Let there be light!

It's been a long time since I've managed to write a post. Working, juggling the demands of a young family, having a partner who is often interstate & trying to renovate your house will do that to you!

We have managed to make some much needed alterations to our home and I'm happy to report it's feeling much lighter & brighter and more like "us".

Below are a couple of photos showing the difference white paint & injection of colour can make. I haven't had a chance to have it professionally shot yet though so excuse the iPhone photos.

Before

After

New custom cabinetry

Harewood House

I'm currently in England with my family visiting my husband's family. I love coming here, it's so different from where we live in Australia. 

Today we visited a stately home in West Yorkshire called Harewood House. It's an amazing home to walk through. The rooms are so opulent & the level of detail in the woodwork is extraordinary. It's incredible to think it's so old & the family still live there today. I love the thought of each generation living in the same place their family members before them did.

Below are some photos that I took as we made our way through.

The youngest son is getting married at the house tomorrow so you'll see the beautiful flower arrangements in the middle of the dining table for a dinner being held there tonight!

And they also have an ice house with 3 penguins just for good measure :)

Bedroom Mini-Scheme

I have mentioned here before how much I love Caitlin Wilson Textiles. Caitlin is an interior designer based in the Northern Hemisphere and I admire her use of colour in her interiors. A number of years back she branched out into designing her own range of textiles and her business has continued to grow from strength to strength.

 

Below is a bedroom mini-scheme I've put together using some of Caitlin's cushions, one of my favourite Dash and Albert rugs and some other lovely pieces. Scroll down to see each item individually. The wall colour is Dulux Tranquil Retreat, it's a proper grey that doesn't throw different colours when painted on walls.

 

 

 

Caitlin Wilson Navy Fleur Chinoise Pillow

 

Caitlin Wilson Pink City Maze Pillow

 

 

Samode Fuschia/Ivory Rug - Winton House

 

 

Moderna Pendant - Regency Distribution



 

The bedside table is from a wholesaler, please contact me directly if you wish for the details of this piece.

I hope you all have a great weekend whether you plan to relax or have a super productive one!

New trend in tiles...

There is a new trend emerging in Australia for tiles and it's a trend I'm very happy to welcome. Colour is definitely back in fashion, we are seeing it everywhere from our fashion to home accessories. Now everything that was old is new again with antique and Moroccan style tiles gaining popularity once more. Internationally recognised interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard recently designed a tile line for Ann Sacks. His line is vibrant and highly patterned and I love it!

Here are a few examples of what I am referring to:

If you are looking for something similar in Australia you can try Jatana Interiors. They sell both original old, reclaimed tiles and also reproduction tiles. Here are some of my personal favourites of theirs:

And this is the feel they create in a room once installed.

 

What do you think, could you handle this much pattern in your tiles?

Note - Installed images above sourced from Pinterest

Dream Home

It's been a VERY long time since my last post. 2013 ended up being quite a hectic year for myself and my family but ended fantastically as we were able to buy our dream home (even if it did take 17 long months of on and off negotiations)!

When people found out we were moving the most common response was "why on earth would you move from your current house to another house that requires a full renovation?"

That response was completely fair. We'd just finished renovating our last home and loved it, so of course it would seem crazy to other people that we'd go through the arduous renovation process again.

The fact is though that I adore designing interiors and enjoy the renovation process, but most importantly I just LOVE this house. When I say I love this house, I don't mean that in the same way that I say I love jellybeans or a glass of wine, I mean I REALLY love it!!! 

When I was younger I used to come on holiday to visit my Aunt, Uncle & cousins who lived in a house not too far from here. We would occasionally drive past this house and even as a young teenager I remember looking out the window as we drove by adoring it. I wondered who lived there and I imagined what it would be like to live there myself. I saw it come on the market a number of years after that and I trawled through the images daydreaming of the changes I'd make to it. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would actually end up living here one day, getting to make the changes I'd daydreamed about!

We have slowly started making those changes, but aren't in a rush. There is something fantastic about having a project timeline with no set end date. I can imagine I'll be tinkering away here until I'm an old lady (well that's the plan).

I'll continue to post update photos as our renovations are carried out, but here are some photos of the house as looked when we took possession of it.

 

And this final photo shows the main reason that we persevered with negotiating for 17 months! Houses along this particular stretch of coast rarely come on the market.

 

I hope you all enjoy your weekend whatever your plans may be. Mine will involve spending time up a ladder with a paint brush in hand - no doubt for the next 10 years or so!!

Peacock Bedroom Design

I have been working on a new bedroom design that I LOVE! Peacock is a popular colour at the moment but it's really a colour I am always fond of. 

I was reading one of my favourite blogs, House of Turquoise and came across a beautiful fabric that had been used by a designer on some kitchen bar stools. I fell in love with the P Kaufmann fabric as soon as I saw it and went out of my way to track some down. You never know how much fabric is in stock and/or when it will be discontinued, so if you love a fabric you are best to move quickly to secure it!

This is the fabric below. I knew it was beautiful, but needed to be used in moderation in a bedroom. I decided it would make amazing cushions.

I then set about finding a complimentary fabric for use in a headboard. I decided on a lovely Warwick fabric called Ella in Peacock, it was the perfect colour and added some much needed texture to the space.

This is what the scheme looked like when the fabric was pulled together.

And here is the end result, I was so pleased with how it all turned out.

 

Adding little details like piping the cushion in the same fabric as the headboard, makes the whole scheme really pull together.

Disclaimer - this bedroom hadn't been properly styled and was not professionally photographed, but I didn't want to wait to share it!