Outside Room Makeover

Paint, paving & potted colour
A VERY SEASONAL MAKEOVER
                   

Buttercup walls soon to be gone...just a matter of time and lots of it.

oh dear, before :(

Step-by-step (pun intended)

The foundations, its almost winter and ccccold!

Crazy paving, blue flagstones & bluestone tiling for walls, still cold.

Arrival of the plants under strict supervision, warming up slightly.

Just when you thought the box hedge was passe...it LIKES the cold

NB: almost around the corner with black rail conversion

The xlarge copper pot, used to turn chocolate at Cadburys ready for potted colour.

Not melting but have packed away the thermals.

Sweet little violets from our garden used for base planting..tres economical

Note December dappled sunlight!

Detail of lower staircase and 'Cleveland Select' Ornamental Pear tree 

with ring of English box, sunning itself.

Setting up a day bed, while the sun is still out and about.

View from the top.

Dog tired post landscaping and xmas festivities.

Landscape design: 
The Desired Effect
Brett Blundell 
brett@desiredeffect.net.au


ttfn, Jox

Bedroom Makeover

During & After....forgot to take a Before!

Use your imagnation and think burgundy walls & yellow trim

Walls are painted in Quarry with 1/4 strength Hogs bristle trim

original vinyl floral wallpaper stripped, timber doors undercoated

James Dunlop wallpaper 'Shade', colour: Eau de nil

Doors & trim painted

Bedside detail with Angus & Celeste vase(from santa)

fyi: the bedroom pendant light is going, going..almost gone

Hope you like it

Jo x

Painting a weatherboard house

Bless me,
It's been months since my last blog session, I accuse myself of...

1. Forsaking play for an unseasonally heavy workload.
2. Blind devotion to the Red & White, especially guernsey no.37...woo hoo!
3. Failure to understand or solve teenage angst.
4. Oh and a slight addiction to house paint?

The transfiguration of Somerton

 Burgundy begone, hello Brimstone grey, natural white and black accents.

Still to paint that guttering...professionals methinks?

 A black door...finally.

 I love our wild strawberries, absolutley rampent in the hills and so pretty.

 My favourite new purchase..the nursery display table right 
outside our Kitchen doors
  13 standard black pots filled with alyssum around a large tub of lettuce.

Halelujah!

Stay posted for more transformations.

Jox

Cafe Design

Metric or Imperial...Oasis or Blur?
Coffee Rules. Stumbled across this sweet new cafe in Brunswick West whilst on a shoot for Home Beautiful. Too good not to snap and post every little inch. $ensational coffee and a great design concept have kept it hummingbird along since it opened a few weeks ago. Ruler wainscotting, fantastic. 

Just don't tell the Sisters of No Mercy or there'll be some serious knuckle wrapping!

ttfn Jox

Ruby red decor accents + living the dream

At the laptop in high waisted shorts and backless halter top, my nine inch,

fire engine red nails are clacking and qwertying away furiously while the

ice slowly melts in my Gn't highball ....I reach over to the crystal art ashtray 
to stub out the smouldering ruby ringed cigarette and my bauble laden

charm bracelet catches the light and I'm momentarily blinded...

I open my eyes and I'm shocked, utterly shocked to see that my high 

waisted shorts have morphed into tracky pants and the halter top suddenly 

feels cloying and suspiciously like polar fleece?

One day, oh yes..one day I will be Dorothy Lamour and swan about 

this divine house in a ruby red lipstick that perfectly matches 

my cushions, fingernails and ciggie stubs.

Enjoy the Lamour tour, courtesy of the talented Lorna Wallace  

classic white indoor | outdoor dining

awwgh pretty + clever indoor, outdoor visual

 lippy cushions | vintage rug | garden backdrop

 vintage trunk side table + atlas, in case you get lost

celadon green + musk pink with ruby red accent

Anyone for a bike ride?

ttfn Jo 

Beautiful Bedlinen | Expert Advice

VALANCE-ALOT

The Bedspread Shop's Kerry Whitaker reveals 
her Trade Secrets in the bedroom and why 
she still courts the trusted, ever faithful valance.

What can't you live without on YOUR bed?

C o m f o r t . . .

Electric blanket: My side of the bed only, cold nights only, switched off once there.  
Gorgeous goosedown mattress topper:  This princess has looked for the pea but can't find it under this sumptuous layer.
Egyptian cotton sheets: The REAL deal not the copies that fly in over Egypt on their way from China. Crisp fresh soft delicious, white.

My German batiste quilt: In super size king, no fighting in the bed. Beautiful quality light weight covers from Turkey, India, Egypt or Portugal.

Goose down pillows: Different fill heights for if I need to raise my spinning head. 

Where in the world do you like to source bedding?

Europe. In two weeks I leave for the textiles fair in Paris and then go on to Spain.
We usually also go to Portugal. They are all such horrible destinations
that sometimes I feel sorry for myself...(So do we Kerry, really)

Favourite product ever sourced?

The German batiste quilt. These quilts are amazingly light. When I make my bed in the morning I lift my huge super king quilt with a flick of my wrists and the quilt lifts, hovers in the air and then floats down on the bed like a beautiful cloud. Love it.

Styling tip for a sensational looking bed
Get the valance right. A bed is going to be poorly dressed wearing the wrong shoes!

Advice for anyone wanting to get into the industry?  

Find a niche that you love. Get the detail right and then make sure that you know how to market to your market. This is a very friendly industry. Many people will want you to succeed and will be very prepared to share their experience  and expertise with you.

If you are looking for gorgeous bedlinen and you live in Melbourne you must visit 
The Bedspread Shop or simply order online.

Ask Kerry about Bianca Lorenne (image above) a beautiful range of NZ fine linens available at her Malvern shop.

Enjoy Europe, Kerry

Jo x

Doily Spoiler

  Doily 101

I have a stash of lacey tablecloths and doilies courtesy of

St VdeP and I love finding new ways to put them anywhere but under a vase 

in the Good Room(affectionately referred to as 'The Delta' by a friend)

The sweet Doily balloon is from The Shady Fig, a heavenly florist shop in 

my favourite place in the world...the Fibro town, the not-quite-a-city, 

the end of the railway line and my beautiful south- 

you'll have to ask Allison Tait she loves the place too!

When is a doily not a doily?

 When it's a beautiful balloon.

When it's an almost finished, handmade vest. (sorry, Aisie)

When it's dipped in paint and used for printing on canvas.

When the little lace work is cut up to make pictures..aawwgghh

enjoy, ttfn Jo