Kitchens

This was the collection of kitchens that I had in my inspiration files.

I like the three lights above the island bench, not so much the style of them but the placement.

I like the idea of a shelf in the splash back, but I don't think I would ever have one, I think that everything on the shelf would get too grimy and just need cleaning more often.

I love the window and the kitchen sink, so nice to have a view while you wash up the pots and pans. I like the bench tops as well. We will hopefully be replacing our Kitchen bench tops this year with something similar. It will be a DIY project. My darling husband will take care of the bench top and I am going to attempt painting the cupboard doors and replacing the hardware for a fresh new look. I love the amount of light in the kitchen, the green chairs are so cute too. Green and white is one of my favourite colour combinations. It always looks so crisp and fresh. Love the big double sinks and the high arched taps, it looks a little bit too much like a laundry though. I love the kitchen cabinets too, they look like they are individual units and have all different sized draws and cupboards.

I really like the idea of a bookshelf in the kitchen to hold all of the cookbooks.

The island bench top, the sink, the green and white, the cheese, the wine. Looks like a great setup to sit and chat to the chef while they cook up a storm.

Once again I like the bench tops and the old fashioned stove (out of our price range unfortunately), and the little window bench seat/ phone nook.

This kitchen is so light and airy and I like the cupboard hardware, I particularly like the island bench.

When we finish our kitchen makeover I will post some photos so you can see what we end up with.

Building

I have been tidying my files full of photos and trying to create some semblance of order. As I have plodded along I found pictures I had kept as inspiration for our house we were planning on building. Prior to buying our house we had seriously considered building a house and a friend of ours who is a draftsman drew up plans and we got quotes and found land that we liked. Before we made our final decision we also looked at established houses and in the end we bought our house we are in now. When we were looking at what we wanted in a house we decided that we would like an open plan house based on a French Provincial style. Not with all the fussy trimmings but a rustic style house that had simple finishes. The pictures below were examples of the colour of the walls, the textured finish of the walls and the type of floor (concrete, but not highly polished) we wanted in the family, dining kitchen, wet areas and halls.

Wall colour and texture

Wall colour and open plan space

Wall colour and finish -textured with no cornices

Wall colour and finish, floor is close to what we wanted.

Flooring and fireplace

Yes we were going to have a fireplace as well, we were going to go with a gas flame but we wanted it to look real but without the mess. We wanted stone cladding for the fireplace in the family room to add texture and be the feature in the room.

For the lounge room we wanted a smaller more intimate room, made cosier with carpet to lay on whilst watching movies and a less obtrusive fire place to keep the room warm and comfortable in the cold Orange weather.

As much as we love our house now, we would still like to build a house one day. It will be interesting to see how our tastes and requirements change over time.

Boss

We have had a busy week working on lots of stuff, including our brick wall. We had some good progress on the weekend but not quite ready to show photos yet. Hopefully we will get another good weekend that we can get outside and do some more work.

Some exciting news is that we picked up our new puppy 'Boss' just over a week ago. He had a vet check and his first immunisations today and is fit and healthy. He is settling in really well and even the cat seems to be more tolerant of him. He is 6 1/2 weeks old at the moment.

Colour

One of my modules for my course is all about colour and the different combinations that can be used. For my assignment I used a pink and green combination and found these pictures as inspiration. Pink and Green together always reminds me of Spring and Babies. It can be very girly so I picture pretty dressing rooms with chandeliers and pink fluffy cushions, lots of sparkly jewels and flowers.

Janella Invitations

Media Canada World of Stock

Interior Designs Ideas Now

Hot Ref

flikr

Country Homes and Interiors

flikr

Craft Duo

Comfort BG

baby on grand

Antique Helper

Candy Jars

We did a day trip to Sydney on the weekend and we manged to come home with some goodies.

I have been wanting some lovely big candy jars for a while now but being the scrooge that I am I was loathe to pay upwards of $100 for each jar. I have been looking around and on the weekend I was rewarded for my perseverance. I found all three for less than $100 total. The jar in the front was from Spotlight. I had seen it a few weeks ago and didn't buy it then because I wasn't convinced that is was what I was after, I wasn't sure about the writing around the top of the jar but after some Internet research I decided that I liked the jar and especially the $29.95 price tag. The jar in the middle was from Victoria's Basement in Auburn. We had bought some cookware over the Internet and the order was mixed up so, given we were going to be in Sydney anyway we decided to make the required exchange in person rather than post the order back and wait for them to replace it. If you haven't been to Victoria's Basement I recommend a visit. The Auburn store is huge and has all sorts of great items and great prices. We were also pleasantly surprised with their postage rates, a flat $12 for our total order. The Victoria's Basement jar was also $29.95. The last jar was totally unexpected and a pleasant surprise. We were in Bathurst on Sunday watching the race at the in-laws house and I offered to make a trip to the chemist to buy some Zyrtec for my bother in law (after a quick trip to our new favourite shop 'Courtyard'). The only chemist I could find that was open was in the shopping centre where there just happens to be one of those discount stores that sell a variety of items for reduced prices, I remembered that this particular store had a lot of glassware and I was after a small jar for another project I have in mind and while I was looking for that I found my last candy jar for the bargain price of $24.95. Now I just need to find a place for them and something to put in them.

The wooden box was another purchase from Victoria's Basement. So cute with chalkboards on either side and only $15, it is a great storage piece for all the bits and pieces that seem to collect in our kitchen.

The bag was a gift for my wonderful husband. He spotted the Havana Bag the first time we went to 'Courtyard' and he really liked it. After searching for a better priced version on line I gave up and bought him the Villa Maison one from 'Courtyard'. Not a bargain but well worth it. Nick was so pleased, he can't wait for his next overnight trip. In the meantime he has found the perfect spot for the bag...

I am very pleased with our new purchases and I am looking forward to displaying them. I have great plans for the jars and Christmas decorating. Only 7 weeks to go and we can get the Christmas Decorations out of the garage. Yay! I love Christmas. Photo source: McCarthy Designs

Dining Table

We had a productive long weekend. We made great progress with hanging our new light fixtures and while my talented hubby was up in the roof connecting the lights I used my time to work on a little job I had been meaning to attempt for a while. This was our dining table.....

I forgot to get a good 'before' shot, the photo above was actually taken to be used as a 'before new light fixture' photo but it will have to do the job for my 'before' dining table picture.

The 'during' photos don't quite convey the amount of work that goes into preparing the furniture or the amount of pain my muscles are in today from all of the sanding.

As I sanded, we changed our minds about what finish we would do on the table. Both Nick and I decided that we liked the different shades that were uncovered as I worked. Initially we had decided to paint the legs of the table white and leave the table top raw and wax or oil it.

We decided that we liked the different shades in the timber and we wanted to keep some of that effect to create interest so we tried a white wash on the table legs.

To achieve this finish, apply the paint to the furniture and then wipe it off with a wet rag. I used a water based paint that we had left over from the doors and trim.

We left the table top raw and just used furniture wax to give it a protective coating.

As we finished up sanding (yes, Nick came to my rescue and helped finish the sanding), Nick found this.....

Photo source: McCarthy Designs

Extra Long Weekend

It is a long weekend in NSW this weekend and I am fortunate enough to have an extra long weekend. Yay! I have so many plans for this weekend... an assignment that needs finishing, a retaining wall that needs finishing, light fittings that need hanging, furniture to paint, books to read, board games to play, garden to weed, aargh... so much to do. Unfortunately it is forecast to rain so I doubt we will be doing a lot outside. However here are some pics of the very few flowers we have in our yard at the moment!

Photo source: McCarthy Designs