Office Dreaming

I am starting a new job on Monday which is why I am thinking of offices. I have been in the building before and therefore know I am not going to get anything remotely looking like these gorgeous spaces but a girl can only dream.

I have got my box of a few goodies to take with me, a nice teapot and cup and saucer of course, some photo frames with pictures of my boys, a little clock, a Lamy pen and a vase so hopefully I can add a little me straight away.
I love this office, the colour gives a wow factor and that rug is beautiful, but I can imagine I would never keep my shoes on in here.
The wall looks great in strips and the little boxes are very cute to store stuff, but not sure if there would be enough room for all my stuff here.
Gorgeous chair!!!! This is Drew Barrymore's office, I love the red armoire with the red and white wallpaper inside.
More girly than I would do myself but still pretty cool. This stunning office I would give anything for but it might take me some time to get work done and not simply sit and stare at the pretty surroundings.
This office is Kelly Rutherford's converted garage. Every time I look at the picture I can't stop myself thinking of Melrose Place but it is beautifully done. But as you know my husband is dreaming of a garage and this will never be done to a garage we own.
Very cute space. Black, white and pink, always a winner in my books. More of a Mid-Century Modern look but I love that desk.

1st and 5th Image from coco+kelley http://cocokelley.blogspot.com/, 2nd Image from Real Living, 3rd Image I am unsure of where this picture is from I have had it for too long perhaps you can enlighten me, 4th, 6th,7th and 8th image from Domino and 9th Image from Real Living.

Fashion Influencing Homewares

It has long been evident that fashion influences our homes. But these shots from http://www.flickr.com/photos/cocokelley/ are fantastic and really show this in action.

I love these chairs, so elegant but with a bit of punch.

One of my favourite colour combinations, black and white with a shot of turquoise.

How great does this gold and purple look, would be beautiful in a shop.

I would love to own that dress.

The turquoise footstools look beautiful and are very easy to do. Also I have been looking for a lamp like this but my hunt continues.

Beautiful pink chair and I always love zebra skin. I was once told by a south african how important it is to cull zebra so I can sleep easy, I guess it is the same as kangaroos but it just wouldn't look the same with a kangaroo skin in this shot.

Great kids room, would take a child from a toddler to teenager effortlessly.

Favourite Things - Teapots

I love vintage teapots, and my collection is growing. Today I picked this one up after putting in an absentee bid.

It is very simple yet elegant and I love the soft pink colour.

Lara Bingle, Overhead lighting

Lights over the mirror in a bathroom are a big no no as they are unflattering and cause shadows unless that is of course you look like Lara Bingle.

Photo from SMH Life and Style

New Books

I have just had a shipment delivered from Amazon of some books that I have been coveting for some time. I can't wait to sit down and have a good read and my husband is going out with some friends tonight so I am looking forward to getting stuck into them. This is what I bought:


I love Amazon so much and I can't believe the price difference between Australia and the US on books. Even with the shipping you can still get bargains. I have trouble buying books in Australia now since living in the US for a while. Good thing Amazon delivers to us here.

All photos from Amazon.com

Dream House

This house was advertised a while ago but still always come to mind when I am looking. I can't get passed it as I think it would be fantastic for a growing family. Sadly we didn't buy it, and it actually didn't sell to my knowledge but was removed from sale.

I love the clever garden path, would be very easy to do and I think the house looks really inviting.
I can just see us hanging out by the pool, boys looking adorable in their boardies and setting up some sun lounges with black and white stripe umbrellas.
Very open plan living, love the kitchen opening up to the deck. Also the ghost chairs in the dining room look great.

Beautiful big oven and I love the breakfast nook at the end of the kitchen.
Very clean lines and a wet room, how delicious.

Favourite Wallpaper Again

I know I have already talked about Osbourne and Little Wallpaper "Asuka" but I have just found this picture and thought it looked great. I also love her bedspread.

Does anyone remember the advertisements for Melbourne that were black and white and a girl wandered around Melbourne and in the end met up with a handsome man in the back of a taxi. Was this the girl? Her name is Clair Forlani.

Caravan

I was looking for a vintage globe on eBay for my son's room and this came up, I believe the brand is globe. While in its current state it is a very sorry sight, it could be so cute. I can just imagine how good this would look all fancied up.

I love this little breakfast nook and I would love to get my decorating fingers on it but as I have no idea about the mechanical side of things and how much it would take to do something like this up I think I should let it go as the auction finishes in an hour, currently it is only $800.

Also while the idea of travelling in this little baby sounds romantic once you add the two kids I think all romance would go out the door and a lot of pushing and shoving would take its place.

Toy Chest

My husband told me on Sunday no more projects for a while, and while I am sure he meant it when he said it he immediately started working out how much paint we would need to finish our outside toilet so I know that I can still continue dreaming up new jobs.

Therefore my latest is a very ugly blanket box that I bought when I was about 19 that is currently in my sons room as extra storage. I have been thinking of covering it in comic strips after I saw the sideboard below.

I am currently deciding between using Huckleberry Finn or Phantom what do you think? Or maybe vintage maps would look good. I am scouring eBay to see what I can find but any thoughts you have would be great.

Above photo from LivingEtc

Dream Garage

I have a very DIY friendly husband, which is just as well because I keep him very busy. After he did a lot of work for me this weekend we were talking that one day we would love to have a garage that he could have set out just for himself.

He used to store his tools and boy paraphernalia in our hallway cupboard but we needed to use it as a linen cupboard now that the kids have taken over our spare rooms. So now he uses an outdoor shed but it is very small and he has to share it with all the kids bikes, trucks etc. although it is all racked up and everything has its place.

On Monday my latest copy of Domino arrived and they have an 'Organise your Garage' section so he went over it with a fine tooth comb just like I do the houses. He is very very very organised so I am hoping that one day he has a space equally as nice as this. He even has the Vespa ready to go.


All photos from Domino

Back to Work

I am going back to work so I am trying to fit as much in before I do start so I went and visited a couple of my favourite stores.

To start off I went to Orson and Blake and while there I fell in love with these replica jnr Pantone chairs, so cute. They retail for $80 at O&B but I must admit I have seen them cheaper elsewhere. I also love those lampshades, a friend has two of the larger ones in her terrace in the two front rooms and they look great.

Next on my list was Chee Soon and Fitzgerald http://www.cheesoonfitzgerald.com/on Crown Street. It is an amazing little shop, they are tiny but stock lots of great fabrics and wallpaper. However the best thing about this store is they give amazing service and are not pushy but super friendly and really knowledgeable.

Next was Macleay on Manning http://www.macleayonmanning.com/home.html in Potts Point. This was my first time to this store and it didn't disappoint. I have a love for Fornasetti http://www.fornasetti.com/ and there was so much here. I haven't seen such a big selection of Fornasetti in Australia in any other store.

Today I am cleaning my chandeliers as they haven't been done for 4 years while we had tenants so finally I am looking at them happy as they have been irritating me ever since we got back. Over the last few days I have organised my bookshelves into colour, cleaned out drawers, organised the kids clothes, and am starting to feel organised and ready to go.

Le Sirenuse, Positano

I have only just been brave enough to tell my friends, OK only a couple of them, that I have started blogging and today I got an email from a dear friend asking why I hadn't blogged since last week. It was very nice to see that someone was actually interested. So this post is dedicated to this friend as she has had the privilege of living and working in Positano, on the Almalfi Coast of Italy, for many summers. Her stories are amazing and maybe one day she will let me blog one of them, or better still she might blog them herself. While there she worked in Le Sirenuse for a while so I was able to take a sneak peek inside without actually staying there. It is so beautiful, the views are spectacular. We watched a man light thousands of candles for the dinner in the dining room and could imagine what it would be like to stay there.

Some of my fondest memories of Positano are eating ice cream while walking on the beach, and an evening sitting on the balcony eating beautiful local produce with a glass of Italian red.

Photos are from 'Hip Hotels Atlas'

Philippe Stark Brilliance

Today I had a small operation on my eye so needed to see beautiful pictures to cheer me up. Who better to do that job but Philippe Stark as I love his work and they are definitely a sight for sore eyes. Very silly I know but it did fit nicely.

Anyway this is the baccarat Headquarters in Paris.

Photos from Paris Architecture and Design