Decorating with flowers

In my opinion you can never go wrong with fresh flowers

There are so many colour and varieties to suit any style and taste

Having fresh flowers in the home is the perfect healthy way to freshen up your home and brighten up that spot in your house

Flowers can be arranged in so many different ways,

Use a variety together in one vase

A single stem in a bottle

Tie a ribbon around an old jar and add a bunch of your favourite roses

There are so many vessels you can utilise to display your flowers:

pitchers, watering cans, bottles, teapots, wine or champange glasses, bowls......

the possibilities are endless

You don't need to spend a lot on your flowers

If you are lucky enough to live near flower markets you can buy lots of gorgeous bouquets for a great price

but even if you don't local supermarkets stock bunches of flowers that are inexpensive.

If the flowers are looking a little worse for wear and they aren't marked down make sure you ask them if they will discount them for you, then grab a few bunches, cull the dead ones and you will still have a beautiful bunch of flowers to display for a few days.

My flowers are from Aldi and I bought the bunch of three stems for $4.99

I bought them on the day they came into the store and all of the buds were still closed. I love lilies for that reason, they last so much longer and you can enjoy watching the flowers open over a few days.

To make your cut flowers last longer you should:

• Place them in water as soon as possible
• Handle them with care, flowers bruise and will die quicker if bumped about
• Try to keep them out of direct sunlight
• Change the water daily or at least every second day adding a cap full of household bleach to the water
• Trim the stems each time you take them out of water as the stem seals and they don't drink as well

So what are you waiting for duck out and buy yourself some flowers and add a bit more beauty to your life :-)

xx

Janine's Mood Board

If you remember I mentioned that I had my first official interior styling consultation last week and a few of my lovely encouraging friends asked me to share the mood board.

So with Janine's permission here it is.

Janine has a fantastic open plan lounge, dining and kitchen area it is really big. I think half my house may fit into it and she was keen to hear my thoughts on how to modernise it and rearrange the areas to make the most of them and incorporate a coffee area. 

She also has some new prints for her walls on order and asked advice on where and how to hang it. I am a huge fan of gallery walls and grouping your photos together. Little photos can get lost in a big space and together they make an impact. A great idea is to use shelves to stand your photos and artwork on, this way you can change it around whenever you like easily without leaving lots of holes in walls.

If you are looking for some help with your house and you have a space that you need help with please visit my website here . I do offer online consulting if you don't live in beautiful Orange NSW Australia :-)

Online Styling

No matter where you are I can help you with your decorating dilemma. You provide me with photos of the room you want to work on and a basic floor plan. I will email you a detailed questionnaire for you to complete and return.

I will then work with you to provide you with the following:

One digital inspiration board for one room
One rendered floor plan for one room
One costed shopping list for one room (links to online stores included)

$175

Additional rooms at $50 per room

Further details of each package are here.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Nick and I are enjoying a mini break away together. I am very much looking forward to hanging out with my wonderful Husband will fill you in (hopefully with photos as I always seem to forget to take any) on Monday.

xx

Happy Days

I had all intentions of writing a post yesterday but I am very thrilled to say that I had my first 'Official' (woo hoo getting paid) interior styling job yesterday. I was so excited when I got home I started straight on the mood boards and got carried away. Not much else happened around here yesterday. I unpacked a box of goodies but they came out of the box and into to neat piles on the floor :-)

Boxed Set of four mugs $19.95

Boxed set of four mugs $19.95

Retro Apron $24.95

Retro Apron $24.95

I few new things have found their way to the store over the last week and I will be adding more so remember please keep my little store in mind if you are after a gift for someone special or for yourself. 

Bejewelled Cream Bookmark $11.50

Pink Cross Bookmark $11.50

Thanks so much and have a great day!

xx

Decorating for Easter

We don't really decorate much for Easter here in Australia

This year I haven't done much in the way of decor at all.

I like to buy some extra bags of small chocolate eggs to have in the house leading up to Easter.

It is nice to offer them to visitors and we manage to eat a few ourselves.

This year I bought lots of little Chocolate eggs

Not all for us

I emptied all of the packets into a big vase and as

we aren't celebrating Easter at our place this year, this was the extent of my Easter decorating

Simple but still effective

The vase is not so full any more

No we didn't eat them all

I made little boxes and then filled them with some chocolate eggs

the last couple of years I have been trying to reduce the number of chocolate we give

It all gets a little ridiculous

we only finished the last chocolate bunny from Easter 2011 about 4 weeks ago!

This way I give something hand made and some chocolate to keep the kids (big & little alike) happy.

I hope you all have a great Easter long weekend

xx

McCarthy Designs & Occasions

It's official,

I am now self employed.

It is all a little scary,

I guess the unknown always is.

I will be launching my online store on the 2nd April.

There is still so much to do

but it is all very exciting.



I have been busy finding suppliers and ordering in stock.

My new office is a little cramped

but I do have lots natural light and a window that opens.

Fortunately I am very flexible and I can easily relocate my workstation to sit out in the sunshine.

What bliss!

Apart from selling pretty things I am also available to help out with interior and event styling

Thanks to some wonderful friends I am already busy helping with the decor and styling of their houses, some parties and a wedding.

It is all so much fun and I love to help ease the stress that comes when you are organising a big event, renovating or moving house.

Thank you for joining me on my journey and for all of the support and feed back that you have all given me over the last few years.

The encouragement and friendship that I have received from my blog, and the inspiration that I get from reading about your journeys and lives has played a huge part in me being able to go out on my own and do something that I love.

xx