Friday 31 August 2012

ross gardam oak light

Oh hello wonderful lights. Available in three finishes with black cord at Ross Gardam. Is August too early to send wishes to Santa?

Thursday 30 August 2012

prints charming at spotlight

The very lovely Cath and Kirsten of Prints Charming have just launched their new collection at Spotlight stores in Australia. You can read more about their new drill fabrics in their beautiful designs here.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

timber wall hooks

Have just ordered 5 grey and 2 yellow wall hooks from the very clever Margarita at Chocolate Creative for the new hall in the old house. Looking forward to the little parcel in the mail.

Monday 27 August 2012

pretty pegs

As the project nears the end... and money is so very, very tight, I will need to compromise on a 3 seater sofa and IKEA will do the trick.

Pretty Pegs provide an alternative to the big lumps of timber (that IKEA offer as legs) and replace them with Pretty Pegs. Yay, instant update.

Sunday 26 August 2012

touching base

It's been crazy and I can't believe how long it's been between posts, and just how much we've done. We worked like lunatics through June-July and finally moved into the completed section (new kitchen / dining / living / outdoor) at the end of July. The weather through that period was cold and miserable and at many points in the process we felt physically broken ... but just had to keep going and now it's all worth it.  It's absolutely beautiful and working so well. The Babes still keep saying "I love our new house" and we've even had a few lunches with friends and family to celebrate and enjoy the new space.

It's simple, un-precious, spacious and easy. We're within budget (maybe even a smidge under... but of course we're not finished yet) and feeling so happy with all the decisions along the way. "Beautiful on a budget" was our mantra and whilst it does look a little homemade in parts - we're hoping that it adds character (?!).

Still lots of little bits to finish from Stage 1 but we're cracking on with Stage 2 (as of last week). The old house now looks like demolition site, the old kitchen floor down to bare dirt and all the new openings cut through brick walls with new brick walls filling the old ones. All sleeping in one room with mattresses all over the floor, it's dusty and horrible and chaos again but I LOVE the reconfiguration. Making a central hall down the middle of the old cottage looks better than I even imagined, it's given our dinky little dark house a sense of grandeur (grandeur in a relative kind of way!) and the new bedrooms still feel generous in size. I didn't think I could be happy in so much dust... but maybe we're just getting used to it.

Time remains scarce so I won't wax lyrical about it all now but I promise, promise, promise to post some photos soon. Thank you lovely friends and sister overseas for your lovely emails of support and encouragement... and yes... photos when it's not so filthy and still resembling a storage unit!