Op Shop Finds.....

I have been Op shopping again.... I don't think i ever really stop, if i am near an op shop i will always duck in to have a quick squiz if there is anything there that inspires me or jumps out at me and yells "TAKE ME HOME"! As i have said before... somtimes i hit the jackpot and find things that work, sometimes i walk around wondering what i am doing there. I generally don't spend anymore than $5 - $10 depending on the item.

I picked up these cute little white ceramic urns the other day for $4.00 each. As you can see by my little display below all those items have been picked up from my fave op shops. I am getting a real little collection happening.

I also happen to stumbled across this old hardwood frame while i was also picking up my cute urns. I picked it up for $5.00 and i have a project in mind for it.... more to come on that later!

Talking of projects we completed our picture frame project  (and here) that has been sitting in the sitting room for some months now. We purchased these cute sash windows at the local dump for $2.00 for about 3 windows.

Some of the windows before

I sanded this one below and scraped all the old paint off the frame. I undercoated it and taped it all up with newspaper and sprayed it with high gloss enamel paint.

 After a few coats, a bit of a wipe over on the glass and the addition of our french print and matte board this is the end result!

Now i just need to decide where to hang it!.... That will probably take a few more months to decide!

Slipcover or Not To Slipcover

Ok now it's great when you get a bargain on something and it's exciting to think of the possibilities of what you can do with this bargain to make it special & amazing ! I have been pondering this large project for many months now... ever since i bought it way back in june.Yes.... it's my $50.00 buy on two wingback chairs & ottomons I won at the Tender Center!

 You see it needs to be "rejuvenated" somehow - as you can see by the "lovely" coloured fabric. I first thought maybe i could get someone to re-upholster them for me.... after I got a quote done and picked myself off the floor after finding out how much it cost ($2000+ - and no i am not joking) I decided I will probably have to do it myself.

I researched how to re-upholster a wingback chair and by looking at the pictures it looks quite do-able but do i want to put all that effort into it or try and find an easier way to cover them? I purchased some material with re-upholstering in mind but i am now unsure what I should do?

The possibilities of what can be done by re-upholstering yourself!

The other option that i have is making "slipcovers" for the chairs and ottomon. This is the cheats way of covering a chair without the effort of pulling it all apart. The only drawback is it looks to be quite an involved procedure to sew slipcovers for a wingback chair and the effort to put into making them seems like it could be on par with re-upholstering. I did price the cost of getting someone to make slipcovers for me and it still come in at a breath taking price ($300-$600 per cover).

Example Before Slip Cover

After SlipCover

From "Centsational Girl Blog"

I love the before and after though of these slip covers that Centsational Girl made - the linen fabric really livens the chair up! Love it!

So that is my current dilema with my bargain wingback chairs... they may be a bargain but with it comes "Effort" & "Time" involved in fixing them up into something special!

The current 'state' of our wingback chairs... good old sheets to cover them for now!

One other addition i want to add to the chairs is Queen Anne style legs (Top row on picture below) as the chairs currently are on metal wheels which don't give it much height. Also removing the skirting around both the ottomons and chairs to "simplify" the look. I think the effect will be quite stunning if i ever get around to it!

Wingback chair with Queen Anne Legs!

Don't you just love this chair! Gorgeous! 

Reaping The Rewards

I have been so excited over the past few days as i relish each afternoon trip to our vegetable garden! You see our garden is growing, exploding... well not quite... but it's growing and producing wonderful things for my table! I have started picking our spinach, carrots, beetroot and some of our potatoes. The carrots and beetroot are still in there "baby" stages but the flavour once cooked is amazing... so sweet and delicious!! Yum! We enjoyed a nice dish last night of pan fried chicken with roasted baby vegetables, wilted spinach and chickpeas! I got excited over it.... not sure if bevan did! :-) Well i felt we has started seeing a bit of our "dream" of why we bought this place... to have a bigger vegie patch, be a bit more self sufficient from it and enjoy the benefits of eating "organic" home grown food! Sometimes i wonder if i am turning into a bit of a "hippie" or "greenie"..... hmmmm!

Our cabbages already to pick!

Broad beans slowly growing - i cannot wait until these are ready!

Tomato's flowering - ready to grow some fruit!

As you can see by the photo's above we still have a few things "growing" before they are ready to eat but I cannot wait until they're ready as well! More food for my table! :-) I have started planting out seeds for the next round of vegetables, it's a bit of an art to keep up with it all - i think i am still perfecting that!

Looking into the vegie patch

As you can see in the above photo abby is a bit of a gardening companion on my jaunts through the vegie patch. She especially loves the snow peas that have been growing.... she will literally go and pick them from the bush! I have a funny funny dog!

abby enjoying and afternoon snack!

On the brick path front things are going good and bad. Good news is the path is slowly evolving and coming together. Bad news is i think we will run out of bricks... actually i am certain! BUM! We should of got another load or two of bricks! So if you  know anyone knocking down a building with old limestone mortar type bricks let us know... we need some more bricks! :-(

Brick path in progress!

On the kitchen front things are slowly moving forward. We have okay'd the quote from our kitchen guy and he is in the process of making it.... now it's just waiting!! I think we should have it in early december! Fingers crossed. I can't wait for it really, i have had enough of my pantry being stuck in the middle of the kitchen with no doors, teetering on blocks of wood! The wall bevan built is now completed and painted - and he did a great job of it!

Pantry teetering in the middle of the kitchen!

My new oven, dishwasher & rangehood! YAY

We have picked up our kitchen goods such as our stove, dishwasher and rangehood and they are now stored away safely until the kitchen guy is ready to install them! .... Please hurry up! :-)

The Blushing Pierre De Ronsard

What is it about roses that invoke those warm and fuzzy romantic feelings from those long...long ago dating days.(well it feels like it) Where you would receive them sometimes as a special "romantic" gesture from your "Beau", a secret admirer on valentines day, to make up from a "misunderstanding" among lovers or a forgotten anniversary, birthday or significant event, to cheer you up on a bad or sick day or simply to say "i love u". 

I have loved roses for a very long time... can't remember when i didn't like them! I am not sure what exactly attracts me to them, whether it be fond memories of those "dating" days, or to watch a small bud unfold into a perfect petaled rose, the gorgeous scent (on some), or the myriad of types, colours and scents that are available! They fascinate me, intrigue me, delight me and sometimes take my breathe away when spying a beautiful & different flower! (ask bevan... i get excited looking at new varieties)

I first spied my favourite of all favourites in the Newtown Park State Rose Garden on Holberton Street. They had used this particular rose (in mass planting) to start climbing up long curved poles which created an arbour of sorts. The effect was breath taking really and i was enamoured by it instantly. After a bit of research and a lucky feature on Better Homes & Gardens i found out what it was called...

 Blushing Pierre De Ronsard

"White" Pierre De Ronsard

How gorgeous is that bloom! Simply stunning! I have planted two of these gorgeous climbing roses either side of our vegetable garden entrance to climb up the "arbour" we created as well as planting two "white" Pierre De Ronsards either end of the fence. The Pierre De Ronsard grows to about 2.5-3 meters and flower prolifically throughout the growing season. It was c reated in France in 1987 by Marie-Louise Meilland, and known also as ‘Eden Rose ’88’. Old style flowers, coloured cream with pink shades, with 55-60 petals, slightly perfumed. It is also very resistant to diseases - great for those first time rose gardeners!

Gorgeous in mass planting!

I did a bit of research to find out where the name "Pierre De Ronsard" originated... this is what i found out......

The rose name honours Pierre de Ronsard (B.1524 - D.1585). Pierre de Ronsard was a famous French Poet whose 16th Century poetry earned a place in literary history. He enjoyed a great life: well educated, well travelled, highly productive, popular and he mixed socially, as friends, with royals such as King Charles of France, Queen Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots. His own generation, in France, called him the “Prince of Poets”.

Mr Pierre De Ronsard

Well.... "pring of poets" eh? how romantic is that! Perfect for this rose i think! Anyway the whole point of this story was that i am super excited that my "Pierre De Ronsard" has now started flowering........

First flowers for my Pierre De Ronsard!

What is your favourite type of rose??

Remember.... Don't for get to stop & smell the roses!

Pretty Inspirations

I feel like have had not a lot of time really to re-focus back onto the interior of our house with things going full steam ahead in the garden department. I thought i would show a few inspirations pics that are helping me "get in the mood" again of how i want to decorate... well dream of it anyway!!

This room just breathes freshness to me! Don't you love the cute blue lounges and accents!

 Still dreaming of my kitchen.... a few more weeks to go yet before it's done!!

Cute bathroom.... I love the claw footed bathtub! Unfortunately our bathroom was renovated just before we bought the house so no reno's in there for a few years!

What a gorgeous entryway!! Hmmm.... i need to work on mine a bit! Love the neutral tonings and the additions of those lamps add a bit of glamour!!

I thought this room was charming with the different paisley prints throughout but yet seem to harmonise! Not sure if i would copy the look for our hose but it's whimsical in its own little way!

What are your thoughts about chandeliers in kitchen's/over kitchen tables??

 (secretly i LOVE them)

I just had to ad this picture in... it really turns the "whimsical" factor up 100%!  (mind you it is a wedding themed picture....)

I think the arrangement of this desk is very cute... simple yet effective!

This little setting looks very inviting as summer approaches i love the mismatched chairs and table! Table decor is well done!

What have you got planned for the weekend?? Love to hear about it!

Masterpiece Of Scavenging!

1There is something nice about reclaiming old things such as our "scavenger hunt" bricks and reusing them to create something beautiful. We had this plan in our minds for a while to create a gorgeous and rustic path in our kitchen garden using reclaimed bricks or in the world of recycling goods "vintage" bricks! You can read the start of our journey with this garden here

Bevan and I have been working hard on this garden on and off since we moved here about 4 months ago now. I am a little excited to start the path here and get a bit of a "finished" feel in this garden. The downside to using these "vintage" bricks is they still have the old limestone mortar on them which requires us to scrape it off before we can use them... hmmm doing this for 300+ bricks is going to be interesting.

Hard at work!

So we donned our hats on and got ourselves some tools and sat down and began scraping away! I can't say it was the most glamourous job i have done but we got the job done (well about a quarter done)!

Bevan enjoying the job

Taking a break!

Bevan measured out an approx circumference of the circle on the path with a pole, some string and a stick to get a rough idea how big we want it. We then startedlaying the inner circle of bricks first working our way outwards.

First row of bricks

We continued scraping and laying bricks over an hour or so and this is where we got!

Nearly Finished.

Nearly completed circle.

We just have to cut a few of the bricks to fit in the middle of the circle to finish it off! I can't wait to start the rest of the path to see how it all comes together!

On the garden front i was able to pick my first cabbage the other day... it was a bit of an exciting occasion. This isn't the first produce we have been able to eat, our snow peas, radish's, rocket and lettuce are all on the go to eat and we have been enjoying them for the last few weeks as the weather gets warmer! We love to make homemade coleslaw with our cabbages!

Picking my first cabbage

My "baby" cabbage! :-)

What are you enjoying from your garden this fine season??