Start sewing!

Due to a rather unfortunate incident earlier in the week we have had to replace our dog beds. Holy mother can I tell you that foam is unexpectedly expensive! It was going to cost us nearly $200 to get foam cut to fit our 2 dog beds. I figured there had to be a better way!

Indiana Jones isn't too sure about her new bed initially

Zac, however, takes to it straight away

Cue a little outing to Ikea that ended up costing LESS than having foam cut and included the bonus of getting me a new sewing machine as my vintage one kicked the bucket last year and was beyond repair.

I bought a foam mattress, some funky fabric to make a cover, and a sewing machine for less than $200. Can't go wrong! I brushed off my old sewing skills and whipped up the cover in an evening; I think it looks great and the dogs do too. Plus, now I have a sewing machine again! What to make next...

Our debut album.

We are pleased to announce...

Michael and I are expecting our first baby in September! Might go some way towards explaining why I haven't been around so much lately; I am just so exhausted all the time. While I have been otherwise well I just about spend all my spare time asleep! So stay tuned...

Painted corkboard tutorial.

This is a super easy project to jazz up a corkboard and make it a feature in any room. A great meeting of form and function, a funky addition to any interior, and a great way to help you stay organised. This project has been kicking around our dear little house for more than a year, how shameful! I bought the boards when I saw them at Ikea for about $10 and have been meaning to pretty them up ever since.

Finally got around to it! It is a super simple project and it looks phenomenal. Now that it is done I wish I hadn't waited so long! Once you have the corkboards you need painter's tape, some paint in your choice of colours (I used house paint and acrylic paint), and paint brushes.

Use the painter's tape to create shapes on your noticeboard. Where you put the tape will remain bare cork. If you didn't want bare cork you could wait for each section to dry before taping off the next section. I chose a series of rectangles for these boards. It is easiest if you choose to have a border of cork around the outside edge as it means it is less hassle to paint the timber frame.

You will likely need at least 2 coats of each colour to get even coverage. The cork is quite absorbent and therefore will be very 'thirsty' on the first coat. With the timber frame you can either simply do one coat or two light coats to let the grain show through, or several coats to cover it completely. Once the paint is touch dry carefully peel off your painter's tape. It is more difficult to remove if you leave it on for a long time and you risk damaging the cork.

So there you have it. Takes a few hours total if you include drying time and you have some very funky, very customised corkboards that you can match to your interior. I used the same paint we used on the wall so that it would tie in nicely, as well as some super contrasting neon coral and a pop of bronze.

Orange Crush.

Nothing brightens up your day like a cheerful pop of orange. Today I have gathered together a few choice pieces of orange inspiration; I hope you have half as much fun looking at it as I did cruising around the internet and putting it together! Now I have that REM song seriously stuck in my head.

1. Hofdi cushion / 2. Retro alarm clock / 3. Pendant light / 4. Jute bowl 

5. Penguin Classic "A Clockwork Orange" / 6. Map cushion / 7. Ripple throw  

8. Kombie cushion / 9. 6ixty Sofa / 10. Moroccan leather pouffe / 11. Fairisle rug

I think you'd have to be pretty brave to go all out orange but it sure does sing, doesn't it! You certainly could go way over the top; there's a Thai restaurant near our house where every wall and the ceiling has been painted bright orange. I think it is especially nice paired with the teal splashes happening here. What do you think, would you go all out orange?

Beach weather inspiration.

The mercury has been rising around here as it has across the rest of the country, and while we haven't had the heatwave as bad as many other areas and thankfully we have been spared from bushfires (touch wood), us Sydneysiders need to escape this heat! Heading to the beach is a perfect way to relax and cool down.

1. Cabana striped beach towel / 2. Beach rug / 3. Fuchsia cowboy hat / 4. Betty Pink retro sunnies  5. Sandbag  / 6. MAC Lip Conditioner SPF15+ / 7. Le Tan Coconut SPF30+  

8. Pixel beach umbrella / 9. Beach chair

I never leave the house without suncream on and this spray from Le Tan is my fave, it smells amazing, doesn't get greasy, and is easy to apply. What is on your 'must have' list for a trip to the beach?

The bathroom is going in!

We're well under way with getting the main bathroom done (finally!) with the plumber here today installing all the important bits that make a bathroom work. This is awesomely exciting because our amazing bathtub has been sitting in our driveway waiting patiently for the last 2 months. I have been less patient and constantly lamenting the fact that I have been unable to use our beautiful bath.

Our tiling team hard at work

The plumber gets to work

I still need to go out and pick the little bits and pieces like a towel rack and toilet paper holder and whatnot, and the walls haven't been painted yet. I'm thinking we will go a soft grey on the walls with a white ceiling, I'm being terribly indecisive about the accent colour- with a backdrop of black and white I could choose just about anything! What would you choose?

Office inspiration.

Our new his/her home office is a bit of a bombsite at the moment with stuff all just shoved in and totally disorganised. Rather than being inspired to sort it all out I surfed the 'net today looking at some cool stuff and put together a little inspiration board of home office style.

1. Chalkboard label stickers / 2. Burken jar / 3. String and pegs / 4. Aviation Art lamp  

5. Kassett magazine file / 6. Kassett storage boxes / 7. Lab pendant light  

8. Excelsior writing desk / 9. Custom cigar box speakers

So, now I'm back to looking at our bombsite, still without all its paint or any lighting or power points, and wishing that the organising fairy would swoop in and do it all for me. I have some good inspiration though...

Terrific Terrarium Tutorial

New year, new beginnings, new... indoor plants? Bringing a bit of greenery in to your home is a great way to freshen up and add some life to your interiors. If you're like us and have cheeky pets that want to get in to all your indoor plants then a terrarium might just be your solution. Really, they can look completely stunning and they are easy to make and easy to maintain. What's not to love?

I bought this vintage jar on eBay about a billion years ago and have been meaning to turn it in to a terrarium for a long time. Finally when I got around to it, it only took me half an hour- why ever did I wait so long? I did mean to make a few (hence the other jars in the instructions) but it turns out my plants were too big, oops. I've never been good at estimating quantities... probably why we eat leftovers half the time.

YOU WILL NEED:
* A large glass jar
*Some suitably sized plants
*Activated charcoal (available at pet stores)
*Peat Moss
*Potting mix
*Pebbles

The charcoal provides some drainage opportunities and stops the roots of your plants getting too soggy. The peat moss absorbs and holds water for when the plants need it. As the terrarium is a contained environment these different substrates are important to maintain the right moisture level inside your jar.

Arrange your plants so that they aren't touching the sides of the glass and getting squished up. This is best achieved before you put the potting mix layer in otherwise you will end up accidentally mixing all your layers together when you try to add the plants. While this is not the end of the world, it works better when the layers are intact.

Simple as that! Give it a light water; you don't want to drown your plants. The amount of watering your terrarium requires will depend on the plants you have chosen, generally they don't require much attention. Give them a spritz with a spray bottle when there is a lack of any condensation near the soil line. If there is lots of condensation or visible droplets on the glass then take the lid off until it dries out a little. Make sure your terrarium isn't in direct light so you don't fry your new little plants.

So there you have it; a lovely addition to any interior. Because you can use just about any jar and a huge variety of plants and other embellishments such as pebbles or ornaments in different colours you can make it to suit your decor. Terrariums are also a great gift idea for those people who are notoriously tricky to buy for; prettier than socks and less maintenance than a puppy!

Relentless renovating!

We've really really been pushing it the last few weeks so that we could get this dear little house ready for lots of Christmas guests! So busy, in fact, that I haven't had time to post about it. The three weeks leading up to Christmas were literally just coming home from work, rolling up our sleeves, and getting stuck in to it. Here are a few pics that I snapped during those mad weeks.

Front room looking in to new study, floors stripped

What used to be the lounge- dining room, now a sitting room and study thanks to a new wall

The old master bed with ugly 80s built in wardrobes removed and floors stripped

New bathroom with coils for floor heating installed

Thankfully, we did manage to get it to a vaguely presentable state- walls painted and furniture put back in- before we had a million relatives over for Christmas! I'll take some pics of that later in the week. There's still a bit to do though; in fact the tiler is here right now singing K-Pop songs at the top of his lungs as he works on the bathroom.

Honeymoon Highlights: Daily life.

Here are a few snapshots of people going about their daily life in Cuba.

Farmers are allowed to sell any produce that is surplus to state requirements
In this case, plantains

Riding a bicitaxi

Selling surplus goods

Waiting for a fare

Taking a walk

Buying street pizza

Making repairs

Selling produce

A food market in the town centre

Waiting for the factory workers to transport them home

Ice cream shop

It is common to see farmers selling their produce from carts on the street and at all hours of the day and night you can hear them going up and down the streets announcing what they have for sale. A certain amount of what they grow goes to the state for redistribution, they are free to sell the rest at a fair market price.