Spring Weather

I can't believe it's already near the end of September but I am glad for all the warm weather.  Summer definitely feels like it's just around the corner.  This weekend we went out for brunch by the river at Bulimba and a wander through the Powerhouse farmers' markets where I picked up fruit and flowers.  James and I then strolled across to South Bank where we found a tranquil comfortable spot overlooking gardens and the water to while away the afternoon with cold glasses of Campari and soda and a chance for me to catch up on the latest issue of Vogue.  Clear blue skies, sunshine and water must be one of the most mood enhancing combinations, I wish I could always enjoy these kind of days as we did on Saturday. Here are a few snippets from around the apartment this weekend including market flowers in some old jam jars, our vintage sunburst clock in its new spot above the bamboo desk and my new straw hat I purchased at South Bank for a steal sitting happily at the entry.

Mirror Mirror

Our task for last weekend was to put up our newly acquired vintage mirror.  After some difficulty we finally managed to get the darn thing up having underestimated how heavy it was.  We discovered a new appreciation for ornate mirrors during our trip to France and decided we would hunt for one to go above James' inherited sideboard.  It arrived from Sydney four weeks ago but it's been so hectic that the mirror remained lying next to our front door all this time... I love the decorative frame, especially the woven motif at the sides... reminds me of a classic Bottega Veneta leather handbag!

High Tea with Friends

James and I were delighted to host Angela's birthday high tea on Sunday.  Angela and I have been great friends ever since meeting in the eighth grade of high school and we've been close ever since.  James and I have held a number of afternoon teas over the years but Angela had moved to Melbourne some years back and had missed them.  Hence I wanted to hold a high tea especially for her on a very special birthday and I wanted everything to be perfect!  James transformed our little city balcony into a leafy oasis and I baked up a storm to fill the table with scones with jam and cream, cupcakes, the most enormous birthday cake with chocolate mousse icing and ribbon sandwiches.  Everything was blue and white, the lilies from the markets opened up and Caroline bought along lots of bubbly with delicious hibiscus flowers.  It was great to finally meet all the friends Angela had mentioned over the years and everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves over the never ending pots of tea.  Happy birthday Angela!

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A Beach Cottage

Apartment Gardening

Yesterday we hosted a high tea so in preparation I thought it time to reinvigorate the garden... our small balcony garden that is.  I split our orchid into three, upsized the pots for a few plants including our fast growing jade plant, and found new spots for our olive tree and bougainvillea.  The new arrangement made my Sunday morning coffee all the more satisfying.

Weekend Project

We've been contemplating putting up a coat rack for a while and the rainy weather has given us the perfect excuse to stay indoors and put one together. We took inspiration from the reclaimed timber frame Stuart gave us for Christmas and salvaged some T&G board from a demolition yard and picked up a few metal hooks from the hardware shop. After a Sunday afternoon of sawing and drilling we finally put the rack up in our little entry way.  I really like how it has brightened up the space but most of all I like that we had some fun putting it all together. Our apartment became an impromptu workshop for an afternoon!

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Apartment Therapy

I've decided a new year calls for a refreshing of our apartment.  With our trip to France looming large I am trying to be a bit thrifty so it's more of a shuffling around of bits and pieces rather than any major purchases. I am sure there will be lovely things I'll want to pick up while over there. However, I may have to sell a few things in order to make room!

Here is a collage of our apartment as it stands. I figured I would take a few snaps for our records before I reorgnised everything. Ron and Leonie, I am glad to let you know I will be taking inspiration from the beautiful book you gave me for Christmas! 

Dinner Party

Last night we hosted a joint birthday dinner for James and Sandra.  We had to shift things around a little but managed to fit everyone in.  I love the hand printed tablecloths purchased from Oxfam combined with the bold red flowers.  It was the first sit-down dinner we've hosted in our new apartment for so many people.  A very enjoyable evening.

Pony Rider Cushions

Last night after dinner we went for a wander past the lit up store windows and I spotted the Pony Rider range of cushions in one of them.  I've been reading about this young Australian homewares label in numerous magazines and really like their graphic prints. Hence, I braved the rain this afternoon and headed back to pick up a couple for the apartment. Love the birdy print of course!


http://pony-rider.blogspot.com/

Woven Screen

Today we received the delivery of this folding screen in woven cane.  We found a neat little spot for it on our balcony.  It will help create a cosy nook and screens off the neighbouring apartment.  I love the geometric pattern created by the panels of squares and circles.

Friday Flowers

Stanton gave me the most enormous bouquet of flowers yesterday as a belated birthday gift.  Unexpected but very welcome for the weekend.  The bouquet was beautiful but so large that I realised upon arriving home we had no vase large enough to accommodate it!  Hence, I broke the bunch up and dispersed the blooms through our apartment.  I thought it was a shame to break them up at first but it does look so lovely with flowers everywhere.

Vintage Vase Lamps

Ok, I admit I am a bit of an eBay addict.  I guess it's the feeling of being able to go "vintage shopping" at the click of a button.  Dangerous for the bank account and very addictive, I totally advise against it!  However, feelings of guilt with regards to my constant online trawling occasionally turn into feelings of satisfaction when I manage to find the perfect thing at a happy price.  This weekend I picked up this lovely pair of blue and white porcelain lamp bases from the seller for a steal and popped past a lighting store on the way back to grab a couple of plain white lampshades and voila...new(ish) lamps for our cosy apartment.  I figured it was about time I retired my pair of pink and white floral beaded lamps from my chintz-y phase!

Shelving shelving

On the hunt for modular shelving...or have been on and off for about a year really.  Is it just me or is it quite a task to source simple yet well designed and inexpensive locally produced shelving?!  Except for the X System from Planex, everything I've been considering seems to be either out of production or has to be imported from Sweden or Italy which is fine but it renders my desire for instant gratification difficult to fulfill!  Above are various systems from String, vintage Tomado and Piero Lissoni's Porro Bibliotech.

New Lamps

I came across these lamps while having a wander through Teneriffe on Sunday.  We hadn't managed to find any vintage lamps that were suitable after looking for several months and I finally resigned myself to purchasing new ones as I just miss reading in bed too much!  These have a combination of solid wooden cylindrical base segments with discs of clear perspex interspersed on a brushed stainless steel post.  I love the burnt red colour of the fabric shade.  They are larger than I originally envisaged for the room but they've proven to cast an excellent quality of ambient light in the room and light up the wallpaper beautifully.  I'm looking forwards to snuggling up in bed with a book more and more as the weather hopefully cools.

Another Drum Stool

Although seemingly we are fast running out of clear floor space, I couldn't go past the opportunity to acquire this second vintage Chinese garden stool.  Similar to the first purchase it is also in my favourite blue and white style ceramic.  This one is lovely with its gold highlights and peony and bird motifs.  This is likely to be the last garden stool purchase for a while but I have offered to continue to keep an eye out for Oi Lai which I admit is probably really an excuse to keep looking for them.  They are just too attractive!  

Chinese Garden Stool

I finally managed to find a vintage Chinese garden stool to my liking just before Christmas.  With the help of Ruen the stool managed to arrive safely from Sydney.  I know it has been very du jour to have these stools in interiors and there are all sorts of colours and styles now available for exorbitant prices in all the designer-y interiors stores.  However, I remember them growing up in their traditional garden setting usually consisting of four to six stools in blue and white or a famille rose pattern around a matching ceramic garden table.  Call me conservative or maybe just nostalgic but I much prefer the garden stools in the styles I remember rather than these modern styles in metallics etc. The last image is one I found at an antiques auction listing site.  I do admit I like the modern Vietnamese Craft Link version second from the top.  Tammy's family in Malaysia has a beautiful setting in their garden.  I wish I had photographed it when I was visiting, must remember next time!

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Another Drum Stool

New Cushions

During all the Christmas shopping I picked up a couple of new cushions from Bayswiss.  They're not quite Missoni but I think they complement the existing ones quite well.  The pattern and colour are what I like best about them. The top one is a little ikat inspired without being overly so. 

Wallpaper Update

At long last we had the O+L Grove Garden wallpaper installed. Luckily we managed to get it all up before Christmas as the installer said we had one of the last spots on their busy schedule of installs. We are still adjusting to the bold colour and pattern. I really like it with the sheet set I bought years ago from the Oxfam store.

One Final Coat

This morning the final coat was painted onto our dining table.  When we found this vintage pedestal table at the Paddington Antique Centre it was a dull white colour.  Helen spotted it and had immediately decided that we were going to paint it gloss black.  We used a gloss enamel for the under coats, finished with a natural bio wood varnish.  A nice contrast to our white Panton chairs.

A Spring Afternoon at Home

A spring afternoon in our apartment.  While this photo was taken a few months ago I can't help looking back at it and remembering how warm and cosy it was at home in the afternoon.  Being almost summer by now the sun has moved in the sky and the play of light is not quite as dramatic.  I can't wait for Autumn to come again - just for moments like these.

Missoni at Home

We finally purchased these Missoni cushions we had been obsessing over for months! They are from the Passiflora and Jacaranda ranges. The vibrancy and bold patternation is just gorgeous. We want one more to complete the set but still deciding. They are sitting happily on our recently refurbished lounge suite!