Bits 'n Bobs AND a progress report

 School holidays have started here (Whoop! Whoop!) and my gorgeous nieces, aka the Glamourzons, nephew and SIL are visiting. YAY!

We're in a mess house wise, but who cares? ! We're planning on an overseas jaunt to Asia with them next year so we'll be dreaming and scheming....

The house progress is continuing. I'll do a YOTH update soon. At this point there's lots of quote gathering and budget balancing. Boring but practical foundations for getting the house finished! 

The carpet has FINALLY been ordered and although the 6-9 week lead time seems excessive, (slow boat from from New Zealand!) the time frame will probably suit us well.

I chose Cavalier Bremworth Inscape (pictured left) for all the upstairs areas and also for the insert piece in the family room, located on entry level. A less dense, shorter napped version called Verve (above, right) will go in the downstairs bedrooms to help us stay within our newly formed budget. It's the same colour (why they look different in the pics is beyond me) and both are solution dyed nylon for colour fastness and durability.

 The main bedroom robe fit out is complete and I'm slowly 'moving' things into it and unpacking stored clothes (many which no longer fit me...*sob*) 8 bags for Vinnies and counting!

I decided on simple white laminate, without drawers, which was cost effective. I added one drawer only to a 'dressing table' area. (The missing bit on the left in the image above is now fitted!) The drawers in our last home's WIR were used mostly for shoes and since we I have a designated shoe cupboard, I thought the open shelves would suffice. And of course we have bedsides and a beautiful bone-inlay chest in the main bedroom too!

I'm considering fitting the dressing table drawer with jewelery trays for ease of access. The pics on the left below, are from the 'Stackers' range available from Howard's Storage World. My inspiration  image is on the right...

 The range from HSW is limited, but an online search revealed a plethora of configurations available from UK and US stockists via Fishpond.com.au. Has anyone bought via them? Comments?

Some artwork has arrived here too in readiness for the project wrap up....(LMFAO!) 

Frustratingly, I think it's wise to not unwrap the African painting (had been on layby for eons..) nor the recently framed Kara Rosenlund print as they're better protected from the persistent dust as they are. 'Gilbert' has been slotted into a cost-effective  Country Road ready-made frame in preparation for J's bedroom.

Calm Before                                                                                 Muhammad Ali Miami 1961

My recent infatuation with Trevor Mein's photographic artwork and our fiscal predicament led me to purchasing 'Calm Before' on a whim (well, not really... I posted about it HERE) and, oops! 

 It's OK, and will fill a spot, but ultimately, I already know it's no substitute. Which leads me to the Powder room art quandary I posted about recently. 

What do you think of the Muhammad Ali underwater, boxing training artwork??? 

Ticks a few boxes....?

We have found a new tiler (Alleluia!) and I am SO excited about him starting in a few weeks. All further progress seems to hinge on him doing his bit - first! 

Renderers are engaged to start in a week and the scaffolding has been erected in preparation, so we are all systems go with finishing the exterior.

And on a family finale...both our nest leavers are on the move again, so we'll be shuffling and storing lots of additional bits 'n pieces. Gotta laugh....

Never a dull moment!

x KL

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My Saturday...

Top to Bottom, Left to Right:

Unpacked these wee Kidrobot POP Balloon animals that I found on Ebay. They are sooo cute! I bought the cheapest ones as I want to paint them all the one colour. Gold.  Like Holly from Glamourmash did. Love. (PS: Check out Holly's Blog for some awesome glamour inspiration!)

The Middle Child, A, is contemplating leaving the nest!!! *sob*  

Maybe. 

Or going to Europe. Or back to Uni... 

Just-in-case the move wins her internal debate she bought this eight seater dining setting. A $250 bargain. In as-new-condition. She's my girl! LOL! And it is now sitting upstairs in a recently cleared area. I will not repeat David's enthusiastic exclamation at it's arrival. Aunt Mary's fridge and washing machine are to join it next week. Hooray.......N O T!

All those Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma and West Elm pre-opening blogger posts have had me enthralled and glued to my iPad.  

My invite obviously got lost in the mail.

 I'm more an online shopper these days anywho... so thought I'd give them a whirl. Clickety-clack and this PB faux coral whatsie should be knocking on moi's door. Will keep you up to date on the service...

Our main bedroom, walk-in-robe and the shoe cupboard are all ready for fit-out; architraves, skirting and doors. Then we can paint! Yippee!!!! (NO prizes for what David did today!)

My secret (shhhh) Mother's Day pressie from J.Crew arrived yesterday. I first told you more about it HERE. It is absolutely beautiful and antiquey looking but sadly is going to be returned. Maybe it's the old scraggy neck and a gazillion scars but it just doesn't sit right. It's shaped so it sits off the chest in a bulky way....I do not need more bulk! The second pic shows how it's curved. Must ask Ms Moth if hers does that too? 

Had a bit of a fiddle with the niche styling. I think the rear wall needs to be painted?

See the A4 swatch on the lower LHS of the artwork? Dulux Timeless Grey. 

Whatchathunk?

Drafted some landscaping plans....a girl's gotta dream! (And I was procrastinating from cleaning out the bird cage....LOL!)

Speaking of birds....perhaps this guy can replace the necklace for Mother's Day? 

Ooooh, there's a happy thought!

Hope you had a lovely Saturday....what did you get up to?

x KL 

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General Update...

 I'm back at home after two days in Sydney to take my daughter and BF to his final university art function and to then see them off on their Japanese holiday. 

Their flight left at 6:10 am (3:30 am start!) so we stayed in the Mercure Airport Hotel the night before and J and I were back asleep in the hotel by 7:30 am. Gotta love the airport shuttle to take the stress out of driving, half asleep on unfamiliar, busy roads at dawn!

I love hotels and of course took snaps of all the good design bits like bedhead, bar and ensuite!

(as you do!)

I was really impressed with the way they'd mounted the plasma. (See above) Obviously a room re-fit and restricted by what was existing, instead of recessing the TV into the wall (as you would a new home / reno) they made a very swish little box for it to reside in. It included space for remotes, TV guides and hotel paraphernalia too but I thought it was a great retro fit idea for residential homes. What do you think?

 The rain was unfortunately, relentlessly depressing and J was upset by his sister and pseudo 'big brother's' departure, so we skipped our city Christmas shopping plan and headed home.

Mini KL quiches; smoked salmon, sun dried tomato, bacon and mushroom varieties

I've  made 4 dozen mini quiches for J's school staff's Christmas lunch tomorrow after a two hour 'Nanna nap' and at  11:30 pm (our time) I received an email to say my sweet S and BF, M had arrived at their hotel in Osaka. Yay! 

My poor 22 year old baby suffers from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and is ill already... her few alcoholic drinks from M's Design party causing her havoc. (The same exhibition I might add that caused all the travel re-scheduling.... really UTS; get your annual events timetable sorted earlier that a month before!) Grrrr...

 Anyhoo.... also in my busy week...

 I accompanied J and his Year Three class to The Australian Museum Sydney to see the Dinosaur exhibition and then to watch  'Flying Monsters 3D' at IMAX.

We've been to the museum quite recently but to watch the 'first timer's faces' was wonderful! J hadn't been to IMAX before and just LOVED it! Such a great experience!
I got this today too:

Jan Logan's 2012 Collection

The cover features my favourite piece; the  'Honey Quartz Gatsby ring'. (seen above and below)
I might need to adjust my Santa wish-list again....LOL!!!

And yes, that's my heater on in the background... it was packed away but brought out to dry woollies for Japan and we needed its warmth tonight! WT?

Drool!!!!!

We've had a couple of free 'wins' for the house too. A client ordered black marble for his bathrooms from a Sydney discounter only to be delivered tiles that were chipped, glued together or with extreme cracks running through them. When the company got the complaint they credited him immediately and told us to 'bin' the offensive material. (I think they knew it was crap in the first place.) My resourceful hubby salvaged 21 tiles out of the whole lot that if cut carefully and resurfaced will be OK for our upstairs powder room floor.Yay! On another job we scored some excess Oak Uniwood. Not much, but enough for the study floor. The colour is wrong but my hubby assures me he can sand off the finish and stain it black before resealing it again. Woo Hoo!

The price is right for these flooring materials!

That pretty much sums up my week. I haven't had much time to catch up with my favourite blogs but plan to over the weekend! 

x KL

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