I dream of Persia....

Well I don't so much dream of Persia as I dream of a gorgeous huge authentic Persian rug to envelope my whole living area. A blend of wool and silk in soft light goldy, greeny colours, with a " I'm 100 years old and was handmade for a king" type look.

Unless we win lotto I don't think its going to happen. A year or so ago hubby and I stopped into a roadside hall Persian rug sale (oh how the word sale had given me hope). Of course I fell in love with one of the most expensive rugs in the whole place, it was over $16,000 (apparently 50% reduced) and to top that off it was only half the size I actually wanted. Needless to say I sulked out empty handed.

We built our house with one large open space - kitchen - dining - lounge. I had always intended that a supersized lovely rug would give the lounge some definition. I want the rug to practically touch the walls and for all the furniture to sit on it. Well finding this has been much harder than I thought. When I realised I couldn't afford the real thing I switched to fake rugs and even then I've really struggled. The colour schemes on the fake ones I've found are quite vile, either too pastel or too bright, there is no such thing as pale and understated!!!! (arggggggggh once again why cannot we have pottery barn here as I noticed they have a large range of rather pretty fake rugs).

I just think a rug makes a home, and my childhood home was filled with them so I didn't give up.

I found this rug (pictured below) in Bunnings he he he (this is a discount hardware store in NZ). Its pure wool and was only $300 so I thought it could do in the interim. I would never have thought in a million years that I'd pick black but something just called out to me about this one and also it matched the large black flat screen tv. So even though its about a 1/4 the size I want and nothing like my dream rug it will just have to do. At least I don't mind getting baby spew and poo on this one :)

Olivia :)

Hit by the party bug.....

On a 'bug' topic unrelated to the heading of this post my little one took a whole week to recover from that nasty tummy bug so alas blogging was off my list for the last week. Hubby and I have also been sick so its been a bit of a house of misery here. My intended posts on persian rugs and my kitchen shelves will have to wait a few more days!!!

Today I thought I'd do a quick post to share the creative genius that is my sister. She hosted her daughter's (my niece's) 1st birthday on the weekend. Charlotte is 7 weeks younger than Mila so it was only 7 short weeks ago that I was in the thick of this myself. At the time my sister politely told me she thought I was "mad" for going to so much effort and as she put it she would be having "only sausage rolls at Charlottes", to which I just chuckled and said "wait till you get hit by the party bug....it will happen".

I noticed the party bug creeping in a few weeks ago when she mentioned casually that she may have a garden theme given that Charlotte has always been our little ladybird. Well here is her little garden themed party (and yes there were sausage rolls too).....

The kiddie table

The ladybird cake

Garden gnomes

cupcakes

toad thingys (can't remember what they are called)

toffee apples

flower pops

hedgehogs

flower bed cake

lilypad pond


........and this is only some of the kiddie stuff, you should have seen the food for the adults...insanely good. Well done Gabes, love you xoxox

Olivia :)

6th Photo

I've been out of touch with the blogging world over the last few days caring for my poor sick little darling with what seems to be a very nasty tummy bug!! I was delighted to find upon my return that the lovely Kerri from Driftwood Interiors has tagged me in a game where I need to re-post the 6th photo I ever posted and discuss the inspiration (fyi - check out Kerri's gorgeous chair makeover !! love).

Above is the 6th photo (well its actually an image but I thought I should technically count it). Its an invite I made for our Easter lunch. I sourced the image through the wonderful A Room for Everyone. It was a JPG image so I could use my computer photo software to add a text box over top to make the invite. I love the vintage look of it and it fit in with my easter theme.

I just love to create a little personal detail whenever I host a party or get together. I think it makes people feel special and really welcome. I've also taken to making all my own birthday cards and wrapping papers etc. I sooo look forward to Mila getting to the age where she enjoys getting all crafty with me!!

Well it looks like in my absence almost all the blogs I follow have been tagged already for this game! So i'll just tag the lovely Mrs C who is Building the Dream in Ireland, if you read this I'd love to delve back into your blog history if you get the chance :)

Well this week I plan to post on persian rugs and finally my kitchen shelves so see you all soon.

Olivia :)

Icecream makes it all better...

My little miss has come down with a tummy bug and hence I'm a bit late with a blog. Even though I won't actually be feeding her icecream as a remedy I thought just the sight of this gorgeous icecream buffet setup could cheer up any sore tum!

These photos are courtesy of Eat Drink Chic and as I understand it the blogger Amy Moss comes up with ideas like this and does all her own styling just to give us inspiration. What a clever girl......this makes my sundae stand from Mila's party look positively tiny!!

I'll be back on board with a big catch-up post as soon as Mila is on the mend.

Olivia :)

Basil & Mint

Our herb and vege garden - made with old railway sleepers

Just a quick post tonight to share a tip on my favourite herbs at the moment - basil and mint. I had never really thought to combine these two but recently my sister whipped up some homemade burger patties and they were DELICIOUS! her secret was fresh basil and mint. Since then I have been adding this delicious combination to absolutely everything I can including bolognaise sauce, warm potato salads, stirfrys, and pestos. So if you don't already do so, try mixing the two you will love it!

If you don't have a herb garden already and don't have the space for something like ours check out these ideas from pottery barn that I think would be great for housing some favourite fragrant herbs!

Olivia :)

Wallpaper Dilemna Part 2...

Ok so here is our bedroom wall that my dilemna is about. The more I think about it the more convinced I am that these walls need some drama. Thanks so much for all the encouraging comments!! (p.s try to ignore my crumpled duvet cover straight off the line - I've never been one to iron bedding - its all too much for my weak arm muscles!!)

Below is a close up photo of our headboard. Hubby and I made this. I have actually always always wanted a domed headboard ever since the headboard in the spare bedroom that Jack Nicholson slept in in "somethings gotta give" (see photo below - fyi I LOVE that entire house as does it seem everyone). Anyhow we decided we couldn't afford my dream headboard just yet so we decided to make one in the interim. The advice we received from an upholsterer was not to attempt amateur doming, so we just went with this simple headboard. Its a tad hard to see in the photo but its a raw finish upholstery fabric in a linen colour with a bluey silver grain running through it. It was so easy to make - just board, foam, batting, fabric and staples. As you may be able to tell though we never really got around to working out how to staple the corners properly. After much heated discussion over techniques (one wanting to cut fabric, one wanting to not cut fabric) we decided to just staple the silly thing quickly and be done with it ...

Image courtesy of hooked on houses

Opps I have seriously gone off topic!!! See below the chair in my room I am madly in love with. This colour willl be the inspiration behind my eventual wallpaper choice. I sooooo wish I had a pair of these chairs but they stopped making them in this colour (the photo doesn't do justice to the colour it really is quite blue tinged).




Anyway it seems my decision is made and I now need to hunt out the wallpaper!! I also need to decide if the wallpaper plus a photo/art wall above the bed might be too much? Also whether to do just the one wall or the whole room? I don't want to close the space in too much. Hmmm decisions decisions!!!

Ok to finish off this post I wanted to show this photo. How beautiful is this.......

Image courtesy of La Dolce Vita

I wish I had a huge dressing room all to myself to house a little pampering set up like this but we had to stick with a basic his and hers walk in wardrobe (boring!!!!). This means my dresser for makeup and jewellery sits in the main bedroom and it happens to be the dresser I've had since 5 years old (see below).....


I've decided its time to upgrade and I will use this little corner of our room next to our ensuite to recreate the beautiful spot in the photo. Maybe a chair like one of these from La Maison (the same place I got my blue one) will help...

Ok lovelies. Enough from me, time to browse all your gorgeous blogs!!

Olivia :)

Wallpaper Dilemna! Part 1

Image courtesy of La Dolce Vita

How GORGEOUS is this!!!!!!

I love wallpaper but I'm terrified of it. I think my fear comes from the number of times I have assisted in house renovations where I have had to strip layers of hideous wallpaper away. I am scared that I will ruin the lovely paint finish of our brand new walls and that once wallpapered always wallpapered. I know that if done properly the finish of the walls should remain fine but still 'work' would need to go into restoration should my love affair with wallpaper end. So basically I'm being lazy.

The dilemna is raised particularly with regard to our bedroom. The cream walls are just really starting to bore me and I really really really want to liven the space up with at least a feature wall. My colour scheme in there is fairly neutral with silvers and blues thrown in (including a gorgeous silvery blue velvet chair that Mila bought for me for Mother's Day with the help of her Daddy of course) so I'd like the wallpaper to bring out these colours (i'll post some photos of our bedroom & the chair in wallpaper part 2 - I was a tad too busy to take photos today). I want something classic but a touch dramatic like maybe a silver damask or perhaps a bold stripe - check out these examples....

Vision Wallcoverings - Indocine Silver Fox - I have a sample of this but I'm still very unsure.

Nina Campbell - Cremonia, I've seen this in person and its gorgeous the photo doesn't do it justice, hmm but do I want this bold??

Any advice on whether I should take the plunge and go for wallpaper?? I wish someone would invent stick on wallpaper like the art decals that just peel off. That way I wouldn't worry so much about the decision being so permanent. In the meantime while I ponder lets drool over these lovely wallpapered bedrooms.....

Image courtesy of little bits of lovely (along with image below)

Image courtesy of House to home UK

Above 3 images courtesy of a room for everyone

I'll try and post photos of our bedroom tomorrow - along with a bit more bedroom inspiration.

Olivia :)

Lovely Lavender

Well today I had been planning to post about the shelves in my kitchen but alas half way through taking photos my camera putted out of battery (too many photos of Mila and I feeding ducks yesterday!!!). So that will just have to wait I'm sorry!!

Looking for new inspiration I found this photo of our lavender bushes at our home and thought I'd post about my love affair with lavender......

The lavender is still young so should hopefully grow alot lusher

Lavender is so beautiful and fragrant and once you have it in your garden its so easy to pick for a simple vase that will lift any room. Often when building a new home the landscaping can lag behind but luckily for me my mother-in-law is an amazing landscape designer and my husband is a landscape constructor (if that's even a word!!). This meant lots of attention to our landscape and I could just add lavender to my wishlist and I got these lovely bushes adorning a gorgeous path. Check out their website line & design for more photos of my husband's lovely creations.

Lavender is also very sentimental to me as hubby proposed to me at Lavender Hill a gorgeous homestay atop a hill on the magnificent Waiheke Island. Look at this beautiful spot....

I was sure to sneak some lavender into our wedding day. Here it was nestled into our orders of service.

If your gardens are looking for something new give lavender a try it really is lovely!!

See you soon with those kitchen shelves. Oh also before I forget. I recently saw a photo on a blog of this gorgeous huge bathroom mirror that ran almost from ceiling to floor, was framed with an ornate black frame, and was attached flush to the wall. The bathroom vanity was then attached onto the middle of the mirror, so the whole mirror framed the vanilty. It was SUPER gorgeous and something I will definitely be doing if I ever build again. Any chances anyone knows where I saw it I can't seem to remember where it was and I need to pass it onto my Mum?

Olivia:)

Pinboards & Parties

All pinboard images courtesy of Kaboodle.

I love pinboards because I'm a 'displayer'. Some people are hiders and like to put all the necessaries out of sight but I love to display certain things. This means my fridge is constantly covered in magnets holding up photos, invites, cards, wedding thankyous etc even though this does disturb my otherwise carefully decorated kitchen. But I kinda like throwing some 'life' into otherwise pretty spaces. So continuing with this trend I'm currently making some pinboards that will display all manner of odds and ends.

Pinboard number 1 is for Kent's office. I have bought a large pinboard, some gorgeous black, white & cream striped fabric and some ornate 1200mm thick architraving (well this was actually free from our local hardware store as it was leftovers). I plan to paint the architraving white, staple the fabric over the pinboard and then frame it with the architraving. The resulting pinboard will be pretty large so quite a feature in our office. I'll post pics as soon as its complete. Aren't the examples above just gorgeous!!

Pinboard number 2 is for Mila's room. Check out these gorgeous photos I also found at Kaboodle.

The purpose of this pinboard is to be a birthday pinboard. After Mila's 1st birthday party I felt sad putting away all the little decorations and things I had made and poured so much love into. Like a wedding, a special party is over so quickly!!!! That's when I got the idea of making a birthday pinboard for her room that can display some key things from her party each year, and then each year it gets updated after her next party. This way she can reflect over the year on her party and the fun time she had. It won't be very big just a cute little pinboard, maybe I'll try a shape like the cute ones above. While on the topic of Mila's party my friends have urged me to post some photos of it. We had a cupcake and polkadot theme and it was soooooo much fun to plan, bake and make for....

Invite front
Birthday sign I made

the party table with all the goodies I made including a giant cupcake birthday cake

beginning of cake erosion

icecream sundae station

goodie bagslunch for the adults

Take home containers for cake and cupcakes


I look forward to finishing the pinboards and posting photos soon. On another note I ordered the cabinetry for our laundry today (world's smallest laundry that is!!). I'm super excited and will post all about it.

Olivia :)