Painted Front Door

We finally settled on a front door colour after a few false starts. Here's the final result....

It's a Benjamin Moore colour called "Spirit in the Sky". I have since learned that BM paints are available in New Zealand, and Bristol Paints in Australia have the Benjamin Moore formulas for all their colours on their computer system, so you can have the exact colour made up without having to guess or match it from a paint sample or chip.

The silver door knob and knocker are from Domino Brass.

I'd like to get a couple of planter boxes for either side of the door, with something pretty and soft like a gardenia bush in them. I was going to choose a black or charcoal planter, but read on the weekend in our Paul Bangay gardening bible "Guide to Plants", that you shouldn't use dark colours like black or dark grey for pots in Australia as they cause the soil to heat up and retain too much heat which can kill the plants. Anyone else heard this? So I may have to go pale grey or white, particularly as they face due west.

The Well Appointed House

Love this beautiful planter from The Well Appointed House. Anybody know any good retailers of wooden planters in Sydney?

A huge thank you to the gorgeous ladies Beth and Kristy from Design Chic blog, who kindly included me in their list of versatile bloggers. If you aren't familiar with their blog you must pay them a visit, because it's one of my daily reads and they have wonderful style and taste, offering an informative and inspirational blog. I'll have to put my thinking cap on to come up with some interesting answers and pass on the award to some of the many deserving blogs.....

Decoration and Design 2012

I'm so excited about Design & Decoration 2012 next week. I have registered to attend two seminars and I'm beyond thrilled about it. Firstly, I'm off to hear Martyn Lawrence Bullard speak on Wednesday. Such a huge fan of MLB, particularly after watching Million Dollar Decorators, and having bought a couple of his fabrics for our master bedroom. Can't wait to see this larger than life character in the flesh.

Then on Friday, I'm off to a panel discussion featuring not only MLB, but my three favourite Australian interior designers. - Thomas Hamel, Marco Meneguzzi and Greg Natale.

Here are some of my favourite images from the stunning portfolios of these talented men. Click on the name to see more of their work.

Martyn Lawrence Bullard

Although MLB is predominantly known for his use of rich hues, in reds, oranges, yellows, black and rust, and a very eclectic/ethnic aesthetic, he does have a beautiful range of classic blues as well, which are particularly appealing to me.

His book is a fabulous read and great inspiration if you're interested.

Thomas Hamel

Thomas Hamel also has a book available, called RESIDENCE.

Greg Natale

Marco Meneguzzi

I'll certainly be reporting back with everything I learn next week and hopefully some photos.

Hope you all have a wonderful Australia Day.

House Updates - 2012

After spending all weekend unpacking, and I mean all weekend,  the kids are developing four eyes and I'm developing a distinct dislike for cardboard boxes. 

I have so many things to do, that the list keeps growing and I just can't see an end to it let alone a beginning. I just seem to be going around in circles getting more confused and frustrated. My answer at the moment is to take Charlie to the movies when it all gets too much and forget it all exists for a couple of hours. 

I found this gorgeous lamp we had in storage that I had completely forgotten about. It was used in our Bondi apartment when we lived in the country. I adore the palm tree fabric and the gorgeous glazed based, but I just can't seem to find a place for it, and I wish I had two!

This beautiful lamp I bought from Caravan Interiors in Bondi, a gorgeous shop you must visit, and the fabric is from Mandalay Designs.

Our lovely friend Kate left these gorgeous roses on the doorstep on Friday - they look so pretty and I'm thrilled to be back to having fresh flowers in the house. I haven't been inclined to buy them myself for months because the rental house was so grim and prior to the renovation this house just didn't seem to deserve nice flowers.

These are a small tray of some of my beautiful shells. I have bucket loads more which are going to be displayed once I get myself sorted and am at that styling stage. They seemed out of place in at our country house, so they look perfectly apt near the coast.

Love this black bamboo tray I found at Cotton Love in Edgecliff. Another treasure I'd forgotten about.

I adore white cyclamen and just bought my first one for the house. It's only little but all I could get at this time of the year. I also unearthed these wonderful silver planters I bought at Recollections some months ago and had stashed away. I have a set of 5, so you'll be seeing lots of them.

They have a really pretty detail and a lovely soft patina.

My husband keeps complaining that there's nothing of his in the house. I assume that means nothing of his that he owned before we were married. Although I consider everything we've bought since we were married to be ours, he seems to see it differently. So he was delighted to unpack these antique scales from England which he has had for years and were shipped out from storage in Bath last year. 

A stocking present from Father Christmas, I got this lovely aqua cookbook stand. It's sturdy enough to hold a nice fat cookbook and looks gorgeous in my kitchen. 

The stairs have FINALLY been stained and now have the last coat of lacquer drying. We are now waiting for the risers to be painted white, then I will decide whether or not to put a runner on them.

Another purchase from Caravan Interiors some years ago, I had one of these in our bedroom in the country house, but left it behind. I think it's so pretty, even though there are lots of cheap clumsy knock-offs going around, this is a work of art and so beautifully made with the genuine mother of pearl petals.

 This is the spare room that currently doubles as the storage unit, on top of the area beneath the house that was supposed to be a designated Manland and which my husband now calls No-man's Land! We also have about a hundred packing boxes, newspaper and bubble wrap in the space in the roof, which would fit another three rooms if we were to convert it. 

We discovered we had not one, but two spare queen size beds in storage. I was able to get rid of one but still have another, and they are like the scourge of the secondhand goods. Nobody wants them. So if you need a free queen bed, let me know!

This is the current state of our bedroom. Glamorous huh?

I have unpacked 8 sets of queen sheets, 4 sets of king size sheets, 5 sets of king single sheets, 4 sets of single sheets and 3 sets of cot sheets plus 14 pillows and half a dozen doonas! We have enough to start a small hotel and still have spares. 

What do you do with stuff that's too good to give to charity but that wouldn't get much on Ebay? Anybody have any tips? Like how to dispose of good quality secondhand beds?

The new flooring went down in the hallway and looks fabulous. I'm so thrilled with that flooring system, Easylock, and couldn't recommend it highly enough.

Unless you're a purist and absolutely have to have real timber floors no matter what, then I suggest anybody looking to put down a timber lookalike floor should consider this.