Mr Wong and Palmer & Co.

Earlier this week, we paid a visit to Mr Wong and Palmer & Co. No, they're not real people. The latter is a speakeasy style bar in the Sydney CBD, Abercrombie Lane to be exact.  The prohibition era decor was obvious when we were greeted at the door by a gentleman who showed us downstairs:

 

 

There is great attention to detail in this seat printed with the P & Co logo:

And this sign:

The Merivale bar was designed by Sibella Court, and is an example of the current Rough Luxe trend which is popular in bars and hotels in Manhattan and London. The masculine style calls to mind a gentleman's club, as seen in this cabinet of top hats:

I didn't sample the food, but they serve yummy-sounding things like matzo ball soup and a charcuterie platter:

In keeping with the "clubby" theme, the entrance foyer contains these wire lockers:

 

After a cocktail, we moved next door to another Merivale establishment, Mr Wong's in Bridge Lane. The upper level is lovely with its stripped back brick walls and vintage furniture: 

 

The lavatories are works of art in themselves with subway tiles and stained glass doors:

The lower level is just amazing, with this mural and a collection of blue willow plates on the wall:

I loved the attention to detail, with the industrial shelves holding Asian style crockery, canisters and jars full of intriguing objects which look vaguely medicinal. The beaded curtain and light fittings are gorgeous too:

I can personally recommend the Peking duck pancakes:

And the steamed dim sum, which look like jewels tucked side by side in their steamer:

From the higher level, you can see the wonderful jade green tiles and matching cane seating:

I can't wait to return to both these beautiful spaces.

Haven't Things Changed?

As promised, here is an update on the fibro beach shack reno. The Ikea bed, linen and bedside lamp really capture the beachy rough luxe look I was after:

This is the settee at the foot of the bed:

We are still waiting on some plantation shutters for the windows. I'll post about them when they are installed. Here is how the bedroom looked two  months ago:

Next is the living room. It's quite a small space, so we have kept the furniture at a minumum and pushed the table against the wall:

Here is how it was. I was initially tempted to keep the lino but I think I prefer the white painted boards. We stripped back the little cupboard and I think it looks so much better:
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This is part of the kitchen:

Much better than its previous incarnation:

The other wall will have Ikea cupboards and butler's sink, which I'll post about soon.

Progress Report

I bet you're wondering why I've been so slow in posting about my fibro shack renovations. It's because nothing obvious has happened in the past three weeks. It's all been behind the scenes stuff like wiring and plumbing. But I'm finally able to say that the floor has been sanded and two coats of white paint applied today. And here are some pics to prove it. Firstly, the blackboard wall in the kitchen looks quite dramatic against the white floor:

And the living room looks like a white cube with only a rope, a chandelier and a TV bracket. What interesting decor items!:

I've never had a white floor before. Hope it's not too hard to keep clean. This time next week the kitchen will be in and the place will be furnished. I'll post a whole heap of photos then, I promise.