cloud nine

New bread board from hello polly (with vase from Kikki K).

hello new watch

Oh so beautiful. Watches from Melbourne based AÃRK Collective and a great interview with the Designers over at the Design Files.

Eagerly awaiting the postman's delivery of this little lovely.

The ‘Classic’ watch in Grey by AÃRK Collective. Photo by AÃRK’s creative director Cedric Austria.

addicted to chocolate

One set of hooks from Margarita at Chocolate Creative (dresses below) just wasn't enough so I've added a new set in the outdoor room by the pool (towels above).

Hopefully everyone else (i.e. small people) will also find them irresistible and choose to hang their wet towels on them... rather than in a puddle on the floor.

Always beautiful Margarita, thank you... again.

more old house

Downstairs is taking shape. Beautiful wall hooks in yellow and grey from Chocolate Creative, Bridesmaid dress was my mum's and Christening dress is The Lovely One's great, great grandmother's. Memento watch from my big sister last year to remember the search for the pale oak floor.

pebbles

A new year treat just arrived in the post. Beautiful. Thank you Garima Dhawan and Society 6.

home with you

It will be hard to get this house out of my heart. Whilst it's tested us - there's something about having crafted it ourselves that's made it stick. Knowing where all the cornice joins are, where the bits of plastering that worked out well and where the lumps and bumps that got the better of us hide. How we wrangled each floorboard into submission and where I wish I hadn't placed the knotty looking ones. Where the slightly wonky walls make the skirting stick out too far and where the ones are that worked out just right... and of course the design and decoration that sat in my head for years and has now been realised.

We are almost there now, all the structural work is finished and most of the trades are done (some electrical, tiling and plumbing to go) and we're on our own now to finish some plastering and then lots of painting (interior and exterior). So I gave this beautiful print by Merrilee at Tuesday Mourning to the Lovely One and the Babes as a 'nearly there' gift this week, because whilst this house has consumed us this last 18 months... it is nothing without them.

ross gardam oak light

Oh hello wonderful lights. Available in three finishes with black cord at Ross Gardam. Is August too early to send wishes to Santa?

prints charming at spotlight

The very lovely Cath and Kirsten of Prints Charming have just launched their new collection at Spotlight stores in Australia. You can read more about their new drill fabrics in their beautiful designs here.

timber wall hooks

Have just ordered 5 grey and 2 yellow wall hooks from the very clever Margarita at Chocolate Creative for the new hall in the old house. Looking forward to the little parcel in the mail.

pretty pegs

As the project nears the end... and money is so very, very tight, I will need to compromise on a 3 seater sofa and IKEA will do the trick.

Pretty Pegs provide an alternative to the big lumps of timber (that IKEA offer as legs) and replace them with Pretty Pegs. Yay, instant update.

more timber floors

A few friends have asked me to expand on the finding a timber floor adventure so some thoughts follow...

I have already waxed lyrical about Tongue n Groove - Sydney in a previous post, however another discovery is a  beautiful supplier in Melbourne - Royal Oak Floors by Harper & Sandilands (pic above). I particularly love their smoked floors and they have gorgeous stair nosing (if stair nosings are your thing?!).

Another incredibly helpful supplier is Havwoods, they have a comprehensive website and can deliver direct. They have a huge range from pale to dark and their Europlank collection is a more affordable option.

Of course already familiar to most is Porter's Paints who also have a range of wide boards in lots of new colours from white, through natural and grey to black. Always beautiful.

hello lovely timber floors

My sister and I have been searching 'pale timber floors' for a full year now, and despite a vast search we could never really find quite the right one. It's not just about the right colour but also the right board width, depth and length plus whether or not you like bevelled edges and which texture is right.

Then Andrea from Tongue n Groove walks into my life (though technically I guess I walked into hers) and I discover a world where floor people think like me! Then I realise after a week of a fair few renovation lows that happiness really can come in the simplest of things - a pale timber floor.

still on the grey theme...

I love these reproduction encaustic tiles from Jatana Interiors for a bathroom or foyer floor.  However now I'm wondering if the ones below might be an alternative to the concrete kitchen splashback I've been imagining....

koskela's new store

I first met Russel Koskela and Sasha Titchkosky in 2000 through my lovely friends Deb and Thomas. One lunchtime, Deb took me to visit Russel and Sasha at their new studio in a small upstairs Surry Hills warehouse - Koskela had been born. It was a small space with a few of the incredibly beautiful new pieces they had designed and they were both embarking on a complete life change and an amazing new adventure. At the time, we had only wandered a few streets from our Surry Hills office for the visit but in terms of adventures, I felt as though I had walked onto another planet.  I was in the depths of exhausting corporate culture at Boston Consulting Group back then and these guys were living a wonderful, creative dream... I was smitten.

Now... all these years later... they have grown and grown and have now opened retail paradise. The Design Files has a wonderful write up about their latest venture (and Briar also has some photo's over at Sunday Collector)... smitten, smitten, smitten.

Images from koskela.com.au

mend

Have you heard about the Mend project and the beautiful tote bags they create? It's a collaboration with the makers on Inkodye (a fantastic light sensitive fabric printing dye) to help women in Northern Uganda. Every handbag made at Mend has a story and each product carries the name of the seamstress who made it. You can read all about it at Mend.

loving bemz - slip covers for IKEA furniture

Inspired by my mum's search for a cover for an old - very grandchildren loved - IKEA sofa, I came across Bemz. Heaven for IKEA shoppers, they ship internationally and they have perfect white cotton and some great linens in both form fitting and loose fitting styles. Check it out at Bemz.

tiles

If you're in Sydney and renovating a bathroom I have to recommend the Tile Factory Outlet. It's absolutely worth the trip to Smithfield. I went yesterday and organised the tiles for the first small bathroom for half the price offered by the tile shop (even with trade discount). 300x300mm Mono coal floor tile for $19m2 and 300x600mm white gloss wall tile for $13 m2.

Now I can justify using the money I've saved to spend on some of these beautiful Orla Kiely bath towel's.

feet

We have decided on an engineered, lightly limewashed oak floor for the kitchen/living/dining (above right) that I can purchase direct from the manufacturer and we can install ourselves which will make it much more affordable. So now I need to choose the carpet for the stairs and downstairs living room. I prefer darker carpet in high traffic areas - it shows white fluff but hides all the splodgy stains that kids and a dog deliver. So I went to the carpet shop with my mind wide open to possibilities and despite best efforts to explore all the new options... I just kept coming back to the carpet we had in our last houses in Surry Hills and Randwick (see Cavalier Bremworth loop pile left)... though I also liked the plush pile in the same colour (see middle). So... is this good because I obviously know what I like and I should just go with it? Or... is this bad that I'm boring and staid and need to branch out? Or... perhaps more importantly... are there far more significant things happening in the world that I should be worrying about!

dunlin home

I am trying not to buy any beautiful objects at the moment... all funds are going into steel, timber, concrete blocks and insulation... but I have to mention a beautiful new Sydney online shop, Dunlin Home... full of beautiful objects... there's no harm in browsing!

wall dots

Have been meaning to share some of the treasures given to me at Christmas. The girls gave me these Wall Dots by Muuto coat hooks which I have coveted for many years... and now that we are building a beautiful new foyer (oh how grown up) on the extension I have just the spot to put them. Also the Lovely One has been travelling a lot for work this last year and on a recent trip to Rome he picked up this delicious coffee (with equally delicious packaging) as a Christmas treat for me. yum.