Ready, Set, Dissect: French Living Room

Yay- it's Friday. Time for a little fun and to play our Friday game- Ready, Set, Dissect.

Let us know your thoughts on this French Living Room.

Could you live in it?

Join us over on the Decorating Forum to chat about our own living rooms:)

Wednesday's Walk-through

Today our Decorating Forum member Babyjo who designs beautiful bamboo clothing, blankets, pyjamas and gifts (Eco Friendly, highly renewable and sustainable and fantastic for eczema sufferers and super soft) shows us her stunning bathroom.

The house is an old concrete commission style house – not very pretty and very rundown when we purchased.

Our bathroom was “planned” at a pool bar in Thailand, when we decided we wanted to have the indoor/outdoor feel that we had seen in a few of the resorts we stayed in.

Our deep Japanese style Mizu bathtub is just beautiful to relax in and it is certainly a peaceful, quiet and favourite area of the house.

I love that we have an indoor garden, natural light and something unique – it never fails to get a reaction from guests who drop in.

My husband Andrew is the owner of Harveygroup Construction (Melbourne based business, specialising in bathroom, kitchen and laundry renovations) 0413 11 33 77

You can tell Andrew is experienced in designing beautiful bathrooms.

Let Andrew & Jo know what you think of their amazing bathroom renovation.

We are chatting about our favourite bathroom tiles over on the Decorating Forum - come and tell us yours.

Deck Dilemma - Help!

Our lovely blog follower Edwina wrote to us recently asking for help. Of course we knew exactly who to ask for help - you:)

This is Edwina's dilemma:

We built the deck in September last year and only got around to painting it recently. Our problem is working out what to do with all the space out there! As you can see, it's pretty huge - 50 square metres. We have it set up so the dining table and chairs are down one end, two couches in the middle and an old BBQ down the far end. There's also a bar fridge, but not much else.

Our idea was that one day, our kids would be able to play out there and have plenty of room. But, as we have no kids yet, that plan is a way off coming together...

The couches were originally in an L Shape, but whenever there was a bad storm they both got drenched, so we pushed them to the back wall.

My problem is working out what to put down the far end, where the BBQ is. I'd LOVE some plants and herbs on the deck, but my husband is pretty picky about not letting water onto the walls and not having anything on the decking that could degrade it... He's leaning towards putting a pool table down there, but I'm not so keen because I think they're pretty ugly, plus it'd get damaged pretty quickly being exposed to the weather.

We live in Queensland, so we spend about 8 months of the year out here, but when it rains it POURS and the storms and wind can be pretty violent.

So, I'd love to hear some creative ideas on how to make the space more comfortable - lighting, furnishings and any solutions on putting herbs out there without ruining the finishes.

Basically, if this space was yours, what would you DO with it??

Thank you so much - really excited to read the responses.

I hope you can help Edwina with some suggestions.

We have also been discussing the exteriors finishes of homes over on the Decorating Forum so pop on over and join in the chatter:)

Ready, Set, Dissect: Black & White Living Room

Yay- it's Friday and time for a little fun. So the game is Ready, Set - Dissect.

Tell us what you do and don't love about this room:)

For some great ideas on how to create a stylish Living Room come and chat with us on the Decorating Forum. Love to see you over there too:)

Wednesday's Walk-through

This is an amazing house- and my neighbours. Yes I get to look out my window at this gorgeous house everyday. It is very unusual and maybe not everyone's taste but I do admire the effort the owners went to to create their dream home.

A striking exterior - their interpretation of a French Farmhouse.

The dining and kitchen.

The Media Room- very formal.

The Family Room - overlooking the Plunge Pool.

The Ensuite- with a Recollections Vanity.

One of the minor bedrooms.

Just in case you loved it - sorry it sold last weekend. So as we watched the neighbours visiting their new home this is what I was wondering.

Is this your cup of tea? What are your favourite parts of the house?

We would love to hear your thoughts:)

Clever Ways with Televison's

This week on the Decorating Forum we have been looking at some imaginative ways to include that huge flat screen television into your decor.

Some of our forum member's have come up with some very creative solutions. To see them all pop on over to read the whole thread on the Decorating Forum.

A simple but stylish solution.

This is becoming even more popular.

An unusual solution.

Something similar to this was on Divine Design on Foxtel.

Imagine lying in bed and pushing the remote to have your TV lift out of this stylish cabinet- now that's luxury.

And the ultimate TV - in the mirror of your bathroom. A handy way to catch the morning news.

So which idea do you like the best?

How have you added your TV to your decor?

Looking forward to chatting with you :)

Ready, Set, Dissect: Luxury Bathroom

I am so excited to be able to show some of my favourite rooms over the next few weeks.

I love this bathroom but I want to hear what you think of it- so Ready, Set, Dissect.

There are so many more wonderful bathroom ideas for you to see on the Decorating Forum. We hope to see you over there too.

Julie-Ann.

Wednesday's Walk-through

Today our friend and member from the Decorating Forum Kristie (Elements) shows us the house she and her Hubby finished renovating recently. Kristie has amazing taste and you can follow her latest project on her blog Elements At Home - a brand new home for their family. I have been lucky enough to visit Kristie's new home and the pictures don't do it justice- it is stunning.

This is her story about their renovation project.

Whilst building our dream home we decided to buy a property with the intention of renovating and selling. I had kept my eye on this area for at least a year prior, so I knew the market and what everything was worth. It did mean we had to tighten our belts so much my new hobby was how to sell as mush as possible on ebay to fund any new purchases. But we knew we could do up this property enough to make enough money to fund the fitout of our build.....with our fingers and toes crossed I researched
and bought for our budget reno while Hubby implemented the ideas every weekend.
We felt we would need to appeal to the general public especially 1st homebuyers...so this is what we did.
So we purchased for $410k, we spent $18k on paint, tiles, new cabinets in all the wet areas, new carpets, new blinds and curtains and painted the exterior............ and today it settled with a purchase price of $510k.
So in the past 14 months we have bought a property and done it up while we were building and we have now moved in and yes its time to wind down and relax for a little bit.......

The lounge before - in all it's glory.

The lounge after- bought into the new century.

The kitchen before.

The kitchen - what a difference.

The Master Bedroom before.

The Master Bedroom After

I think you will agree Kristie and her Hubby earned every cent- it is an amazing renovation.

Some more good news - Kristie is an Interior Designer. You can contact her for help with your home at stylishinteriors@iinet.net.au

Pop on over today to chat with Kristie and our other lovely members on the Decorating Forum.

Julie-Ann.

Office Nooks

This week on the Decorating Forum we have been looking at different ways to create a little nook for your desk.

Somewhere to rest the laptop and pay the bills. Or a place to let the little ones play on the computer but where you can keep a watchful eye on the screen.

Here are some of how favourite pictures we shared.

To see the full discussion and all the solutions we came up with pop on over to the Decorating Forum. Feel free to add any of your ideas or pictures there.

Behind the sofa.

Tucked in a bay window.

At the end of the hallway.

This little hideaway cabinet is from Ikea.

In a corner of a living room.

So which one did you like the best?

We would love to hear from you. Hope you have a great start to the week. 

 

Ready, Set, Dissect: Girls Bedroom

Back today with a little girls room. Go here if you are not sure what Ready, Set, Dissect means.

What do you think?

Image: decorpad

Hope everyone has had a great week? School holidays here and I am only just surviving. Sending 2 to daycare today (can you see me fist pumping the air?).

If you want more chat today go over and say hello to Julie-Ann!

Wednesday's Walk-through

We have so mnay new readers, so I just wanted to say hello to you all. Welcome.

What is Wednesday's Walk-through? Well it's all about showcasing YOUR homes. Real homes. No trick photography. No fancy photoshop. We are getting back to basics. Afterall, it's the real people that read our blogs. So if you have something to share with us, don't be shy... we aren't looking for the the biggest, or the best!

Today we say hello to Jenny from The Five Year Project. She is doing a fantastic renovation to her home!

Here is what she says:

The five year project…

I am married with two boys aged 12 and 5. My background is in Information Technology (Operations and Account Management) but this year I am a stay at home mum. My youngest has just started school and I wanted to be around for the pickup and drop offs. This has allowed me to really focus on the renovations of our Queenslander which we believe to be around the 100 year old mark. It has beautiful dome decorative ceilings and plenty of potential…

We have been here just over two years now and I think we are tracking very well even if new plans are constantly being conjured up.

The room I would like to do a walk thru of is our bedroom makeover. This room was very dark and dreary when we first moved in, in fact almost spooky. It had mission brown panelling and lolly pink cornices and dome. The floor boards were bare (unpolished) and the windows covered in cobwebs.

Our first job was to remove the panelling and replace with plaster. There is plenty of panelling left in the house that we felt it could be removed rather than painted over in the bedroom.

Although unpainted as yet, the plaster gave the room a whole new vibe.

The most inconvenient part about it, was that we didn’t have any wardrobes during this whole phase and I had to purchase a couple of those clothes racks as a temporary basis. The house was a bit like a Chinese laundry…

Finally, we had built-in wardrobes installed, making life a little easier for a while. The down side is that we had to paint the external wardrobe and doors (never again!)

This room is now complete including new curtains, home made bed head and new light for a bit of bling!

I try to have some piece of furniture in each room which tells a bit of a story or has some sentimental attachment. In this case I have my grandmothers’ dresser which I restored. My favourite part of the room is the dome ceiling.

 If you want to see more real homes and chat with real people, jump over to The Decorating Forum, follow us on twitter here and here or join us on Facebook.

Back Friday!

Chalkboard LOVE

Who has a chalkboard wall/frame in their house? Would love to see some.

This was one I had in my house once.

Then I did a quick google search and found some others I love!

After seeing some of these amazing rooms, I think I need some more chalkboard's in my home.

Would love to hear/see any chalkboard pictures you have.

Have a great week!