Fabulous find to finish off the room...

My clients just moved into their new house about 2 months ago.

  As it goes... with kids around, things just end up where they were first put, and then tend to stay that way.

The Brief:

"Please help us with furniture placement"

Before:  The room was off balanced and needed some direction.

After:  We found a beautiful antique in their garage and it was just what they needed

to complete the room.

Now there is a specific place for their fine dinner ware.

I centred the room off the French doors

 and put the odd ottoman in to act as a coffee table.

Before

After

The room took only about an hour to rearrange and layout. 

 Most of that time was spent cleaning the Antique China cabinet we found in the garage

 which we brought inside to go along the far wall.

It is a good start for them to elaborate on!

*My tip here would be, if there is ever a beautiful feature of a room,

always try to centre your furniture around it. ;)

Cane Couch from bla to Oh La La

Lately there have been heaps of magazines showing beautiful cane and wicker furniture painted in all fun and bright colours.  I was so excited when a friend spotted this on the side of the road and she knew I would want it.  I wasn't game to paint it a bright colour so I decided a gloss white finish would be lovely.

after about 3 cans of spray paint....
slowly getting there.
It took a lot more paint than I thought. 

while I was at it I painted the little white table as well.

All finished.
I just love it and can't wait to get some fun outdoor cushions made up.
Now can someone please bring on Summer!

Rocking Horse Road side find!!!

I found this on the weekend....too cute...but this road side rubbish is needing a little TLC.

luckily I had some lovely pink paint in my shed.

Too divine!!
 And the kids love it too.!!!

Thonet Chair Salvage

Before

After ...
painted yellow
and new leather seat

The seat of the chair was beyond repair 

so I made a new seat and covered it with a piece of scrap leather I had.

Vintage Metal Crates....what a find

My friend Kelly dragged me to her favourite Opp shop this morning after coffee. 

As we pulled up, I had a gut feeling I was going to find something that I have been looking for.  

Guess what I found?

Yep...a huge vintage metal crate....exactly like I wanted.  What luck!

It completes the look I wanted on that side of the room.

Now I just need to figure out what to keep in it.

Great storage!

Retro Telephone Stand Refurbished! Love it!!

I have been meaning to use this coffee sack for something...

I found this retro telephone book stand at an Op shop.
I thought....how easy would this be to revamp?

A quick sand down and spray paint black.  

Then to recover the seat.... an old coffee sack seamed perfect.

Yep ...perfect for my front Hallway!!!

Perfect spot for the kids to get their shoes on in the morning!!

Vintage 1950's Park Bench makeover

Before

Vintage 1950's  Cast Iron & Timber Slat Outdoor Garden Park Bench in need of some TLC.

After

Lots of sanding
and a few coats of paint.

Stunning at the front entry of Kelly's house now.

Pink Wire Lamp Frame

I found this old wire lampshade and removed all the fabric. 

I spray painted it Pink.

 I made my own light fitting.... since they don't sell them like this.

and...

Voila!!

Super cute ...

and a bit different in Kayla's Room.

Vintage Tricycle Love

I found this really old metal Tricycle on the side of the road.
I salvaged it because I thought it might look lovely in a kids room.  However...

To my surprise, my kids have not gotten off it since I found it!
It tops all of the other things they have to ride on.  And now the kids want me to fix up the other one I have as decoration.
Who knew?

Some times Free things
are the Best things!

Budget Beach house Makeover # 1

This Summer I was asked to makeover a Beach House on a serious budget!
As close to $0 as I could get.
 The owners painted the entire place white and the rest was up to me to make it all work.
My furniture budget was $0.  So I had to reuse or source all the furniture.
The place was very '80's with the same era furniture.


The white chair above I found on the side of the road.
 Luckily it was already white and it looks lovely and inviting at the end of the all white hallway.

Before
Most of the little dressers looked like this.

After
2 coats of white paint and
knobs changed

It still works as the perfect guest storage and side table.

The Antique Victorian furniture had to stay in the Dining Room,
 but in an all white house
 it still looked lovely with
hints of the beach scattered around.

I found this glass and wooden vintage cheese
server at an Opp shop.
It now looks beautiful housing shells
and interesting things found at the beach.

It makes a nice centre piece
 for the round antique table.

This piece of driftwood I cut from a very large branch that washed up on the beach.
Now it makes a perfect key rack in the
all white Kitchen.

Coral and shells are an easy addition.  The bigger the better.

I made a simple piece of Artwork gluing smaller shells to paper
and then writing sayings that made me think of the Beach.
I had seen something similar for sale in Sorrento,
so I just made my own version on a budget

After
Cost: About $55
I bought 2 of the cushions on sale.
The others I made with scrap fabric.
$18 worth of paint
The white frame they already had
I found a lamp at an Opp shop for $3
and painted the base blue.
Luckily they had a set of white sheets already. ;)

Using 3 colours makes it easier to edit things out.
If it didn't match the theme, it was out or painted to match.

I made these simple little linen and fabric canvases for the kids room.

Another easy thing to do is paint all outdated items white.
This lighthouse was looking very 80's pale pink and blue before I painted it white.