Second Thoughts

So I'm fairly mad about fireplaces. There is something so warm and romantic about sitting in front of a crackling fire with a glass of wine ... I know I know all my posts at the moment have some sort of alcoholic reference but whats a girl to do.... wine or stress?

Anyways so I'm thinking I may be regretting slightly the fact that I don't have a fireplace hidden somewhere in my hole .... so I'm going to have to find some way of including one somehow ... the little voice in my head is screaming MASTER BEDROOM OR SITTING ROOM but we will see. these are a few of my current favorites ....

So So Clever

Ok plans have changed and its all because if this very clever lot of pictures I found on a site called Ikea Hacks. So obviously I'm looking to save money,  I think we all are so I am pouring over the Ikea website and then I come across a site about how people have "changed" normal ikea products - sometimes making them better and sometimes totally destroying them.

This one I loved - so very very simple, its a chair cover, normal white slipcover where they have then gone along and just improved it so very much. Again I don't know if it would suite my house but how can you not admire someone for making something so very simple totally Designer Chick!

Tell me your not totally in love with this simple idea???

All The Good Things

This week seems to be full of decisions made, exciting progress and great ideas. No honestly, I am actually arguing with myself over exactly what I want to talk about today.

However after a Extra Large Latte with Skim and and Apple and Cinnamon Muffin I have made a decision.

Flooring! I mentioned yesterday about how some big decisions have been made about flooring and if you read regularly you will know how much I have agonised over my flooring options.

So here we go - on the staircase and upstairs I am going to use carpet. I know not the most original choice and if you look at the sample below you may well think ... blah however it is a smart choice and its a warm comforting choice.... and secretly between you and me, I keep picturing this tiny little girl with dark brown curls sitting on my stairs playing and if that happens to be my little daughter (crossing fingers .... in a few years anyways) I don't really want it to be wood or tiles... so carpet it is. The product we have decided on is a commercial carpet so very hard wearing, very thick and soft and pretty simple. No patterns or anything over the top. Simple seems to describe the carpet perfectly - the colour chosen is second from the top. 

Downstairs I struggled with - I wanted wood but with the pool, water and sand it was going to be quite a high maintenance product and above all else - I'm way too lazy for high maintenance. Then we decided on tiles, we can lay tiles ourselves to save money, they are low maintenance and always look good.... however I think I have solved the dilemma and saved our knees in the process. I found a product usually used in shops called a vinyl plank - Looks just like wood and is actually being used quite a bit over east in homes - it just hasn't quite caught on here yet. Its very hard wearing, very low maintenance and its actually not as cold and hard as tiles. If you get good quality its not cheap but this might be our solution ...

What do you think? Have I finally cracked the flooring puzzle or should I go back to the drawing board? 

Shutters

I have been thinking lately very hard about my window treatments ... and flooring but don't let me start on flooring.

So window treatments, I know in my bedroom I want floor to ceiling curtains with a sheer layer and also a really heavy grey layer however in the kids bedrooms I wanted something a bit lighter and more airy. So I think I have decided on white shutters. They look great, easy to clean and I'm guessing they are hard wearing.... What do you think?

Also another question - would you continue them into the kids bathroom???

So many things to consider.

This bedroom in particular has got my creative juices flowing. Picture an all white and grey nursery with pops of bright yellow, a lovely white window seat under the window which will give stacks of room for toy storage ... I can see it already (And if hubby doesn't have a heart attach I would love to paint the roof in big yellow and white stripes!)

Quick Update

Don't you just adore coming back to work after a long weekend and having EVERYTHING thrown at you. Its not enough that you actually have to come back to work - what makes life brilliant is when you come back to war! Its Engineers fighting over who gets you to do something first. Its your boss announcing brand new systems are being put in place without you even knowing or organising said systems, oh yes, and its explaining to your team that the desk which has been empty for over a year (If you read my posts you will know that about a year ago one of my team members died at his desk ... very traumatic for all involved) will be having a new tenant soon.

So while I battle my ever increasing stress levels I will leave you with some new pictures of my house!

Frontage - its looking good, slightly taller than I thought but still I'm very happy with it all.

Looking out from my dressing room down through the master bedroom to the bridge and void area upstairs.

Looking at my ensuite bathroom - how lovely and big does the hole in the wall look, my bath will sit there.

One of my favorite rooms in the house - my dressing room

Standing in the void / bridge area looking in through the double doors into my master bedroom. My library sits on the wall to the left of the doors.

Again in the void / bridge area but this time looking the other way at my sitting room. Can I just say I adore my little hole in the wall!

In my sitting room look out into the void / bridge way.

Looking down the hallway towards the kids bedrooms / bathroom from the sitting room.

Kids bedroom 1

Kids bedroom 2

Kids Bathroom - for some reason I just adore that window!!

Small Down South Break ... Dont mind if I do!

So I'm off - on holiday that is. Its a small break with the extended family ... we will be drinking wine and beer by the lovely wood fire. We will be eating all sorts of local cheeses and of course lets not forget chocolate...

We will be staying at a lovely place in Dunsborough called Whalers Cove (The image above) and it is heaven, right on the beach front, looking out over the peppermint trees .... Obviously anything other than minute taking is going to be fabulous but it also means I wont be here on Friday so have a lovely fun filled weekend ... and I will have a big surprise for you on Monday!

Oh I'm horrible at surprises - We will have completely finished the brickwork by the time I get back so next step is the roof!

XOX

Miss V

More Pool Inspiration

So 120 people looked at my blog yesterday and not one of you managed to write down 3 good things about yourselves. Obviously its not easy so I'm going to ease off on the phyco-babble bullshit however please please please think about it yourself...

Anyways -  onto something prettier and lighter today - this is a new set of Villa's that have just opened in Seminyak, Bali and I find the pool areas something I really really want to achieve in my backyard. I love the colour of the pool so maybe I'm moving away from my normal black tiles thoughts ... also I like ... no scratch that love the idea of not just paving right up to the pool - why not add some interest with a strategically placed tree ... oh and the grey stones. Basically I want this pool area and it isn't really that hard to achieve ... just a bit of extra cleaning up the leaves but if it looks like this it might just be worth it.

Are We Getting It Wrong

So on the weekend I was having lunch with a group of girlfriends and I found myself "playing down" my role in the house design and it got me thinking ... alot. From a very young age we are taught not to "toot our own horns". I get the whole modesty bit but to be honest why is it now so hard to be proud and boastful (even the word boastful is bad in my head) about the things you are good at. Why is being polite and modest the key to success.

In my head I understand the question - how can anyone else appreciate your better qualities if you yourself keep putting yourself down in a misguided attempt to fit in.

So my challenge for this morning is to find three things I am good at and boast about them.... sounds easy right, there are plenty of things we are good at.... everyone is good at at least three things .... then why is it so hard to write them down, why do we justify them away and say "yeah but...."

So right - My three things

Number 1 - I am a born organiser - this one is easy, I am good at organising stuff. I am good at working out in my head how things need to be done and doing them. (YAY one down two do go)

and this is where I sit and stare at the screen desperate to think of something

Number 2 - I am good with colour - I like using colour and can tell in my head when something is or is not going to work.

Number 3 - Now this one I cant figure out ... I have deleted about three diffferent responses so see - its not quite as easy as I thought - I am going to say I am good at being happy. I enjoy being happy and work damn hard at staying as happy as I possibly can. I am very good at not letting things get me down and when they do I blackmail my mind into getting happy again with a big long glass of scotch and coke ... or a lovely red even.

So there ladies - the three things I am good at. Its actually an interesting list, Its not all doing things, some of the things I am most proud of are decisions I have made on how I live my life...

So now I challenge everyone who reads this blog to comment with your three things - I dont care what they are, all I want to know is that we are cabable of patting ourselves on the back because hey... if you can do it, the rest will come easily.

More Progress

Well over the weekend I snuck upstairs and had another look at progress. In my upstairs sitting room there is no big windows only 2 highlight windows, one on each wall. Anyways they have put in one of the highlights but what I am really looking forward to seeing is the wall between the entry and the sitting room.

That is going to be lovely. I have this big cut-out which will bring in even more light - I just cant wait till its actually built! (and yes, if I say "I cant wait" any more I realise I may well explode!)

Its the Little Things

Sometimes its the little things that make me happy. Take this window for example, this is one of those items I really didn't have to fight over, stress or compromise on. All I said was, I want two big windows either side of the bridge and hey presto - they are finally here.

I have to say, I just cant get over how good they look. Ok perhaps not now but they do look good.

Making An Ash of It

So for my darling husbands birthday I went all out and arranged a 4 day exhibition in South Australia diving with the great white sharks. My father also got a trip for his birthday so they were going to make the journey together.

They were due to leave today - this evening to be exact and then this is where something so small and so far away starts to cause all sorts of crazy.

The ash from a volcano in South America has closed down the airports in Perth .... and here is where the drama starts. The boat won't wait, The company won't give us a refund or even allow us to change the departure date so if they are not there we lose all the money we have paid (and let me say it was a very extravagant present - I cant wait for christmas this year!)... so what to do. I look into trains - none,  I look into buses ... none.

Ok so they will have to drive - 2300km's - 26 hours straight of driving. Oh god. So last night my poor poor husband woke up at midnight - got in the car with his father in law and started driving.

As of 6am this morning they have done 600km's and are somewhere near Norseman.

Its odd, that drive should be pretty amazing, it should be alot of fun driving through the middle of Australia however because they have .... 26 hours to get there I don't even want to start thinking about how much they must be cursing us right now ... oh well.... one good thing - my husband would do anything for a good cheese sausage, I'm sure they will find one in the next day!

Kitchen Basics

Just a quick one today - courtesy of the lovely Ms B who wanted all my kitchen dreamings. .. Sorry there is no fancy mood board here but as I said - I'm still supposed to be taking minutes.

My tops 40 mm stone and the colour is called Arctic white and its as white as you can possibly get and my cupboards are a colour called Truffle Lini in a fine grain texture (its rough under my hands which I like - again with texture) ... I want my accessories to be reds and as for the actual layout - I was quite stuck because it was such a small space (I have always had a rather large kitchen so storage was important) so I hired a kitchen designer to get it right. Hopefully it comes out well but this is one room I'm slightly worried about.