Thursday, December 30, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Christmas

It's a very exciting christmas this year with Liam so in love with Santa and the family celebrating Eamon's first christmas.  We are very blessed!

We did encounter one small problem this christmas due to the renovations.  Our christmas tree is in the storage pod somewhere far away in never never land.  So we decided to work around it and still create some homely christmas cheer.

Our hang it all was the perfect spot for the stockings and tree ornaments.



The sticker tree we used in our previous smaller home was brought to life again, above the toy bench.


And of course a few other christmas touches here and there.


Wishing everyone a very merry christmas and a fabulous new year!!  May all your dreams come true xoxo

Monday, December 20, 2010

Sunday turned Monday inspiration - gardening

It's been a really busy week on the outside this week.  Jeff (aka Santa after his amazing achievement) delivered lawn to our backyard just in time for Christmas.  Hooray and an enormous thank you to both Jeff and hubby!!  They worked tirelessly and as a huge bonus put in a few garden beds.  I'm really excited and am now thinking about the soft landscaping (as I've been stock piling nursery gift vouchers :).

I have a couple of favourite landscape designers, whom continuously inspire me.  They are Rolling Stone (Dean Herald) and Paul BangayBoth are Australian designers and although they are different in many respects they are quite similar at the same time.  I love the types of plants and colours they use and their seemingly effortless (but actually precise) placement.

I'm thinking with our style of house we'll need something more formal (Paul Bangay inspired) in the front yard and then something more contemporary (Rolling Stone inspired) in the back.

Here's one of Paul Bangay inspiring images and one of his books



And an amazing Rolling Stone image from the Chelsea Garden Show in 2006 and some of his beautiful Japanese influenced residential work.




Friday, December 17, 2010

Enjoy the renovating mess

I try and involve Liam in as much of the renovating mess as possible, as long as it's safe.  He learns heaps, meets lots of friendly tradespeople and of course he has tons of fun making a mess.  And I long ago came to the realisation, that it's better for him, and me, if I just give into the mess.  Besides I grew up on a farm.  (Tip: always introduce the kids to the tradies, aside from being good manners, there's a mutual understanding and respect that it brings.) 

So last weekend, he ran around and around and around in our messy front garden, as we frantically repotted plants that we thought were in the danger path of diggers/excavators.  And he told everyone in sight "I'm a messy little piglet".  It's a line from one of his books that goes .... "I'm a messy little piglet always in a scrap or muddle.  If I'm not wrestling in the mud I'm diving in a mucky puddle."  So true!


Then this is Liam a day later making the most of a pile of rubble that the excavator stacked up.  "Look at me mummy, I can slide down".  Thank you for being such a trouper xo


Tuesday, December 14, 2010

To be enjoyed with those young and young at heart

I can not recommend this book highly enough.  It's so beautiful and fun to read.  We always have a few laughs reading it.  I'm sure my son, Liam 2, knows more about buildings all over the world then I ever did at 20.

Andrea Beaty’s 2007 children’s classic, Iggy Peck Architect -  the tale of a little boy with big ideas about designing buildings. His architecture-phobic grade 2 teacher, Miss Lila Greer, forbids him to follow his passion. All that changes, of course, when he masterminds a brilliant solution to a problem that leaves his teacher and fellow classmates floored.
David Roberts’ intricate illustrations complement this fun and funny tale that paints architects as problem-solving, humanitarian, out-of-the-box thinkers rather than cravat-wearing egotists! Budding designers of all kinds will love this book.  It begins ....

Young Iggy Peck is an architect
and has been since he was two,
when he built a great tower – in only an hour -
with nothing but diapers and glue.

Iggy Peck, Architect

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Sunday inspiration - the garden shed

Some time ago, when we realised the existing shed/garage was unstable and needed to come down sooner rather then later, we started our research into a new garden shed.

Thanks to our research the humble garden shed has grown to workshop and kids outdoor play room (room for the big adult kids too).

Here's one of the original sources of inspiration from Modern Shed.

Ours won't be quite this fancy, but it did inspire us a lot.



 

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Future plans "the concept"

We absolutely love the house we've bought, location, architecture, neighbors.  But realistically it's probably 5 - 10 years before it's our dream home.  So everything we do to the house we'd like to do wisely, with future extension in mind.  And because of that we decided to get an idea of what we'd like the future extension to look like, so that we could plan around it in the mean time.

We've met architects before when we were looking at extending our last house.  So when my husband read about My Architect in The Age, we thought it was a good cost effective way to avoid future renovation problems.  They offer a great "first visit package" of concept drawings plans and views hand drawn, and then attach a fee schedule to take you through the various stages to completion.

We met Robert back in July when our second son was just 2 weeks old.  He came to the house, measured up, chatted and then sketched out various floor plan ideas for us.  We decided on a favourite which he then completed and sent to us.  Robert was fantastic to work with, we definitely seemed to relate on a design asthetic level, and we hope to progress the design further with him, when budget permits.

Here's the concept drawings he did for us.


 

Check out the cover of Inside Out JAN FEB 2011 magazine

How beautiful is this? ... Come on summer, I'm ready!!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

What inspires me?

I was blessed to grow up in a beautiful country farm house.  Mum is a bit of perfectionist, and yes I can truthfully say she has passed that gene onto me.  My childhood was a happy one, nice warm wood fired roasts cooking in the kitchen.  Logs on the open fire in the lounge.  A huge verandah around the entire house, which was great for bikes, roller skating, dancing and running.  A formal dining room for the special family occasions.  Surrounded by a garden oasis, in comparison to the usual dry country side.  It's an old house, so my passion for preserving the history and integrity of a house started there. 

A more recent source of inspiration that I picked up 2 years ago (just after Liam was born) is a fantastic book. "Home" by Anita Kurshal.  I often read this book as I'm going to bed, or first thing in the morning if I wake before the boys (rare!) :)  It inspires me and makes me thankful at the same time.

My favourite quote.  "... ideas based on the heartfelt philosophy that it is possible to create a home that is both beautiful and nurturing.  Embracing the modern concept that children are a natural part of our lives, neither inconvenient beings nor precious centres of the universe, this book focuses on the needs of both parent and child as a unified whole."

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Now you see it .... now you don't

Keeping the blog real.  Here is the dirty work.

Shed on the start of demolition day.

Shed at the end of demoliton day one.

Shed 6 days later at the end of demolition day two.

Sunday inspiration

I find, it's always good to start and end  the week on a high note.  As I mentioned our yard back and front is a mess at the moment.  And we are looking at the prospect of 7 more days of rain.  I need to have a "plan B" = exit the house as much as is possible with toddler and baby (no longer a new born at nearly 5 months old - it goes so fast!!).

Tomorrow's "plan B" is to visit my girlfriend, her toddler daughter and new born son.  Our toddlers can run around and wear each other out.  And I get to not think about the house and what I need to be doing to it for the morning. YAY!!

So as it'll be an early start over to my girlfriends, I've packed tonight for it.  Kids needs, milk, food, nappies and change of clothes.

But back on title point.  My Sunday inspiration, is this beautiful house spotted on Livingetc.

I just love the seamless transition from indoor to out.  The colour palette of white and wood, the simple landscaping and the clever use of light.  Beautiful!

Bring the outdoors in

Saturday, November 27, 2010

More driveway research

As we are in such a mess at the moment, there's been quite a bit of frantic research this week. I thought it would be hard to get excited about concrete.  It's not very sexy.  But actually concrete aggregate can be really beautiful (especially compared to the mud we currently have). 

Here are my favourite colours, which I mentioned I want to border with granite cobbles.  Colours are sourced from Dambra.  I love their lightness, which I hope will blend in with the colour of our house (Dulux Barrister White).  I hope the picture in my head will translate to reality OK!

BARWON
Beachy comes to mind. This mix has a beautiful white to biscuit colored quartz pebble in a beach coloured sand base. Looks great with sandstone and light pastel colours.

Glenelg exposed aggregate finish

BURRINDI
A stunning blend of quartz type smooth pebbles with a scattering of black basalt throughout. Featuring a bone coloured background, highlighting a brilliant stone colour. Can be bordered with sawn bluestone to create a unique look.

Glenelg exposed aggregate finish

Unintentional blog break .... arghhh

So you may have noticed that I haven't posted for a while.  Well our dear demolishers took our shed (good), our driveway (not planned, but semi expected), and our phone line/internet (bugger!).

You may be wondering where things are up to with the reno's.  We'll I'm pleased to report, that things are really really really messy, but we are finally making progress.  Very important.  So my new goal, is to have the backyard and front yard done for Liam's 3rd birthday.  He's asked for a Thomas party, and as we didn't have a party last year (we had no kitchen, I couldn't even bake a cake), we feel we really should deliver something better this year.  And the fact that he's already telling everyone that he is having a Thomas party, bless him!!

Here's my plan for the front yard.  Now lets pray for some good weather and a plumber who'll respond, so we can get cracking!!


The Block finale

I'm not sure how I feel about the block finale.  On the one hand, YAY for Neisha and John.  Their apartment was beautiful and with the stunning north facing courtyard, it was the pick of them all for a family (that's how I think these days).  On the other hand, I did prefer Erin and Jake's design ethos, though at times it was a bit too matchy matchy for me.

And I really do feel for Chez and Brenton, who were so much fun the show.  And I loved the boys infectious laughter and thought they all deserved to earn a lot more.  Reno's are hard work!!

As for my favourite room from the series, it would have to be, this one.  I feel in love with these tiles from the moment they aired.  Hmmm .... possible future ensuite perhaps? :)

Erin and Jake's main bathroom & laundry

Monday, November 15, 2010

Trying times .... bad weather and broken machinery delays

We are in the middle of pulling down our old garage.  I'm really really excited it's started!  As we started the process 6 months ago.  So that's a long long time to wait.  The progress on day one (last Wednesday) was fantastic.  And there was good news at the end of the day, that they'd be back to finish the job the next day.  "Awesome!!", I thought, they started on a day that Liam is in creche and they'll finish on his next creche day, so I won't have a 2 year old begging to go outside when it's unsafe.  Alas, the euphoria didn't last long.  It's now Monday night, and I'm still waiting for the builders to come back and complete the job.  I'm told each day that it will be the next day.

So how do I cheer myself up on these days.  Shopping of course.  Keeping my eye on the prize, I've been researching granite cobbles.  We are planning on ripping up the driveway, as it's rapidly turning to concrete rubble, under the weight of anything on it (it's that thin and old - remember original everything!!).  So the plan is to lay a new light concrete aggregate bordered with granite cobble driveway.  Hopefully these beautiful sesame ones I've found will be the border.


Monday, November 8, 2010

House transformation in South Africa into Indoor Outdoor Family Home

This house is simply stunning.  I smile everytime I look at it.  It's a very lucky family who get to live here.

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

Open-plan family home - image - Livingetc.com

This quote also sums up the perfect house to me too.

"The house accommodates their differing personalities and needs perfectly. At any time, Joy can be on the deck, Lucien in the kitchen, Ben in the pool and Stella watching TV; and yet they’re all together and within view of each other. It’s what I love most about this house – 'it has given us room to be ourselves, and use the space as individuals, yet share it as a family', says Joy."

Photos and quote from Livingetc

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Midweek cheeky treat

I decided to get myself a cheeky treat today <grin>.  Instead of spending a 30% off book voucher on the one of the boys, I spent it on me.  Cheeky!  And it's had me engrossed from page 1.  I'll confess that I'm usually a picture person.  I love magazines.  But when you get to experience an insight into the wonderful mind of Kevin McCloud, I read every word, some times several times over.  His book "Kevin McCloud Grand Designs Handbook", has several great points, and here's a snippet, his Top 10 Tips.

garnd designs book Top 10 Grand Designs Tips kevin mccloud

And this is one of my all time favourite UK series Grand Designs (I told you I was an ad for Foxtel!), The Killearn: Loch House.

The Finished House, Killearn, The Loch House, Grand Designs
Living Room. Killearn: The Loch House, Grand Designs

About the house: The house is L-shaped, and the main living area and master bedroom extend out over the water. Floor-to-ceiling glazing not only maximises the amazing views towards the hills, but allows reflections from the water to bounce around the open plan living areas. Simone believes that living over the water will create a very calming atmosphere in the house. The other wing of the house will have a double height living room overlooked by a glass balcony on the first floor.