Post 99...one year today

It is exactly a year since we moved in. I am feeling rather sentimental about reaching this milestone as the house took over my life for at least the last 3 years. I still feel very proud of what we did and the hours and hours of endless research and planning that went into designing and building the house has definitely been worth it. There would be nothing more depressing if we built and wanted to move a year later. This seems to happen all the time and we have watched so many beautiful homes in the estate with a for sale sign within months of the new owners moving in. Why do people go through all the pain of building just to sell it? Money/profit or is it something else? Anyhoo...thought I would shoe a few exterior shots today as this is our house first birthday.

backyard view

front of house

back view



View from our balcony

Next post will be my 100th post for my blog. Another huge milestone! I will be writing about what I have learnt about blogging...I know this topic has been done so many times but I haven't done a post on it. Hope you come back to share with me my 100th post.

ps...You may have noticed I have been experimenting with different 'subtle' looks for my blog. Still working out what suits my personality the most.

Happy Easter to everybody!

Mrs B

So who wants to rent a beach house....

A beach view from our front window

Life changes.

After many sleepless nights, it has come time to acknowledge that we have to do something about my parent's beloved beachfront 'shack' (shack sounds soooooo much more romantic than house) so we have decided to rent it out for the first time ever. As you will see from just a few photos I dared to put on my blog for now that nothing has changed since it was built in the 60's. It will not be a holiday rental but a permanent rental for somebody who wants to live on the beachfront...no roads, just walk to the beach outside the front door.

What would I love to do....

via...house of turquoise

This is what I would love to do haha! Just imagine sitting in this room, surrounded by all these beautiful colours right on the beach front. Sadly, not for this little house as it is purely a rental property that needs to bring in income and be rented asap. We met with the agents a few days ago and they told us what needed to be done on the inside and out. Their advise was not to do any thing that wasn't urgent as it will not bring us any more rent. I find this concept really difficult as I want to 'pretty the interior' and put in new things that will make the renters happy. This is not how to approach a rental property apparently. Oh well....at least I am allowed to paint it in a colour I like.

Our little beach shack

Open living...most houses along the beach don't have front fences. The original concept was for all the kids to play together. We do however need to put up a side fence just to have some privacy from the neighbour. I wonder how they are going to react when they get the fencing notice as the do love to 'spread out' when they come up.

Oh! see those 2 trees in the background...they are in our property and have to come down. The root systems have not only got into the sewage but has made our driveway almost impossible to drive on. Problems, problems, problems. Thank goodness Mr B has taken over as property supervisor and meeting with all the tree cutters, plumbers, painters etc etc All too much for me and to think I watch all the reno shows. I will stay home and watch the kids I think. My idea of renovating is picking pretty colours and going on shopping expeditions LOL

One scary picture coming up.......

The 1964 interior!

This is a before shot....of course you knew that. the agents said not to change a thing, just a good scrub and to change the stove to a new one. A bit of paint, new appliance , nice roman blind and a floating shelf on the left hand wall (we already have one...bonus!) and hopefully this kitchen will look sweet for a beach shack. By the way...have a look at what Michelle has done with her kitchen on a shoestring budget.

Before Shot...image via De Novo Concepts

After Shot...via De Novo Concepts

This is what I am going to do!....A bit of paint can transform a Kitchen immediately.

Hope you enjoyed my rambling beach shack post...updates in the next few weeks as this project needs to be completed immediately.

Mrs B

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

Blog award

Strangely enough I feel like my son in the picture! I have just been given two blog awards by Walls That Talk and I must admit feel very honoured that somebody in blog land thought that my little blog was worthy of a mention! The rules are I am to find 15 other blogs I have just discovered and another 15 blogs who I think are great. Also, to write 6 things about me.

Well, I might just tweak the rules a bit as I would rather just keep it to a few blogs for my awards...so here we go! The first award go to blogs that I have just discovered and think they are just fantastic! Katrina, Lisa and Michelle are all very unique individuals and a story behind each amazing lady. Please take the time to visit and say hi.

Katrina Chambers

Lisa leonard online

De Novo Concepts

My next award is for just a few blogs that are very special to me. These owners also visit my blog and make those all together much loved comments after my posts. A-M and kelly & Victoria from Design Ties are the first two blogs I came across when I first started blogging and even though both are very popular blogs, the girls still come over here to comment on just about every post. I also award two fellow building blogs to Annie and Kek who also come over and leave comments all the time. Annie has done some amazing decorating in her home and kek...well if ever I had a twin sister it would be kek! She is on my decorating forum and almost every post she writes its exactly what I would say! My last award goes to Maria who truly is such a wonderful and extremely generous blogger. Her articles on colour are truly amazing and I am really grateful that people like her give up her time to research and write what most of us need to know about colour.

Design Ties

The House That A-M Built

Moving On Up

get-me-outa-here

Colour Me Happy

Now 6 things about me

1. I am a people pleaser...I don't like to think I upset anyone.

2. I would love to be an interior designer

3. I would like my house in Home Beautiful

4. I am the secretary of the local men's cricket club!...and yes my friends think I need some psychiatric help!!! LOL

5. I wish for all my sons to become professional cricket players

6. I hardly own or even wear makeup...much to my best friends horror!

So there you go! i will let all of you know that you have won the awards. If you feel like it, you may do the same but you don't have to. Sometimes its just nice knowing someone has thought of you!

Mrs B

Little things that make me happy in my home.

I have not blogged for ages! All my good intentions have gone down the drain but still I am here, reading all my favourite blogs and adding several more to my list. One of my dreams, as stated already on my blog is to get my home in a Home magazine. How funny that people dream of winning the lottery, getting a movie role, becoming a famous sports star but my dream as silly as it may be, is to have my house in a magazine.
There is nothing more I love than reading when a fellow blogger actually achieves this dream. I feel so excited for them and just want to know everything. I know A-M had a photo shoot recently and she compared it to like getting married again....I feel exactly the same way LOL
However, I have such a long way to go as the house is fairly empty so not much to take pics of except for white walls and a nice kitchen. Still, this is my dream and slowly I am adding small bits to the house that really just make me smile and happy...after all, that is what its really about!
Anyhoo....so what do I love at the moment...my darling little boys room of course! I added a really nice wall decal to my son's room and with minimal $$'s it really makes his entrance so cute.

Wall decal for my son's room.

So what else makes me happy when I walk into a room....my ensuite! I have set up all my beautiful soaps from MOR and the smell just is gorgeous. I love looking at this small space in my home and yes, it is always kept this neat and clean. Its like a retreat for me, somewhere I can escape and take a breather for a minute. With 3 boys, a girl needs somewhere to hide and be girly!

Last of all, my bedroom. Just a simple crisp white cover and the doors open to allow the breeze in. It is also a lovely retreat. This bedroom will also be the first room to be transformed as on Wednesday I am selecting the wallpaper for the back wall. Everything takes time and I am not rushing out to buy any furniture until I see something that I love.

So nothing has changed much, just waiting for the rooms to be transformed into how I had always imagined them to be. At least I am having fun just dreaming.....

Mrs B