Amy's Room, in progress

Just thought I'd post a few photos of baby Amy's room in progress.  I'm loving it much more after I put up the bunting on the window.  A lovely lady from Little Kitten Homemade in the UK (an etsy find) made this bunting after I decided on the colours, pistachio and pink, and picked out the fabric patterns (loving that polka dot!).  I also had another one made for Emily's room, which I'll be writing all about in a seperate post soon.

The idea here was to improve the look of our blinds, boring as they are, and give them more a 'girls room' feel. The pelmet here also needs a good dose of white paint - but all in time no doubt!

Using what we have:-  We bought the blind four years ago, they were expensive (for us), and not many colours to choose from.  So for now we are stuck with it, and need it to work with what we have in the room.  Prettying it up a bit was what I had in mind.

pelmet and window frame both need the dose of white paint here!

Owls are definitely a little theme I'm going with in her room, I also have a beautiful print I found on etsy which I have yet to put up (but will detail that when I get to it - still waiting on a frame) - its very magical, so I'll post the link too.

Owls for Amy!

We have a canvas above the cot that I bought from Typo last year, on sale for $20, but hubby and I have agreed that its not working (and looks really flimsy) - its not often we actually agree on something!  So I'm definitely running with that, and have found a lovely wall decal (etsy again - you can see my obsession) at a very nice price, and thinking about ordering it as a replacement.  So details on that idea soon.

time to go oh flimsy canvas!!

And finally the other wall in this room is made up of a built-in closet (old and dated), desk and shelving.  All in need of some TLC of course.  Paint, new doors and hardware.

I wish painting was like photoshop sometimes!

I'm going to need a ton of white paint for sure!

On the upside this room is quite small, around 3.5m x 3.5m, so painting shouldn't be too bad (hopefullly??).  Furniture placement (and purchase) have to be carefully considered in here too.  We have decided to complete the painting and put up some pictures before anything else gets added, you never know something might occur to us that we've never tried before - we're open to all suggestions.  (any great ideas for a small space?)

As things get done (or put up!), I'll keep you posted!

Cheerio!
L

Small beginnings...

The little miss loves to set a 'special' table at dinnertime. With a few candles and flowers in glass bottles. It made for a very nice Easter table, and she was proud as punch. Little miss says the best thing about setting a table like this is blowing out the candles at the end, and I couldn't agree more - birthday cake candles all over again!

Its lovely to see her take such pride in this, and can tell this is just the beginning. Watching her style the little flowers and foliage, so so proud. I forget how much she's grown.

with her masterpiece!

Very nice!

 

How much does the pink plastic cup rock?

so sweet!

We have this vine growing on our patio with such pretty flowers, from spring to autumn - I love it, not so sure the husband is that impressed, it does tend to take over a bit. The purple flowers attract the biggest bumblebees I've ever seen. And perfect for our table this evening.

I'm thinkin, my next foray in online shopping will have to include a table runner - looking at these photos, something's definitely missing. I could also do with more candles and holders, look out Dusk... hope there's a sale on!

Well, must sign off, a good book and bed are calling.

Happy Easter!

L

An Order of Jam

Received a surprise delivery yesterday - a box of my Gran's homemade jam.  Flavours include quince jelly, raspberry, brambleberry, red currant, apricot and plum.  Around ten in total, and looking very moreish!

What a lovely reminder of a woman that enjoyed the art of homemade.

Her jam was legendary!!
And now are the last jars I'll ever receive.  My husband keeps asking when I'll start using the jam, but for whatever reason I'm hesitant to open them.  I just can't.  So I'll keep taking pictures of them for a little while yet, till I get up the courage to have a little on toast.

The wooden box I have them in is a wonderful little gem that we found when we moved into this house.  My husband was actually using it to store powerpoints and electrical gear downstairs in his workshop - silly man, didn't he realise what a vintage treasure he had... nope, and probably thinks I've gone a bit daft too.

The box has such a wonderful worn appearance, I'll be most certainly featuring it in a lot more of my photos.  I can imagine it sitting proud on a floating shelf in the sitting room, holding all sorts of bits and bobs (and books) - or even on the dining table with a load of lovely white candles!


Cheerio!
L

Filing Cabinet Project - Finally Finished!

Hiya!

After what seems likes ages I've finally finished the filing cabinet project.

Looking back, here is what I started with. An old, veneer, filing cabinet from Officeworks.

oh, veneer! what can we do with you?

I know, I could have easily bought another on the cheap, but I was up for challenging myself.

I wasn't sure how successful it would turn out, and whether it would fit in with the whole home office redo.

But here's how it went...

Undercoated..

Two coats of Zinnsers waterbased primer

Topcoat for the draw fronts...

I decided to try and insert a 'fun' element (onto a boring cabinet) by painting the fronts with chalkboard paint. Now that we have a new little addition to the family - I think its time for furniture to multi-task (if possible).  We went with Porters Paints, and still have quite a lot left for other projects - thinking feature shapes for the girls rooms, not sure.. might ponder for a little while longer.

added a little white to the chalkboard paint = lovely grey!

Topcoat cabinet sides and top...

Here we used Dulux Antique White USA semi gloss, two coats - we have used this shade extensively throughout the house and thought the cabinet would blend in very well.

New handles..

I love these old fashioned shell-like handles, so much so I bought two extra for when we tackle the small writing desk.

What about a hook and little bucket to hold all those pieces of chalk?  Might add that to the side if theres room.

Let me know what you think!

Cheerio for now!

L