Just a couple of snippets from our Sydney explorations as tourists in a new city. Woollahra was next on our list…
Vincent looked like a good place to be romanced (*hint*hint*)
You know I am a sucker for good signage
Note the neat pile of newspapers – freshly delivered by the newspaper fairy
I’ve already sized up the curtains
Either here or Vincent, I am not fussy
All images via Wishful Thinking
As much as it pained me to get rid of most of my possessions a few months ago, I knew it was cathartic for me to purge. If we are being honest here, I might as well fess up and admit that I have been shopping up a storm, replacing all (and then some) of the items that I gave away or turfed. I have had far too much fun discovering some fantastic Aussie shops but I really miss my beloved Amazon (which I used every month in the UK). In particular, I miss being able to by a book on a whim and have it be waiting at my front door the next day (although I have recently discovered that I can buy from the US Amazon, I’ll just have to endure the wait). Top of my order list will be The Inspired Home: Nests of Creatives by Kim Ficaro and Todd Nickey. The book details the personal styles of eclectic creatives – apart from being the pure eye-candy you can expect from a beautifully curated interiors book, it completely satisfies my unashamedly nosy nose. Here’s a sneak peek inside:
Source | Remodelista Photography | Ditte Isager
I was a little slack blogging last week as I sloped off early to spend the weekend in Melbourne. One word: EPIC. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have noticed that most of my weekend was spent eating and cruising the alleys (in a completely non-dodgy way of course) admiring the street art and soaking up the very different atmosphere. As much as I enjoyed my weekend, it felt so good to get off the plane and breath the thick, humid Sydney air. My hair, on the other hand, is getting bigger as we speak. I’ve got heaps of photos which I am dying to share but first off, I wanted to share a new discovery with you. I don’t often blog about artists as there are so many other blogs that do them justice but I just had to share Megan Weston’s work right here on mine. Megan, from Barwon Heads in Victoria, uses aerial photography as inspiration for her large and colourful abstract works. As a rule, I tend to shy away from using bright and jarring colours when decorating, this ensures I have a blank canvas which is perfect to display bold and eye-catching artwork and paintings such as Megan’s. Now do yourself a favour and go check out her work. You can thank me later…
Artwork | Megan Weston Photography | Nikole Ramsay Source | The Home Journal
I feel like I have been saying this A LOT lately but thanks all for your words of encouragement. I am sure that once I have finished battling through the inevitable adjustment period, I will stop being such a whiny little bitch (uncouth but true). To help hurry along a zen-like state, I have been massively indulging in all the things that give me the warm and fuzzies. Chocolate, wine, magazines, Real Housewives [of Melbourne] and Pinterest. The first four have just served to expand my waistline and rot my brain but I have long since been peddling Pinterest as educational and motivational. Really, it is. I sometimes delude myself into thinking that I am so good at it, that I could probably do it professionally (incidentally, if there is anyone from Pinterest reading this…call me, let’s talk). But I digress. What was I saying again? Oh yes, Pinterest. I recently stumbled across something called “Orchard Keepers” and you’d have to be dead inside not to want to investigate a name like that. Want to see what I found? Think white painted cladding, bare light fittings, polished concrete kitchen counters, grey linen sofa slip covers and subway tiles. Yep, you heard all that correctly. Now go swoon.
The move is starting to catch up with me and for the past couple of weeks, I have been feeling a series of up and down emotions. One minute I feel settled and grounded, the next minute it’s all unfamiliar and foreign again. I’ve been grumpy, ecstatic and inconsolable all in one day. As I go through the motions and try to find some semblance of normality again, things are still a little erratic around here. On the plus side, living in the new city means my weekends often look a lot like this:
Source: The Fresh Exchange
We didn’t get the best television in South Africa when I was growing up. It was the end of the 80s/early 90s, we lived in a dingy coal mining town on the outskirts of Johannesburg and it was apartheid. We were lucky to get some British comedies every now and then but what all South Africans were predominantly hooked on during that time was soap operas. My poison of choice was the Aussie soaps, Neighbours and Home and Away. So you can imagine my excitement when the first trip we took in Australia was to the very town where Home and Away is filmed – Avalon. I sang the opening song at every opportunity (I was real popular in the car by the end of the weekend). I took so many photos, here is just a taster of them.
All photos by Wishful Thinking
Moving into a new home puts your DIY skills to the test. There is always a little something to hammer, tighten or repaint. Jordan is going to go all diva and bluster at this but we are seriously crap at DIY. Like there should be a law against us owning power tools. My debilitating impatience ensures that I regularly fail at DIY tasks. I never let glue set, I complete projects by skipping steps, I half-arsed read the instructions and can’t possibly wait for paint to dry. Jordan is an overzealous DIYer who would rather make four holes in the wall to hang a picture than one, who once got overenthusiastic with a dollar store hammer and nearly concussed himself when the head flew off and who recently tightened a loose kitchen tap so hard that it popped right off (true stories by the way). Somehow we manage to get by but some days I do wonder if there is some sort of boot camp that could whip us into shape. In the meantime, I am hoping to follow through on my dream of doing a quick upholstery course to keep my waning creative edge (anyone done this Intoo one? If so, please drop me a line). I feel decidedly inspired by this project below (and yes, that is hand block printed linen)!
Before:
After:
During:
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Source: Remodelista | Photographs by Ariele Alasko
