Ciao for now!

Hello friends! Because of the short week this week this will be my last post for a little while. We are heading off to Melbourne tomorrow morning and will be back mid-next week; I'm super excited for our mini getaway. 

By a brilliant coincidence the latest Adore Magazine has a whole article dedicated to what to do and see down in Melbourne; a few things on my list are:

- Visting Fenton & Fenton
- Taking a peek inside the treasure trove Chapel Street Bazaar

- Going to the Prahan markets

- Hitting Degreaves Street for some seriously good coffee

We are staying at The Cullen Hotel in Prahan, part of the Art Series of hotels, where each location is named after a famous artist with their works displayed around the hotel. I will be packing my camera to share some pics with you as they apparently are quite spectacular!

I wish you and your families a wonderful Easter and a relaxing break. I will see you back here in a week and a bit!

Clockwise from the left: Patterson Maker | Just be Splendid | Musings in Femininity | Patterson Maker | Going to Make it Mine | Inside the Loop

Lovely shades of {grey}

Lately I've been drawn to all things grey; it is getting rather cool in Sydney and taking a jacket out is now essential. I do love the cooler months so a touch of grey doesn't bother me in the slightest...

Hope you're having a fabulous Wednesday my dears!











Image credits: Coco's Tea Party | Vogue & Coffee | Lonny | Greige | The Simply Luxurious Life | Simply Grove 

5 lovely things I can't live without {Lavender & Lilies}

Hello lovelies, happy Monday. Thank goodness this is a short week,  I'm really looking forward to a break. The weekends seem to fly by these days and before I know it, its back to work again!

Today I'm thrilled to introduce you to Jessica from Lavender and Lilies sharing her 5 lovely things. Jessica's blog was one of my very first blogging discoveries so I am honoured to have her guest posting today. Whether its decor, stationery or pretty things I never fail to be inspired when I visit Jessica's blog!

***

{one} My husband the the people I love - Whether it's the love of my life or the little one on the way, I couldn't make it without the people I love most. 

{two} Ballet Flats - The single best invention for women.  I live in flats. 

{three} Lists - I love lists.  I make lists for everything.  Packing lists, to do lists, grocery lists, bucket lists...

{four} A Creative Outlet - My blog is a huge creative outlet for me and let's me focus on all things pretty and inspiring.  I also love to bake and cook. 

{five} Sushi - It's my favorite food by far!

***

Thank you Jessica!

Happy Weekend & Lovely Links

Happy weekend friends! I have a busy weekend ahead dashing to pick up our dining room chairs we had on order, then we have friends coming over for dinner tonight so I will be cooking up a storm n the kitchen this afternoon.


I thought I'd share a few favourites from the new online magazine TradHome, an exciting collaboration with the Lonny and Traditional Home editors. The results are pretty incredible and I really felt that the two personalities of each of the magazine titles was well explored - did you sense that too?

If you haven't already taken a peek, head on over there now and let me know what you think.


Here are some other fun lovely links to start your weekend:


* Loved this tribute to Grace Coddington to celebrate her 70th birthday


* An incredible New York apartment owned by Lauren & Diego Garcia


* Talking Fashion is an insightful look at the unspoken words of the fashion elite by Garance Dore; I loved her take on beauty


* Nicole Richie looks incredible on the cover of That Magazine


* I found this brilliant and inspirational interview with Michelle Adams from back in 2009, before Lonny started; makes me love her even more!  


Wishing you a wonderful and relaxing weekend,






Image credits: TradHome

Wednesday Workspace {Black & White}

I can't get enough of black and white lately so when I stumbled on this workspace I had to post it.

{credit}

The addition of green plants make a striking touch and and the black chair makes a real statement, don't you think? 


I think its safe to say black and white is my favourite colour combination, even if by accident. Let me explain... I set out to decorate our own home using colour, really I did; but it has 'accidentally' evolved into a predominantly black and white theme. 
I had originally been experimenting with different colours and looks but I kept reverting to black and white. When we first moved in I went bold, even painting our bedroom a deep blue/charcoal colour, but everything has since been re-painted white (!)


What can I say, even our wedding was a black and white theme, so really must be true love! 


I will be sharing our home with you soon so stay tuned lovelies!


Happy Wednesday,

5 lovely things I can't live without {Strong Sense of Style}

Hello lovelies, happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I've had a super productive couple of days, almost finishing the gallery wall and the Ikea rast makeover - I will be sharing these with you soon!


But today I'd like to introduce you to Melissa from Strong Sense of Style who is sharing her 5 lovely things. Melissa is from New York so her style is of course, fabulous - I was very excited to make this new blog discovery! I'm sure you will love Melissa's style too, so please pop on over and visit her gorgeous blog! 

***

{one} Husband, family & friends - I am grouping together a lot here but my husband is my family and my very best friend, and together with my actual friends and family, I’m set. These relationships truly are the only lovely things I couldn’t live without, but life is a whole lot easier and a lot more fun with;


{two} Running & working out - Running and cross-training do so much for me. There is no better feeling than accomplishing a great work-out! I need them for peace of mind, staying fit and being healthy.


{three} Soy chai latte from starbucks - I rarely skip this morning slice of heaven. My days are infinitely better when they start with a Starbucks soy chai.


{four} Gadgets - iPhone, MacBook, iPad and camera - All lovely luxuries of convenience. The mac products to stay connected and the camera(s) to capture those moments I always want to remember.


{five} Travel - While I love the comfort of home, I need the sense of adventure that traveling provides. The change of scenery, be it an undiscovered locale or a familiar destination, I always feel renewed after some time away.

***

Thank you Melissa!

A few thank you's...

Hello my lovelies. I hope you've been having a good week. I'm counting down until the weekend as I have 4 days off. I've got lots of projects for the house planned including finishing off the DIY bedside table project I keep talking about, finally putting up our gallery picture wall in our living room, plus we are getting new flooring installed in the kitchen and laundry; to say I'm excited would be an understatement!


But today, I wanted to say a BIG thank you to some lovely fellow bloggers who have so very kindly nominated me for an award!

• Molly at Urban Nester 
• Amy at Brushed Satin 
• Serena at Pretty Fluffy

The rules are that I have to share 7 things about myself and to then pass this on to 7 other fabulous bloggers. So first up here are some fun things you may not already know about me!


{one} I love to cook and bake; something I have not really shared on this blog is my love of food, but on weekends I always like to experiment and try out new recipes. My favourite recipe resource is Donna Hay, I always find her recipes full of flavour and to be easy to follow.  

{two} Peonies are my favourite flowers; a close second are hydrangeas. I love nothing more than brightening up our home with fresh blooms. The fact that peonies are only in bloom for 6 weeks of the year makes them extra special in my book!

{credit}

{three} I'm a magazine hoard; I cannot stand clutter, but this rule applies to everything excluding magazines. I have magazines neatly stacked all around our apartment which drives my husband nuts, but I can't bear to throw them out! My favourite glossies are Real Living, Belle and Vogue Living.

{four} I have a secret addiction to beauty products. My bathroom closely resembles a beauty counter with all kinds of interesting products. My favourite go-to product at the moment is A'kin organic rose-hip oil which I use underneath my moisturiser; it makes my skin lovely and baby-soft.

{five} I love burning candles; I have one in every room of our apartment. My favourites are Belle Fleur - they smell ridiculously good! 

{six} My favourite movies are cheesy romantic comedies - I recently watched Going the Distance with Drew Barrymore which was brilliant!

{seven} I live in ballet flats and I have them all shapes and colours; they are so comfy!

{credit}

And now to pass this award on to a few new lovely blog discoveries and a few all time favs...

Christine @ Bijou & Boheme

Claudia @ Wish you were here

Brittany @ Gallery Eight

Aubrey @ All Things Bright & Beautiful

Christel @ Captivated by Image

Ada @ Classiq

Dawn @ The Alternative Wife

Kimberlee @  Brown Button
Danielle @ Danielle Oakey Interiors

Happy Thursday lovelies!

Wednesday Workspace {Black & White}

I was taking a trip down memory lane, flicking through the Lonny archives, when I stumbled across this impossibly glamourous black and white workspace, otherwise known as the Flair Interiors store in SoHo, NYC. 


Designers George Nunno and Jon Maroto describe the space as "urbane, sexy and dark". I definitely agree; the artwork, glossy black furnishings and lighting all make this space effortlessly fabulous!



Happy hump day my dears,






Image credit: Lonny August/September 2010

For the love of gold

Lately, I've been loving all things gold. I'm not normally a 'gold' person, but I seem to be drawn to it all of a sudden. It started when I spied Joy's gorgeous wallpaper, used by Emily Henderson when recreating Joy's new fab new living room, and I immediately wanted to work out how to use it in our home.


I have also had my eye on these gorgeous Moroccan pouffes for some time but couldn't decide which colour to get! But yesterday after reading this post, I chose to go with the gold. 


So much gold loveliness, don't you think? 











Image credits:


One | Two | Three | Four | Five

5 lovely things I can't live without {Lona de Anna}

Hello lovelies, welcome to a brand new week. Autumn has definitely arrived here; turning our clocks back on the weekend meant that it is now official and with it getting dark by 5pm, we can no longer deny that summer has ended. 


Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to fellow Sydney-sider Anna, who writes the inspirational Lona de Anna. Anna's blog is one of my daily reads; her taste in decor is very similar to mine so it is always a pleasure to read her inspirational posts. Please do take a peek if you haven't already!

***

I really love that fact that the lovely Rachel put this question to me...as it really got me thinking about what I really could and couldn't live without.

Of course the obvious always comes to mind first...being Family and Friends.

But when I had a really good think about what  "Things" I tried to think of 5 things that would stimulate all of my five senses.

See , Smell, Hear, Taste , Touch

And came up with the following -

{one} Books - I am a serious book worm and would happily spend a whole day sitting in a library or book store, I love to read almost any kind of literature fiction being more my preference..whether its a great biography or  the latest issue of InStyle Magazine... Reading is knowledge... it opens your heart and your mind to dream, discover, learn, reflect, escape, be inspired.

{two} Tea - It wasn't till I met my husband that I truly grew an appreciation for Tea as he lived in Japan for over 4 years and showed me that there is an actual art form to drinking and appreciating tea...seriously! I love the fact that there are hundreds of different blends and aromatic fragrances that are available and those gorgeous little tea pots and cups you can drink out of...so super adorable.. I love the fact that you can easily choose a blend to suite your mood or change it, Chamomile to calm, Peppermint to Pep Up..and so on. To me there is nothing better than having a lovely cup of my favourite tea in one hand and a new magazine to read in the other.


{three} Music - Or I like to call it Sound for the soul. 
From the music, to the lyrics, to the soulful voice of the artist....music to me truly is a universal language....if we fail to understand each other...we can almost always understand each other and convey our message through song.

{four} Perfume - This is a little luxury item pick....but I just adore this fragrance...not only because its a Chanel product ( I LOVE CHANEL) but because it is a very sentimental smell to me...this fragrance was the first perfume my husband ever bought me as a gift and has since become my signature smell that I am always sure to be spoilt with by him come birthdays or Christmas....I don't think I will ever tire of this fragrance....and when I'm not wearing it I feel very naked and unsexy.

I could walk out of the house without a hint of makeup ..but if I wearing my Mademoiselle...then I am all prettied up.

{five} Bed - Of course we can't all live without sleep...but for me having a soft, comfy, crisp and clean and quiet place to sleep  is HEAVEN.

I love my bed, I love my sleep, I love my nanna naps...(when I can get them) and so having a gorgeous place and space to lay my head and unload the days stresses is really important to me.

And so there you have it...5 of my favourite things I couldn't live without....of course I could have easily added another 5 or more ; )

***

Thank you Anna; I'm definitely with you on the comfy bed and I always love a nanna nap!

Have a wonderful Monday.

April Style {decorating with chevron}

Hello my dears I hope you are having a lovely Sunday. As the April Style post is a couple of days late (oops!) I decided I'm going to dedicate it to decorating with chevron. I've long been a fan of chevron decor but lately this obsession has stepped up a notch. 


In the past week I have ordered not one, but two chevron trays from Tilly Maison and they look fantastic! I actually have my eye on a couple more petite versions as they are a great size to store make-up and cosmetics. 


I've also decided that for our master bedroom I will be using the lovely Rubie Green Bryn fabric in buttery yellow for the curtains (which I'm going to attempt making). 


Jen Ramos, from Made by Girl has just released a some practical and stylish chevron calling cards which can be custom printed in your choice of colour and font. I think I will be going with the grey.


So, please let me indulge this April in my love for all things chevron. I've found a few favorites to share but I'd love to know if you have more great decor finds using chevron.

I hope you are having a lovely and relaxing Sunday friends!






{one} Bryn fabric, Rubie Green
{two} Petite chevron tray, Tilly Maison
{three} Green chevron cushion, Table Tonic
{four} Chevron custom calling cards, Made by Girl
{five} The Ellie pink bag, Rubie Green
{six} Chevron Rug, found via Made by Girl