Cool local Thai joint

This thai place has just popped up just up the road from my place.

The bare light bulbs & the gorgeous round solid timber table with the bentwood stools caught my eye so i decided to try it out...

How cool is the fetaure wall they have made simply by painting the wall green & installing cheap concrete  bessa blocks painted black infront of it! I have always loved theses, infact used them in my grad project from my interior architecture degree (back in 2004)...a few people thought i was nuts but i thought they looked awesome! My verdict...cool interior...not so great food!..I might give it a second chance just so i can eat at the round table though! Kaffir Lime, Mona Vale Road, St Ives

Modern white house

 I stumbled over this amazing house on Sweedish (i think??) website Mixr !? I dont understand a word of it but the pictures really do say it all dont they! I think my favorite parts of the house are that hallway with the amazing timber mirror, the pool & the outdoor area with the colourful cushions contrasted on the white!

and the winner is .....!!

I have all your names written down on little bit of paper....

scrunched em up....into the hat!

....and the Winner is Lisa Michelanney! 

Congrats!!! Send me a message with your details so i can organise to have the book sent to you Lisa, you'll love it! I just love giving people beautiful things...might have to do it more often! Thanks to all of you for your support & & friendships in my first 6 months of blogging! 

Weekly roundup!

Good god, its October!...where did the year go?
Have had a fairly productive week this week so feeling quite good about that! And who doesnt feel happy when there is 3 days of weekend coming up!

1. Its a long weekend here is Australia woohoo! (weather doesnt look so hot though....) Im feeling a trip to the flower markets & ikea coming on (school holidays, is this a good idea?) & a bit of spring cleaning of the apartment. If i do make it out of bed at 5am for the flower markets & the roses are cheap i think id like to make me some of these mega Anna Spiro style arrangments :) Maybe a little extravagant for my one bedroom apartment..whatever! I also just started reading Eat Love Pray so im sure a spot of reading will be on my adgenda too!

2. Im trying out the New Shangahai Dumpling restaurant in Chatswood tonight with a friend - its supposed to be great so looking forward to that!

  

3. I finally sent my business cards to the printers this week!
Veeerrrry exciting (Ill show you them next week when they arrive!)

4. The kitchen ive been working on is coming along nicely, the joinery (minus the doors), benchtops & the fantastic 900mm freestanding cooktop & oven are all in! (ill also show you the 'before' photos of that next week!)

5. Finally there are only a few more days to enter my Domino Book of Decorating giveaway! All you have to do is become a follower and leave a comment on this post to say you have! If youre already follower just leave a comment to say hi & ill put you in the draw and/or share the love do a post about my giveaway on your own blog! Ill be putting all the names in a hat & drawing it the old fashioned way on Monday!

Have a great inspired weekend whatever your up to! xx

On the bandwagon...for, like, ever!

I have jumped on the 'For Like Ever' bandwagon!

As usual it took about 12 months of thinking about it, a few glasses of wine & some internet shopping later for me to buy it! International postage is a bit steep at $40usd (for a bit of paper!) but im lucky enough to have a friend whos husband is a Qantas pilot & is going to ferry it back from the states for me! I ordered it 3 weeks ago & i havent heard if its been dispatched though which im slightly worried about! Pretty sure ill put it on a perfect blank wall in our bedroom - the bedroom is mostly neautrals so it should brighten it up a bit! Ill show you all a picture when its up (if it ever arrives!). In the meantime here are some other awesome examples of it brightening up a room!

Oh, & for those that havent seen this around the traps, its a poster designed by NYC designers Village that became a sensation after featureing on the cover of 'Domino' magazine.

My favorite wallpapers (right now!)

A friend recently asked if i could do a post on my favorite wallpapers at the moment as she's thinking of papering one of the walls in her study. Lets kick it off with my all time favortite from Fromental! Not to mention it also has my favorite pendant light of the moment by Tom Dixon...sigh! I want to just move into this room (hello timber table, orchids & floating stairs..ok im going off topic...)

Now...I have the perfect blog post to read for anyone whos thinking of papering a wall! Viv over at Ish & Chi did just this in her own study & did a FANTASTIC step by step post on how to hang wallpaper yourself! Here is her end result - ill sure be having a go myself one day after seeing how well it turned out!

Viv used this paper from Harlequin called 'Passion' which can be bought from Australian ebay seller Decorsupplies.

Catherine Martin, Baz Lurhmans right hand woman & cotume designer, has done a fantastic range for Porters Paints love all of them! This one called 'Sparrow' is divine

Catherine Martin Eucalyptus

Available from Porters Paints

Catherine Martin Lace

Available from Porters Paints

Both the one & only Kelly Wearstler Imperial Trellis. Pretty sure this is available from Complete Pad in Sydney or try contacting Kelly Green!

All of the papers below are from  http://www.hyggeandwestshop.com/ 

Each roll of wallpaper is designed in Brooklyn, NY and screen printed in Chicago. Im sure you can get it shipped or source it in Australia - does anyone know?

I love the bohemian vibe of this one called 'Nethercote'

This gorgeous wallpaper called 'Petal Pusher' was designed by Joy Cho from the blog  Oh Joy!

Now i really love this one named 'Daydream' - especially in this colourway!

Infact id love this for the wall behind our bed...hmmmmm...and would tie in with our white & tiffany blue colourscheme we have going...

There are a million choices over at Graham & Brown including these by Amy Butler

The one on the right is called 'Field Poppies' & also comes in this colourway called Moss which i think is divine.

And last but not least, you really cant go past pretty much anything from Signature Prints

For more inspiration & gorgeous images check out this book, you can buy it here for only $41 & get it shipped anywhere for free!

Cute DIY Little Girls room!

Came across this really cute little girls room here.

Im really loving the colour scheme, the furniture & that it was done reletively cheaply!

Mediterranean Bathroom Style

Happy Monday all!

After being roped in to do a 30km trail run/race on Saturday my legs are in a world of pain today! Only made it to the 19km checkpoint cutoff, but it was HARD (& i was secretly glad i had to stop there!!) Still, im crazy enough to think i might give it another crack next year (and maybe do a bit more training first ;) In any case my sore leggies could do with a soak in one of theses gorgeous tubs.

I just love these bathrooms for their natural simplicity & mediterranean feel (the top one is from a greek holiday house & the bottom one is from a residence in spain). Its just divine how the materials speak for themselves & its the smoothness of the stone/concrete make the room. Plus the colour in the top image is just to die for!

Divine Sydney Cottage

This is a gorgeous house in Sydneys eastern suburbs that i drool over everytime i pull out my inspiration files. It was featured in both Madison & Home Beatuiful magazine in 2009.

The cottage named "Jacaranda" is owned by a single mum Marisa who lives there with her daughter Ava Rose (what a cute name!). I pretty much love everything about it really! The colour scheme, the arco lamp, the cane furniture, the seagrass rugs, the orchids, the plantation shutters, the vine swing in the back yard, THAT BLUE LOUNGE!!!! Oh & she has the floor lamp verison of my driftwood lamp so she gets extra brownie points for that too ;)

Love the pannelled doors & the handles