Plant or table?

Slightly digressing from our house, for something a little different, is this ...

No, it's not a plant. It's a living, breathing table.

How cool is that?

Images via Contemporist

It's called Plantable (nice) and is designed by London-based JAILmake Studio.

What do you think of this idea?

We're in #3: Wallpaper, family rooms & buildings sites

Am in love with wallpaper and am so glad we've used it here and there, as in the rumpus room toilet (just for my English hubby!) ...

The mirror on the floor will, of course, go above the vanity!

And the Triple Masala walls in the TV room have come up a treat ...

 I'm so happy we decided to keep some of the original bricks exposed in the rumpus room ...

But let's not forget it's still a building site! 

External study louvres showing the entrance 

... and the front garden

Over the next two weeks we're hoping to see a lot of progress so watch this space!

We're in #2: Bedrooms

As promised here are some more shots of the interior: the bedrooms ...

Our bedroom with the 'Tree Tops' wallpaper which has come up better than I expected.

Spare bedroom detail (the bed's not up yet as special screw thingys needed to lock the slats in place are missing - hopefully in a box yet to be unpacked in the garage. But, don't worry, English visitors - it will be up in time for your visit at Christmas!).

Daughter #1's purple bedroom

Detail in daughter #1's bedroom. The curtains have small silver sequins in the flower pattern which look gorgeous at night. 

Daughter #2's desk detail with its pale aqua colour scheme.

I have to say the girls have been fantastic at packing and unpacking their rooms. I've not done a thing! Well, the deal was if it doesn't get packed or unpacked then it's gone - in the rubbish or given away. Seemed to work!

Pale blue metallic tiles in the girls' shower (wish I'd put them around the bath now they look so pretty!)

I have more so will put them in the next post!

We're In!

I can't believe it - we're in and we survived! It was a day of contrasts last Thursday: I think it was probably the more organised move of the nine we've done in the past 15 years but it was definitely the most chaotic at the moving in stage.

Think: painters still painting when removalists arrive, cleaners trying to clean when removalists arrive, curtains being hung when removalists arrive, electrician fixing lighting when removalists arrive! It was a menagerie of beavers beavering away and we turn up with a ton of boxes and furniture on the pretext of moving in.

Perhaps we were mad but then, again, I'm loving being back despite the amount of work still to be done and the things we've discovered that haven't been done when they should have. But we have flushing toilets, an amazing view and beds to sleep in so what more could you want?

Instead of taking photos of what is yet to be finished (ie study joinery, more painting, more blinds, shower screens, bathroom mirrors ... and that's just the inside!) I've taken a few snaps of the good bits (in fact I've taken quite a few so I'll post them over two blogs).

Entry hall table

Entry - view from the top of the stairs

Entry stairs with paintings, yet to be hung, by my dad of our old dog and our new one, Ruby

At the top of the stairs you get to the dining area

... and the living space

... and the kitchen (don't look at the missing dishwasher and cupboard doors)

More to come over the weekend, folks!

Shady Designs Pendants and more chaos!

I didn't think things could get even more chaotic than they already are. But how wrong I was!

On site late yesterday afternoon, running through everything that needs to happen I discover the girls' bedrooms have been beautifully painted. But in the wrong colour! Yes, indeedy, two lovely coats on the walls and joinery were done without anyone realising they were using Dulux Bone White (a creamy colour being used in our bedroom and the guest) instead of Dulux Antique White (which is quite white). How this could happen when I itemised every room detail on paper, ran through it with the head builders and then they even wrote the paint names on each wall, I don't know.

We've asked for more painters to come on board today so it can be re-done and all the other painting finished as well so the carpet can be laid tomorrow. Then there's an issue with the bathroom mirrors which were to be bevelled and nothing's been done. And the wallpaper in the upstairs loo which the wallpaper guy (who supposedly has 40 years experience) is having trouble hanging - something to do with it being a foil with a raised suede-like flower pattern and so this is holding up the installation of the loo itself (plus vanity and wall mirror).

I could go on but you get the picture, although it does help getting it off my chest!

Instead, how about I show you the two pendants we had made by the lovely people at Shady Designs in Sydney's Lilyfield whom I'd highly recommend? The pictures don't really do them justice and they look kind of silly sitting on the cane table outside but the light's better there.

This one is for the study and is in Ink & Spindle fabric: Birch Forest in Robin's Egg.

And this one is for over the dining table. The wallpaper is Osborne & Little, Farfalla by Nina Campbell. The fabric is more charcoal in person and is called Lamba.

Have a great day folks!

Four days to go!

I've been really slack with my blogging, I know, I'm sorry. And some of the tradies have been really slack on site, too! The painters have been sacked and replaced by a new team and the pool man has been fired for not turning up. The painting is only half done, there is no carpet, no wallpaper, no study joinery.

We move in on Thursday and this is what it looks like ...

The carpet is being laid on Wednesday and the stair balustrades are going in Thursday morning. Talk about tight! But at least the front door's in.

And we have an entrance.

We have kitchen benchtops, a gas hob and a new fence behind.



We have some lovely bathroom tiling.

Master bath

Girl's bathroom

We have a louvred privacy screen on the deck.

A partially formed barbecue area off the deck.

And a fence-less back yard which better be fenced when we move otherwise Ruby will be roaming!

And at least they're trying to look after the floors ...

No matter if the paint's still tacky I can't wait to move in!

P.S Tomorrow I'll show you two pendants I've just picked up which are yet to be hung ... Jx