Three

Dear Robert, Robbie, Roberto,

I'm not sure it is possible to put in words how much you mean to me. My little boy. Who is now three. Wow.

I started this blog to document the progress of your nursery and it felt like yesterday I was choosing furniture for you, decorating your room, wondering what life would be like with you in it. And what a beautiful life it is. Do you think it shows? How much I adore you?

I love your innocent view of life. Every day you are learning and I am re-learning with you. You give me an excuse to be silly and your cuddles are world class.

When you wake up in the morning and hop into bed at night you tell me you love me "200".

I love you 1 million. And more.

Happy birthday cheeky boy.

Mum

Bathroom Renovation

Over the next few months I plan to update the bathroom. I still need to save up but in the meantime I have started sourcing materials, including these tiles from Art of Tiles.

The hexagon tiles are for the floor and the subway tiles are for the walls and I will use a grey grout. I still really like the blue subway tiles I posted earlier. I'm not sure they will look as good with grey grout though.

This is what the bathroom looks like at the moment. I will keep all the plumbing as it is to save costs. The bath / shower needs a new screen because it is broken. The plan is to tile to the ceiling, replace the towel rack with a new one, update the handles of the vanity because they have rusted and resurface the bath. I have a few other things in mind I would like to try too but I will see how far my budget can stretch!

I have already made changes to this bathroom when I first moved in. See here for what it looked like previously. There was no toilet and so the double vanity was replaced with a single vanity to fit a toilet in the space. The walls were painted and a new shower head was installed. It has served us well and there is really no immediate need to update but what I have in mind I think might look beautiful. Fingers crossed.

Palm leaves wallpaper

No doubt you have seen this Cole & Son 'Palm Leaves' wallpaper previously but I am enjoying it again and I'm on the hunt for two rolls!

Top image is of Shannon Fricke's bedroom and bottom image is via House of Turquoise.

Fashionably Late Friday: Lazy Sunday

Confusing post title isn't it? Sorry to be quiet this week (and late!). It's been a busy week but I'm going to spend today relaxing at the beach, eating fish and chips and maybe even some shopping. Who knows how the day will end up though? That's what I love about lazy Sundays.

Hope you are having a beautiful weekend.

Subway tiles

I went tile hunting over the weekend. I have been looking at updating the main bathroom and I love the look of subway tiles.

I will probably end up choosing white subway tiles but how tempting are these coloured ones?

(Top image Victor Vauthier for Tank Summer 2011, Bottom image Katie Ridder)

Colour Burst: Paris circus

I adore this fashion shoot by Paul Schmidt for Jalouse June/July 2011 for a few reasons - it features pink haired model Charlotte Fee, it has a circus feel and you know how much I love anything circus related and also the colours are beautiful.

So I'm referring to these images for the second Colour Burst feature. If I could design a room around these colours I would imagine:

Pretty pink striped walls, a bed with a dark grey deep buttoned bed head, vintage ivory coloured bedding and ruby red side tables.

One can only dream....

Previous Colour Burst:

• Pale and inky

(Images Paul Schmidt for Jalouse June/July 2011, Paint swatches by Porters Paints)

Stevie English Hair

I have taken my love of colour to a new level - my hair. The pink hair trend isn't a new one but it has taken me a while to find the courage. I have spent a good part of about 8 years growing out all shades of blonde but you only live once, right?

So pink it was and when I mentioned to friends what I was thinking, the name Stevie English was recommended to me by many. It's as though colour + hair = stevie.

So I contacted owner Stevie Corthine via twitter, promised to send a photo of what I was after and the ball was set in motion.

The salon is striking with dark floors and chairs, red storage cabinets and graphic wallpaper. Stevie explained the salon was designed by a friend with sustainability in mind to create minimal environmental impact. Energy efficient hot water and 4/5 star water saving devices are used, recycled materials and low wattage fluorescent lighting together with natural light. The fit out took approximate 4.5 months to complete before the salon was opened in November 2007.

I arrived with Robbie and was unsure if I had made the right decision to bring him with me. After all toddlers can't sit still for longer than a few minutes let alone hours. Stevie's team were wonderful though! They entertained him, kept him occupied with movies on an iPad and made it all feel so easy.

Stevie wanted the salon to have a unique and trendy vibe. I love the mix of prints in the salon from the heart shaped fabrics to the various wallpapers paired with dark stained wood. The salon feels raw and edgy and glamorous at the same time.

The basin area is dark and moody which highlights the salon's colour work hanging on the walls. O&M hair products are used which are ammonia-free and gentle on the hair and environment. AND they smell like candy.

Overall I felt relaxed, comfortable and I had fun. I'm already thinking about my next colour. Blue tips, perhaps? What do you think? Have you ever gone pink?

To the team at Stevie English - thank you.

Stevie English Hair

153 Glebe Point Road, Glebe 2037

(02) 9423 7033

www.stevieenglish.com.au

Three years + 1 month

Three. Blogging for three years? Wow.

One thing I have discovered during this time of writing is just how much of a passion this is and how lucky I am to be surrounded by so much inspiration. 2011 was a tricky year for me as it hasn't been easy juggling single motherhood, work, school, writing commitments and other projects but I've enjoyed it all.

During this last year:

• I held the first charity tea party at my home with friends and it is becoming an annual event now
• I started writing for Lustable
• I dressed up the study
• I hung artwork on the walls here, here, and here and with more on the way and I painted the kitchen door
• Robbie grew out of his cot and I shared with you the updates to him room
• My home was featured in adore home magazine, I was mentioned in home & decor magazine, asked to contribute for a beautiful book called Decorate, and ish and chi was even reviewed on the radio!
• I bought new dining chairs, kitchen stools, an ottoman coffee table and a new Lazybones quilt. LOVE.

And I still have lots more I want to do around the home. One day soon I hope to tackle the bathroom, the laundry (again) and I'm dreaming of an outdoor deck. I'll keep sharing my progress. If there is anything you would like to see more of on ish and chi, feel free to write to me in the comments below.

As always, thank you for your support this last year, your kind words and for being awesome!

A Dulux Colour Consultation + Giveaway!

{Sponsored by Nuffnang}

Paint colours can be one of the most difficult choices to make when renovating a home I have found. Take the colour white for example – there is a myriad of choices and it can get very confusing. Dulux offer a colour consultation service where a professional will come to your home to advise you on the best colours to use. I was lucky to have been offered a consultation just recently and if you continue reading, you can enter for your chance to win one!

The consultation took approximately 1 hour and I met with Odette who arrived carrying colour charts galore. You may know by now how much I love looking at colours so I found it hard to keep my paws off her charts.

I gave Odette a tour of my house and briefly explained the function of each room and what I was hoping to achieve in terms of design and colour. Currently all walls are painting in Dulux China White (1/4 strength) and the trims in Dulux Antique White. My house has a lot of natural light, particularly in the living and dining area and Odette felt keeping the colour scheme light was the way to go. She began by narrowing down the choices for the main walls throughout the house by pinning a selection onto the kitchen cabinets and editing down from there. The winning colour was Hog Bristle (1/2 strength) which incidentally was Dulux’s most popular colour in 2011 because of the versatility of the colour.

For the hallway, Odette suggested a feature wall in Dulux Western Myall, a dark grey colour which is absolutely beautiful and will create depth to the space. I have wanted to create a feature of this wall and the grey colour will work well with the mirrored table and vases.

For the master bedroom, Odette suggested Dulux Russian Toffee, a deeper shade than Hog Bristle to make the room feel cosier. The room has morning sun and I find it can be rather bright in the morning and so a deeper shade makes sense to use here. It matches beautifully with my bed and the framed wallpaper.

Robert’s bedroom has an existing circus wallpaper feature wall and Odette suggested painting the remaining walls in a pale blue shade. The colour suggested is so sweet! We moved the colour sample around the room and it worked with all of his existing furniture and the colours of the large David Bromley print in his room.

Next up was the studio. Currently there is a leftover exterior paint slapped on the walls. Odette suggested a deeper shade, Dulux Rich Mocha, for the main wall where I have hung framed wallpaper and prints and a lighter shade, Dulux Russian Toffee for the remaining walls.

Do you remember the stairway that I have been stuck trying to decide on a colour to paint? Odette helped me here too. She suggested the same colour as the hallway feature wall, Dulux Western Myall for the left and far wall and Dulux Hog Bristle (1/2 strength) for the right wall. Odette advised that painting only two of the walls in the darker grey shade will not darken the space overall and will allow light to bounce around the walls.

Odette completed the consultation by writing down each colour choice complete with diagrams on a specification sheet for me to keep. She also left me with colour chip samples to refer to. Overall I am very happy with the service provided and finally feel confident in the colour choices for my home, in particular the stairway, master bedroom and hallways which have haunted me for a long time! I may hold off changing the main wall colour throughout the house for now but I know what to choose when the house needs repainting in the future. The service is recommended if you are having difficulties too choosing colours for your home.

And I have something exciting to share with you! Dulux have kindly offered one ish and chi reader with the change to win a Dulux colour consultation. All you have to do is answer the question in this question in the comments field:

“What Dulux colour would your choose to repaint one of your rooms and why?”

Entries close next Wednesday 19 October 2011 and only one entry per person please. Good luck!

PS. Please see terms and conditions of competition here.

AND THE WINNER IS.....

KL! Congratulations!

(Unfortunately I didn't hear from the previous winner and so I've redrawn the prize)

Painting the entrance wall

I accidentally broke the small white vase but I still like it and now I call it 'art'.

That's my cat, Jessie!

I should have been working on assignments but instead I was motivated to paint the entrance wall in a deep grey blue colour - Dulux Western Myall. Being such a dark colour two coats was required however I can still see a couple of tiny spots where paint was missed. I might have to touch these up.

Did you get up to any painting or DIY over the weekend?

Fashionably Late Friday: The colour of fairy floss

I'll explain more soon. It's love.

Adore Home 1st Birthday Party

The new issue of Adore Home is out now and it is a New York themed. I have said this previously but I don't mind saying it again - it is so wonderful that Australia has such a beautiful online magazine and editorial director Loni Parker and her team have done a wonderful job.

I was lucky to meet Loni recently at the Adore Home 1st birthday party held at Magnolia Interiors and she kindly shared some photos with me of the evening. There were drinks and sweet treats and I also met Emma from Nest Designs and Oliver from Sabi Style. Lots of fun!

Let me know what you think of the current issue of the magazine. The elegant striped Manhattan office space of Cameo Public Relations is one of my personal favourite features of the issue.

(Birthday party photos by Life In Bloom Photography)

Visiting Black & Spiro

One of the main reasons I flew to Brisbane last week is for Adore Home's first birthday party bash. It was a lot of fun! The other reason was to visit a store I have long admired from afar - Black & Spiro.

The walk down Brunswick Street took me a good 25 minutes or so but it was worth it to see this store in person and meet the lovely Anna Spiro who is an absolute sweetheart!

Anna kindly let me take photos of her store but unfortunately I lost the photos so these are the few I had taken on my iPhone. Such a shame.

Anna shared with me that her upcoming summer vignette due to be posted on her website in November will be slightly different to the previous vignettes. It will be photographed outdoors and will involve fashion models. Can't wait to see!