Seaforth Cottage

Jane & Neville {above}

Janes Lilies {above}

Harry on the front steps {above},  He looks like he lives there!!

Me with Max and Charlotte {above}


I have long admired {actually, ever since I was 14 years old} the very pretty cottage which is located diagonally opposite my parent's house.  It is called Seaforth Cottage and was built C.1897.  It has been owned by Jane and Neville for the past 30 or so years and they are some of the most beautiful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

As a young girl I would often talk about the pretty white cottage across the road.  I even told Brad when we were looking for our first house years ago that if that house ever came on the market then I would really, really love to live there.

I recently plucked up the courage and went over and introduced myself to Jane and Neville.  We sat on their front verandah and I asked them the huge favour of whether I could use their beautiful home for our upcoming Christmas/Summer photo shoot for our online store.  I explained to them that I had always loved their pretty cottage and I would often wish I could go inside to see what it was like and what lovely things they had furnished it with.  There was absolutely no hesitation and they offered their home to me with open arms.

One of the most beautiful things about Jane and Neville is their generous spirit.  Jane is actually a potter and an extremely talented one at that.  She holds classes for a couple of ladies in the street one morning a week in her gorgeous white timber shed at the back of the house.  You might have noticed the pottery animals on the verandah under our Christmas tree over at the online store.  Well, those are Jane's.  She has lined her entire verandah with her pretty and enchanting pottery animals.  I told her I wanted to take them all home with me!  She laughed.

I should also mention that next year Neville turns 100.  I really couldn't believe it when Jane told me. 

We had the most glorious day setting up our Christmas/Summer vignette on their front verandah and front lawn.  Did you notice the beautiful garden in the pictures?  It is amazing to say the least.  When we were there all the November lilies were beginning to flower.  It is just so beautiful and rambling and imperfect.  Just the way I like gardens to be.

I hope you enjoyed hearing a little bit about the beautiful house we used for our online vignettes this season.  I feel that Seaforth cottage was the perfect setting for our photo shoot.  It gave us that beautiful, lived-in, comfortable, old family house feel which is exactly what I wanted this season to reflect...a place where good times are shared and memories are made.


xx
Anna

Above are some of Jane's pieces.  They are so gorgeous!!

Simply Divine

I have a thing for white houses.  Our first house was white our second house was white, our beach cottage is white and our current house, which will be the house we stay in forever, will also eventually be white.  I don't ever stray to another colour and even when clients ask me what colour they should paint their house I always reply white.  The fact is that white houses never date.  I especially love white houses when they are surrounded by lots of gardens or big green luscious trees and lots of green neatly trimmed grass.  There is nothing prettier in my opinion.  I was completely awestruck when I spotted this beautiful old white house over at Coco + Kelley blog earlier this week.  How simply divine!!

A Pretty House

I think this house is so pretty and charming. The all-white background is divine and I love the little hints of blue and pink and red and green.

All images via skona hem

Summer on the Otherside

One of the things I love about this time of year {Winter in Australia} when it comes to my magazine subscriptions is the beautiful Summer homes featured in my favourite American magazines. Even though we are a little lighter on this year without the likes of Domino to give us our hit, this month's issue of Elle Decor looks like it's a cracker!! Loving this house belonging to Scott Currie {Elie Tahari public relations} in Southampton, New York.

Pretty House

Amanda posted this gorgeous house yesterday so I don't want to steal her thunder however, I do really love this exterior shot with the billowing sheer curtains. Isn't it gorgeous? You must go and see the rest of the house on Amanda's blog.

Image - Country Living Magazine via Swish & Swanky Blog

Fun Fun Fun

My son would be in HEAVEN if this was our yard with that amazing trampoline and I as his mother would be in HEAVEN if this was our house...the yellow shutters are seriously beautiful...I'm in LOVE!!

I'm off now until next week. Have a great weekend!!

Images via Pink Wallpaper - Sixx Design

A Pretty White Cottage

Over the weekend I was having a little look on realestate.com and spotted this very cute house for sale in Clayfield in Brisbane. It has all the right attributes in my opinion - it's white, it's a cottage, it has a pretty garden and a pretty white picket fence...

House Hunting

If I was house hunting in Brisbane right now this house would definitely be on my must see list...

Houses To Die For

Well it seems my blog block may have almost passed...phew! Thanks for all of your encouraging comments!! Look at these beautiful old houses captured by Erika over at Urban Grace. She and her friend Annmarie recently packed the kids in the van and went for a drive around Boston to 'stalk' some of the gorgeous houses around the place and WOW is all I can say! Here are a few which caught my eye!! The top one is my favourite!

Inspired By Others

Gorgeous wicker verandah furniture via Nibs Blog {House & Garden}


A beautiful old white timber house from Country Living via This is Glamorous


Beautiful kitchen cabinet via Habitually Chic

Stencil Library via My Notting Hill

Felicity's little pink tutu twins - so gorgeous!!


Loved this via Urban Grace via Design Crush via ffffound


Beautiful wedding dress via {I can't remember}

I have been a bit busy this week and consequently my posts have been a bit light on so tonight {to make it up to you} I thought I'd show you some of the things I have loved lately from some of my favourite blogs. Thank you to all my favourite bloggers out there {and I have lots of favourites} for your inspiration....I am continually inspired by the beautiful things you post!!

Talking About Pretty Cottages...

How cute is this little cottage??!! I love the vine creeping around the windows and doors and that old iron sun bed looks like it would be a perfect spot to sit on a Sunday afternoon with a few favourite magazines and books!!

Image via Skona Hem

And Today I Love This Too...

And why would I stop at one "Today I Love" house when there's this gorgeous one too also from House Beautiful via The Inspired Room.

Today I Love...

Loving these 2 images from Skona Hem! They make me dream about Summer!

Nappa Valley Weekender

Loving this white timber house in the Nappa Valley as featured in House Beautiful. Apparently the property boasts the original 1940's ranchers cottage (revamped, of course), a big barn house and two tent bungalows! Wow, sounds (and looks) fantastic!!

More Mollies

A few weeks ago I posted a beautiful picture of a room at Mollies Boutique Hotel in Auckland as a link to a post This Is Glamorous did on Mollies. I recently stumbled across these images of the exterior of Mollies on Trip Advisor and felt I had to share them. Such a pretty building!! Enjoy!!

White Cottage Love!!

Two gorgeous white timber cottages via Martha Stewart swept me off my feet and took my breath away today...