Redecorating

First up - the loungeroom.

Being a small, renovated worker's cottage, the loungeroom doesn't provide much space to work with. Good thing there's only two of us then!

The horrendous futon is now hidden away downstairs and in it's place is this deliciously comfy corner lounge. Squishy cushions and enough room for both of us to lie down means it's perfect for movie watching, Jamie Oliver drooling and My Kitchen Rules yelling ("why would you do that? HURRY UP" - yes, I know it's terrible, it's a horrible addiction).

The couch is from Super Amart but surprisingly, it's comfortable and right now it just suits what we need. The coffee table is a replica Noguchi table that we bought from Replica Furniture - if you live in Brisbane and are in need of something new, I cannot recommend them enough! While we were there I fell in love (again) with Eames chairs and naturally, decided to get 6 of them when they come back in stock.

This little guy has got the hang of things

While delving around the Internet for cheapish decor, I came across Society 6. Entering Society 6 is like falling down a rabbit hole. You could spend hours on there and not even realise ... like 2 ... ok 3 hours, it's addictive. The prints are designed by artists all over the world and some can be made into cushions, shirts, iPhone cases, pretty much anything really. I've chosen the prints below as well as a few cushions to go with our new couch. Hopefully they'll give the place a happy, colourful vibe and once I frame them they'll adorne the walls in my office, the kitchen (the whisk print was too cool not to get) and the lounge.

ONE The Whisk Wasn't the Tallest by Marc Johns | TWO Easter Green by Colour Project | THREE Life is the Glorious Adventure by Twiggs Design | FOUR Wander by Wesley Bird | FIVE Ampersand by Matthew Taylor Wilson | SIX Tilting Triangles by Gary Andrew Clarke | SEVEN Retrographic by Budi Satria Kwan | EIGHT Orange Lollipop by Colour Project | NINE Future Globes 001 by Matthew Korbel-Bowers

So, it's getting there. Slowly but surely we'll have a home, and not just a house. And if you spend hours on Society 6, I'm sorry! (But let me know what you get)

House shots

Just a few house shots as we slowly get around to cleaning and organising - so much sugar soap, so many rags and ladders everywhere. 

Loungeroom - complete with retro side table, sunflowers, medical prints, Pyrex and chocolate

I managed to wash half the walls in the loungeroom, the half I can actually reach. The colour difference is amazing! Most walls in the house are a creamy colour with a dark mint green trim, which makes for lovely bright rooms now their clean. But the old owners decided to decorate with pastel walls, grey carpet and a black and white tiled hallway - I guess the 90's wasn't only harsh on fashion.

When the sun's out, the cats will nap. In amongst some vintage sheets. 

The other side of the front garden. We have a path! Check out here for a picture of what it looked like before. So much more needs to be ripped out, well pretty much all of it bar the trees, and we'll have much more of an idea of how much room we have to work with when it's all gone. 

Setting up my studio. The trunk came from the Paddington Antique Centre in Brisbane in my first year of university. I remember being awestruck when my parents took me there, there was so much to see, so much to drink in. Although I had a tiny dorm room at college, I saw this trunk and absolutely had to have it. The suitcase I picked up this morning from my local op shop for $4. $4! Yes please. 

Life and other things

It's been so long since my last post! Life has been pretty full on this month - I've discovered I can grow flowers in our new and improved garden, moving boxes of fabric and Johnsonware to their new homes in new cabinets, washing countless walls and getting the odd bit of work done here and there.

Pretty pink petunias and pottering around the garden in Naughty Shorts dresses.

So much Johnsonware has been unpacked, and I discovered the most delightful full set complete with roses and scalloped edges. It's absolutely divine, but although I love it I just cannot keep everything (much to my dismay). So this beauty has gone up for sale on the Facebook page, along with some more flowery cups and saucers 

The ones on the right are a special love of mine!

Some painting has also been going on, mostly just painting some desk storage for the moment (practising really). I do have some ideas for some embroidered prints, and if my test runs are ok I think I'll put them up on the page as well. I'd love your feedback when I do!

The most ah-mazing fudge in the whole wide world - Turkish Delight and Caramel Macadamia. As you might see, someone already had a bite of it before I could take a photo!

While ripping out the garden we met our neighbours - and it turned out they actually used to own this house and the ones around it! They renovated it themselves back in the 1990's and Vogue Australia photographed the house. Pretty exciting. They had this particular photograph framed, making us realise just how good the place can look once we do it up. Don't you just love the tiled hallway?!

I'll get some more photos from them and do a bit of a comparison as we go, and I'll update them as we go from room to room. But for now, it's just cleaning cleaning and more cleaning!

Dirt, dirt everywhere

What a week! Apart from non stop work for some files due, this week was spent having my parents down, introducing my little sister to the wide world of University and O-Week and working on the house.

Although the house needs a lot of work (come at me pluming, drainage and electrical problems) we decided to start small and tackle the garden. Start small indeed, only half has really been touched. We ended up discovering that our fence lies about 2 metres from where we originally thought because the garden had become so overgrown. Essentially it all just came out - ferns, small trees, bushes - and replaced with mock orange bushes, agapanthus and petunias. There will be a sea of flowers sometime soon (hopefully!). What I really wanted was some beautiful hydrangeas, but after discovering that they're not in season for at least another six months I realised just how much I have to learn about this gardening business.

All in all, we ended up getting rid of half a tonne of green waste, which sounds like a lot but really was only two ute loads.  But there is so much more to come out. Has anyone done a compete overhaul of a garden before? Any hints for a complete newbie?

It's a jungle in there!

The progression. 

My Mum also brought down for me this amazing antique Post Office cupboard that came from a small town out in western Queensland. It's going to be done up in the future, but for now it's perfect for storing all my fabrics/canisters/everything.

1/10th of the canister collection to be relocated.

Finishing touches of a colourful doorknob. 

I've taken the front room of the house to become my study/studio space, so this is where the cupboard is going to stay. The walls are in need of a good clean and a paint to brighten it up, but what's needed right now is a rug. Bare wooden floors are beautiful but I can't wait to feel a bit of something beneath my feet. 

Perhaps something like this? If anyone knows of some great (and cheapish) rug stores around Brisbane, please let me know.

I hope your week was filled with many wonderful happenings as well, and your weekend is being spent lazing around in the heat.