The Reality Is...

The reality is that although our house looks pristine and white in the lovely spread Canadian House & Home did in their current issue, it really isn't like that in real life...

I thought I would share a few images with you of Ned and my mum and dad's Golden Retriever, Gus from the weekend. We had Gus over to stay for a couple of days and look what they got up to!

Obviously Ned became very scared once he spotted me...he jumped off the sofa very quickly and couldn't believe that Gus had the guts to remain there without any worries what-so-ever. If you look closely you can see that the white slip covered sofa is in a terrible state...I think it might need a new cover in some hardy denim next time round!!

Just a bit of evidence to show you that we actually live in a white-with-dirty-smudges-everywhere house!!

Inside Out Art Auction

To celebrate it's 10th year anniversary Inside Out Magazine is currently running a fantastic art auction on ebay. My absolute favourite piece is the hydrangeas by Jacqueline Coates. It's already at $711.00 with 7 days to go but it's real value is $2,200.00 so it will be very interesting to watch this auction. There are lots of wonderful pieces by some talented Australian artists and creative personalities...click HERE to be directed to the auction.

Here's another piece I love by Jacqueline which I found on her website.

Thank you Canadian House & Home

I was so thrilled to be included in the just-released May issue of Canadian House & Home magazine and so taken back by the size of the article. Thank you House & Home for the lovely story. You captured my aesthetic perfectly.

PS. No doubt you would all be completely over seeing images of my home here on ABT {huge apologies!!} however, I just wanted to share my excitement about the article and, in particular, I really wanted to thank House & Home for the lovely story and their interest in my work.

images - simon kenny, story - catherine sheilds

Two Completely Different Looks

I must say I love the latest edition of Inside Out magazine - their 10th Birthday issue. My two favourite stories within the issue are both very different. I love the images shown of Nicole Bonython-Hines home {above}...especially the gorgeous artwork cluster wall which is made up of pieces by her children in her kitchen. I also love the image of her standing in front of some magazine tear sheets - so colourful and uplifting!

The other story I loved was the feature on the home on Dangar Island on the Hawkesbury River just outside of Sydney which Greg Mellor and his partner Nick Krull have renovated. I adore the look of this laid-back, comfortable, cozy home. It looks so beautiful set in amongst the trees. It actually reminds me of the way our new home is surrounded by beautiful trees and gardens. I was very inspired by this story....I know, it's a complete departure from my usual love of colour! PS. Check out Greg Mellor's work on his website - www.gregorymellor.com

All images - Inside Out Magazine May/June 2010 issue

Bedroom Inspiration

I stumbled across this fabulous bedroom image in one of Melanie's client files today. She is currently on holidays so the girls and I are looking after her client work while she is gone. This is an image one of her clients tore out of a magazine as inspiration for her bedroom which they are currently working on at their beach apartment. I hadn't seen this image before and immediately I was drawn to it. I hope Mel and her client don't mind me sharing it here but I definitely thought it was worth sharing!! I really like the unusual combination of black, white and blue in this room.

Image source unknown. If anyone knows the source please let me know as I found it as a tear sheet.

A Child's Favourite Thing

I was recently reminded how important it is, not only for an adult, but for a child to have one or numerous special favourite things. Over Easter I read a lovely paragraph in the book Home by Anita Kaushal;


You’ll never know which thing will become the best-loved, can’t-do-without, the night-time necessity. It might be a hand-stitched hand-me-down, a bright new soft toy, or a well-used blanket. Whatever they choose, it will mean security to your children and bring a sense of personal belonging and wellbeing. And you’ll end up treasuring it almost as much as they do.

Our Harry has a special ‘can’t-do-without’ friend he affectionately refers to as Duckie. Duckie was found on Harry’s first Easter Egg Hunt when he was 1 and has remained his most-loved and most treasured cuddly friend who {not so much these days now that he is a big brave 7 year old} would accompany us absolutely everywhere. There has been many a tear-filled night when we have driven onto the barge to go to our house at Stradbroke for the weekend and it was discovered that Duckie was not on board!

Due to major concerns from all that Duckie might one-day disintegrate, he has only had 3 baths in his lifetime - a drop into the washing machine and then a dash in the clothes dryer – always fearful that the opening up of the dryer door might just reveal the absolute end of Duckie. The slightest sign of wear and tear anywhere on Duckie signals Brad’s mother to quickly whip out the sewing basket. Complete relief is thankfully restored once she has worked her magic on our special duck.

We have all {my parents and my brothers and brad’s parents and of course Brad & I} loved Duckie just as much as Harry…well almost as much as Harry!

I think it is wonderful to encourage our children to embrace the love of a special thing. Just like we have special things which we keep and hold onto {something I have talked a great deal about here on ABT}, a child should feel the comfort and re-assurance of having their very own special things around them. With this in mind, I think we should decorate a child's room filled with the special things they love and encourage them to collect, collect, collect!!

It makes me wonder what it will be that our next child treasures. What special thing can’t your little one live without?

Here are some little cuddly creatures I placed into a nursery I decorated for some clients a while ago. I wonder whether their little boy now treasures any of these little friends we placed into his cot before he was born?!

An old photo of Harry with his treasured Duckie...

image 1,2,3 - via children's spaces from zero to ten and babies rooms zero to three by judith wilson, image 4 - via interior divine blog

Dorm Room

As much as I do love the look of a gorgeous bunk room, I have found that bunk beds really are such a pain to make. Lately I have been preferring the look of a large dorm room with rows of single beds like the picture above. I love the lidded basket placed at the end of each bed - perfect for storing each person's clothes in. I personally would be much happier making these beds instead of numerous bunk beds.

image - cote maison via aged & gilded

Decorating A New Home {Over Time}

When I look at these images I love that they are all so casual and not overly decorated. I am leaning towards this more pared back look in our new house. I want it to be a home where we can relax and not be too worried about the white slip covered sofa when the big 1 year old {yes he turned 1 yesterday} Golden Retriever jumps up on it.

I am dreaming of faded denim fabrics on sofas, washed out florals and checks and stripes and mismatched pieces of cane furniture on the verandahs - not new cane - old mismatched cane collected over time. I will retain all of our Antique pieces of furniture which Brad & I have collected over the years. That's what I love about Antiques...they transcend fashion and trends, they are the pieces we hold onto and they are the pieces we pass onto our loved ones. I find I never tire of my Antique pieces. It's the mass-produced pieces I tire of very quickly.

This time round Harry and Brad have made me promise not to have the floors painted white. My obsession with keeping our current white-painted floors clean is all too much for my boys. All the internal walls will be painted my usual white but this time I think we might just sand back the old wide plank floorboards and apply an oiled, not glossy finish.

Everything about this house will be about living and enjoying and adding to it over time. I find that so many people {me included} rush into renovating or decorating a new home. I have learnt that you must live in a house for a period of time before you start the process of change....something my mother has been trying to instill in me for years!!

This time, I am going to take my time and enjoy the process of decorating the house which my children will call home for many, many years to come.

image 1 - pamela easton's home via creative homes, image 2 - deborah needleman's home via lonny, image 3 - via charlotte, image 4 - via charlotte, image 5 via lonny

Nursery Thoughts...

My friends keep reminding me that I have a baby's room to decorate. With approximately 8 weeks to go I decided last week that I needed to at least get a few things organised.

My few things ended up turning into a complete room scheme for our little bundle. It all started with the original joker water colour by Rupert Hamilton dated 1916 which I stumbled across at a little Antique store here in Brisbane last week. I then decided I would collect a few bits and pieces to work back with it to create an artwork cluster wall full of lovely colour.

From there I selected the watermelon coloured Brunschwig & Fils Ikat which I am having an old chair I have recovered in and a lampshade for a floor lamp will be made in the small patterned chinnoiserie fabric. I also have an old Eastern embroidered piece of cloth which I will have made into a little cushion for the chair.

Over the weekend I started to wonder what I would use as a change table so Harry and I made a quick visit to our friend Nick Wallrock on Saturday morning {the most wonderful European Antique store in Brisbane}. We purchased a lovely circa 1780 Swedish Walnut cabinet from Nick which will be perfect.

I plan to use fresh white bed linen for the turned white timber painted cot which I picked up on Ebay for a mere $57.00 {a new mattress will be made and it will be re-painted with a fresh coat of white paint} and a few little Etsy cuddly numbers will be hunted down over the coming weeks.

So I can now say to my friends...yes it is all under control, I am organised!! {Fingers crossed it will all be made in time!!}

I Love...

Every now and then I spot a room I absolutely love and this one above, as published in Elle Decor, is one of them. I think it's the lovely fresh colours against the all-white background, the dining chairs and the beautiful old marble fireplace which I love most!

image - elle decor via frolic via seesaw designs

Friday Flowers

A weekend full of time spent with Harry is what I have planned. I have worked many long and crazy hours this week so this weekend will be catch up time with my boys. Hope you have a lovely weekend. See you next time.

xx

Anna

Inspired By

I save so many images in my picture files to keep as inspiration for co-ordinating different colour schemes. It's often the combination of different colours in a picture or different products or different textures which can inspire me to put together a scheme for a client's home. I love the colours in these two product images above. The first image is from Jean Brown, a Brisbane fashion mecca, advertising some of their latest offerings {I adore the bangles by Paula Bianco} and the second image is a product editorial from House Beautiful. I just love all the wonderful colour and patterns and textures in these images. I find them very inspiring.

A Verandah Vignette

One of my lovely clients emailed me this photo of the windmill she just had hung above an old work bench she purchased from us a while ago on her verandah. Doesn't it look fabulous? She was telling me that she had to hang it in a spot where the children wouldn't brush past it because the blades on the windmill are obviously very sharp. What a wonderful idea for a verandah vignette.

Smile

Today I stumbled across this great poster over at Made By Girl whilst searching for pieces for a cluster wall I am currently working on. Just thought I'd share it with you...

An Exciting Project

Sorry I've been missing in action since earlier this week however, I have been extremely busy installing a very exciting job we have been working on over the past couple of months. I cannot share any details of the project at this stage but I can share these 3 very sneaky photos. We have a few finishing touches to complete and then it will be launched to the public late next week. I'll do a full posting in the upcoming weeks about this project which we are thrilled to have been asked to undertake.

Working On

The lounge room started with these 2 vintage chairs which we had for sale in the shop. The clients loved them so much that we worked the entire room scheme around them.

I placed the art pieces on the floor first {as below} and then we had them hung on the wall once everything was in place.

Here are a few snippets of a lovely house I am working on at the moment. We hung the art work cluster wall this morning in the lounge room. The sofa is yet to arrive so once we have that in place I'll post some more photos. The clients just moved into the house at Christmas. Since then we've had it painted all-white inside and out. It is the most gorgeous cottage and looks wonderful with all the white paint. We are using lots of fabulous colour in the furniture and accessory pieces. More photos in a week or so, I promise!!