Feature Home: A retro contemporary Aussie home

When I spotted this house tour and was drawn in by the very relaxed contemporary feel. Apprently designed around a series of courtyards and outdoor spaces, the home is designed to be warm and contemporary.

Contemporary and retro-inspired furniture is family friendly and attractive and the use of timber and strong colours warms up the bright white walls and kitchen. I'm also liking the use of touches of black around each space.

What do you think?

Somehow, I question how much time she is likely to spend riding around the verandah on her children's scooter?

Photography by James Geer. Home featured in real living magazine.

A Nursery Moodboard - Wallpaper Inspiration

Pewter + Sage blog had the fantastic idea of giving people four wallpaper designs and seeing what rooms they could design using one of the patterns as inspiration.


I thought I would join the party by using the Amy Butler design 'Passion Lilly Field'. When I pulled a colour scheme from it I was a little stumped on how best to use the dusty greens and yellows; a colour scheme I don't use often.

The paper itself has a whimsical feel and with the dusty colours I thought it could be the perfect starting point for a classic, nature-inspired nursery.

So, we have a sage green wall colour, pulled straight from the wallpaper, with the wallpaper used as a feature wall. I used classic furniture in neutral colours to make it easy to change later.

I know most of the bloggers involved are American so sources aren't too helpful, but for my Aussie readers out there...

1) Curtains: Generic cream curtains with a feature panel in Amy Butler Full Moon Polka Dot in Lime. Available from Duckcloth.com. I love neutral curtains with an interesting fabric panel or trim added.

2) Armchair: 'Cole Armchair'. Available from Far Pavilions (and only $369!). This is a gorgeous chair upholstered in creamy linen.

3) Cot: Wicker & Loom Napoleon Bassinete from Baby Zone. This isn't the most practical choice as a proper cot but it is gorgeous (and this is an imaginary room, so there's room to be less than practical!).

4) Dresser: Carlyle Dresser from Freedom. Simple, classic dresser which can be used for a change table right through to clothes storage as they get older.

5) Pendant Light: 'Cumulus' pendant from Beacon Lighting. This is a gorgeous cream pendant which uses a similar motif to the flowers in the wallpaper.

6) Carnival print: Lovely photo print from Etsy seller bomobob. I love this seller's carnival prints and this one pulls together the sage green and yellow, with the touch of pink I wanted to incorporate into the room.

7) Mobile: Wooden branch mobile from Etsy seller HaveandHold. This gorgeous mobile ties in beautifully with the feel of the room, and the colour scheme.

8) Cushion: Bird cushion from Etsy seller PerisandCorr. Another touch of pink with chartreuse and the little bird ties in with the woodland theme.

To create your own wallpaper inspired moodboard, or to see the other gorgeous rooms, visit Pewter + Sage.

Retro Styling

Well with all the lovely comments on my retro kitchen I thought I'd do a post on all the amazing retro and mid-century style homes I have been collecting on Pinterest.

Found at The Diversion Project blog.

Photography by Joe Schmelzer. Found at seesaw blog.

Found at automatism blog.

Home of Dutch interior stylist Carline van Oel.
Found at Emmas Designblogg.

Found at Centsational Girl.

Source unknown - anybody know?

Originally from Metropolitan Home. Found at Decorpad.

Designed by David Scott Interiors. Found at La Dolce Vita.

Found at Interiors Digital magazine.

Designed by Kristen Rivoli Interior Design. Found at Houzz.

Although I normally love colour in rooms, there is something about the black, white and tan leather of mid-century style that I really love. It's very honest and organic, yet the pieces are always sculptural. And I will always, always love mid-century lighting!

Looking forward to summer - Coastal Interiors

We had a sudden heat wave this morning in the North, which reminded me suddenly that summer is well and truly on its way. Which made me think of holiday homes and coastal style...

Originally from House Beautiful. Found at Down and Out Chic.

Found at The Lettered Cottage blog.



Originally from The Happy Home Project project. Found at Houzz.



Pinned first by Allison Egan. Found at Modern Design Trends.

Found at The Newlywed Diaries blog.

Designed by ara Design Studio. Found at Desire to Inspire.

Found at A Life's Design blog.



Found at A Life's Design blog.



Originally from Cottage Living. Found here.

Kitchen Progress: Goodbye Mustard Yellow!

Considering you may have remembered me mention my plans for my mustard yellow sofa, it may seem strange I'm removing it from kitchen. However, as much as accent colours can be fun, an entire kitchen was a little too much. And I certainly would never suggest people pursue a colour scheme of lemon yellow, with mustard yellow!

This is looking from the entry through to the kitchen/living.
(Yes, that area on the left is the entire living room space, hence the renovations downstairs!)

Here's the kitchen the day we moved in.

 

In the future this kitchen will be ripped out and replaced with a galley kitchen with an island so rather than spend a lot of money we decided to paint. And we ended up with this!

Because the shelves on the back wall have all our regularly used plates, we removed the mismatched bubbly glass and painted the back of the tongue & groove shelves the same colour as the wall.

The wall colour is Dulux Tranquil Retreat (mixed into a Taubmans semi-gloss paint), and the cupboards are painted in white straight from the can. I undercoated the mixmatched laminate backsplashes and painted them white.

I added moulding to the pantry door and painted it with blackboard paint so we have a place to leave notes.

Of course, there's still so much to do...
- Tear out the tiles around the sink and replace with white subway tiles.
- Make proper cushions for the black chairs.
- Considering adding a roman blind to the window.
- Finish the final coat on the backsplash (it's only had one coat so far).
- Frost the glass cupboards left.
- Add a window sill to the window.
- Give the table a light sand and oil.
- Replace the strip fluoro with a proper light.
- Still need to add some art too!

Despite that, it's still a much, much nicer kitchen to look at than it was and I feel much happier living with this until the kitchen reno can begin! 

Win a $200 Ethos Design Gift Voucher!

I am running a bit of a competition at the moment to win a $200 gift voucher to put toward any of my interior design services.

For those of you who don't know, Ethos Design offers 'Design Kits', an e-decorating service for clients anywhere in Australia. I can shop where you shop, whether that be at gorgeous online boutiques or local chain stores like Target. I offer design services for everything ranging from sprucing up your favourite room to helping you choose the selections for your new home or renovation.

I will work with your design style, whether that be Mid-Century, Eclectic, Contemporary or Country, and the love the challenge of working on a tight budget, or a tricky space.

To enter, all you need to do is like the Ethos Design facebook page (found here) and leave a comment on the note here to enter the draw.

I'm also offering an extra entry to anyone who follows my blog using Google Friend Connect, so make sure you're following and leave a second comment on the note to have a second change at winning!

If you'd like more information about my design services please visit my website www.ethosdesign.biz .

And please all my lovely readers, help me spread the word! I'd really appreciate your support, and make sure you enter yourself if you're Aussie :)


Ok, that's enough blatant self promotion from me today! I generally try and avoid it on my blog because that's not why I write it, so I promise the normal inspirational photos will be back next post.

Feature Home: An Aussie Cottage in NSW

Here's a little house tour for you of a freshly renovated home in Pearl Beach, NSW. This pretty blue cottage has a very relaxed family-friendly feel, perfect for a holiday home.





All photos found here.

I love the high beamed ceilings in the living space with its open, airy feel. And the beachy bathroom with its white washed beams and timber bath and vanity.