2013 to health and home!

Well this last 12 months have been a whirlwind for me (and for Rob). We bit off more than we could chew with renovating, travelling, role changes at work and study. We survived and got through it all fine. This year we say we are focusing on home and getting healthy. I was to eat my butt off fresh and have vowed not to eat any of the big 4 this year (KFC, red rooster, hj's or maccas). Although I can have mccafe as I enjoy meeting friends there.
As well as physical health I was to focus on healthy mind and so I need to get back into my happy design place and get colourful again. More blogging and crafts and decorating definitely.
We depart our holiday shack in Tasmania tomorrow. Our shack survived the bush fires down here luckily. It's so peaceful here and the view is amazing. Here is a shot of the beach where we viewed the fires from just down the road from our shack. I hope not all was lost by our neighbouring communities and that this area will rebuild. It is a truly special part of Australia.

covering couches

I still have a lovely set of wingbacks to cover one day, so I am always on the look out for bright and happy ways people have covered their haggered couches. I quite liked this job by Molly on a blog I daze through called design sponge.

etsy shirt pins

Rob and I are heading to Cambodia in the very hot of April this year. I have been wondering how I can get away with wearing light summery clothing without looking like a complete backpacker. Some embellishments like some beads or the like are needed I feel.
I don't get to troll through etsy as often as I like. I quite like this shirt pin from here.

cushion curing the cabin fever

Over the xmas break, time was abundant. My guests for the holidays decided not to visit me because they rightly felt that they may be flood bound and not able to leave once they arrived. So I sewed, and sewed. To tie in my purple wall and my new paint drop sheet couch covers I made a few cushion covers.

new chair seats again

Although I only recovered my dining chairs a short time ago, I thought that the black and bronze was a bit too dark and the fabric also didn't weather too well. I thought that I would attempt to bring the colour from my feature wall (purple) into the chairs, give them a brighter colour and bring in some of the oranges that I have about the house.
The white and bright fabric is all well and good, but I thought that seeing that this fabric is soooo pretty, I would try and prolong its life by also covering the fabric in a thin plastic. I am quite happy with the result....

craft time

Well since the end of December I have been slightly home bound due to the flooding devastation in my hometown. My friends cancelled their trips to see me and so I had nothing much else I could do but work on my house furnishings and do some painting in preparation for my move. My two little dogs have made a meal of their pretty little dog beds that I bought for them.... but for some reason they love their european pillows that I gave them in lieu of the beds, and so I thought I would personalize their sleeping quarters. Benson's bed probably needs a better inner, but for some reason he likes it nice and mushy the way it is.

vintage veneer

In my hometown we have a little antique store by the name of Gnomes. Sometimes there is the odd gem in stock. Sometimes the prices are a bargain and well sometimes a little out of my range. We picked up a lovely cocktail cupboard here about a year ago. Veneer... I love it.
He had in stock this set of draws and this lowboy the other day. These were a bit out of my price range, but we thought that the lowboy would make for a wonderful television cabinet (I don't like the tele on display - its just so electronic and masculine).

pretty pillows!!

Am loving the frill on these pillows which I saw here. Wishing I hadn't decided to go with orange trims in my lounge now.

idol!

So exciting! Last time I visited BrisVegas my friend Becky and I went to the shop of one of my favourite blogs to read Black and Spiro!!!

lovin' the wingback

Again more chairs and fabric. I am moving house soon and as soon as I am set up at my new pad I really want to get into my lovely wingbacks. Such lovely chairs!!! so much character! Chair from here

linen

I'm back.

Love this table cloth which I found here

anthropology

I am so glad Anthropology now ships to Australia. The dollar is so good at the moment I wish I had a pile of money to import their beautiful homewares. Looking at the website just makes me smile. I love their range of knobs, brackets and all of their hardware items in general.

karmann progress

I realise that I am being an incredibly boring and slack blogger... but the car... I am focused on my car right now. We have pulled the interior out of the Karmann to get to the floor pans which will be replaced over the coming months (subject to my contact in the USA getting the pans over!). All that brown stuff is contact adhesive which will need to be taken off... ew and boring!

Karmann dreaming

I am sorry for not writing for a while. I have not been doing anything that is very interesting to most. I have been dreaming and researching details for my Karmann. It now seems like Rob and I are going to have a go at taking "Gidget" off the pans ourselves after meeting a fellow VW owner. Apparently it is "easy". If you want to see how easy, check out this interesting blog. P.S. I love Karmanns, but not the colour of this one.... but it is still beautiful.

whites and linen

I was looking on etsy for "local finds" and thought I would try and find some interesting items in Tasmania. I came across an etsy seller who is based in Tasmania who does lovely linen cushions and who also writes a lovely blog marley and lockyer.
This lovely blog has got me wondering whether my whole "cover my couches in wild colours thing" is all wrong...