Lovely Laundries...

(The above 2 images are courtesy of Hamptons Designs)

One of the major reasons for my lack of posts over the past few weeks has been due to my commitment towards my Interior Design studies. The assigments have been quite intense yet incredibly enjoyable.

I've had to distinguish between good and bad design and not to confuse that with good and bad aesthetics.
I've had to put some colour schemes together using the colour wheel.
I've had to enhance a property for sale using a small budget.
I've had to draw floor plans and one point perspective view plans (wow that was hard!) and compose sample boards.

The assignment I'm working on now involves me acting as an interior designer and find a volunteer to act as my client. I have to go through the process from the initial consultation to the final presentation of my ideas. Two of my lovely friends, Brook and Janette offered me a room in their homes to work with. Brook wants to completely renovate her laundry/mud/guest bathroom and Janette has a lovely sunroom at the back of her home she wants ideas for.

I'm starting with Brook's room as she's already ripped everything out to a bare minimum. I've been scanning through books, magazines, websites and blogs to find some inspirational ideas and here is just a smidgen of what I found.

Just like a bathroom, who says you can't glam up your laundry room? We have definately decided to go with the Vintage pretty look. We both love muted hues, florals and chippy paint. Brook is lucky to have a fairly large space so we thought considering one spends quite alot of time domestically working in this area why not make it a room you can enjoy and not feel like you're doing the daily chores.

So far we have decided on travertine tiles for the floors and two half walls sectioning off the bathroom, antique white polyurethane cabinetry, a farmers sink, brass tapware bought at the flea markets, pidgeon holes with wicker baskets and the piece de resistance...a chandelier!

(the above 5 images are courtesy of homespun living @ flickr)

The above pedestal is just about identical to the one we chose for the bathroom.

(above 2 images courtesy of Chez Larsson @ flickr)

(above image by notebook magazine)

We still haven't decided on the bench tops but I'm sure they will be light coloured like the one above.

We love the idea of housing your washing powder in a beautiful porcelain bowl and scooping it out with a tea cup :)

(the above two images and inspirational ideas came from the Australian Vintage Living book by Bronnie Masefau)

The image above and below offer me inspiration as to what else I can do with my recent balustrade's purchase :)

(above image courtesy of cottage living via The Inspired room)

We have a $5000 budget and so far so good lol. I have taken before shots and I'll definately take after shots when it's all finished. I'm so excited for her, I'm sure it's going to be beautiful :)

Enchanting courtyards...

The last couple of posts have got me thinking *ouch* lol, one of my favourite things to do when visiting my mum is sit in her Tuscan inspired courtyard and in summer enjoy the trickling sound of the water feature and in winter enjoy the crackling sound of her chimenea.

Just like my mum, I'm always drawn to homes that feature a courtyard - especially of the european variety ;)

Courtyards like in most busy city suburbs, are a very popular feature in the homes of inner Sydney as most of the houses are terraces and no room for grassy backyards. As you'll see many back kitchens and family rooms have large doors that open out to these spaces and really allow them to become yet another room of the house.

As we are currently in the planning and negotiating stages of renovating our home I would really love to incorporate a french inspired parterre courtyard that our new bedroom will open out to. This will include tall rendered walls, climbing vines, an array of terracotta pots featuring topiary and colourful plants, large stone pavers, stone table, iron chairs and somehow, someway a stunning limestone fountain just like the one below :)

To me, the following pics offer some inspirational courtyard ideas :)

Oooh a chandelier in the kitchen! I love it!

image 1, TBA

image 2, Parterre

image 3, valentino hotel

image 4, International design awards

image 5, French entree

image 6, French quarter house

All other images via realestate.com

A blissful moment...

(click image for an enlarged view)

Country weekend homes was one of the cheapest books I ever bought and after a couple of years still one of my favourites to read. Images like the one above truly make me happy....so simple yet so so beautiful :)

Happy Mothers Day...

(Mum's european courtyard)

(nephew Zach loving the autumn leaves)

(backyard bbq)

(backyard)

(little Zach and big "cuz" Will smelling the last of the roses)

Sisters and I celebrated mothers day today with a favourite breakfast at mum's.

Pink champagne, homemade pancakes, fresh fruit and loads of syrup were on the menu this morning :)

After our bellies were full and we'd quenched our thirst we were off for some retail therapy (don't worry I only had one glass of champers...ok maybe one and a half ;) )

I thought I'd take some pics of my mum's pretty autumn garden.

I wish all the deserving mum's out there a truly wonderful and memorable mothers day :)

The BIGGEST yard sale ever!

Words cannot express the frustration I have for my internet provider right now as my line access has been down for the last 3 days. Thank god I am changing over to a new provider next week. Once again apologies for my lack of posts this week.

I've been BUSTING to tell you all about this fabulous day I had on thursday when Brookie and I drove out to a place that is like the biggest yard sale you could ever imagine!

This property was originally a chicken farm and the remaining chicken sheds now house an endless array of junk and recycled building supplies.


The owner is still sorting and grouping and bravo to him for the effort he's already made. This place blew me away. You name it, he had it - covered in dust lol.

Fabulous old trophies...

I spy a vintage globe!

Old registers, rugs and shop counters.

Look at this gorgeous vintage rocking horse?

Shop fittings, old suitcases, picture frames, pots and pans, enamelware, utensils, paint, tools, lighting, books, cd's, fans, advertising props, bicycles, car parts, toys, statues, furniture........pretty much whatever you can imagine.

A confectionary of bathroom pedestals.

gorgeous old terricotta pots.

This looks like something that came out of a church

As you can imagine I had a brilliant time spending 2 1/2 hours rummaging through filth to uncover my treasure. I did find doors, shutters and other building supplies that I'll return for when my renovations require them. My only purchases for that day were these two white chippy concrete balustrade's which I will use in my parterre courtyard for oversized candlesticks next to my water feature, and...

This lovely neutral cermaic vase which fits beautifully with my provincial themed living room.

If you want the address to this salvage oasis please email me :)