And the winner is.......

I adore the pale blue and white background colours along with the splashes of hot and light pink! I also love how the furniture blends the traditional with the contemporary so harmoniously.

Those stenciled closet doors are just beautiful. They even look like etched glass!

look at the light that floods the room!


I apologise if this is old news. I had another type of post in mind for this evening but while surfing around I noticed the feature on Domino magazine's decorating competition and the gorgeous Hollywood glamour style bedroom that won!

Catherine from Mill Valley, CA, a single mother, converted two small bedrooms into one large master suite. She did the demolition, hired handymen to install the closets, doors and white flooring and then painted, stenciled, embossed, and glazed every inch of the wall space. She even built the gas fireplace surround and reinvented a 1960's Hollywood vanity. She wanted to create a Parisian-like sanctuary after a long working day. This is what you call dedication and devotion and I think she really pulled it off. This is definately my kind of space.

Congratulations Catherine, your bedroom is quite simply stunning and I believe you absolutely deserved to win :)

http://www.dominomag.com/

Brian J. McCarthy

I received a few enquiries about the absolutely stunning pink and white bathroom I featured on my "A touch of pink" thread. I had eagerly posted that picture without including the original source and after a little searching I remembered and found where I had discovered this beautiful room.

The fabulous Desire To Inspire blog featured a thread on the seriously talented Interior Designer Brian J. McCarthy from the USA. His designs, mostly traditional are bold and beautiful and his website and portfolio, I think, is seriously breath taking. How could anyone not feel like royalty with rooms like these...

http://www.bjminc.com/

Serious shopping time.....

This year my sisters and I are doing the smart thing by only giving one of us a kris kringle pressie. Last month we each drew one name out of a hat to decide who was buying for who. Surprisingly I got my youngest sister Ashley. This made me excited cause we've just converted my mum's seperate garage turned storage room into her new bedroom and she wanted a complete makeover. When I asked her what she'd like she told me some bright and colourful accessories for her room. Whoohooo! My favourite kind of shopping :)

All of my family are Christians but Ashley (being the alternative child) has decided to study and practise Buddhism and for someone who was lost for awhile, we are all proud and grateful that she has found peace and solace in this faith.

I like western design, she likes eastern. This was going to be so much fun! I thought about purchasing a single large item then I thought I might get a smaller group of fun things and present them in a hamper.

I went to a stunning store called Tigress that specialised in Asian style. I felt like I was on a tropical holiday as soon as I stepped inside. The soft sounds of the water features and sweet smell of incense, I really get the appeal of this type of design and it's so fitting with the Australian climate.

There were two items that really stood out and grabbed my attention with their shear beauty.
A 35x35cm ceramic tile with a stunning pink print of birds and a gorgeous blue patterned table runner featuring a beaded edge. I thought this would look amazing above and across her tv table. As well as sharing the same name, Anna Spiro of the Absolutely Beautiful Things blog and I share a fond love of the blue and pink colour scheme. Looking at the two of these items together I think they say happy without being too hyper lol. I hope these items will make her feel cheery but still help her relax and meditate when she feels the need.

On the way out I spotted a bargin bin with $5 cushions so I purchased one to throw in the hamper. I don't think you can ever have too many scatter cushions on your bed or the floor lol.

My next purchase was for my little 1 year old nephew, Zach. My sister Fiona (Zach's mum) had a little toy wombat as a child called "Wompy". He never left her side, infact I still think she has him tucked away somewhere lol. Anyhoo when I saw this little guy in Domayne today I thought it would be cute to give Zach his very own "Wompy" :) It's actually mean't to be a pillow for your bed so I can just visualize Zach's little face nestled on his soft belly or tucked under his armpit. Isn't he cute?

Finally, last christmas my very good friend Brook gave me a bundle of absolutely gorgeous pastel ornaments but considering my tree is filled with the more traditional colours, I wasn't sure where or how I was going to display them. Today I bought a gorgeous etched apothecary canister, placed my baubles inside and put them in the bathroom together with some sweet etched glass decorations I found and hung from the sconces :)
My bathroom has a pastel theme so I thought who says it has to miss out on all the festive fun? lol

A touch of pink.......

(dreamhouse)

(everyday beauty)

(sarah kaye)

(dixcot locations)

(laura ashley)

(Hans Zeegers)

(philip gorrivan)



(Brian J. McCarthy)

(Caroline Vesey Design)

It always amazes me how something as simple as a touch of pink in a room can really make me smile. I've always considered myself more of a "blue person" however I just can't help falling more and more in love with pink. Perhaps it brings the little girl out in me but I just feel no matter where I am, if I see that touch of pink I feel giddy and happy. One of my favourite colour schemes is neutral in all it's tonal values and then the itty bittiest splash of pink, whether it be a silk blouse or a single bud rose, I feel immediately drawn to the image or space.

Les Puces De Paris...

During my stay in Paris one of the most important places I was BUSTING to visit were the famous clignancourt flea markets.

We caught the train early to porte de clignancourt station. The area of Saint-Ouen to my surprise and somewhat horror wasn't really what I was expecting. I mean, I'd read and heard it wasn't the nicest of places in Paris but that truly was an understatement. The 10 min walk from the station to where the markets began was a little on the intimidating side with people walking along side you hassling you to buy watches etc from inside their coats. Gangs of large individuals and homeless beggar's claiming to be war refugees are all along the route. I know I sound like I'm grouping them all into a stereotype but as my children were by my side I couldn't help but feel a tad uncomfortable and overprotective.

Once we arrived at the actual markets the atmosphere change. The buildings still looked run down but that's exactly what makes flea market shopping so fabulous. Immediately my eyes nearly popped outta my head when at the top of the lane was a gorgeous blue and white toilet bowl. It was so lovely and just thrown atop an old velvet chair. OUTSTANDING! lol. Of course this was a family holiday and not a shopping holiday so any purchases had to be small and inexpensive.

I slowly rummaged from stall to stall while dragging my husband and kids behind me. I felt myself "sighing" out loud with every breath as I was completely surrounded by such enchanting treasures.

Antique and reproduction French furniture, vintage posters, costume jewellery, porcelain, paintings, rugs, rich antique fabrics, chandeliers as far as the eye could see.......you name it, they had it. I felt like a kid in a candy store. I wanted to buy it all and ship it home.

Unfortunately there were no purchases to be had that day. The only souvenir's I took home were photo's of my favourite finds. I desperately wanted the two pink handpainted lamps. They were too die for but I just couldn't justify spending the 300 euros each when we still had 6 weeks of travelling to do at that time. The vendor graciously allowed me to take some photo's of her stall in The Dauphine market I think it was.

There are so many markets to wander through but we had only the morning to spare so I was only able to get through two. The Vernaison and The Dauphine. I can't wait for my next trip to Les puces without the kids, spend all day and hopefully spend some money lol.

Our Trip....part 4

We had just spent the past 5 weeks in Greece relaxing and catching up with some good "family time" and it was time to begin our journey home.

First stop, Munich, Germany. Another place I'd longed to visit. I, like all girls, had grown up with all of the brothers Grimm fairytales, so to actually see the area to which it all begin was quite....well....enchanting.

The storybook churches were absolutely gorgeous, with their tall steeples. The kind of church every child dreams of being married in.

The main square of Munich, "Marien Platz" looked actually like a village. So very cute!

The highlight of our 4 day Munich stay was the 2 hour trip to the Bavarian Alps to visit Neuschwanstein castle. That place completely blew me away. I truly couldn't believe my eyes when we stepped off the bus and I looked up at Cinderella's castle perched high on the mountain top. And to complete the scene, it was snowing! Heavily! Again I had to stop myself from crying of happiness.

Another mementos occasion, the children had never seen snow before so as you can imagine their excitement was almost too much to control LOL. The snowball fights between them and their father started almost immediately. The downside to that was my daughter wasn't wearing really appropriate footwear (as we weren't prepared for such extreme winter weather) and her feet got soaked to the bone, therefore she winged the whole way up to the top and the whole way down. At one point Jim and I had to remove our socks and put both pairs on her just to try and keep her feet functioning. It was bloody freezing! Ahhh the joys of travelling with kids LOL.

We had the time of our lives, I wished we could have stayed in Germany longer. It was way too short a visit, however I'd like to look at it as a preview of a longer stay yet to come.

We then left the freezing cold city of Munich and headed for the steaming hot city of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong I have to say wasn't what I expected. But then again I don't really know what I was expecting. I guess I was in a state of culture shock and anxious to get home cause I really wasn't a happy camper. Our accommodation was a living nightmare and we refused to stay there so we spent hours trudging our luggage up and down Nathan road looking for somewhere else more suitable for a family.

The crowds were massive and the smog was thick. To me, everything looked filthy and I hated the men grabbing at us trying to lead us down a back alley to buy stolen hangbags and watches.
The shopping wasn't cheap and everywhere you walked, water from the thousands of boxed airconditioners would fall on your head.

Haha I sound like a grumpy pants. To be honest I think I was just tired and looking forward to getting back to my home and my family and friends. The kids really needed to get back into a routine as they had basically been running feral for the last 2 months with no real rules.

We were only in Hong Kong for 2 days and I think we just chose the wrong area to stay (Tsim Sha Tsui). Perhaps another visit someday, with my sister, who frequents Hong Kong will prove to be a much better experience.

We made it safely home and now I look back on this incredible adventure I had with the 3 most precious people in my life and absolutely believe it was a dream come true.