Yardage Design

I have a new project, which was spurred on by my discovery of some fabulous hand screen-printed fabric from Melburnian Nicole James, creator of Yardage Design! Nicole hand screen-prints natural fibre-based cloths such as organic cotton, linen and hemp using water-based inks. The fabric I was particularly attracted to was her Agapanthus design which she does in white on coffee-coloured cotton, or purple on cream.

We inherited two rather tired and grubby looking cane chairs up at the batch that are still structurally sound and comfy to sit on. I thought I would spray paint them white and replace the old, starting to mould, cushions with ones made in Nicole's agapanthus fabric shown here that arrived in the post last week, with a cream cotton backing I picked up at Spotlight on the weekend.  

Nicole also has a fabulous blog (which is how I found out about her in the first place) and a website and online store which I highly recommend you check out to see her other wares, such as bunting, tea towels and eco-bags.
 
I'll show you the end result when it's all done!

My new retro phone

Check out my new old phone! Even though I grew up with one of these (in cream) I've always fancied having one and I love the retro look. On the weekend I popped into the Manly Antiques Centre and wondered why I had never been before. It's a veritable treasure trove of everything from antique furniture to vintage clothes, old shop signs and everything else in between. And this is where I found the phone.

My new purchase is now a source of fascination for my girls who had never seen such a phone before and didn't know how to work it! I think they think it's a new toy - which, in a way, I guess it is!

The retro green number was said to be in working order when I bought it but with a silent ring (if that's possible!). However, when I got home I found that it does make a ringing sound when someone calls but it won't ring out. A recorded voice says it doesn't recognise the phone numbers. I think it's to do with our line rather than anything else as the lady in the shop said she was able to call out when she was testing it. All very weird and kind of quirky but it only cost $30 so hardly broke the bank.

The phone jack is in the kitchen so this is where it has to live for now, by the fruit bowl.

But I would like to get it checked out and maybe see if it can be adjusted to not only work properly but be digitised - which is the way all phones and phone lines are heading. Anyone have any ideas of how best to do this?

Cushions for the Sofa we Don't Yet Have!

I've made some purchases for the house we don't yet have and the sofa we've not yet bought! Yes, I know I'm being premature but I've had this idea for a while to include a bit of a play on my husband's England heritage and my New Zealand one. I've loved these Pony Rider cushions (the one on the left) ever since they first came out and couldn't resist buying some (well, three actually) and then, when I was back home recently for a brief weekend visit I had to stop by one of my favourite shops in Auckland featuring NZ art and design, The Poi Room. There I found the cushion on the right with its bright red pohutukawa flower pattern. I'm envisaging sand-coloured sofa and grey walls with a dash of red ...

Then, there was the kitsch but cute Maori Wahine doll (a favourite toy for children in the 50s and 60s). First crafted by Margaret Parr in 1951, each doll is handmade, varies in detail and has been carefully crafted in traditional Maori dress using natural products.

and the stone paperweight with a beautifully painted kete (Maori word for a flax bag).

Ruby Star Traders

On our visit to Sydney's Waterloo, we stopped by Ruby Star Traders which is an emporium of all things furniture, homewares and textiles sourced mainly from India. And I bought these ...

Aren't they beautiful? They're sheets of velvet-embossed paper which you could use for wrapping gifts, craft, or even frame as wall art. Wouldn't they be gorgeous as wallpaper?

Check out their 2010 catalogue here.

Doug up on Bourke

A week ago I abandoned my desk and the work I had to do to accompany my interior designer friend, Rachel, on a reccy of the design and furniture strip around Sydney's Dank St, Waterloo. On our way home, we popped into what is possibly the best shop of all time - Doug up on Bourke at 901 Bourke St - that specialises in ALL kinds of stuff from the 1850s to the 1950s. It's a place where you go back in time and get lost in a world of industrial, commercial and homely rustic antiques. Where you're met at the door by the creepiest mannequin ever who stands spookily by the stairs in front of an Aussie classic - a Four 'n Twenty Pie sign. There are baskets of used shoe lasts, dozens of old oars, street signs, taxidermied animals' heads (unfortunately hubby likes the smiling hog - ugh!) ...

mounds of old suitcases,

hundreds of tatty, tired and not-so-tired tables and desks,

railway station chairs, signs and accessories,

sporting equipment and watering cans,

quirky tin animals,

lamp shades and tins and odds and sods of goodness knows what else,

and then you have to walk past creepy mannequin-man again ...

Oh how I love that place. I'll be back, Doug up on Bourke.

More on Melbourne

Fitzroy's Rose Street Artist Market - at 60 Rose Street - was a must-see. It would have to have some of the most original, unique stalls (up to 70 of them) with everything from collectibles, to one-offs to designer pieces. It is on every Saturday and Sunday from 11 am.

I'm afraid I only took one photo - was too busy looking at all the wares! But there was jewellery made from typewriter keys, decorate-your-own lamps, unique clothing, vintage library books turned into journals, vintage cutlery necklaces and earrings - of which I bought one, as well as a badge that pokes fun at my New Zealand accent ...

 

I was also very keen to have a nosey in Guy Mathews Vintage Industrial Furniture store at 154 Johnson St, Fitzroy but unfortunately it wasn't open on the Saturday we were there. But you can check out his wares and learn more about him at The Design Files.

 

Back in the city, two design stores worth visiting are dedece at 33 Russell St and Interstudio, 185 Flinders Lane.

Then there are the bars, cafes and restaurants. The laneways in central Melbourne are full of them and Flinders Lane is chockers with cafes like this one ...

MoVida has become the hot thing in town, now with two restaurants serving tapas at 1 Hosier Lane and MoVida Aqui at level 1, 500 Bourke St. Not your usual tapas but rather scrumptious.

Before we left I read about restaurant and bar Coda and after seeing its amazing lights, wanted to go. With its Vietnamese-inspired menu, no-booking bar area and booking dining space, it is pumping. Unfortunately we only had time to down a glass of wine and the duck curry as we were off to one of the line-ups of the Melbourne Comedy Festival. But I did have time to oogle the lights which looked better in person. I can see three of the blue ones over our new kitchen island bench ... mmm, yes. They were designed, as was the interior, by Melbourne-based design studio, Projects of Imagination.

 

 

Brunswick Streetscape in Melbourne

I can't believe that our three wonderful, carefree days in Melbourne are over. In fact, we've been back four days and I have only just had a chance to think about blogging - what with talking to builders, rental real estate agents and removalists ... but more on that later.

I thought I'd share with you some pictures I took on our visit to the bohemian, grungy, alternative suburb of Fitzroy, north of the city - in between all the shopping, of course!

Australian-made Nobody jeans are divine and the graffiti art around the city pretty impressive.

A faded pink facade - love the colour!

I'm thinking girly boudoir-style bedroom decor or the walls of a sumptuous dining room.

This building facade and Fosters Lager sign appears purposely run-down and peeling - designer dilapidation that is an indicative look of the area.

Brunswick Street is full of Victorian buildings, cafes, bars, designer clothes and vintage clothes shops, design stores and antique shops.

Much of the graffiti are true works of art.

If you get tired of walking, you can hire a bike ...

or take a seat in one of the quirky mosaic street sofas.

But the shopping is, in my view, where it's at if you want to find different stuff and enjoy boutique-style shops versus chain stores, department stores and busy city streets. These colourful tin animals outside a florists caught my eye and would be great to liven any garden or courtyard.

Wilkins and Kent design store is a must-see for beautiful hand-made ceramics, lights and furniture.

The Kleen design store is a bit like Sydney's Top3 Design - excellent for gifts and designer homewares.

Kleins Perfumery is a decadent, beautifully designed and decorated store full of soaps and smellies, hand-made cosmetics and toiletries presented in an old-fashioned apothecary way.

  

For my girls, I bought these lollipop soaps from Kleins Perfumery and the butterfly purses from the original, dinky clothes and accessories shop, Kinki Gerlinki.

Then, it was almost time to go back to the hotel via tram.

But, not quite ... In my next blog, I'll show you what we found down some of the side streets.

Distressed Cupboard

Dear readers, this will be my last blog for a few days as our time at The Bach ends and hubby and I have a long weekend in Melbourne on our own, sans children (thank you grandparents!). In the meantime, I would like to leave you with a purchase I made at The Lovely Shop in Woy Woy which I had passed many times and always wanted to have a nosey around. It is a pre-loved/vintage furniture and bric-a-brac shop that, as it turns out, is quite divine and very reasonably priced. There was dinky china, a cute sky blue sofa, lamps, buttons, upcycled furniture, vintage bits and bobs and pre-loved knick knacks.

Then I spotted this distressed cupboard/cabinet with four drawers and shelves inside that I thought would be perfect in an empty corner of our bedroom at The Bach.

So I snapped it up!

And here it is, with my newly limewashed mirror.

The all-white, shabby chic look is coming along quite nicely.

Adieu - until next time when I might have some interesting finds from Melbourne.