Kitchens - Black or White?

This post is for my sister, Kate, who is about to embark on a kitchen renovation. While my preference was always for a white kitchen, preferably exactly like the one from 'Something's Gotta Give', I have lately been swayed by beautiful black kitchens. So, I'm offering Kate a comparison. It's an unenviable decision, isn't it? The top two images are of the aforementioned 'Something's Gotta Give' kitchen and dining room, care of the amazing blog Cote de Texas. The bottom two are of Gwyneth Paltrow's Hamptons house via House and Garden, and the three above those are of Kelly Wearstler's kitchen in Domicilium Decoratus. Good luck, Kate!

Glorious Colour

Most of the images I post from other blogs have a rather neutral palette, but occasionally I find myself drawn to inspiring rooms that are laden with colour. An example of this would be the photos of Sam Robinson's house that I posted a couple of weeks ago. I discovered a new blog today called Enhance the Everyday by Pia Jane Bijerk, in which she posts photos of the home of photographer, Debi Treloar. The top two photos are care of Debi's website, www.debitreloar.com, and display the more neutral palette I'm used to. They are just as beautiful.

Happy Australia Day

Sorry about the confusion re dates in my post below. I have written both posts on Australia Day, 26th, even though they read the 25th. These photos were taken around the neighbourhood and I think they capture the general spirit of the day. Oh, the yellow things? They're plastic ducks! Don't ask! And the long tubes? Make-shift didgeridoos!

My Extra-Special Birthday Present

Barb McMahon from May December Home unwittingly tagged me on my birthday yesterday! So that takes care of one of the seven random things I have to tell about myself - my birthday's the 25th January. Now for the other six:

2). I have spoken to Mel Gibson (O.K., so I was a hotel receptionist and he enquired at the desk, but I think that still counts)
3). When I'm not blogging, I'm meant to be working on a PhD thesis. You can see what a priority it has in my life.
4). I live in a boatshed, but I only venture into the water for a swim once a year - I prefer to look at it rather than immerse myself in it.
5). I got married on a beach in a Colette Dinnigan dress and thongs (designer of course).
6). I spent six years of my childhood having piano lessons and have never touched a piano since.
7). My favourite film is Something's Gotta Give.

So, even though I have no idea how this works, I have to tag seven other people. Apologies if you have previously been tagged:
1). Iris of La Fee Verte
2). Kate of Glenesk Studio
3). Rosina of Pottering About
4). Jen at My 33 People
5). Just imagine
6). Mary at Blue Mountains Mary
7). Bexy at What Makes Me Tick

I hope I've done this right - it's a bit nerve-wracking!!

Guests for Dinner

Last night we had dinner on the boatshed deck with our friends from England - Frank, Zoe and Graham. Near the end of the meal, we realised we had three more guests - two kangaroos, one with a joey in its pouch. In the photo, Zoe is actually feeding the joey some bread. Then a possum appeared, which we fed with pieces of pear.

The most impractical mosquito net ever

I've always wanted a mosquito net, which is in keeping with boatsheds in this part of the world. The only problem is that the fair dinkum ones used to actually be large enough to envelop the whole bed and, thus, to protect the sleeper from mosquitoes. I managed to find one at the op shop, so I've just put it up for fun. I do like the look of it, but unfortunately it won't keep out many mozzies. The photo at the bottom was taken looking out from the boatshed deck. It's of Ross and Christine having a sail this morning.

Desire to Inspire Round-Up

Desire to Inspire never ceases to amaze me! These are just some of the beautiful images I've been collecting over the past couple of weeks from that fantastic blog! They are all rooms which inspire me.

The New Man in My Life

Meet the new man in my life - Louis. After several months of me pursuing him, he's finally mine. The only problem is that he doesn't really fit into the boatshed. It's only going to be more of a problem when his sisters Louise and Louisa move in. The first photo is of him outside waiting to come in (What a gentleman!) In the second, he's made it in the door, and he's standing awkwardly with his really cool pillow friend, but he still hasn't found his niche yet. I'll keep you posted about the space situation when the girls arrive.

Sam Robinson

I've finally worked out how to scan, so have posted some images related to my favourite design inspiration, Sam Robinson. She has The Cross boutique in London's Notting Hill, which is just beautiful. I like the way she starts with a white palette, and then combines a whole lot of colours, generally pinks, reds and yellows. Everything looks very bohemian and girly. I particularly like the painted blue jug, Chinese lantern, yellow throw, rugs and mirrors. She also has amazing artwork. The four photos at the bottom are from an article about her Notting Hill home in the December 06 edition of (Australian) Home Beautiful magazine (sorry about the quality). The four above those are of her previous home - a flat in Notting HIll - from my newly-arrived and long-desired copy of London Interiors (Taschen). It's interesting that, though the photos were taken several years apart, certain objects appear in both photo spreads, and the colour palette remains quite similar. Thank goodness.

Thanks Anna

I just wanted to thank Anna at Absolutely Beautiful Things for posting on my little Florence Broadhurst footstool. She's very sweet and it's actually through her blog that I discovered the world of design blogs and became completely hooked. Through her I discovered sfgirlbybay, Desire to Inspire, Style Court, Decorno, MyMarrakesh, Mrs Blandings, Habitually Chic and all you other lovely people who I read every day. So, thanks Anna, and thanks everyone else for providing me with enough design information to make my head explode. Thanks also to everyone who've been so nice as to stop by my blog and take the time to comment.

My Anthropologie Story

Just thought I'd show some images of things I've got in the boatshed that I bought at Anthropologie that I think are really lovely. Being Australian, I'd never heard of Anthropologie until I was in Los Angeles in July 2005. I'd gone out on a bus (!) to Santa Monica to find the Shabby Chic store (I know, not very cool, but I didn't know at the time). While I was out there looking for SC, I stumbled into this store that I thought was absolute heaven, and found out it was called Anthropologie. The things I bought were: the pink and green bowls, the pink photo frame, the little peach and olive photo album and the blue floral magazine holder. I then proceeded to take them on a 6 week trip to Europe with me, and they arrived back in Australia completely unscathed! I loved Anthropologie so much that I also went to the store in New York and bought some clothes and tea towels. I've been seeing a few blog posts lately about Anthropologie that give me hope that 1) it still exists and it wasn't a figment of my imagination, and 2) I may get back there at some time in the future. I wish we had one in Australia.

Makeover Complete

Here is my little footstool, finally covered in Florence Broadhurst. It has changed considerably from the 'Before' shot I posted a few weeks ago. The reason it took so long - it's my first and last attempt at upholstering. In future, I'll save up and pay the experts. Pictured with it are two chairs and a table I found on the street. The chair on the left was fine to renovate - I just painted it, and stuck the cushion back on. The chair on the right, however, was a different story. That was a nightmare to take off the cover, strip off the layers of old fabric and wash the material, which I then put back on. They're all a little rough around the edges - I hope no one ever looks too closely at any of them. At least I get a warm fuzzy feeling that I saved all four pieces from a life of ugliness. Or maybe some would say they're uglier now that they were before. Who knows?

Simply Beautiful

This image is the ultimate in a beautiful room for me. It is from the portfolio of Debi Treloar, thanks to Desire to Inspire.