All-weather outdoor chairs + eco friendly + recycled

Adirondacks (emphasis on the second syllable)
Multi-tasking, all-weather beauties, that reduce landfill! (emphasis on landfill)
Chris from Polywood Outdoors kindly delivered these classics for our Home Beautiful shoot. Of course I fell totally in lust and have placed my Christmas order as not only are they beautiful but they're completely weatherproof, eco friendly and made from recycled materials. Rain, hail or shine they still look good while giving landfill a nudge.

Have a look at The Porch as well, for more of Chris' fabulous outdoor furniture + decor.

Polywood outdoors 
The Porch

ttfn Jo

 

Sweet, edible gardens

City Pickers

The burgeoning backyard vege patch, chickens softly clucking about
the garden, the shallow wicker basket filled with tomatoes and....
oh god, I'm having that Pottery Barn dream again.

How do you have all of the above, vege + chickens + wicker basket
without it all looking totally feral? Is it possible to have a sustainable
garden that tastes good and looks good?

If you think Felicity Kendal had the Good Life then you haven't met Lisa Harper!

The very clever Lisa, of Akemi Gardens has the sweetest vege patch
in her front garden and the coup de la coup in the back garden...

plus a fluffy white dog to complete the picture.

Gorta Yuki and I shot this lovely garden for Home Beautiful, November issue.

 

memo to self: leafy greens must cascade from wicker basket

 

 hello honey, I'm home and I'll be counting the chickens!

 mum, where's the little round sticker?

 neighbour envy, the heavenly vege patch in the front garden

 

 more neighbour envy...chickens free ranging

 the cubby de coup...those lucky chickens

 the adults playground and produce from the garden

 

 

For more clever, economical landscaping ideas visit Akemi Gardens

ttfn jo

Red & white Christmas decor

 Love getting the cover shot @ xmas, thank you H&G!

A red & white Christmas

Being a died in the wool Swans fan this shoot was a cake walk.

The brief was family friendly, fun and of course use the classic Christmas colours.

Instead of vases on the table I used crisp white paper bags and filled them with tulips and red berries. The apple place card holders are more plastic than juicy but add a simple leaf name tag tied with a ribbon and you'll be excused for not taking a bite.

Red & white spotted crackers, a cute white wooden tree with red birdies and you are set for a classic Christmas.

 

Looking for great Red & White Christmas décor, try 

Madras Link, Specklefarm, Provincial Home Living & mychristmas or swans

 

Enjoy, Jo

Guestroom makeover

                        before

before the nanna room makeover

like omg so, after! They will never leave now

a diy floating bookshelf for essential reading & cup of tea-ing

hard rubbish chair revamped & the picture frame gets white washed!

nice bedside manner..a lamp, headache balm plus a ruler, just in case

 

guest bedroom blues

Aunty Brenda Interstate guests come to stay at ours occasionally and with that in mind we decided to redecorate our guestroom and create a space that they wouldn't want to leave. Do they really have to roam around the house...really?

The clotted cream had to go and the Roman 'was I' Blind has been on ebay more times than I've been to Hardware house... here's my laundry list for our guestroom smarten up.

 

check in:

Bed. The first thing to go was the bed as bedheads & footboards can clutter a space-  replaced by a simple base ensemble. So much easier to make the bed too! :)

 

Windows. The Roman blind, as seen regularly on ebay also got the flick. Shutters were ordered -they can take up to 8 weeks and have to be specifically designed for the space.

Don't buy any off ebay as one size does not fit all.

 

Paint. The walls were painted in whisper white and the trim, fireplace, mirror frame, bedside table and my fringe in 1/4 strength hogs bristle.

 

Artwork. I found some beautiful fabric swatches at Patchwork on Central. The swatches had the width but not the length for my canvases. Note the use of twine/jute to cover fabric joins at the base. Neccessity & invention - winner!

 

Relax. Create a reading area - hhmm a comfy wingback, diy floating bookshelf, lamp and a side table for the endless cuppas.

Now to call Aunty Brenda my fabulous interstate friends and book their stay.

 

ttfn jo

Christmas Outdoors

Love Chinese lanterns, economical and cute

 Trevor, the papier mache reindeer busy in the garden

a firepit, lanterns and an upturned nursery crate for the g'nts

 

fa la la la

 Our greenacre, in Olinda is a wonderful place to be on a hot Christmas day.

Horizontal rain and hail, on the day of the Home Beautiful shoot couldn't

deter our 'xmas in September spirit'. Bring on the fizz and flip flops says I.

 

For simple festive ideas for an outdoorsy "it's not complicated" kinda chrissy
have a look at the Home Beautiful December issue

 

Guess what..it's out now!

 

 

 

The Floating bookshelf

 the almost finished cable knit becomes quite the 'must have' styling item

need the spectaculars to read the crochet bible

Magazine sculpture
I LOVE LAYERING...so vertically stacking the endless homeware bibles on a wall looks sensational and is functional when next to a well loved reading chair! 
I hacked borrowed the idea from a floating bookshelf gizmo that, unfortunately is
not available in Oz.
diy floating books stacks
Get yourself to the hardware store and pick up some L-shaped brackets( you can see mine if you peek underneath the stacks) plus the appropriate fastening screws.
Make sure you keep in mind the type of wall you are working on eg. plaster walls
require a special type of fastener as they crumble easily, which is not great for 
supporting a stack of books!
Measure up the length of the mag/books then position the brackets to allow the stack
to centre- in my excitment I forgot about the overhang each side of the bracket and
had to start again...but first ,a little polyfilla.
I made stacks tall enough to cover the vertical part of the bracket as I did not want
to tempt fate with skyscraping towers.

Have fun & if you have any Q&A...I'm listening!

Bathroom makeover | showers on timber floors

from shower tardis to vintage wetroom
Hazaar! a shower base that looks fab on a timber floored bathroom

 

Loving my walk-in wetroom shower from Reece Bathrooms

 

Carriage towel rack from my home away from home, Schots

  

The shower cubicle before - note where toilet isn't anymore!

tres tray challenging was le quest to find a shower base that would suit a timber floor. The standard option being the white cubicle tray, which is fine if you like a transparent tardis. The solution, after much searching was the Reece walk-in wetroom, 

with the aromatic cedar (pass me the birch twigs) insert mat.

Subway tiling (best value rating) and the newly replated tapware create that neo-vintage aesthetic..something old, something new, something borrowed, something periwinkle?

FYI:  Houzz.com is a must for renovators. 

Loads of ideas plus you can create your own ideas notebook for reference.

Stay posted for the final images in the bathroom makeover...

meanwhile I'm off to find some birch branches in the garden

Bathroom makeover posts

Painting a clawfoot bath

Turning a buffet into a vanity 

Replating old tapware

stockists

Reece walk-in wetroom

Schots

Early Settler

Provincial Home Living