h&b: decorating

Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Home Art

Remember CopperArt ? I think I saw more ads for CopperArt as a kid than I did actual
tv programs.

CopperArt is now HomeArt, but i'm still pretty sure most of the items you can buy there
are on sale in this fabulous Pete Smith commercial from 1988:

Nice.

My aunt was an award-winning local copper artist.

She did relief sculptures and they hung around her home festooned with the
show ribbons to show off her many successes. Her house was pretty interesting -
along with the copper art, there was a giant fork and spoon wall hanging and they had a bar!

I used to play in the bar a lot as there wasn't much to do for little kids at their house.

I was fascinated with the copper(!) necklaces around the bottlenecks declaring
"MARTINI" or "VERMOUTH" and they had matchbooks from many different places
and fancy cocktail napkins and swizzle sticks.

Oh, and her bed had a radio built in the bedhead, and she had these fibre-optic flower
lamps that bloomed with changing colour. I'm sure it was all very tacky, but I was fascinated.
We didn't have any of that stuff at my house.

There is something very magical about falling to sleep watching a musical fibre optic rose
blossom and fade, blossom and fade.

Anyway, when we moved back into this house, some of the art we had up previously
no longer worked with the new walls, and I cant put up my giant LOVE metal letters as
I inherited my Grandmother's piano, but we are getting there.

I've got some great ideas for a few empty spaces.. just got to get my craft on.

It wont be copper art.

Here's some art i've got up so far:

^ You've seen my hallway art .. still quite proud of that effort :)

^ Outside my son's room.

I made this too. There's a similar one you can buy on the market, but to be honest,
whenever I went to click "BUY" the dimensions of the arrow bugged me .. not quite right.

I spent a long day in Photoshop creating this and comparing to the proper iconic
Melbourne hook turn signs I could find in Google Images to get the dimensions just so,
and to find the perfect font.

You can see my big unhung L O V E metal letters on top of Grandma's piano here too.

^
Further down the hallway just before you turn into the open-plan kitchen/living area
is my wall of SuperCats.

I was lucky enough to receive these 4 SuperCats for Christmas last year .. and I knew
where I wanted to put them, but they were just too small for the wall space.

Oh! but then I remembered my Chat Noir framed print and I think good & evil offset
themselves nicely here.

^ I won this piece of art with my Carpet Court prize. I love the colours in it.
It's by Gazza & Wazza of The Block fame.

I'm not sure if they actually made the art though, I think maybe just curated?

^ and this superb canvas is an original artwork by my multi-talented friend Clair.
When I enter my home via the front door, this is the first thing you see at the end
of the hallway and it's just perfect. You can find Clair here, among other places:
( http://www.saatchiart.com/clairbremner )

^Finally, I picked this up on our Geelong Weekend, just before we were about to board the ferry.
It is perfectly sunny in my laundry/pantry.

^ Next up I am concentrating on that space above my green egg chair.
I have some ideas I need to workshop some more that are perfectly formed in my mind,
so we'll see how they pan out in real life!

Then I need to hit the bedrooms.

I don't mind little steps though .. it takes time to make a home come together.

xx
Lea

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Hallway Update

It's been a while since I did a house update - the little things take time I think.

Repenting in leisure does not suit me .. especially if I have to walk past something
"not quite right" everyday, and especially even more if that something is an art work,
which usually, being a thing of beauty, has a pretty price-tag too.

I wanted something to go above the hallway bench.

I'm not sure where I got the rest of my idea from. Things tend to come to me in dreams,
so we'll go with that. I know I was aware of steel words you could buy from stores,
but they weren't quite right for me - size, pricepoint, or font.

I know I did steal some inspiration from them though.

A cheaper copy, if you will.

And I wanted to mount it somehow.

I know it's a bit trendy, but I do love the pallet look. I have a pallet coffeetable, and have
always loved a rustic edge. Also, I have Scottish blood, so you know .. hello pricepoint - ✓

This pallet was gifted from a friend who actually made the most awesome deck seating
system with built-in flowerpots. From pallets. Oh yeah. 'tis sweet. Very sweet.

So there you have it .. a bit more of my house.

I dismantled the pallet and put it back together to the size I wanted, and then I shaped
wire to make my word. Once happy with everything, I wrapped the wire in wool and
fixed it to my pallet.

By the way, try finding a nice thick wool in Melbourne in a good hue.
I seriously bought the last ball of this stuff and I looked in a fair few places.

That frame with the bunny in it?
I bought that on my honeymoon 18yrs ago. The frame that is, the bunny print was
another gift from another friend ( I have good friends, huh? )

There's more hallway, obvs .. we've just put some prints up on the other side too ..
but I haven't finished tweaking, so .. another day.

I just wanted to share this because it's one of those projects that worked out just how
I wanted and I so love walking past it and I love it. I think it looks great with the
yellow and red and green and orange .. I couldn't have planned it any better if I tried :D

xx
Lea

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

The Bathroom .. Now with a Touch of Green ..

We renovated the bathroom in 2009.

Previously, it was used as a workroom by the previous owner who ran a therapy business
from home. It had bright blue walls and grey lino that smelled like old rubbing oils.

There was a lantern style light that you could pull down, I guess either to use as heat
therapy (?) or get a closer look at a client's body? Unsure.

There was also a mini sink and a working handdrier by the door
( stripped from the pic below .. made a nice little $ on eBay with that thing ).

We originally used it as a junk room.

And a kiddy art room.
And the place where I did my makeup and plugged in the hairdrier ( the old 1950's bathroom
had no power outlets ). It was also the room I took all my maternity selfies :)

Eventually, the older style bathroom began to clunk out on us. I can't remember now
what the issue was - I think it was the shower falling apart? Maybe the fact it lacked
electrical outlets. Or storage? Anyway, we thought it would be a good idea if we renovated
the junk room into the long luxurious ( and central ) family bathroom we wanted, while still
having use of the tiny grotty old bathroom before it died completely. So that is what we did.

Original bathroom ( now our post-reno WIR ):

I found a copy of the Herald Sun HOME magazine in the garage,
where the new bathroom was featured soon after finishing.

Recently, when trying to decide on a tone for new towels,
I realised how "brown" my supposedly "neutral" bathroom was.. but after a quick flick through
this mag, it seems everything in 2009 was brown/natural/tan/coffee-toned.

It's jam-packed with 'very warm toned' new houses to buy.. every room a new depressing
shade of bleah, so it seems I was just on-trend ( but still, bleah! )

Interestingly though, the layout artist has tinged my article with a lovely shade
of green .. it seems someone was thinking forward and tired of the browns anyway...

And this is the bathroom today.

Just a spruce up, but the green is such a lift and it matches in with the colours of the new reno.

I think it's very pretty :)

Thursday, January 02, 2014

Today, I Be Cleaning..

As I mentioned earlier, 2013 was a whirlwind.
We moved into a tiny flat during a heatwave and I think I fried off several thousand
braincells. We renovated, we moved back.

The plan was to take the year off work, and I did for the 6 months we were out of the house,
but there were splashbacks to investigate and lighting to buy, and return, and buy more of.
Paint samples to obsess over.

On top of this the regular kiddy-party-playdates / kindy-drop-off-pick-up routine that
just about did my head in ( long daycare had spoiled me I think ) and everything else,
we kinda moved back in and got busy working again to pay for what we had spent.

Thus it is only now, in these Summer holidays, that I feel I am finally home,
and discovered I had a "junk drawer" already.

The builders started it.

We got new doorhandles, so they popped the old ones in the 2nd drawer down.
Excess screws and warranties, 2nd drawer down.
A caulking gun, and some weird bits of metal with stickers on them warning me
not to throw them out. Err, ok, weird excess bit of metal. You can stay for now.

In the 2nd drawer down.

So today I be cleaning, and tomorrow we be getting a skip to sort out the garage
( where all the bigger post-reno junk went ). We love a good clean out.

So when Dettol's people called my people ( err, that would be me, I dont have people )
and asked if i'd like to trial some new cleaning stuff, I was all 'um hello, yes please'.

Also, Dettol is really into a green theme atm, and so am I. Call me vain ( i'm ok with that )
but I like the pretty, even with my cleaning products. Dettol matches my house.
I only buy the Dettol handwash in my bathroom because it's a pretty Lime colour/scent
( I used to decant into refillable fancy containers, but have never found one of those suckers
that ever worked properly, so have given up )

Also, I have two boys. One was born nice and clean and tidy. I could take him anywhere
and people used to remark how I ever got around without a nappy bag, or really, any bag at all.
He just never made a mess. Other babies were always gooby and ikky, but not mine.

But then I birthed the other baby and this one was the Anti-Clean.

Seriously, even now at 5 1/2 yrs old, he's still perpetually grotty. He will eat one tiny little
thing and manage to smear it all over his face. No-one wants to sit at his place at the
kitchen counter as there is food EVERYWHERE .. spills, splatters, crumbs.
The floor beneath his seat is usually repulsive and as I type I find my nostrils flared and
my mouth pursed in disgust.

Lucky he's also very cute and witty and fun and cheeky, but By God I hope he learns
where his mouth is soon.. or at least has the good grace to clean up after himself. Ugh.

So the new Dettol Floor Cleaning System is perfect for me. I find mops rather gross
to be honest .. especially those string ones. I have a sponge-mop, but I always end up doing
most of the work on my hands and knees with an old towel anyway as they always seem
to leave streaks - or dull my floors. I hate dull floors.

Floor Wipes are easy, hygienic and clean really well without leaving residue.
Pop one on, and once done, pop it in the bin and admire the mess-free result.

Mmm ... fresh Lime & Mint!
Especially fresh for around the toilet ( boys remember.. I have boys .. )

Are you cleaning the house too for the fresh New Year?

I have another pack to give away that includes:

1x Dettol Floor Cleaning System ( plus refills )
1x bottle Dettol Power & Pure Kitchen Spray
1x bottle of Dettol Power & Pure bathroom Spray
1x Dettol Power & Pure Surface Wipes.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck and Good Cleaning! x

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...