A Dash of Vintage for the Desk

On an exceedingly wet weekend back at the end of June, I was lucky enough to have an impromptu trip to the Terrigal Vintage and Antiques  Fair.  A quick wander around and I spotted a cute little stool with drop down steps that needed a tiny bit of love. From the moment I saw it I knew it was for me! 

 

She has potential!

 

My grandparents have a similar stool and I remember spending my childhood climbing up it to pretend answering the telephone.  Combined with the recent addition of a 1970's black dial phone from the Bargain Hunt Auctions, the stool makes the perfect addition.  There was one exception, the seat was adorned with fuzzy nineties cow hide print.  A little bit of my teenage years that I'm not keen on reliving (Rob didn't see anything wrong with it!).

 

I haven't upholstered before but a flat seat pad seemed to be a good place to start.  Finding the right fabric was tricky though.  Spotlight and Lincraft don't exactly keep up to date upholstery fabrics. So, it was Ikea to the rescue! The Ikea fabric range is gorgeous, I could have easily come home with a few metres of everything.  I chose two fabrics to try and this one was the winner...

 

TRÅDKLÖVER Fabric

The foam and seat timber were in great condition, so it was a matter of simply removing the old fabric and using a staple gun to secure the new fabric in place. The corners were a little tricky but after a bit of research I decided on box corners. The corners took a couple of tries but the result is super cute!

 

She looks at home now, but what should her name be?
 She did resemble a walking frame without the cushion, so Esther perhaps?

 

I used only a small corner of the fabric pattern to avoid replicating the cow pattern

The desk space with a dash of vintage

 

 

Demo Day is on the Horizon

The shack is going to meet it's untimely end. Or perhaps many would consider it timely! 

 We have engaged a demolition company to remove the shack in it's entirety, including all 200 sq metres of asbestos. There will be no working bees to get the job done. Hooray!!

The memories of living in the shack are fading fast. I can't believe that we lived in it for three whole years. Such. A. Long. Time. 

The smell inside the shack is now bordering on unbearable and I hold my breath when I go in to get something. I don't even know what makes that smell. Rats, mustiness, damp, dust, mould? Ancient history?

I revisited my D Day post this week and had a read of how I felt when we first moved in to the new house. It was an incredible reminder of how special it was and how hard earned too. It gave me a big kick to appreciate everything more and slow down a bit to enjoy it. 

I will certainly be enjoying the demolition of the shack and there will be a video to share!

It's been a bloggy long time.....

Almost five months have passed since my last blog!!! It almost feels like I had given it up for good.   I've been struggling for some inspiration, a complete room to photograph, a finished piece of furniture to share or another creative adventure. For the last five months there haven't been any finished pieces of furniture, no decorated rooms and nothing else particularly exciting to share. I have been coasting. A queen of procrastination perhaps? Or, a limited budget? Too much reading of the SMH while it was free every day?  That's it! I can blame the SMH. 

A year has almost past since buba 2 arrived. I have spent the last few months stressing about going back to work and finding a new routine for our household. Alas, my worries were wasted and due to some circumstances beyond my control - my maternity leave has been extended until February.  I am part, yippee! Part, oh holy crap! 

Is this my opportunity to dare to be great? Dare to be creative? Should I just coast through the next eight months until work rolls around again? Will it roll around again? If it doesn't, what other opportunities can I discover? Being an environmental scientist is part of who I am but can I find another part? Is there an easier way to sustain family life outside of the nine to five?

The inspiration is flooding back in and I'm looking forward to sharing it.

Roadside Retro Revamp

The first piece of mid century furniture that I collected was a hall table spotted on the roadside. It had been thrown out by a neighbour and was headed to landfill.  

Mid century furniture can fetch a fair price on eBay and in vintage stores, but many people see it as junk (in particular my mum). Not me though!

The table had good bones masked with 70's style. A black glass top, teak veneer shelves and drawer and atomic wooden legs. The most dated feature would have to be the faux gold handle and feet.  

I have held onto the table for two years waiting for the right time to resurrect it, now the time has finally come!

A good sand back and re-varnishing brought the timber back to life and removed the 70's orange. Strangely the timber smelt musty as I sanded it back. Four decades of dust perhaps?

Three coats of stain and varnish modernised the colour and added a glossy sheen to timber surfaces. The drawer front was a little too damaged so I covered it up with some white aquanamel paint left over from my last project.  The gold feet and drawer handle were updated with some black enamel paint. 

The outcome - the little table headed for landfill is now a funky piece of furniture in our hallway.

Family Bathroom

One of the hardest things to design and implement in the house was the main bathroom.  There were so many things to consider. Appearance, child friendliness and ease of cleaning were at the top of my list.

 

After deciding on a theme of charcoal, timber, white and steel throughout the house, the design was suddenly easy.  The main bathroom is basic, with a matt white tile on the wall and a charcoal tile on the floor.  The walls sometimes don't even look like they've been tiled. While not to everyone's taste, I love the minimalist appearance.  I look forward to adding some more decoration in the future when the kids are a bit older. A book and wine holder for the bath perhaps?

 

The freestanding bath was a big gamble. I expected it to be an absolute pest to clean but it isn't. My floor swiffer does a great job of cleaning around the outside and if we have a problem with mould in the future, I'm sure a good dose of Exit Mould will do the trick.  By not having any edges or shelves around the bath, there is no choice but to store the kids toys in the cupboard. It makes the bathroom easier to clean because I don't have to pack up everything covered in dust and grime first. The bath makes the space look bigger.  I just wish we'd had space to have a bath like this all to ourselves!

 

The search for the right vanity took months. Mostly because I was trying to spend a modest amount of money but have a modern looking vanity.  Two thousand dollars for a vanity just seemed a bit over the top! The length of our search was probably aided by the level of my indecision. Poor Rob, he was tortured with week after week of bathroom shops. I'm sure he would have thought that they all looked the same.

 

One of the nicest touches that really finished the bathroom off is the square set cornice.  The tiles reach right to the ceiling and are met by the gyrock in a crisp clean line. A great job by the tradies involved.

 

There is something special about bathrooms. They are personal spaces where you can't help but feel relaxed. While the bathroom doesn't look like this everyday, I love enjoying it while it does. All in all, a beautiful bathroom that is contemporary and family friendly.

Simple and flexible in style.  At the moment a splash of pink for the girls.

Lots of room to move around the kids at bath time

A little bit of heaven for the adults

Kitchen Heaven

Hello All!! It has been three months since the last post on the blog.  After my failed attempts at 30 days of sunsets, I have finally made it back to the blog for the first real post of how we're going. It turns out that sunset is actually the busiest time in our house!

The house is amazing.  I peer down on the shack from the front deck and think 'oh my...I can't believe that we used to live in that!'.   Whilst we haven't been able to finish everything off inside the house, it is still domestic bliss.  Living in the house before finishing the fittings has meant that we can see how we use the space before we commit to permanent cupboards and blinds.  I quite like the sheets on the windows, they are easy to open in the morning, all I have to do is open the louvre window and they fall down.

However, the kitchen is complete. Fun and funky, easy to clean and child friendly. I am having lots of fun baking all sorts of fabulous treats and starting to explore my collection of cookbooks.  The desk space that I dreamed about has come to fruition and looks great.  All in all a big tick!



Kitchen Heaven



Timber, Grey, White and Steel is the palette throughout the house



Funky barstools are a hit with the kids

 

Just because it's fun to take a picture like this

Mechanics cage lights add an industrial edge



Get springy

 

Cookbook library, you can never have too many.

Desk made from the timber flooring. Great job Rob! Funky decorations from Typo.

 

Make it yourself with some cork board and lettering.