h&b: carpet court

Showing posts with label carpet court. Show all posts

Friday, December 27, 2013

Where the Wild Things Are.

ha!

It's just our living area. Just our living area? Holy Heck! I want to live here.

When I downloaded these photos I took the other day ( like, only after 6months since
we moved back! ), I kept running down from my office to say to the husband:
"OMG, you should see these pics, I want to live in this house!!!" ..
I felt like Cindy Crawford when she said "I Wish I Looked Like Cindy Crawford."

Because, sure this is my house, and yes, I sure do live here and yes, I love love love it ..
but hell, I cleaned all afternoon on the day I finished work for the year ( the day before
Christmas peeps .. I haz been busy ) and the kids had to either be in their room or OUTside.

Normally, the benches have plates and dirty cups on them and the coffee table is covered in Lego.
The dining table has mounds of newspapers and paperwork. Yeah, it's quite the picture.

So finally, here I am again. Amazed when I realised the last time I felt so free and happy
was this time last year .. FREE TIME! Pictures for ME! Excellent, excellent, excellent..

^ Coming down the hall into the combined living/cooking/dining area

^ You might remember I won a prize courtesy of Carpet Court which basically furnished
this whole room. Divine, and so very very thankful x

Shaggy rug from Carpet Court, lighting from Beacon.
Couch from Domayne, Cushions from Kaz, original print, stools and coffee table from
Boyd Blue, and original art canvas on the far wall is a Christmas Present to myself from
my artist friend Clair.

The green egg chair is from Replica Furniture in Qld.

It is divine, and I just love that I have finally photographed it.
Life got pretty busy since we moved in and basically, these holidays are our first chance
to enjoy it all.

Behind the kitchen is the open entryway to the pantry/laundry.
I love the shallow open shelves and how it opens up to my kitchen garden :)

I am so happy with how it all turned out :)

Xx
Lea

Monday, June 24, 2013

And now .. with Furniture ...

My goodness that bed is heavy.

Still, I couldn't stand it a moment longer, I *had* to see what it would look like on carpet.
Pretty darn good, it turns out..

and my mustard vinyl armchair looks fabbo on it.

I was looking at bedside tables and etc yesterday online, but they inspire in me the same kind
of meh i've always felt when looking at coffee tables. Therefore, i've always compromised
and improvised on both.

You know .. like milk crates .. or .. maybe besser blocks and planks of wood for a classier look.
ok, so that was a long time ago.. but still..

I think i'll be making my own. That's an old crate next to my bed at the moment ..
the carpet deserves something a bit more upmarket though - something more chic.
But still like me, so not that chic ..
A compromise.

I love how the Pride of Madeira we planted outside the bedroom window is getting so big..
the leaves are gorgeous presed up against the glass...

Friday, June 21, 2013

Gaga over Gaia :: Love the Look

My Carpet arrived yesterday!

We've carpeted both the bedrooms, and chose the Gaia Wool Collection,
exclusive to Carpet Court.

I've never bought carpet before and if you haven't either, you will find there is
a LOT of it in store, and it's kinda overwhelming if you don't know your loop
from your plush from your twist.

I started by looking ( a LOT ) at the Carpet Court website.

Things I knew:

- I like natural products whenever possible
- I have kids, and cats
- I love a loop pile
- I have cats. With claws. So no loop pile.
- I didn't want a carpet that left vacuum cleaner lines
- that's about it

So .. pretty easy.
A cut pile, in wool. I think ??!?

Doing your homework first online really helps in store I think.

I suggest compiling a shortlist of carpets & colours you think you'll like, then pop in.

I found once in store, it was then easy to then whittle that list right on down when talking
with a consultant about care ( it was in-store I learned that PLUSH carpet was the stuff
that left the vacuum cleaner lines, so an automatic line went through I a whole heap of
products I was going to look at )

They also knew how to work those rolls and samples quickly, as I had kids in tow ..

Too brown, too blue, that's nice, wrong blend, too mottled, ooh, yum, what about that,
no that, and the other one? Hmm, yep, nope, the first one, ok, yes, done.

I also had to force myself not to look at the loop designs.
Those cats are lucky I like them a lot, I swear.

And this is what I ended up with:
GAIA Wool Carpet, from The Rivers Collection, and I bought "Swan" - as in the Swan River.

Hello Perth!

I'm a sucker for a good name, or one that resonates. All the GAIA collections are
locally named, and I admit I was hoping for a Melbourne experience
( we laughed that there was no "Yarra" to chose from in the Rivers Collection ..
the poor old Yarra .. it gets such a bad colour rap ... )

But we could have bought Sorrento, darling ( Coast Collection ), and I was looking at
Southbank form the ParkLife Collection for a while too .. that combines Melbourne
( and Blur ).. or any number of Numbats and Eucalypts. A bit of Australiana, darl!

Pretty, isn't it?

Next job is to get my bed in there and out of my front room.

Might go do that now.

x

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Room Selection :: Project LivingRoom

I've had a lot of people asking me which room i'm going to have made over..

For me, it's a no-brainer.
This room is a blank canvas.

Take away the shredded couches ( that i've "wrapped" in some baby swaddling muslin to keep the stuffing in ) .. lose the desk and my paper decoration projects .. and you could do what you like with this room.

But it's got amazing bones and quirk to work with - like the exposed brick wall for example .. keep it or cover it? And the walls .. throw any colour on them for an instant lift .. add an amazing rug, maybe some art .. lamps, god I love lamps..

Lamp. I've never thought of it before, but it sounds like a mash of 'lame' and 'damp'. Inspiring :/

The room itself is part of an L-shaped formation.

You come down a wide hallway from the kitchen and this is where we eat, live and play.
I work at the desk and the tele is normally on .. except for the 2 days of the week when I am childless and then there is blissful silence except for the sound of my fingers tip-tapping on the keyboard..

I love fresh flowers in the house, and pick them from my garden. I love to plonk them in things - old bottles and tins .. containers i've recycled from stuff i've bought or picked up from somewhere.

Fresh flowers even in the shabbiest of spaces is always an instant pick-me-up I think .. even a bunch of weeds in a Vegemite jar, or a single stem in an old wine bottle - all good.

I've got my own ideas for what I think would work here, but we'll have to see what happens!

It's all very exciting.

What do you think?
If you were given this room to makeover, what would you do?

Monday, October 15, 2012

Happy Camper :: Love the Look

Today I found out that I am the grand winner of the Carpet Court "Love the Look" Promotion.

I am typing very calmly, in a sensible font, but OMG, in my head it's a bubbling jumble of Comic Sans meets Jokerman RIOT.

I AM SO EXCITED!

To win I portrayed some parts of my home I absolutely love, that we have worked on, fixed up and adore.

In fact, you might get the impression i've got it all covered.

But ah, that is the magic of selective sharing ...

So here are some other glimpses of my home.

The ancient frayed rug .. a couch my kids and the cats have teamed together to make .. extra special ..

Light fittings a-la-go-go ( the middle IKEA lamp is the only light in my kitchen )

Chipped laminex and chipboard kitchen

Leaks & cracks

And finally .. carpet ... I don't mind the petrol-coloured carpet in the boy's bedroom .. it's just a pity it doesn't reach the wall ( why? )

And, of course, the original Westminster in our bedroom .. which I kinda like for the quirk factor, and really, for 60yr old carpet, is in pretty good nick ( in parts ) ..

I'll be interested to hear what fantastic advice Stacey Kouros comes up with .. but one thing's for sure.. there's no lack of projects to choose from ;)

Thankyou Carpet Court, you're the best!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Love the Look ( Pt.2 )

So I was a bit late to this competition, but I made up for it this week .. three entries .. yes, i'm greedy, but when I want something, there's only one word for me: competitive.

I don't enter a lot of comps, mainly because these days they require me to get people to vote for me.

I've witnessed a couple of pretty nasty incidents in recent years that just made me sad for the persons in the running. I also think annoying your friends and family persistently is a good way to get yourself hated, and hey, I need all the friends I can get, because i'm probably pretty annoying in the first place :/

So I was happy when I found out about the Carpet Court competition.

Sure, they'd like you to promote the comp, thus promoting them, but you *don't have to* ..
winners are actually selected by Interior Decorators, it's interactive, they provide briefs, and clues to what they are looking for in submissions .. so it's like a scavenger hunt ( and who doesn't love those ? ) .. ooh, something cosy and warm .. something fresh and summery .. go!

The other bonus of course, is that i'm in blog-revival mode, and also house-revival mode.
We've done so much work I haven't showcased, and it's nice that i've been made to get off my butt and take some pics. I've always been incredibly home-motivated, and hopefully one day i'll find all my 35mm film and scan in other housey-endeavours from days past.

For those new to this blog, I started it about 7yrs ago when only geeks had them.
I had a new baby, a new house, a new life, and family overseas. I wasn't chained to the corporate wheel.

This is our third home as a family, and as mortgage-holders.

We started in Collingwood in our first reno .. 1 bedroom, an outside loo, I used to peel slabs of peeling paint off in the shower and wonder absentmindedly about asbestos and steam. We made it beautiful and the DINK-dream of our friends, then had a baby and arranged for a sale while I was recovering in hospital. The real-estate team came though while I was breastfeeding in bed. I'd been a mother for only a few days.

Sold it to a gay guy, moved to the 'burbs.

Realised kids needed a backyard ( it was a sub-divide with a wife-beater living in what should have been our backyard .. err .. ) Gorgeous cottage though. Shame.

And now we're here, the forever home, with the backyard.
We're doing the FULL RENO next year. The one that's been TALKED ABOUT for 7yrs. It's exciting, and terrifying. We're making an upstairs and working in with work we've already done. It's to house two teenage boys that might be living with us until they are 30 (?). Currently they share a room ... and a bed. Not so cool in a few years time, I suspect, so we're jumping now.

So yeah, if you're thinking I might find a Carpet Court room makeover handy ( and a bit of flooring to boot ), you'd be right. Totally right.

And I get to upload some of the work i've already done, so i'm happy for the boot in the bott-bott.

Love the look?
Why not submit some pics of your own?
There's still time, but this is the last week, so get to it!

xx
Lea

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Love the Look

So thrilled to have been this weeks' winner in Carpet Court's "Love the Look" comp on facebook.

As you know, I really love the way my backyard is finally coming altogether, and it's nice to have affirmations from others .. especially when that person is Stacey Kourous !

I really had my fingers crossed on this one, as I was hoping to share as a happy follow-on from yesterday's panorama, and now I can!

And this is what it used to look like in 2007 ( top ) to present day ( bottom two )

I love my Greenhouse .. it's my little space where I can potter around, or dress it up in seasonal colours ( we Halloween it, we Christmas it, we birthday-it-up .. and it's still got a now-tattered Geelong Cats flag flying from it's mast from last year's Premiership season ;) .. I grow seedlings in there, I often just zone out in there .. it's quiet and pretty and peaceful .. no tele, no fighting, no demands for food .. i'm pretty much left alone to watch the changing light, pet a cat, watch a bird, or sit in that chair with a wine and survey my slice of heaven.

So .. would you like to win a $10,000 room makeover? ( this is the major prize from Carpet Court )

I know I would... that 1950's Westminster carpet .. goneski ... the 10yr old tattered rug that has seen better days .. oh, i've got 10,000 ways I could use that $10k, absolutely.

You can enter here: http://www.carpetcourt.com.au/current-promotions/love-the-look .. or pop right on over to Carpet Court's facebook page.. tell 'em I sent you ;)

Gotta be in it to win it!

x
Lea