My Masters Outdoor Room Makeover

Sponsored By Nuffnang and Masters Home Improvement

Righto, I've been living in this 'made-over' outdoor space of mine for a week or so now, thanks to Masters Home Improvement, so I think it's time for me to share with you my new favourite living space in my home!

Here's a rather woeful 'before shot', featuring 'woeful niece'.....

... and stinky soccer boots...

 Here's the after!

Finlay and Smith 'Romeo' Chairs

Oh how I stalked that Masters website, waiting for their 'new season' outdoor furniture stock to come in, hoping that the most coveted 'Romeo' outdoors chairs weren't the last on the delivery truck for the new season! 

Late last week they finally arrived and I pounced! I ordered them online immediately, so as not to miss out, just in case hundreds of people were stalking along with me, but I arranged to pick them up from the store to save on delivery costs. I wanted to spend every last cent of my Masters vouchers on pretties.

Behold their magnificence! (Ref: FF, 2010) 

They are wrought iron, solid as and, at $135 each, a fantastic quality buy.

In deciding what I would purchase for my outdoor room makeover, I kept in mind that it all needed to be portable as we move lots! My furniture choices also had to fit into any design aesthetic I may be embracing in future digs.... Hamptons, French Provincial. Once I spied the classic lines of the Romeo chairs and saw that the included cushions were piped!, I decided that a leafy French Provincial courtyard dining area was the go...... somewhere nice I could blog from in the mornings too!

I decided on a 4 seater table setting, mainly due to the small size of the area.... but also keeping in mind that anywhere I live in future I would always be able to use a classical 4 seater setting.... in another courtyard or down amongst the fairies in a pretty garden.

I went to town with the pots. 

I needed to draw the attention away from the underwhelming fence, not highlight it with anything.

Pompeii Pot Maya Medium

I snapped up a few of these beauties, in which I potted the instant hedge plants and the lavender and herbs, all from Masters. They are fabulous pots in real life... textured and rustic.

Sicily Ancient Brown Pot

.... and I couldn't resist these either!

Del Terra Dutton Table

I picked up the table for $69! I didn't put a cloth on it in the photos so you could see it's detail. I chose it for it's price and curves and the fact that it is simple in style and doesn't take any focus off the chairs. It's solid too!.... won't blow away in our summer storms!

See the white filigree, round, clay thingy? That's a solar powered table light. It has a solar panel on the top that you leave in the sun and as soon as the sun sets, it turns itself on! You can choose to set it to either white or rainbow colours. The rainbow colours are a hit with the offspring.

Solar Filigree Table Light

I found the elegant 'half mat', near the door, at Masters too.... $10! Perfect size for a little courtyard. It hasn't made it to the website yet. More and more products are being loaded up every day as they arrive in store. 

The patterned dinner plates were $3 each from 'Earthborn' (current sale stock) and the glass dessert bowls, dinner plates and place mats are my own. They were originally from Wheel and Barrow. The napkins are from 'Thea and Sami', Thea's Marine range, hand printed here in Brisbane. The navy floral cushions are from 'Fabric Traders', who also have an online store HERE. The beige linen and paisley cushions are from Cape Cod Designs (that would be me). So is the iron side table, hurricane lantern and the floor cushions (Cape Cod Designs, moi). Flowers were from 'Stem - Flowers and Beautiful Things' in Graceville.

So there you have it, my new 'Outdoor Room'. Thank you so much Masters for giving me the opportunity and the vouchers! to make over my dull courtyard. I have an inspiring place in which to blog and a cool spot for our summer dinners!

And in breaking news, the winner of the $500 Masters Gift Voucher was chosen by Masters, from my short list of three. It is Karyn, who wrote:

Karyn is going to use her Masters voucher to finish her powder room and outdoor patio area.

Karyn finally chose the Del Terra Steel Cushioned Dining Chair Set to finish off her outdoor area. 6 for $280! HERE.

And for her bathroom, she is going to wallpaper with Vintage Art Wallpaper.... $49.97/roll....

.... gorgeous!

.... hang this beautiful mirror.... $149, HERE....

... and finish with some stylish fixtures, HERE.

Hooray for Masters. I'm totally hooked. So many quality products. They have everything you need to improve your home. Here's their website if you need to start shopping now. It's such an site easy to use.

Herbs are happy in their new sunny spot.....

.... and so am I!

Cheers! 

Family Spaces

My last post was weeks ago and I mentioned that our house renovation was nearly complete. Well I finally get to say after today it really is complete, isn't it amazing how long all those little tasks seem to take, like painting the fence, gardens you name it! with a very old house I don't think you are ever finished, little things just seem to appear especially with an all white house!

Next week our home is going up for sale, I have mixed emotions, our plan was to down size but instead our renovation grew to become a very large home, with six children we now only have two living with us and one planning to leave home next year, so our family of eight is now three, so it has made us re think our plans. Several of my friends are in the same position all planning to live the apartment lifestyle, in the heart of the city, I'm sure if I said to my husband yes lets do it he would in a heartbeat. The idea of living in the city, the beautiful walks I could do daily, the cafes and restaurants we could just walk too, a pool, gym all in our complex, the little or no maintenance, my apartment would take nothing to keep clean the list goes on BUT in my heart I'm not sure if its me. I'm also imagining a cottage style Californian bungalow with a beautiful back yard not too big but enough for a pool and terrace, I'm happy with one large living area rather than three that we have now, basically a smaller home but with loads of character. So the verdict is I'm not sure yet, we are keeping our options open, but one thing is for sure our next life plan is for living life to its fullest, I want a healthy life work balance, I want to see so many countries of the world both for pleasure and for my work and I have some exciting plans for Verandah House!

Enough of my ramblings...I have posted some photo's of my children's TV room/library, I have continued the blue and white but in a more casual way, as you can see our family dog Milko has his favourite spot here too! tomorrow I will post the exterior shots for you.

All images: Verandah House

Happy long Weekend

Its a long weekend and after a very hectic week (sorry for the lack of posts) cannot think of anything nicer than a few days at home, the markets in the morning, long walks and time out with my family, hope you have a great weekend too x

Image source: My Home