One of the best things about summer is that you can slip on a colourful dress and flats and your set. Easy. I bought this one to wear to an event a while ago. I was pregnant with Robert at the time and it fit my belly with room to move. I wore it everywhere afterwards and it is seeing the sun again this summer.
See that lamp in the background? That's the lamp I bought for Robert that I mentioned.
 I had been looking for a blue lamp for his room but I couldn't find any that I liked so I bought an old lamp base and painted it sky blue. There is a matching lamp to this one but I didn't want to overwhelm his room with lighting so the other one is sitting unpainted in the study.
That's all from me for this week! If you are looking for a weekend read, may I recommend these?
- Belinda recently shared her 'secrets to creating a happy home' in Home Beautiful and you can read her full set of tips on her blog
- Jason Grant, Real Living stylist and the person who did the amazing job on my home for the Real Living shoot, has recently started a blog! He will be sharing what goes on behind the scenes and other fun stuff. I have been busy jotting down all of his shopping recommendations. His blog was a 'must read blog' linked at the top of this page but just in case you missed it I really do recommend you check it out here.
- And finally, I really want to try this project. It looks so simple and effective.
Have a beautiful weekend! Dress: DVF Shoes: French Connection Update: Fifi Lapin wore this dress too. Does this make me a fashionable bunny as well? ;) See it here.
 I have tried a few different colours for the walls of the stairway but I haven't found the perfect colour yet. I'll keep trying though.
 I am thinking it will be nice to make use of this chandelier here. It is a shame to keep it in storage. I'm not sure if it will be easy for our electrician to hang though. It is a bit tricky to manoeuvre a ladder in this space and there is no current light fitting on the ceiling so new cabling would be required. This part of the house has a flat roof so no access from the top either. I think this idea might have to go into the 'too hard' (or impossible) basket.
 I am slowly replacing a few of the older pieces in my home which includes the old lamps in the bedroom. It is not that I don't like them anymore, I do, I would just like a little change since I have had them for many years. The new lamp above was picked up for a bargain. Another white piece to add to my home.
 There wasn't a matching pair though (I picked up the last one) and so the bedroom looks a little mismatched with the antler lamp on the other side of the bed. The antler lamp is much taller so I propped the new lamp onto a book to get the scale right. I'm undecided on how this looks but I might live with it for a little while. If I change my mind, the new lamp will be used in the study and the antler lamp will go back into the studio.
Robert has new lamps for his room too which I'll share with you another time. I am looking for the perfect shades. Boy, I sure can talk a lot about lamps can't I? :)
Hello! Are you ready for another week? Tomorrow is Australia Day here which is a public holiday. It is a day when we reflect on what being Australian means to us but also a good reason to catch up with family and friends and enjoy the outdoors. My brother-in-law is celebrating his birthday as well so there will be some birthday cake for us to enjoy tomorrow too. Yum.
 To kick off the week I have a beautiful kitchen to show you by Angie Hranowsky.
What caught my eye is the amazing tile work and that the entire wall has been tiled. I remember when tiling our kitchen we couldn't decide how far up the wall to go but I don't think an entire wall would have suited our chosen tile. It works in this kitchen though because the tile is patterned.
 I am also a big fan of the white cabinetry, white bench tops and the small open shelves. I wouldn't say no to the kitchen stools either or the four small pendant lights. Isn't it all just lovely?
 Click here to see more of her beautiful work and this home.
(Images via Angie Hranowsky and Paloma81)
 My favourite shade of pink is that old fashioned dusty pale pink. I tend to be drawn to this shade in clothing (like this top), interiors, exteriors (I would still love a pink front door) and.. kitchen appliances.
  The pink mixer and fridge will have to be added to my ever growing wish list. Sigh. They would look nice against the pale pink tiles in the kitchen.
Have a sweet and lovely weekend and thanks for 'listening' to me this week. If there is something you would like to see more of next week, let me know in the comments below. I enjoy hearing from you.
(Top image posted to Bloganistas. Bottom images via All Things Lovely)
For a while now I have been wanting to live simply. My definition of that is to have only the necessities, to eat fresh fruit and vegetables from the garden (not likely to happen though, check out the potato I dug up from our garden the other day), be healthy, happy, have chickens, a goat - okay I'll stop. I know it is rich coming from someone who always writes about things that she loves and things she has purchased for the home.
Truth is, there is so much I want and it can cloud the things that I actually need. Although I don't have that many 'things', I feel suffocated at times by what I do own. So I pack away into storage, donate to charity and it makes me feel better. I can breath again. But my wish list still grows.
 I have been thinking about how to consciously separate the things that I need vs want and then I came across the Dottie Angel challenge which is to only buy secondhand or handmade for the home or your closet for 365 days. Great idea don't you think?
At first I thought I can do this and then I starting thinking, what about food? Undergarments? Socks and shoes (I don't like secondhand shoes)? Things for the shop? I started placing my own boundaries on the challenge and making my own exceptions which is fine to do and most people that have taken up the challenge are doing the same thing.
It would be an interesting challenge though and one that I am still considering. Buying secondhand or handmade wouldn't mean that I can't buy the things I want but it would make me hunt for them more and that in turn may lead me to only concentrate on buying the things I really need. It would also give me an opportunity to browse the markets more, to be creative and to reuse what I already own. All positives things for me but I'm still not quite at the stage where I can say to myself - yep, let's do it! I would really like to try it one day though. For now, I am going to follow Tif's journey through her challenge and admire her creativeness.
Could you do it? Could you only buy secondhand or handmade for you home or closet for a year?
PS: Tif of Dottie Angel is full of creative ideas and has a beautiful home. When you have a moment do check out her blog here. It is also listed as the new 'Must Read Blog'.
 There are days when I crave colour and others when I just want to drift off in a cloud of white. I have been on the lookout for more pretty white things for the display cabinet in the kitchen. I would love to grow my small milk glass collection. Here I come ebay.
 I picked up the throw today from Adairs on sale for $41 and a few cents. The ruffles make me happy so I had to show you a full shot of it. It makes me crave a ruffled dress, ruffled cushions, ruffled curtains, ruffles everywhere. Have I told you lately how much I love ruffles?
 Every so often (rarely) I get a burst of energy to tidy up the bookcase. This weekend was one of those moments. The aim was to make it kid friendly so we bolted the bookcase to the wall and devoted some space for Robert's toys.
 While I was in the mood, I also covered the back of the bookcase with wrapping paper. I realised afterwards that I should have covered wood or board with paper first and then attached it to the back of the bookcase to give it a hard backing because the bookcase doesn't sit flush to the wall. I might do that this week so that holes aren't poked through the paper
How was your weekend? What did you get up to?
 I have a renewed love for Flickr lately, first with the Interior Styling group and now the Bloganistas group. Bloganistas was started by Erin of Design for Mankind for bloggers to share their outfits. Some bloggers are posting daily, others weekly but for me my aim is to post when I feel human. I just haven't really had the energy for getting dolled up lately. Maybe this group will change things for me. Pop in and have a look at the group when you get a chance and you may see some of your favourite bloggers there too.
Top: Fate
Jeans: Nobody
Bag: That's my Vogue Australia freebie. I'm not the slightest bit embarrassed about toting around a magazine freebie.
Flowers: They are slowly dying and so I had to get another shot of them before they do. I know you are tired of seeing this arrangement.
So that's it from me this week. Have a fun weekend!
 Decorating can be a slow process. Waiting and searching for that perfect something and then when it is found there is a choice to be made between sizes, colours, patterns, textures. It doesn't help my indecisiveness.
 I came across Sharon Montrose's work a while ago and you have probably heard of her too. Her work is much loved and it is easy to see why - a cheeky raccoon lying on its back or a basset hound with puppy dog eyes, how could anyone resist? I couldn't decide between her small Etsy prints and then I found she sold larger limited edition prints and my choices expanded. Uh oh.
I whittled down the selection to two and left the final decision up to my husband. He picked the beautiful macaw print in 17" x 22" size. The other option was the more feminine and cute baby deer but I do really like the strength of the macaw wings and the colours - oh the colours are fantastic.
 The plan is to hang it in the living room. For the money spent we could have bought quite a few of her smaller prints but I think the detail of the wings will look amazing in a larger scale.
(Images Sharon Montrose)
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