Restful Haven...

I could think of nothing better than being snuggled up in this cozy bed.

Any sort of bedding which is knitted just makes a bed even more tempting, and if it is cable knit- even better.
skona hem
Imagine having a gorgeous corner in your bedroom like this to read a book, blog from or just while away some hours?
Even though I am a devotee of all that is pale and linen, I do love Ikat, blue and white Ikat to be precise. This blanket is heaven don't you think?

Add all of this with some white bead board and my restful haven is complete.
I will need some rest after this crazy week ahead.
Ness xx

Lie Down...

via white rooms

Loving this bedhead, lamp, stripe pillows, butterfly artwork...actually everything!
apartment therapy
...and what's not to love about this room?
White, airy, vintage...and THAT rug is amazing!!
I have a L O N G day tomorrow. I will be participating in an 'Aerobathon' to raise money for The Heart Foundation and St Giles. Basically I will be working out for 7 hours!

...hence the bed pictures. I will need a lie down!
Have a great weekend everyone =0)
Ness xx

Restful....

skona hem

Let's get back on track here.

Some beautiful, restful spaces. I have culled back a bit in our bedroom and have been looking at new, green ways to bring life into our room and I have always loved how the Swedish/Scandinavian homes have a topiary or an Ivy plant (like this one above, trained on a wire form) around in abundance. I have a little one, which is on my kitchen mantle (see yesterdays post) and one in a pressed tin box which has just about died! Maybe it is time for me to hit the nursery and get some Ivy. This shot is magnificent!

country living

This image is just lovely too, but it is the cable knit throw on the end of the bed which I saved this image for. The grey one I bought last year, although lovely, just doesn't seem to hold my heart anymore and I have always wanted a cable knit throw, like the ones you see in Country Road Home...just don't like the price tag!

The monogrammed linens on this bed are perfect...and something else on my list.

By the way - thank you all. You know why ;0)

Ness xx

Matster Bedroom done...check!

So, I have finished moving the furniture out of my old office to become our 'new' bedroom and it is so nice to be in here. The light has always been amazing in this room (which is why it was my office).
I took these pictures today before I had finished getting all of the small pieces from my office out, like the small unit next to the white 2 door cupboard that you can just see. That little white 2 door cupboard was another of my $5.00 finds. All I had to do was add the new blue china knobs and give it a clean. It has all of my fabric in there and I thought I would just leave it in this room as it just goes.

The big cupboard on this wall was a freebie and houses all of our clothes shoes etc and it is so big. It just didn't have any doors, so some white cotton curtains was all it needed to soften the space. All up it cost us about $15.00 for the material. The little cane bedside was my Grandmothers and is special to me so it had to stay =0)

Oh, and see the stuff on top of the big cupboard? Well that is some of the things that will be going in the virtual yard sale I will be having here on my blog throughout June. I keep finding more pieces for the sale, so instead of doing it in one hit, I will just add here and there which will make it easier to track...there is still 3 other rooms to look through yet!!!

Now one thing I still have to do in here is finish painting the French door. I have loved sitting in here looking out of the door. It is such a wonderful room and I love how cozy it is.

...maybe it is because it is all white !!!!

Ness xx

Our Master bedroom Makeover...

What do you do on a windy, rainy day?

Well naturally I decorate!

Inspired by yesterdays images, I gutted our master bedroom to just the bones, gave my mate Dyson a workout cleaning it from head to toe, then re worked it...and all for nothing!

This is my kind of BEFORE shot.

I stripped everything out and seeing today was linen washing day (every Friday) it seemed like a good day to do this.

We haven't really done much to this room as it is one of the rooms that hasn't been renovated yet. It need new plasterboard (I would prefer beaded board everywhere), cornices, skirting's etc...but I have just given it a make do coat of paint that will suffice for now. I am happy with it and I don't think Mic minds it either.

BEFORE

This is an old Coogan's piece we inherited when we bought the house and it has been out in the shed for years doing nothing and I was over the long table at my side of the bed...so while the boys were playing I went out and attacked it!

I dry brushed some white timber colour onto it and added some new knobs and...

Voila! The AFTER shot is so much nicer. It took about 20 minutes and dried just as fast with the wind. I added some little blue and white china knobs to it and I think it makes a much nicer side table for me now.

There is a little nook in it where I can keep reading material and my gorgeous stone ball.
You can see the dry brushing and I didn't want it to look all neat, but worn.
Next, I needed something for the top.

It so just happens that my beautiful pure white Hydrangeas have been the first to fully bloom from my Hydrangea bed in the front garden. So, out I went a got a few of them and they are more stunning than I remembered last season. I took this close up so you can see the little centres. Some have green ones, some white, and the other is a very soft lilac...all from the same bush!!

Three little tea lights and the side table is complete. Oh, I did make over the lamp too. I will show you...

BEFORE

These little lamps were an Engagement present from my Sister back in 1996. I have always liked the shape, but have been really annoyed with the long white part on it. I have tried bigger shades, but they never seemed to look right...so, I gave them a dry paint too and sprayed them with some left over Scandinavian Grey spray paint we had in the shed and...

Voila! The shades got a dry wash as well with the white and I think they look much nicer now. What do you think?
While all of these pieces were drying, I quickly whipped up this long linen cushion to go along the front of our pillows. It is a French love letter that is printed along the front and I thought it appropriate for a master bedroom. I have been meaning to sew it for ages and lately haven't been able to do it, so I bit the bullet and done it...glad I did too. It is so lovely.

The cushions goes so well with our Irish Linen pillow slips that have gorgeous detailing on the front of them.
Here they are all together with our Marie Claire cover my Sister (same one) gave us and the pure white European covers I made. The canvas will probably change now too...ran out of time.

This old iron Singer sewing table used to be on my side and I was over the wood top. So, it was given a white wash too and swapped to Mics side along with one of dad's birdhouses, and old French Moulin Rouge poster, an Irish ironstone soup tureen (which has a huge crack in it and I cant use it anymore) filled with little roses and the other re vamped lamp. I meant to move Mics ugg boots before I took the shot...sorry!
A close up of Dads birdhouses. I will be selling these in the barn when it opens. They have individual floors in them so you can really use them as nesting houses in the garden...so cute!

My old chair has a ticking buttoned pillow on it and one of my little bird pillows I sold in the store a while ago. It is made with linen and the bird is in grey, so I thought I would use it here.

Our old fireplace mantel had a makeover too.
A taller arrangement was called for since my big clock fell of the wall one night and scared us half to death. The previous arrangement looked so tiny without it because of our 11 foot ceilings.
This fire is awesome and gives off great heat, it is just really old and rusty and we are due for an update I think. The surround for this fire was found in the garage under loads of spiderwebs and the like doing nothing, so we moved it in here, painted the bricks (which are a horrid orange red) in a stone colour and it looks so much better.

You can see the day we had here. It is meant to be summer and I am in jeans and a thick jumper...and it is Summer!!!
I used Mic's Pops old metal trunk as the base for the little suitcase I picked up for $2.00 (remember I used it at the markets?) and put our big market basket full of Peonies on top . The little canvases above are all French prints Mum got at a bargain shop for $2.00 each!
I still have to put the paintings of roses I done away, but I couldn't wait to show you what I got up to today.

What do you think?

Ness xx

One of those days!

Beach Studios
As far as days go...today I should have stayed in bed!!!
unknown
Our littlest munchkin was sick, and while he laid and slept on the sofa most of the day,Beach Studios
I played catch up on my mountain of jobs and orders, while feeling a little queasy too.
To top that off, there is something going on with our computer and it is going sooooo slow.
Hopefully tomorrow will erase today.
Ness xx

An arrival and some new friends...

Loving these little berries that have burst through on a bush we have out the back. They make a little change to my usual display of flowers or greenery.
I am planing to add some to our guest room in preparation for my Mums arrival tomorrow night.

Wallace Cotton
I have to go in there and try and get some things done, little unfinished pieces and change the bed around. It won't look any where near as pretty as this bedroom in the recent Wallace Cotton catalogue, but it will be comfy for my Mum.
Oh, I have been meaning to show you this picture of some Echidnas (native Australian wildlife) I took the boys to see recently. They are SO cute and you sit on the floor and they just walk all around you. One even climbed over Mason!! I don't have a photo of that as I was trying to stop him from touching them=))

I should have a few things to show you next week too.

have a wonderful weekend and see you Monday,

Ness xx

Wrap Up Of The Beach House

house beautiful

Today is the wrap up of my dream beach house and the rest of it isn't too hard to explain. They are restful areas and the decor is according.

This bedroom above is just perfect. Huge bench at the foot of the bed, French Doors, loads of feather filled linens and carrying on from the rest of the house is the beaded white walls, sisal matting and slipcovers.

"Evening Plunge" - Maggie Taylor

I would however want to put this gorgeous art work of a very tranquil lake across from the bed so we could see it when we woke.
Ness Lockyer
The next photos are from a display home and I would love this seating arrangement to go under the art work across from our bed.
Ness Lockyer
The trunk would go great in the boys dorm-style room for their beach gear.
Ness Lockyer
And last, but not least, a simple bathroom (as I wouldn't want to spend all my holiday time scrubbing!!). This one from the display home would be great. A walk in wet room shower, double basins for us all to clamber about and a concealed toilet (you can just see Declan's arm at the end of the basins) along with a set of French doors so you could access the shower with your sandy feet right from the deck would just finish it off nicely.

unknown...sorry
And of course some sun lounges on a huge deck right of the sand, outdoor shower head and quintessential palm tree for that total beach holiday feel. I hope you all enjoyed the tour of the beach home I will never have...unless I win big. Then I will have a party!!

Ness xx

Texture is King!

Today I am loving the furniture in this beautiful home. Everything in this home is so wonderfully textural and warming. In this photo I love the little tufted parts of the linen chair with their frayed edges and the burlap cover with its little ruffle.
This bedroom doesn't have too many textures, but still holds the warm vanilla palette beautifully. I imagine out the window is a lush green courtyard to wake to.

Quintessentially Cottage! Skirted linen sink and beaded boards always say welcome to me, especially out here in the country. The tap ware is just like what I want for our bathroom reno.
How cute is the little glass lamp base? I wonder if it was re-purposed from a glass bathroom set.
More texture. Sisal matting, waffle weave pleated cover and flaky cream paint...just lovely. The faded botanical print fabric works so well as accents.

The room as a whole is beautiful. I adore the weathered stone on the walls. What a gorgeous base for starting a room scheme. Seeing the room together just proves that texture is King!

Ness xx

all images - Country Living

Our reinvented room...

After my crappy weekend I needed to do something creative today to get me back on track...SO, I reinvented Masons nursery as a guest room. We have some guests coming this year and I thought I had better give these lovely people somewhere relaxing to stay. The mirror was a bargain find..I am thinking of giving it a white wash. The little bottles will hold fresh blossoms when our friends and family stay.
BEFORE

This is what I started with.
AFTER
I still have to finish off some things, fireplace, a canvas for the main wall and a little more dressing, but I hope you can get the feel of what I am after here. I would have loved to have put the bedhead on the main wall, but because of the fireplace, the flow of the room didn't work very well.

I have added these ticking curtains, which I still have to iron, to pick up the ticking pillow cases and the coverlet I will make once I get some spare time.
I love the whole navy and white thing in here, especially with the chunky textures of the wreath and the baskets that I have used. I have added a chair in one of the corners and a trunk which can hold suitcases.

It was so nice to get back into something creative and as the room comes along I will show you. I would love to know what you think so far
Ness xx