Books, beds and bathrooms

For me there's nothing nicer than a wall of books. Except my problem is I keep every book I ever get and, as I discovered during the unpacking, we have so many books - quite a few of which I don't know why I kept in the first place! And the sad thing is, second hand book shops are now pretty fussy about what they stock and even charities are being selective. So now I've made a pact to only keep ones I really, really liked and want to have on the shelves.

Here is a little corner of the study with flying ducks on the wall from Delilah Devine's Esty shop (aka Linda from Adelaide) who makes them from vintage wallpaper and eco ply. She also does flying horses! Have to point out another of homemade cushion and the old green phone I bought a while ago that our electrician has just spent ages on to get it working properly and restore its ring. Being the youthful age he is, he thought it rather quaint and couldn't get over how long it took to dial (I didn't like to tell him we had one of these when I was growing up!).

Through the door at the end of the bookshelves you get to the master ensuite - hence the continuation of the timber. I spent ages looking for bathroom mirror lights I liked (which hubby never quite understood!) and finally found these Italian numbers which fitted the bill nicely.

Then through the ensuite you get to the master bedroom (and another homemade cushion!).

And if you're lying there, you get to look here ...

Glad we went for the extra carpet underlay as the carpet is soooo comfy. And in case you're wondering the carpet is Cavalier Bremworth NZ wool and all the bedroom curtains are a sheer of some sort with a neutral blackout lining behind so you can get the best of all worlds: privacy, light and total darkness as required.

Views from Inside

Well, the camera has been doing overtime! While it does feel a little weird taking photos of what is now our home - rather than a work in progress - here are some shots of inside.

As an unconfident sewer, I have to point out the homemade turquoise velvet cushion - one of four I'm proud to say! The fabric was bought on a whim on a visit to Auckland last hols and it perfectly matches, as I had hoped, the rug.

Entrance to the living space and kitchen, capturing the view of the trees.

View from the deck through to the kitchen and dining space - plus an amazing floral creation of sunflowers and cabbages a friend made for me.

Kitchen/living wall niche painted in Resene Triple Masala.

The bathroom off the living room.

The wallpaper is from Laura Ashley if anyone's interested, bought on sale at an amazing $48 a roll which is a bargain in wallpaper-world!

Front door and stairwell detail. Finally the glass balustrades are in and are the correct measurements!

Am loving the sandstone wall but it does seem to attract the huntsmen! Although we have had two in the dishwasher so maybe there's just something about the house. Whatever it is, I'll have to warn our English visitors who are arriving in two weeks!

Until next time ...

Jx

Homemade Cloth Cushions

There's been a lot of crafting going on here lately and I managed to make the two Cloth Fabric cushions for our bed without too much difficulty considering I've done nothing like this for about 25 years!!!

Well, I did sew one side the wrong way which needed unpicking and then some of the ribbon got caught up and that needed unpicking and re-sewing! But other than that, it went okay. Needless to say, daughter #1 helped with some of the sewing while I measured, cut, pinned and did the final sew.

I used offcuts of the lampshade fabric and then bits I'd bought as remnants.

For the backing I used Cloth Cream Hemp fabric and cream ribbon (I didn't want to attempt sewing zips!).

I think I could get into this cushion-making lark!

DIY Lampshades

So ... I had a plain lampshade that I thought could do with a zshush.

And I bought another one so we could have two new bedside table lights.

I found some instructions on the Beach Vintage blog (because I am incapable of working out how to do these things on my own!).

I bought some fabric from Cloth Fabric (Kangaroo Paw in Surf on Cream), some cream ribbon and spray adhesive.

And began ...

It was trickier than I thought as the shades taper in slightly at the top so the fabric couldn't be cut on the straight and needed to wind around the shade so it wouldn't bubble when sprayed with adhesive.

The hot glue gun proved tricky too. I'd never used one before and didn't realise how quickly the glue set and can become lumpy if not let to spread. Cue: daughter #1 who is an expert and helped me glue on the ribbon.

Between us, the lampshades were done in no time and if you don't look too closely, they don't look too bad!

During the day and at night ...

I'm now going to make some cushions for the bed from Cloth Fabric remnant samples!

Hard to Find cushions

 I loved these cushions so much ...

 

I had to buy them. In fact, I bought four - all online after a few glasses of wine with hubby egging me on!  

Actually, I bought two first to check I did, in fact, like them and then another two after they arrived because they are well made, linen, and I just liked them. They also help jazz up our plain cream sofa.

These are my second lot of cushions I've bought online and I highly recommend it (the Pony Rider Union Jack ones being the first).

I also thought I took a photo of the fourth but can't find it and now our camera's died!

 But if you want to check them out and look at the other cool stuff they have, click here, but unfortunately they only post to Australian customers.

Fabric Love: Ink and Spindle

Am feeling a creative urge coming on and have found myself oogling and googling online fabric stores with a view to making some cushions.

And I really love Melbourne-based Ink and Spindle's hand-printed textiles. These are some of my favourites ...

Wrens in Inky Blue

Gingko in Dusty Pink & Red

Kangaroo Paw in Charcoal & Sage

Birch Forest in Robin's Egg

But then they have all sorts of others in different colours, too ...

Little Forest in Sage & Lime

Lace Fans in Saffron

Bonsai in Deep Red on Unbleached

Birch Forest in Almond

The fabric bundles are tempting ...

Check it out for yourself at the Ink and Spindle website or follow their blog.

But that's enough from me! I have a deadline looming ...

DIY Project: Foot stool

I started a small DIY project over Christmas and thought I'd better finish it! We inherited a foot stool with a colourful printed base and cushion when bought the Bach but it now doesn't go with our decor and it needed a little TLC.

I thought I'd paint it white for starters.

Then I took off the old base fabric and replaced it with part of the leftover hem from ready-made curtains from Freedom. And my 12-year-old daughter (with not much help from me!) made a new cushion cover with the leftover fabric from Yardage Design used for the cushions on the cane chairs.

Now it all co-ordinates beautifully and I feel quite chuffed as it was my first dabble in upholstering (which was quite easy, really) and I had to delve back 20 years to remember how to sew a zip into a cushion!

Zhushed Cane Chairs & Cushions

Finally, I've got round to finishing and photographing my newly revamped cane chairs!

Thanks to Nicole from Yardage Design and a friend who has a sewing machine, the old cushions are no longer and, thanks to a couple of cans of white spray paint, the old brown cane chairs that needed some lovin' are now white.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view!) I was so keen to get spraying that I forgot to take 'before' shots but if you can imagine faded dirty brown cane and red and white striped cushions beginning to mould then you get the picture.

They now match my S.H.E revamped retro chairs and have joined them at the bach.

This is the Agapanthus fabric from Yardage Design and you can check out Nicole's other fabric here.