Another task for Hubby

I do like this concept but the reviews on this particuar product from this particular supplier are not good as to the quality of the product, so I think it will be a project for hubby.  I'll make the bags in different colours so that its easy for the kids to help sort lights, darks/reds, and colours.  Then once each bag is full, there is a laundry load.  (the top his hinged too).  

Its raining...

..its pouring, my little man is snoring.

Why is it that I always have a couple of kids songs that get stuck in my head when I do somethings?  One is the one above when it rains and the other is when I am hanging out the washing... "Wet washing hanging on the line, drying very quickly when the weather's fine" - which it isn't right now hence the first song.

Hopefully it will keep the little man snoring.  He is a terrible sleeper.  Probably of my own making as his older brother is a light sleeper so we always ran to him as a bub to keep him from waking his brother.

So what to do today?  Lots of things I could be doing, that I should be doing... but will I? Probably not.  I think I might just make a nice warm cup of tea and sit and catch up on some magazine reading.  I might even look through a fandeck for paint colours.

What are the odds the little man will wake as soon as the kettle boils though?

An idea for next time

Image via Ohdeedoh

I have to bottle feed my bubs due to medication I am on, so when I saw these bottles, I thought I have to file that away for later  (you know, just incase).  My first bub had reflux so I used the older style angled Tommee Tippee bottles and then they released the Closer to Nature breast shaped range which have been a great success with my second bub.  If we were to have a third, we'd be ready for new bottles so these might be the go as they are free from all the nasties and help prefent colic and reflux as bub doesn't have as much chance of swallowing air, the same as the breast.

Paint update

Now I'm doubting myself.  I've just painted the whole chimney breast with the rest of the sample pot and I think it may be too dark once I paint the whole room! Especially since I have black wall decal to go on it.  What do you think?  I might have to have a play around watering it down and go a three quarter or half strength.

Arrgh I wish I wasn't so indecisive! I must work on that.

Doing it right

I am always striving for the perfect thing.  No matter what it is, I must over research it or else I end up finding a better 'whatever' just after I got my ' whatever'.  Then again sometimes I do research to the 'nth degree only to later find other features I hadn't thought of.

Paint is my latest research project.  Our bedrooms are in dire need of a lick of paint and I wanted to do them all the same as I'm not sure we will all stay in the rooms we are currently in.

Chosing colours was the first big task.  I had in mind the colour of a summers evening sky - a mauvey blue - but I also liked the idea of a duckegg blue too.  I alredy have the bedlinens for my boys rooms, Miller by Deborah Hutton when it as on clearance at Kamrt, and plan to accessorise one room in green and the other in reds. Our linens are browns which I accessorise with either blue in summer or red in winter. 

Miller by Deborah Hutton

I thought I had the perfect colour chosen, Haymes Sleepy Eye, but once I painted test patches, I decided it was too cold and not quite the colour I was after.  I have a Solver paint store literally a 3 minute walk away so after borrowing a fan deck, I had it narrowed down to 4 different shades. 4 more test pots later and I could make my choice.

Left to right we have Solver Parisienne, Solver Sloop, a small band down the centre of Haymes Sleepy Eye, Solver Teal Grey and then Solver Zephyr with another block of Sleepy Eye below it. Two of the bedrooms are on the south side of the house under a verandah so they don't get any direct sunlight and the third gets the morning sun, so this has to be taken into consideration.  After placing accessorising colours near them, my hudband and I narrowed it down to either Parisienne or Sloop.  I then decided on parisienne as I know if I did Sloop, I would always with I had the guts to do Parisienne ( I'm usually a very neutral person).  Parisienne goes wonderfully with the other colours I want to use and also has a little warmth to it.  This colour will be painted up to the picture rail with warm white walls above the picture rail and ceiling. Looking back at teh Deborah Hutton picture, its the colour of the wall behind the bed!

Now I can't wait to get started painting but next I need to chose a suitable paint.  One of the reasons I chose to go into Solver ( besides them being a short walk away from our place) is that they have a low VOC paint.  I still have to do some comparison with other brands and their environmental credentials.  Ideally I'd like a satin paint to bounce a little light around and also to make cleaning a bit easier ( also I really don't like the feel of a flat low sheen acrylic - it feels like a chalkboard), but Solver only has a low sheen or ceiling white.  

Painted Earth has a selection of low or free of VOC paints which have a pleasant smell, are non toxic,  a competitive preice and wash up in water. They can be tinted to any colour too.  I think some more research is in order.

Then its back to colours for my hallway and study.

Image via StarryDesigns

I came across these beautiful pendants on my friend Krys' blog Inspired by Children. Aren't they beautiful?  My favourites are the Robins Egg Blue, the Pink and the Pearls.  I tell you what I can imagine though is if I ever have 3 children, to have one made with the birthstone of each child.  At the moment my nest is filled with an Amethyst and a Peridot, I wonder if I will get the third egg?  That is stil up for discussion and not for a little while yet.  2 little boys keep my hands full for now.

Hopeless!

I've seen an image lately of a beautiful birdhouse but do you think I thought to save it? Of course not.  Here are some others though. 

Pagoda

Summer House

Hanging Gazebo

The Buckingham

 These are all from For The Birds

What is next?

I'm finally getting around to reading my subscription of Home Beautiful and I'm wondering what the next motif fashion will be.  We've had cats, dogs, bugs, now there are a lot of birds around.  My money is on, or maybe just what will be my next motif of choice is, the tree.  

I say that as I look at the beautiful peppercorn tree that hangs over our side fence and still extends at least 10 metres into our backyard.  The late afternoon light is just peeking through the boughs, not enough to blind me, but enough to illuminate the small weeping mullberry a little further across the yard.  The leaves are all a golden yellow and its almost glowing in the crisp light. 

The tree is a magnificent creation.  It encompasses strength and fragility, shelter and the bareness of autumn, minuteness of its seed to the enormity of a 100 year old tree.

Image via Flickr

Tick One

After posting about needing a desk for hubby, I went to a second hand shop I've been meaning to visit for a while.  They do a mix of new and second hand with most of the second hand things being commercial office furniture - not exactly what I was looking for.  I mentioned to the assistant when I walked in what I was after - an old style large wooden desk - and he said he didn't think they had anything.  I continued up to the far back corner of the warehouse and squeezed inbetween pieces of furniture with my 2 little ones trailing behind me, to lo and behold...

...there it was!  Exactly what I was looking for and delivered today.  Its huge ( I've added the mug for scale).  40 inches deep and 62 inches wide.  The wood underneath is pine and it has been painted a dark brown.  Its not perfect in condition but it suits the style that we were after perfectly.  We did have something similar up to a year ago with only 2 drawers which had gotten very loose and wonky and the top was a very thin pice of plywood that I had covered in vinyl.  It ended up as firewood before we moved interstate as we really didn't think it would make the trip.  This piece on the other hand is solid.  I dont' think the couriers were too happy when it wouldn't fit through the front door and had to be carried around the back and through the french doors.

And no, its not going to be living in the centre of the room.  I had envisioned it under the window over the heater but I forgot that it had a back 'modesty board' on it.  Oh well thats Hubby's job when he gets home!

Hmmmm

My self imposed mini budget of yesterday may have been blown out of the water already.

Image via Flickr

I've had one person around to give a quote for heating and their suggestion was to do ducted heating which will possibly be about $5k on its own.  I am getting more quotes next week but his argument for ducted was very good.  Used properly, it seems a much cheaper option in terms of running costs than gas space heating.  On thinking about it, a well done ducted system, although costing more, will add more to the value of the house than a simple space heater.  We shall see what next weeks quote suggest.

Little things

I know you are waiting for photo's of our new home.  I haven't got it tidy enough yet to give you large scale pictures but I want to share with you a couple of things I really love.  They are only small details but so beautiful.

Firstly is the leadlighting around our front door.  Its just lovely to look down the hallway, which is relatively dark, and see this beautiful glass work.  We have had a good look at it and think it is all original.  There are only 3 minor cracks in the glass and all the glass matches so we don't believe there has been any replacements. (Pity there is an ugly fuse box there though but at least it is behind the door)

Secondly is when you look closer at the front door.  There is the modern chain and deadbolt but there is also a slide lock.  It is beautifully embellished in a way you don't see functional items treated a lot anymore.

If you look closer, you can see a rub mark near the slide.  There is quite a groove in the wood where the thumb of everyone who has lived here over the past 100 years has rubbed.  To add to the connection with previous occupants, we have received the original title to this property as it has been digitised.  To have this document, on vellum no less, is quite magical.  To see the names and occupations of previous custodians let the mind wander.

I hope this satifies your curiosity for a little while.

Swoon

Image from Hopewood Country House

I've just seen this picture over at Glimpse of Style of the lovely Hopewood Country House.  I can just see this as my extension.  Not sure how it would function in summer ( or winter unless its double glazed) though if it is part of the open plan.  Maybe it could be my own private little studio and workroom though?  Dreams abound.....