ON THE MOVE..

Oh dear its been a while... again..

 

But not without good reason, there is lots going on in my little world..

 

We have put our house on the market and all being well very shortly we will be living and working all in the same space... I am a little hesitant to discuss the details of our new home, until the keys are in our hands and our name is on the rather large mortgage papers it won't seem real.. What I can tell you is that it will be a brilliant place for our kids to grow up with so much space to roam ( 16 acres of space) a place for my husband to grow his business and I believe somewhere we may never leave.. exciting times !

 

So we have been busy doing all the boring things you must do to sell your house.. de-clutter, clean shove everything in the garage

 

 

Apart from that I have been doing my usual Friday's at the Vintage Shed picking up a few treasures along the way..

 

   I have wanted a little clutch for a while now and this little vintage one fit the bill perfectly and for $12 it was a steal ..

 

 

The brush above was one of those buys that I couldn't find a reason to buy it but neither could I find one not too so of course I bought it ($6 I think) I got the 'wild one' print from Lulu Lucky who I discovered on instagram you can check out her website here

 

 

Apart from all of the above happenings my 3 beautiful kids have been keeping me busy ..

 

 

Both my boys did a trapeze class, they both made me so proud and I think everybody myself included where astounded at the bravery of  Tadhg who at only 4 dangled happily while I clapped and screamed and even teared up a little ...

 

 

We put on our best green and stepped out in style to celebrate St Patricks day -although Conor kept it real with a good old Aussie meat pie..

 

Our Little Lulu's cuteness knows no boundaries - she just keeps on getting bigger and cuter by the day and we couldn't love her anymore if we tried.. Just last night she sat on my lap and giggled for the first time at my silliness .. And today as much as I tried to replicate that silliness for some more giggles a very large grin was all I got..

 

 

So that's it really, its the eve of good Friday- we are hoping the bunny will come on Sunday and  no doubt way too much chocolate will consumed by all of us as per usual..

 

Hopefully I will back very soon with some more details of our new home..

 

Happy Easter

 

Simone x

 



Interior Inspiration..

I came across the images of this home a long while ago and filed them away for future inspiration.. They are from the home of Estee Stanley who upon further nosing around on the web it seems is a fabulous interior designer to the stars and co collaborator with Justin Timberlake..

 

 And no not on one of his latest tunes - apparently when JT is not making beautiful music he likes to dabble in a little bit of interior design and co designed a range of home wares with Estee for an American website called Home Mint ( one of those members only kind of ones)

 

Anyway back to this beautiful home I think it is right in so many ways- beautiful but not too polished or perfect; well lived in with layers of muted colours in the cushions, rugs, curtains.. the Gilt mirror over the fireplace I am in love with.. Gilt especially in frames and mirrors is my new obsession..

 

 

And this little nook below- perfect.. I am desperate to one day have a little nook in my home

 

 

 

 

Images from here & here

For more images and a bit more about Estee Stanley you can go over here to the Remodelista Blog..

Simone xx

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

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IMPULSE SHOPPING...

Do you impulse shop ? Those who know me well can vouch for the fact that I buy now and think about it later.. That is how this little chippy mini glasshouse came to be residing here in our house..

 

 

 

Its not that I dont like it- just that in hindsight it is a little bit on the shabby chic side of things for me...For now its a keeper, it may very well fit into our possible new home which is on the shabby end of the scale but not so chic (yet.)

 

We have  had a busy 10 days with  my brother in-law from visiting from Ireland.. the highlights have been-

 

 A local music festival that we took all the troops along too (its probably more of a concert but 'festival sounds like we are wayyyy cooler than we really are)

 

Picnics in the park with cricket, boche and beer...

 

A trip to the city which involved the aquarium, games arcade, bowling and fast food

 

A very proud day for Robbie training a winner with his brother there to witness it..

 

 

 

 

 

We are going to miss having Uncle Pete here who is flying home as I type..

 

This week will be busy with the not so fun but neccessary things that need to get done like cooking, cleaning and a little de-clutter perhaps- not sure yet if the impulse glass house will make the cut..

 

Simone xx



FORWARD PLANNING

 It seems a house move may be on the cards in the not too distant future for my family and i  so of course instead if thinking about the practicalities I thought about Decorating... So I headed over to polyvore and had some fun with a room set for Conor..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I fell in love with the Whales poster from Arminho on etsy a while back and had it stashed away on one of my 'pin' boards - I may soon have have a good enough excuse to purchase it..

 

I love the wooden arrows and flag from a favourite shop that I have never actually visited  Three potato four ( great name for a shop don't you think? )The other bits and pieces and are images from around the web 

 

I have named the set over on polyvore a 'future room for Conor' and think it is the perfect mix of boyishness and a little bit more grown up for our 7 year old who is quickly outgrowing his Babar poster and little boy things in his current shared room..

 

Speaking of Conor his week and ours got off to a bad start with a vomiting bug, my fingers are crossed that I chased everybody else around with enough dettol hand wash to deter it from spreading around the house..

 

Simone x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So my little blogging roll turned into more of a short burst.. I have so many things I would like to do and share on this blog, but to be honest most days it feels like I am just keeping my head above water here ..2013 is the year of the drop off/pick up

                                  8.30am Kinder drop off,

                                                           9.00am School drop off  

                                                           2.00pm Kinder pick up

                                                           3.30pm School pick up

 

 Basket ball training,playdates etc etc blah blah blah- you get the picture I am busy with three kids and sometimes at the end of the day I just need to sit quietly in front of quality T.V such as The real housewives of Beverly Hills/New Jersey/ Miami/ Orange County (they really are quality shows o.k )and psyche myself up to do it all again tomorrow..

 

Anyway I am here now and in January I took a little road trip to the Fryers town Antiques fair with my old Vintage Girl friend Bec that I have been wanting to share ever since.So here we go better late than never ..

 

We met up early and headed for Fryerstown but before we hit up the fair we called into Vintage Etc in Castlemaine a beautifully curated and styled Vintage Haven owned by Bec's friends Kaz and Jane who have scoured the country and indeed the world ( they headed state side like myself and Bec)in search of beautiful timeworn pieces

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little gym basket managed to leave the shop with me, I was off to a flyer before we even got the fair ..

 

If you find yourself in the castlmaine it is so worth a visit- the girls have the most amazing eye for beautful things , you will even find fabulous furniture that Kaz re works and re-finishes from Vintage fittings etc .. They also had a stall at the fair , we took a little pit stop there and Kaz gave me an impromptu furniture staining lesson.. I took notes she is a bit of a guru in my eyes !

 

Then onto Fryerstown where I picked up some lovely bits and pieces for home- after spending a few years scouring sometimes frantically for items to sell for Vintage Girl it was nice to have a leasurely stroll and rummage around...

 

 

 

 

The Vintage book print will be fab framed in my boys room

My husband wasn't overly keen on the tortoiseshell but I love it- a keeper for sure

 

Not really antique - rather winged its way over from Bali with another couple of hundred the same, however I cannot resist a rustic bowl and love it anyway..

 

I have serious hankering for a huge Willow Platter and regret not getting one of these- I have a vision of Sunday roast with all the trimmings on one of these big platters....laid out on a crisp white tablecloth , surrounded by my impeccably behaved children eating their brussel sprouts, husband toasting my fabulous cooking................... Hmmm probably best I didn't get one the reality would be hugely different ( crazy kids, burnt food etc !)

 

All in all I had a really lovely day, Bec and I caught up on some much needed gossip & scandal girl talk and I came home tired , happy and rather chuffed with all my purchases..

 

So here we are back to Thursday again- tomorrow I head off the the Vintage Shed for work and a busy weekend ahead as my brother in law has arrived from Ireland this evening for a spur of the moment 10 day holiday with us..

 

Simone x

 

 

Lulus rooms - the details..

 

 

Nomuu prints

 

 

I didn't really have a theme in mind when I started decorating Luella's room just that I want it to be pretty and girly without being to babyish and absolutely no Winnie the pooh, dora etc motifs would enter the room.. I looked around the Internet at lots of art prints but nothing really grabbed me until I came across them Nomuu and I knew straight away I had found what I was looking for- they such beautiful illustrations , will grow with Luella and are really reasonably priced.. and the lady behind Nomuu happens to also be Simone - meant to be surely..  I have just noticed some abstract art on the Nomuu website that I may just have to break my shopping ban for ..

 

 

 

I blogged about the animal print shop here  and I decided that  I would have it framed professionally-, and the very lovely man who did this announced proudly to me when I arrived to pick it up that he had used the black border on the inside of the Matte to make the zebra 'pop' more..favour hmm I am not so sure.. I really would have preferred it without but I just couldn't ask to have it re-done especially after he told me ' it cost twice the price but I knew I had to do it love' It hangs above the change table for now.

 

 The little cushion I made late one night during a bout of pregnancy insomnia from a piece of linen and some scrap fabric..

 

 

 I always wanted a chair for feeding and somewhere to spend some quiet time, looking around the shops it is really not possible to find a nice armchair for under $1000 , so I was rather pleased to pick this one up from my local op-shop and one the Vintage Shed stallholders who happens to be an upholsterer did a beautiful job re-covering it.The fabric I found at wholesale warehouse for $10 a metre..if anybody would like either Dave's number or the warehouse address you can email me and I can pass on the details..

 

 Also above the Ginger Jar lamp  is a $4 op shop find

Little teddy- $2 op shop find that I just couldn't leave behind

The cushion is one of a pair I have had for many years

The chevron blanket was a beautiful gift from my old Vintage Girl friend Bec at Little Flea ..

 

The blanket box I picked up for $55 at the Vintage Shed it was originally brown and I painted grey which turned out to be a little bit blue.

 

The white shelf is from Heaney and Hall.

 

The little chalkboard I painted from an old clipboard and took the little quote of the Internet and transferred onto using this technique here..

 

The cute framed clouds print is fromMiddle of Nowhere art , purchased at Robert Gordon.

 

The little wooden house is a couple of wood offcuts I was given painted very hastily made to look like a house..

 

 

I knew I wanted to hang a mirror above the chest of drawers ( we already had the drawers) but couldn't find the size and style that i wanted so I went to a framers chose the style that I wanted and they made it to my specifications..

 

The bunting is paper- sewn by me..

The Bunny is a gift from my Mum

Paper flower made from Vintage sewing pattern paper from Conor's school fete..

 

 

Apart from the above the cot was from Toys R Us and a friends husband sprayed it white for me- it reminded me of this designer version but for about 1/4 of the price.

 

Bedding is Dwell studio from the baby closet

 

The rug is from Target

 

The blind was a standard Roman blind which I added a pompom trim to from spotlight..

 

The knitted pouffe was a bargain for $40 on sale at Spotlight

 

Lastly we received so many beautiful gifts and this cushion from Meg at the Vintage Shed all the way from Bali is rather special..

 

 

Phew and that's it ....... If there is anything I have left out and you would like to know more I am than happy to fill you in via email or the comments below..

 

Off to the Vintage Shed tomorrow for me- who knows what treasures await me !

 

Simone xx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

New Blog Love..

 

 I made two new Blog discoveries this week ( they just happen to be sister) one of which I have taken some lifestyle tips from - more about that later..

 

The first is called Sunny and Scout written by a Mother of two Lou( soon to be 3) who actually lives not far from where I do.. I Love all the images on her blog- no surprises that she take photos for a living..I highly recommend it and have added it to my favourites ..

click here to check it out...

 

 

I think great blogs are like good books- hard to put down.. so as I was reading through Sunny and Scout  I clicked away at another blog that just happens to be written by Lous sister..

 You can click here to check out .. This blog discovery couldn't have come at a better time for me- I am trying really hard to make some positive changes health wise for my family and I and there are some great tips for healthy / clean living...I am even considering giving up shampoo and conditioner for Bi-carb and Apple Cider ! I have already embraced Coconut oil as a moisturiser which so far has been amazing - considering I have always and still am plagued by rather pimply prone skin, therefore shied away from oily products..

 

 

Not only am I trying to make some better choices in terms of diet- wait for it -I have embraced fitness and have started the ball rolling on something I am really hoping I can follow through with- A mini marathon , EEKK yes that's right 8 km of jogging .. I have started training already and so far I have no idea how the hell I am going to do it and what the hell i was thinking   feel absoloutley I can do it and the shiny new runners I bought today will surely help !

 

If any of you would like to join in - The Vintage Shed are putting are putting a team together and hopefully we can raise some money for Breast Cancer Research along the way..

 

Must go- training to do !

 

Simone xx