Instead of just one lovely vase of pink and white roses {my favourite} I divided my Valentines Day flowers into three and placed them in some old floral jugs I have....I will absolutely love looking at these pretty flowers all week!

Happy {Love Filled} Weekend!

I thought these lovely aqua and pink images were perfect to post for Valentines Day. Aren't they just the prettiest pictures?! Have a wonderful weekend!!

image 1- Marcus Hay via Delight by Design, image 2 - Lynsey Fryers via Pat Bates

More Photos As Promised

Here are some more photos of our Kathryn Ireland book signing which we held at Black & Spiro earlier this week.

Loving

I am completely in love with these gorgeous purple spots. Top image is new Megan Park via Marie Claire magazine and bottom image is Lilly Bunn Weekes, head designer at McMillen Plus as profiled by Vogue which I found over at Peak of Chic.

More Photos Coming...

Our Kathryn Ireland book signing went very well yesterday. I have more photos to share on my other camera so do bear with me...I will post more photos during the week. It was so inspiring listening to Kathryn talk about her love of colour and how she gets her inspiration for her beautiful fabric collections.

A Tidy Up

We have a little sun room off our bedroom which, since we have been living here, I have used as a dressing room. Although I try to keep this room tidy, it always ends up looking like a bomb has hit it by the end of the week.

I was prompted to have a big clean up recently when Harry came into my dressing room one morning as I was getting ready for work and just shook his head in disbelief at the mess I had got myself into. I had shoes, bags, clothes and jewellery sprawled across the entire room. It started to occur to me that when a 7 year old boy thinks it's bad, then it must be bad!

After a few intense hours of tidying and sorting, it was so nice to see the top of the built-in drawers again. To celebrate my clean-up I purchased some fresh flowers, arranged them in an old crystal vase my grandmother gave me and placed them on the drawers with some magazines and other little bits. I also decided to bring home an Antique still life oil painting which has been in the shop for well over 6 months. Nobody else wanted it and I loved it from the moment I found it, so home it came. It really is amazing how great a tidy up can make you feel. Hopefully I will be able to keep it this way...well at least until next weekend.

Reminder

A reminder that US Interior Designer Kathryn Ireland will be at Black & Spiro this Monday 8th February from 12 noon to launch her new book, Creating a Home.

If you would love to meet her and grab a signed copy of her beautiful book do pop in as everyone is welcome. We will also have some of her divine fabrics on display which can be ordered by the meter.

Two Lovely Bedrooms

I was on the Living Etc. website today and I came across these two bedrooms I love. The top one in particular is my favourite. I love the thrown together mix of patterned fabrics and vintage pieces. This style of decorating always looks unique and individual. The thing I like best in the bottom room is the cabinetry...fantastic idea for a small room don't you think?! I even love the idea of installing bookcasing around a bed in this same way.

A Pretty Boat House

Look at this pretty Boat House....so lovely and inviting. What a perfect spot for a Summer Holiday.


Image 1 & 2 - Mike Newling