Things I've done...

I thought I'd finally share with you what I've been Destitutely Designing in my house lately - just incase you thought I'd forgotten what the whole point of this blog was!

This weekend was very satisfying for me. I got a lot of what I'd been wanting to do done, and it's great to sit back and enjoy it now... before I get stuck into the next lot of jobs on my list, that is.

Let's start with the ugliest sister of all: The fireplace! *cue shiver down spine*

Excuse the crappy 'before' photo, this is all I could find! However I think i've succeeded in showing you how ghastly the fireplace looked before I painted it to make it .. a little less ugly.

This was the absolute bain of my life, I swear. But the white transforms it from dark, drab, moody and totally overbearing; to light, bright and most importantly: INVISIBLE!

Sure, you can see a few imperfections: the cracked grout and the bowing, but i'm just glad I don't walk into the lounge and snarl anymore when I see it.

A few strategically placed ornaments and photos, and voila! Not bad. In fact, totally livable!

Here is my entrance way, before and after the addition of my gorgeous coat hooks, which I picked up during a trip to Italy a few years ago, and my new bird hook from Urban Outfitters. LOVE them!

Also, that's my old mahogany table (Sorry, no before pic available! I can tell you it was brown though.. use your imagination) which I spray-painted sunshine yellow. It's only 90% finished thanks to the windiest month on record (I reckon)!! Still, I really love the lift the colour gives it, and it looks great against my beloved wallpaper.

Now I just need another new pair of shoes to sit under it, to finish the look.. don't you think?

Onto the dining room! Nothing remodelly has happened here lately, but I had a clear out of all the clutter, got a new table, and now I love it. Gone is the couch (ah, what room is this again?), and I've moved the new table into the middle of the room and parked my new chairs around it.

Before:

AFTER:

This orientation is MUCH better. Also, without the clutter and confusion of the couch in there, it clearly defines it's purpose. I used to hate getting trapped in there when friends came round. It was just easy to plop yourself on the couch while I rustled up some food close by in the kitchen, but it's the darkest room in the house in the afternoon, being on the south side of the house - so not very cosy, despite the log burner.

The blinds (made by my Mum out of fabric from Ikea which was $9 a metre - which, when you consider the 10 metres I bought will easily dress a lot of the windows in my house, is ridiculous good buying) will actually move to another room once I get the wallpaper up. But I love them, and they will make another room very happy in the future!

I 'made' these lovely vases myself, out of some fantastic bottles I found at the thrift store the other day for $1.50 each. Just pour in some paint and make sure you turn it a bit so the paint covers every inch of the inside of the bottle, turn upside down and drain the excess. Leave to dry. Easy!

Last but not least, the laundry/bathroom. It's not finished, but check out the difference some new gib and a lick of paint makes!

From this:

To this:

Sorry, the after pics aren't really that mind-blowing, but I'll get it all finished and THEN I will blow your mind!

Oh, and if you're wondering what came of the couch from the dining room?

Lila and I now have a lovely place to hang out and play and read magazines, in our delightful little sunroom. One day it too shall be glorious, but for now I'm just happy I can sit down with Captain Feathersword or Dorothy the Dinosaur or Scarface Claw; or whoever Lila decides she's going to be that day, put my feet up and enjoy!

Hello? How are you?

Well, I'M good - but my poor bathroom isn't...

Ok, so it's 'good' just not 'great'.. or finished for that matter. Damn this depressing weather, a boyfriend who is allergic to tools and a Father-in-Law who took leave somewhere sunny o'er the ditch for a few weeks. Pah! Yes, those are my excuses. That is why my bathroom sits unfinished. On with the show!

Actually, amateur dramatics aside, I keep thinking I should just take the damn photos and put them up. Because minus some lovingly placed decorative items and some shelves, it's pretty much done. For now.

But then it hits me that it just feels like a bit like cheating, to take photos when I'm not 100% finished with it, you know. And I think that you - the one person, or one of three perhaps - reading this blog might feel a little cheated too! I mean, I need to show you some skillzzzz huh?

I feel, with working and parenting, and being seasonally depressed (I'm blaming my inaction on the weather/temperature), there just aren't enough hours in the day! (Ok, so there are some more excuses.. bare with me). I feel a change a comin' people..!

I was buoyed by the news that someone out there IS in fact someone reading this blog (shout out to you Hayley in Beach Haven)! So now I feel like I've really been letting the side down, after starting out with such enthusiasm and joy de vive and then.. well.. if you've been keeping half an eye on this, you'll know where this is going.

... I know that that was a totally inappropriate use of the phrase 'joy de vive' but I just had to get it in there..! ok!

Soooo the point of this post? Let's see. Well - to weasel out of posting pictures??

NO! I'm teasing you so you'll want to see what's coming EVEN MORE! Yes! Ohh it will be fantastique! Indeed!!

Let me tell you, Hayley, I have a sheet of Florence Broadhurst wallpaper that is burning a whole in it's storage tube, just waiting to be the finishing touch on the ghastly old used vanity I've repurposed, rehandled and rejuvinated; and I have shelves; and I have a fabulous old mirror to paint.

That there is just a taste of what awaits! :) :) :)

In the meantime, I will leave you with a few things I've found lately that I love and desperately want to have as my own. One day... one day..

Lonnymag.com: If you haven't yet found this fabulous online interior design magazine and site, please go there NOW! You can visit the main site and be inspired by the myriad of Interiors on display and dream of how to create your perfect space (and get ideas for how to cheat all those million dollar looks!). Or you can virtually flick through the pages of their amazing monthly online magazine! Trust me, you won't be disappointed. I love online mags and the instant links that allow you instant gratification and drooling rights. MAGnifincent!

Style By Emily Henderson: Formerly 'The Brass Petal' Blog - this is Interior Designer/Stylist Emily Henderson's new place of ramblings. She's an American designer who recently took out the reality tv competition 'Design Star' on US Cable. She has some fantastic ideas on here.. One of which I have appropriated.. very cheaply, I might add!

I love anything graphic, and seeing this vintage flag on the wall struck me as a really clever thing to do with something you might first think of as rather naff! Plus, lucky me, I am half Swiss and the Swiss flag is the same as this, but red with a white cross - so off I scurried to TradeMe and got me a nylon (ok so it's not vintage) flag for $20! I plan to make a frame or stretch it over a canvas, and soon it shall hang nicely (in my minds eye it is, anyway) in my lounge. Hoorah!

Looking on The Design Files tonight I spotted a link to this beautiful store Douglas + Bec - which just happens to be in our very own backyard! It's just opened up on St Mary's Road in Ponsonby, and by God it looks as though I could swallow up every last thing in their divine little shop!! Squeeee!!! I WANT THOSE STEEL LIGHTSHADES!!! Rebecca Snelling, you are a woman after mine own heart.

I love them, and you will love these prints by Auckland stencil artist Flox. There is also a link to her blog here. And, just look at the beautiful work she recently completed for a client in Ponsonby:

This was inspired by a piece of wallpaper her client had. I think it's GORGEOUS!! Possibly a more stylish alternative to this. Depending on how steady your hand is.

And in other Budget Friendly news: I am supposedly getting married at some point in time.. and I LOVE the look of these homemade wedding cakes and I think I could totally pull it off!

OnceWed.com

This post is pretty much all over the place, so I thank you for getting this far! Now that I'm recommitting, I'll be sure to plan more betterer for the next installment, and maybe even learn some english grammar while I'm at it! I shall also have to get back into the DIY'ing.. and not just the LIY'ing (Looking at It Yourself.. hahaaa... hmmm.. lame. It's late).

x