Wednesday Snippet

I'm featuring a lovely kitchen today, over on my Cape Cod blog HERE.

There's also a bit of excitement going on over HERE.... now that the photos are up!

I am seriously rushing out the door this morning, as I have shed 'pickups' (#theglamour) and I am meeting with an architect to discuss 'The House' project. Will tell you all about it tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday!

Monday Nook

This morning's kitchen nook comes all the way from a property called 'Bright Bliss' in Bright, Victoria.

Oh look, my bar stools and lights! They have such fabulous taste down there.

'Bright Bliss' is self-contained, luxury accommodation, situated at the foot of the Victorian Alps, walking distance from the Bright town centre. 

Isn't it pretty?!

Love the stone.... and the gorgeous light!

I've checked out the map.....smack bang in between Fall's Creek and Hotham ski resorts!

Check out the tub! Imagine soaking your aching 'ski legs' in that!

'Mor' body products and Sheridan towels.

I'm there.

... and look!

I'm so there.

They have a website HERE.

.... and they have deals on their Facebook page HERE.

Hmmm, maybe I need to get my act together and plan a Victorian Alps ski trip. Maybe end of term 3?..... when big son is tripping the light fantastique in Japan on his school trip? What a great base for a ski trip. Via Melbourne of course. Centre of the universe. Got to get my fix.

Busy day of clients today...then my second orchestra rehearsal tonight. Been practising all week. Not so scratchy now. Although my boys would disagree. Little one skipped past me yesterday with hands over his ears! I kid you not.

Happy Monday!

New England Elegance

Look at this heartstoppingly (is that a word?... it is now) gorgeous home! 

Brace yourself...... it's here in Brisbane. 

I know!

This beautiful home belongs to one my readers. Believe it or not, after gazing at her photos for a while, I realised that her Great Room (with fireplace) was the room that originally inspired me to do the whole 'stone fireplace with window seats on either side' thing in 'The House'. I have a wrinkled page from some magazine featuring my reader's very fireplace somewhere in my 'House Box'... at the back of the shed! 

I think the bookcases inspired me too. Oh yes they did!... I remember... the little drawers above the cupboards... yes! It was a while back. 

That fireplace... yep, right down to the hearth...this was the room that started off my Great Room.

This is the entry.

Look at the little light in the newel post! 

Love.

Now the good news is... if you desperately have to live in this beautiful place...you can... because it's for sale! The listing is HERE. .... with heaps more photos! Run, don't walk. Ref: FF, 2010.

Don't the weeks fly? We've already had 3 weeks of Term 1. Mini-brag... my big son made the 'BJL' team (Brisbane Junior League) for soccer. It's the highest level he can play at for his age. 

Bursting. With. Pride.

Little one is also excelling at soccer as the best striker ever... and he has joined the school choir too. So we now have something on every afternoon after school.... soccer, scouts, soccer, choir, piano, soccer, guitar. Bye - bye life. I will be spending most afternoons in the car with computer on lap....and loving every minute. 

Anything for my beautiful boys.

Happy Friday!

Gotta Love An Empty House

Cam, from Urban Images, photographs beautiful homes.  From time to time he emails me the ones he thinks I would like. He's always spot on. 

Rumour has it that 'K', the clever lady who was in charge of this beautiful renovation in the western suburbs of Brisbane, drew inspiration from my house posts! Chuffed.

Oh how I would fill this room! A beautiful blank canvas. See the original transoms and original French door? And look down the hall, there is a beauty of a built-in bookcase down there. There is something about VJ's (or beading as they call it in the other hemisphere).... look they're on the ceiling too. Deep sighs.

French doors at the end of a kitchen. Perfection. I am a sucker for French doors running off anything. All the cabinets were hand made and hand brush painted. Look at all those lovely drawers. See the slope of the ceiling? This originally would have been a verandah or a 'sleep-out'. I love how you can see some of the original history peeping out of the renovation. 

Oh my, look at all that space... opening out onto a deck in the treetops. Nice lights! That's a handsome transom too.

There's the laundry off to the side? .. all within easy reach. Originally thought it was the Butler's? With another beautiful door/window letting in heaps of light. Definitely looks like it all was originally a beautiful big verandah. Love the interest that the sloping ceiling adds.

This study sits off the kitchen. I can see a beautiful lamp in that corner. Imagine the bookcase filled with books and pretty vignettes. A good spot to blog while keeping an eye on the stove. Hmmm, well thought out!

I swear they are my floor tiles. Almost positive. I could pick 'em a mile away. 'Grey with rivers of white' was how I used to describe them. That's them. Beautiful mirror!

Oh another door at the end of a room! I am also a sucker for glass doors at the end of laundries!... letting in heaps of light. Look at those beautiful chunky moldings. I can see rattan baskets in that space under the drawers. Aren't the walls a beautiful colour. Spill it Cam and 'K'. Someone's going to ask me!

Original feature. Preserved forever. Lovely.

Thank you Cam and 'K' for sharing this beautiful home. I have mentally furnished it, 'rugged' it, accessorised it, curtained it and embellished it with fresh flowers... bathed in all that beautiful natural light.

A lovely start to Thursday. Coffee time. Slept in 'til 4.30am this morning. What is wrong with me!

Have a happy day.... oh hey, and thanks for all your scrambled egg tips. Confession. After I wrote that post yesterday, and got the boys off to school, I sat and ate another round of Justine's eggs while answering my morning emails. She had a giggle that her eggs made 'the blog'. 

How's This For A Butler's Pantry?

I was visiting a client yesterday and she showed me her new Butler's Pantry. 

Now Kelly Wearstler has officially been everywhere!...even an Aussie Butler's Pantry!

 Isn't it fabulous! 

It's attached to this kitchen. Sigh!

Amazing client.... high powered job, plus studying, plus mother of a 3 year old, plus due to have second baby in 8 weeks, plus full on living in and renovating a super large house  (and doing a spectacular job at it I might add).... all with a big smile on her face. I felt empowered when I left her yesterday!

Look how teeny tiny his is... had to take a photo.

All this talk about my violin the other day made me want to get it out and have a fiddle.

Little one got his out too and played me a song that had something to do with a squirrel running up a tree. His performance didn't go too well according to him and it all ended in tears. That damn G string kept getting in the way of the D string and he thought tears would help. I tried to console but apparently it's just 'so not fair' as I am much better than him. I tried to explain that I had a good forty years on him and that everyone 'gets better when they practice' ...(I have become my mother!)....and he said, "well you said you never practised". Point taken. 

My violin still lives in it's original case. Tragic isn't it. The zip still works. 

It's close to 40 years old. It was sort of a good feral look for the bushband. 

You couldn't have anything too posh.

Well, I am sort of super busy this week. It's amazing what a few days away does to one's inbox. I'm off to the shed this morning as more gorgeous French glass lights arrived yesterday so I'm sending them off. Might don a pair of leggings for the occasion! 

Oh and my lovely chair says hello. I realised it hasn't made an appearance since it survived the January flood, by the skin of it's teeth. It's still trying to get used to the modern wood panelling in my apartment.

That's my messy desk behind it. Sorry I didn't style the chair or take any of the junk off it. I couldn't be bothered getting up from the couch..... just zoomed in. Oh dear, I hope Mr Problogger isn't reading this... this has been a rather lazy post. Well, it is 4.15am and I am leaving at 6.30am this morning for the Tuesday morning 'Guitar Ensemble run'. At least I popped in and said hi and 'respected my readers'.

I'm going to crank up that Nespresso machine right now. I hope it doesn't wake the boys. Yet. 

Have a great day!

So Then Kirsten Wrote In....

.....to share her house! Isn't it divine! 

Kirsten writes, " I read your blog this morning and couldn't help but feel Kathryn's front steps are so similar to mine. When we bought our house, it was basically a tea tree out the front and dirt/grass. Our house was also peach/green/maroon. Ick! The hedge is lily pily, planted just over a year ago, and the small garden in front of the steps is rosemary and lavender. It works really well in a Brisbane climate. We did roses along the path and some ornamental cherry blossoms on either side, which should flower soon. Anyway, maybe you could pass this on to Kathryn, it might help!"

Look! Everything that we have been suggesting! A garden path, plantings, colours, lattice doors, wire gate at front! It's almost as if Kathryn is looking at the 'after 'of her house after applying all the advice she received yesterday..... ta...da!!!

.. and look at this glorious verandah. What a great spot! Ooh love the lanterns too!

This is Kirsten's 'Before'..... what a transformation!

Thank you Kirsten, for sharing your beautiful home. It's wonderful to be able to inspire others by generously sharing what has worked for you. I think Kathryn now has some great advice to sift through. 

Well I'm off to my little one's sports carnival this morning. That's if it isn't raining. I haven't even looked out the window yet. 

Speaking of carnivals, those of you in Sydney and Hobart.... the wonderful 'Boutique Markets' are coming your way this weekend... for the first time! 

Here are the details so you can pencil them in your diary:

The lovely Ness, from Marley and Lockyer, is trading at the Hobart Markets. That's reason enough to go for a start! I mentioned this to a group of girls at the Melbourne Market last weekend.. and we all had a giggle as every one of us has something from Marley and Lockyer in our homes! Ness, you're viral!

If I could be there I would..... but I have been galavanting around the country way too much and need to stay put for a while!

What Would You Do?

A bloggy reader, Kathryn, wrote to me the other day and asked me if I still did my WWYD ('What Would You Do' posts)? Goodness, that's going back a bit. You've been around a long time Kathryn. Thanks for sticking with me since then! 

Kathryn has just bought a new house, a colonial Queenslander, and although she loves it, she wants to make some minor changes to the front over time. She was hoping you'd be able to give her some advice. I said I was sure you would help her.... after all, you counselled me through my whole house build!

I'm sorry, but my heart skipped a beat when I saw Kathryn's photos. Isn't it a dream!!!! Deep breaths.

Kathryn writes: "The main issue is privacy and lack of gardens. I'd like to be able to sit on the front verandah and have coffee in my pjs, but currently anyone walking or driving by gets a full view. I've had a few ideas, like maybe a lattice door and a row of lily pily shrubs, then possibly lavender along the front of the house, but would welcome any other ideas. We want to keep it quite traditional and pretty. In a year or so we will also want to repaint in something other than yellow and green, so any garden plans will need to take that into account - and we would also welcome colour suggestions. Thank you! Looking forward to ideas".

So girls, what do you reckon?....a beautiful blank canvas, screaming out for us to sink our teeth into. What would you do?

PS. I am sooo going to work on an invite and get to sit on that front deck and have coffee too!

Could It Get Any Better?

Remember Sandie's place? ... from back HERE? Well my heart beat faster when these photos arrived in my inbox. "Straight to the blog", I said, "I have to share these". Isn't it gorgeous!!! Sandie you have excelled yourself. 

Sandie did this. She planned, schemed, sourced and supervised everything.  Everytime I ran into her (or even when I didn't, and just ran into someone who knew her) I got an update on this amazing project. 

Dear 'Magazine Editor' who has accidentally stumbled across this here post, you need to get your camera crew there pronto. Sandie's builder would never have to advertise again. And rumour has it, he was wonderful to work with. Quick tie him up and don't let him go. He even built her a little cupola for her roof.... because she asked..... and he could. I have cupola envy (I won't even start about my fight for a cupola. Don't look back A-M!).

This is the back. Gorgeous enough to be the front I reckon. Pool is going in at the moment.

Gotta love a good construction photo. This pool is going to be a beauty.

Sigh.... windows..... stonework.

Ooh and I spy a Butler's Pantry.. sigh. So excited that you chose my lights for your kitchen Sandie! They look great. I will now be inundated with enquiries as to where you got your big light bulbs from. I know my readers.

Aren't we lucky to see the photos of it all coming together! There's more to come of the interior soon! Thank you Sandie. You have made my blog look really pretty this morning! Keep 'em coming.

Happy Tuesday!

ADDENDUM: Notes from Sandie re your questions on her house. Thank you Sandie, you are so generous to share all your information!


ROOF - "asphalt shingle, quick to install, not super expensive, looks so neat with clean lines and so quiet".


LIGHT GLOBES IN A-M's lights - Phillips Energy Saver, "they come in a couple of shapes, I got the largest in the round shape from Bunnings"


EXTERIOR PAINT COLOUR - "it was a Berger colour which I chose from an apparently old colour book at Dulux. It only has a code, not a name but there is one almost identical from Bristol called 'Quicksilver'"


EXTERIOR STONE - Howqua, purchased through Eco Stone in Nunawading and Richmond.


And most importantly!!!!!...... Sandie's BUILDER!


Primoconstruct P/L
Contact: Peter Celotti
Ph: 0415 352 778


Pete, I reckon you're gonna be busy! 


Thankyou again Sandie, you have inspired so many!