Wallpaper and Drapes

Colour examples for Theatre, Bedroom and Study

Finally my wallpaper and drapes are almost done! What an exhausting process it has been for the last 2 years. I wont go into details about my search for wallpaper but finally I have settled on 3 designs I love. Also, The drape fabric that Vanessa, the Laura Ashley consultant suggested is more perfect than what I could imagine. So, here are the pics and a big thank you to Vanessa who took the time to help me decide and cut out samples for me so I could see how they looked in my own home.

My bedroom

My bedroom at the moment is a blank canvas. I also wanted a 'blue' theme just like I see in many awe inspiring blogs but it has taken me a while to realise that blue does not really work with colours I already have. So 'blue' may have to be in accent colours...will have to work it out. The wallpaper I have selected is Isodore bronze/silver. When we held up a large sample in my room, it was one of those light bulbs moments....perfect! Compliments everything when standing back in the lounge with my green couch as the two rooms join each other. Pattern is quite large and the background is almost the same colours as my walls.

Isodore in silver/bronze

The next task was to find a fabric that didn't compete again the pattern in the wallpaper. I hate matchy, matchy stuff and really wanted a beautiful 'silk like' drape for the room that goes from the ceiling to the floor, wall to wall. Now this is going to be very expensive so whatever I was going to pick, I had to LOVE not just think it matches!!!!

This is what Vanessa found back in the cutting room....

Curtain Fabric selected for the bedroom

Pictures do not do this fabric justice at all. It has the appearance of silk but much more studier and if I can say absolutely beautiful to feel and hold. If I am paying a fortune for curtains in my bedroom then it has to be something very special. This is it! Together with the wallpaper is looks perfect, different patterns but one doesn't overwhelm the other. If you are reading this and thinking OMG what is Mrs B doing LOL...what I am doing is adding my personality into a modern home...if there is one room in the house I want to be luxurious and romantic, it is my bedroom. Just wait till you see all the room come together.

Theatre Room

Now onto the theatre room. This room I had always imagined blue/teal/turquoise but the wallpaper I picked had to be a darker tone as we have a projector in the room so therefore darker colours are more appropriate. The wallpaper is charcoal based colour that 'should not' fight against the brown in the couches. It has a touch of gold and silver to the pattern as well.

Wallpaper 'Erin' in charcoal for the study

This will go against the wall where the pictures are. I just hope the pattern is not too busy. The pictures are going back up but if they don't look right with the wallpaper, they will go else where.

Now, the drape fabric was the hardest selection to pick as it has to be fairly heavy to block out all light as well as not fight against the wallpaper pattern like the room upstairs.

Theatre wallpaper with sample of curtain fabric

I picked a neutral fabric as you can see in the picture above. Oh hum I say. OK, it fits and the fabric is lovely to feel but if I am spending a big $$$$'s on just one window then I think I should once again LOVE the fabric that I have picked. This one just looks safe and matches. So, I am ringing Vanessa up to pick my a fabric like the one she did for my bedroom.

If anybody has a comment about this, I am happy to listen...as always!

Theatre wallpaper with bedroom fabric

This is better but I don't want to use the same fabric (secretly I wish a blue colour fabric would work in this colour scheme)

Study and wall leading upstairs

Finally, the easiest room to select for but the most difficult to wallpaper. We are having a striped wallpaper hung horizontal not vertical. It was suggested to wrap it right around the wall and up the stairs as well. I think this will be a WOW effect but I don't know how the wallpaper guy is going to do this. Great idea though...so watch this space for what we do!

Wallpaper for study wall and staircase

So, long post today but I wanted to show you the direction I was heading. have a great weekend!

Mrs B

Happy New Year...So What Have I Done?

Happy New Year to everybody! Like many other people in blogland, I also cannot make new year resolutions as I never stick to them. I would like to think one of my ' must do's' this year is to blog more often and comment and other people's blogs but somehow I just feel dried up with ideas at the moment. There are so many brilliant blogs out there with the most inspirational pictures so this keeps me going and inspired.
So what have I done to my house....not much haha!!!!!! It sounds very cliche but it really does takes time and patience when it comes to making a house a home. My news however, is I have found the wallpaper I love (particularly the price) from Laura Ashley. Strange I have gone for a more traditional look in a very contemporary home, but some of their wallpapers are just so beautiful...perfect for the areas I need them for. A consultant is suppose to come to my house in the next week (for $50) and help me with co-ordinating a few things like the curtains and wallpaper. What I like about this is the fact I can just takes my time in ordering the products. I will let you know what I have selected.
What has been done in the last month is really just some final touches of must haves before the real decorating begins...Last area of landscaping, blinds for upstairs and a few floating shelves for my son's room. The boys rooms are starting to take shape as they live in them and I can work out what they like and really don't like. They both have very strong primary colours...green and red and my little boy, more softer colours like pale blue. The pictures below will give you an idea of what direction I am heading but much more to add, it just takes time to evolve.

So, onto the pictures....

Roman Blinds for the stairwell.

You may remember I had these ideas to have a vibrant print for the blind at the top of the stairs...this is it without the lovely print I wanted. Still looks really nice but to have it in the fabric I had my heart set on was going to be a very costly and time consuming exercise and I had to get something asap as this is where the summer sun rises every morning and the heat was becoming unbearable. Still, it is very beautiful and have had lots of nice comments about the fabric and colour.

New blinds for the upstairs lounge room

At last, our new blinds for the upstairs area. The colour is just so lovely and really compliments the lounge. Also, I learnt my lesson from the downstairs blinds and made sure that the 3 blinds all pull up together at the same time....so they always look even.

TThis picture is with the blinds closed. Oh, yes, the cushion is off center but I couldn't be bothered to take another pic with it straightened!

Son's bedroom

The colours I have selected all work really well together ...I really like the reds and greens and really gives the kids room a contemporary feel without making the bedrooms feel 'babyish' As of yet, they haven't asked for black yet or to stick 'death eater' posters every where (I shiver with horror at the thought!) I must admit, I feel very lucky that I am allowed to decorate my kids rooms without any input from them...such bliss to have it all my way. Will it always be like this?

Red floating shelves from IKEA

Yes another dreaded trip to the 'Carpark from Hell' at IKEA. Melbourne people will know exactly what I mean by this! They have the audacity to charge you parking at IKEA but only have one boom gate to get in and one to get out off. Needless to say the traffic congestion it causes has to be seen. Who ever designed this madness should seriously look at another job. Anyway beside all that, we bought the floating shelves and they look great in our son's room. Still a little way to go before the room is complete, some more red storage furniture, colourful mats and maybe a wall decal. I also want to get some pictures of New York enlarged for our son's room...this will just complete the whole look.

Before Shot...Front garden just planted back in April

After Shot...Garden in December

Just a few landscaping pics, the garden is slowly coming along. Some days I don't think anything has grown at all until I look at the before and after shots. The front garden is developing but still struggling to find a tree specimen tree that can take the winds and extreme temperatures that we have. At the moment we have 3 silver birches and are struggling but still alive. Our beautiful silver princess did not survive even though it was an Australian Native.

Front Garden

Fake Grass

The last area of our landscaping now completed. This was a very difficult area to decide what to do with but with much deliberation and research, top quality fake grass was the way to go. It sounds crazy that in a beautiful country like Australia that many people are putting down fake grass but we have a water crises and cannot water lawns at all...indefinitely

Anyway, either hate it or love it, here it is a suits this area for what we need it for.

Along the fence line we are planting small trees...not sure just yet but a variety to grows up and not out.

A view from the porch area.

Mrs B

Window furnishings

Blinds....I met with the Luxaflex lady today and made my final selections for my window furnishings. Can I just say how happy I am! As you can see from the pictures, they are all the translucent materials, meaning you cannot see in but light still comes in (exactly what I wanted) For the main windows throughout the house I selected a really nice textured material from the 'Bamboo' range. Very natural, not plain and adds some interest to the windows. The only problem I had was how the curtain should roll up top. As some of my windows have winders, I may have to do the reverse roll. This may be the best option. I am having a stainless steel rod at the bottom of the binds which you can see in the picture above. I just hope they look nice when installed.

The pretty fabrics above are from the 'silk' range. For my powder room and changing room I am having romans in this fabric. I selected the first fabric but still really liked the one in the third picture. Opinions most welcomed as it hasn't been ordered yet. Both go with my tiles shown above.

So there you go. A very productive day...painting and blinds both sorted out. I often wonder if anybody is reading my blog but it doesn't really matter hehe You will notice that I have added two very well known blogs to my list. Very inspirational, filled with the prettiest pictures you could see.

Mrs B