Hello

Hello!  How are you all?  I am still here...just in case you are wondering.  I have decided to just slow down the posts a bit on the blog.  My life is crazy busy and I realise that I do need to take some time to smell the roses so-to-speak!  That doesn't mean that I am departing from this space, it just means that I might only post once or twice a week instead of 4-6 times per week.  If you do want to keep up with my travels on a more regular basis then just follow me on instagram.  I find instagram so quick and easy and I love following everyone else as well!!  My instagram name is - annaspiro just in case you want to follow!!

Talking about Instagram I fell in-love with this beautiful picture Vogue Australia posted today of this old Vogue cover.  Isn't is fabulous!  I could design an entire room around the colours on that cover!  So beautiful!!!xx

In other news our gorgeous Ally who joined our team at Black & Spiro a few months ago is currently in New York doing a bit of buying for us.  She is also hunting for some very special things for an exciting event we have coming up early September...more on that later!!  Look where she is right as I type this post....The Surf Lodge in Montauk!  I can't wait to see all the gorgeous goodies she brings home for the store.

If you are around New Farm this week make sure you drop in as we have some beautiful new lamps just in!  Look at these fabulous Teapot and Teacup lamps.  So much fun and so well-priced!!
 

Have you visited Mr & Mrs G Riverbar yet?  Did you like it??  If you go you must try the meatballs and have a Cosmo...you won't regret it.

And finally, I just adore this divine image which I have pinned on my pin-board at the moment as my inspiration for Summer!  Lots of blue, green, yellow, coral and natural!!

Until next time. 

xo

Anna

Something New

Sometimes we all crave a bit of a fresh new look in our homes. I know I'm always craving a bit of new here and a bit of new there.  But it doesn't have to be an entire makeover of the lounge room or bedroom or dining room.  It can just be a very simple addition like this little old cane table and blue and white planter pot and books which one of our very special Black & Spiro customers put together in her home last week.  She popped into B&S last Saturday and picked up the table and put a few of her other B&S purchases on top with some fresh orchids in the pot.  What a breath of fresh air and so easily, quickly and inexpensively thrown together!!

xx
Anna

Mr & Mrs G Riverbar Open

I'm so excited to finally share a few snapshots of the fabulous new bar I have been working on in the city here in Brisbane which just opened late this afternoon.  Located right on the edge of the Brisbane River, Mr & Mrs G Riverbar has, in my humble opinion, one of the best views in Brisbane! 

The bar is named after it's owners Marcia & Andy Georges who have owned and operated Il Centro Restaurant here in Brisbane for the past 20 years!  The new bar is located just in front of their restaurant and is certainly the perfect place to spend an afternoon/evening with friends admiring the amazing view of the Story Bridge and enjoying wonderful tapas and of course a few drinks!

I worked with Marcia from conception of the bar.  We chose all the fabrics, furniture, cushions, wallpaper, lights, tiles and finishes together and I think it has been a wonderful collaboration of ideas.  One of my most favourite things is the wall of old photos, newspaper clippings, menus etc. which I came up with only last Monday!  We were going to place a painting on the wall but I thought it would be so special to do a wall which explained to their customers who they are and their history in the restaurant industry here in Brisbane.  I met with my beautiful framer last Tuesday and we selected some wonderful frames some of which were in his old shed.  I couldn't believe my luck when I found some of the most wonderful vintage frames hidden away in the back of the shed.  Everyone who has seen the wall is shocked to find out that all of the pieces have just been framed!  They look like they have been away in a cupboard for years and years...just the look I wanted to achieve!  In only 5 working days he framed up 29 pieces for our special wall and when we hung the wall yesterday there certainly were a few tears shed!!

And I am also thrilled that we were able to include a wall in the restaurant wallpapered in my Higgledy Piggledy Stripe wallpaper in the blue and white colourway.  Oh and look up to the ceiling when you walk into the bathrooms! 

Anyway, enough of my ramblings!  I do hope you can pop in to enjoy the atmosphere at the new Mr & Mrs G Riverbar!  I am sure it will exceed your expectations!  It is truly divine and I am so proud to have been involved!  Here's to another huge success for you Andy & Marcia and thank you for asking me to be involved in such a wonderful project!!xx
Anna

Sneak Peek

I thought I would share a little sneak peek of the bar front at the new Mr & Mrs G Bar which I have been working on and which is set to open here in Brisbane by the end of next week!!  We have used a patchwork of hand-painted blue and white tiles on the front of the bar as above!  It's going to be such a beautiful place!  I'll definitely post more pictures once it opens next week!!
xx
Anna

Pretty Poppies

I must say I am a little bit obsessed with the poppies we are growing in our garden at the moment.  They just seem to be sprouting out everywhere.  Their ruffling petals are so pretty and the colours so bright and uplifting!!   Here are a couple of photos I took on the weekend of some I cut for the house.
xx
Anna

Seeking Clarity



One of the things I love so much about using white as a background on surfaces like walls, floors, cabinetry and even sofas, armchairs and bedding is that you can layer lots of colour on top or strip it back to it's bare self and simplify.  It's just so flexible.  With my thoughts turning to planning our Summer look here at Black & Spiro I am craving a bit of clarity this week so maybe that's why I am posting these tonal white-on-white photos to strip back the colour, clear my head and start again.

xx

Anna 

image 1 - john derian, image 2, 3, 4 via pretty stuff, image 5 via art and lair blog, image 5 via pretty stuff

More Bits of Treasure

Over the weekend I opened up an old timber box which had been hiding away in a cupboard.  Inside I found some old special things I hadn't seen in a while.  I pulled them out and made myself think of where each piece came from.  Even Harry & Max were excited to look into the old timber and brass kaleidescope to see the most beautiful colourful shapes.  That's the special thing about collecting beautiful things you can put them away and rediscover them all over again years later.  Instead of throwing away or giving away things you might be tired of why don't you pack them up and store them so that you don't miss out on the joy they can give you all-over-again in a few years time.

xx

Anna

My Treasure

When you look at this picture you see lots of stuff.  When I look at this picture I see special things which hold memories from places I have been and experiences I have had. 

For example, the Antique silver photo frames I bought at the Notting Hill markets in London a few years ago.  They house special photos of my Harry when he was little.  The rock with the shell embedded in it was handed to me by Harry when we were on a beach on a family trip to New Zealand a couple of years back.  The flat stone sitting in front of it I found recently on a beach at Coffs Harbour when Olivia and I were on our Sydney Road Trip.  The little still life oil painting I found in a market in Paris when I visited there with some friends a couple of years ago and the pretty fresh flowers were picked from my garden over the weekend and include my first 4 poppies for this season.

Every single item on that chest of drawers is a piece of treasure which I cherish.  I didn't just buy these things to fill the top of my chest.  That's not what it's about.  I have collected these things and every piece holds a very special memory. 

xx
Anna

Perfect Fire Weather

Gee it's cold!  Perfect weather for a fire. If I had my way I think I would have both of our fireplaces lit 24/7.  Remember my old French chair covered in the vibrant stripe which you can see in the picture above?  Well, I think it might be time to recover it.  I'm imagining something simple like a ticking.  I bet you think I'm mad but I want to tone it down in our lounge room.  Maybe I'll just put it in another room and cover another chair.  Not sure yet.  Obviously I've had too much spare time on my hands today with the public holiday!  I'll let you know what I decide. 

xx
Anna

Art & Other Things

Have you seen the beautiful Adam Lester exhibition currently on at Jan Murphy Gallery here in Brisbane?  I took my 2 boys, Harry and Max to see the wonderful paintings last Saturday mainly because Harry loves to draw and I thought Adam Lester's work would resonate with him.  He certainly came away feeling very inspired by the cargo ships, roosters and cowboys and as a result he has been drawing all week, even in the car on the way to school.

Here is one of his little creations.  He obviously has the same love for colour as his mother.  His neon coloured pencils seem to be the shortest in the pencil case.

Look at this beautiful bounty of textiles which currently exist in our bedroom display at Black & Spiro.  The vintage suzani on the bed is one of the most beautiful pieces of cloth we have ever had.  It is quite difficult to find old suzani textiles with white backgrounds and CLEAN white background suzanis are even harder to come by.  So this one is certainly a special piece of treasure and it's lovely large size fits perfectly on the end of our bed.

Here are a couple of other new things we have in store at the moment. 

Look at this fabulous combination of colour.  I adore pink and red together.  It's such a quirky, almost eccentric combination don't you think?  This little cluster of special things sit on a side table in my friend's apartment in Sydney where we stayed last week.  Thank you Mrs G.  You're apartment is divine.

Talking about Sydney, I really miss you and I really miss Mike's cooking.  I wish we had something like you in Brisbane Mike {Kitchen by Mike}.  Look at the fabulous arrangement of fruit and veges so effortlessly placed on an old trestle table at Mikes and isn't the old set of scales TO-DIE-FOR! 

Mum - don't you have an old set of scales like this?  Pllleeeeeeaaase can I have them?!?!

xx
Anna

Sydney Road Trip - Part 2

Here are just a few snaps of the house we installed in Darling Point whilst we were in Sydney last week.  Why did I forget to take photos of the Main Bedroom?  Hopeless!  I will try to get some more shots when I am back at the house later in the year as there is more work to deliver over the coming months.

I love that this is a very sophisticated house but one which still embraces our love of colour and pattern.

xx

Anna

PS - sorry the photos are a bit dark - I took them with Instagram.xx

Sydney Road Trip Snaps - Part 1

Our week in Sydney last week was without a doubt very hectic but also lots of fun.  We left Brisbane last Saturday and travelled by car over 2 days to my favourite city in Australia.  I thought I would post a few pics from our fabulous week away.

From light houses to roadside fruit stalls and houses on the beach there was lots to be inspired by.  There's nothing like a week out of the office to get the creative juices flowing.

Tomorrow I will post part 2 of the pictures from our week away which will include a few pictures of the beautiful house we installed in Darling Point.

xx
Anna

Whirlwind Week

Above from left - Sheila from Porters, Olivia from Black & Spiro, Aimee from Porters and Me...

We have just returned from a whirlwind week in Sydney where we installed a beautiful house in Darling Point, met new clients for some exciting new projects, met some new suppliers for beautiful things for our store and attended a breakfast at Porters Paints for my wallpaper collection.  Here are a couple of photos which came out of the breakfast which I thought I'd share with you.  If you have been following our road trip on Instagram then you might have seen these pictures already. I will be posting lots of photos from our trip next week here on the blog for those of you who haven't been following our trip via Insta. 

Also, thanks so much for your lovely post about our new wallpaper collection on the Coco Republic blog Natalia.  It was lovely meeting you this week and also Jen from Interiors Addict and Viv from Ish & Chi and Victoria Carey from Country Style magazine and everyone else who came to our lovely breakfast. 

xx
Anna

image 1 - via Viv from Ish & Chi, image 3 via Natalia from Coco Republic