My first real (kinda) interior design gig!

One of the things I was keen to get into when I moved back to NSW was to redecorate my husband's parent's house. This is in progress so photos and story later. But I also had been asked to help with my brother and sister in law's home. It used to be a pokey pokey pokey tiny 2 bedroom 1950s home in Upper Blue Mountains. My brother in law extended the living space to include a kitchen and dining area... Renovations are just complete!

I visited them late 2008 and this was their living/dining/kitchen area:



To the left of the pic, you can just see the same table as in the below pic, which gives you an idea of the size of the space.



Come 2 years later in April 2010, the furniture has changed somewhat with an addition of various items and a piano.



Significantly, the extension was well underway:



See above where the white wall ends? That was the end of the old kitchen space!



They used to be real kitchy-country folk. Then my sister in law went for the provincial sweet look whilst my brother in law, under my strong tutelage and influence, began to venture out into the world of eclectic and more modern...

They knew they wanted a fresh look to their home. But they left the colours, design, and look to me!

Here's what it looks like now:



A bold pink stripe across the room. (They weren't keen on the whole wall being pink, so I suggested a art-deco-esque floor trim used as a picture rail, which they instantly jumped for and now we all love, and white under that.) I also chose a modern pendant shade for their dining room.



My brother and sister in law really wanted an island bench workspace for their kitchen too, but I advised them strongly against one, because there simply wasn't enough space for one without losing valuable spaciousness and lightness. They even went to Ikea with the intention of getting one, but thankfully, returned without one, seeing some wisdom in holding off.



But then the next challenge was what to put on the walls?



When I think artwork, I stick to my eclectic feel and knew the look I wanted. My brother in law collects interesting industrial and vintage pieces that I thought would work with their new artpieces... so against my sister in law's natural inclination to be as conventional as possible... this is what I came up with:





What I've started there is not permanent of course, this allows the art display to change, to be refreshed every few months... to evolve.

Course, this house is far from complete... but my brother and sister in law are so thrilled with their new home, their new look. And what is great is that I got to stretch my inner (and hopefully outer) interior designer!

We've just finished 90% of the in laws' place so hopefully soon I can have another show and tell!

Once Upon a Fold

I stumbled upon this very cool site celebrating all this paper and fold last night while looking for unusual dollhouses in Australia.

Once Upon a Fold

air vase

You have to click over. Justine from Sydney, Australia is its brainchild and a fellow paper-o-phile. (Did you read through my Peter Callesen post in 2006? Make sure you check out his amazing papercutting!)

I loved this dollhouse, the Lea:



What about this exquisite guitar folding model kit?



I am so tempted to get this architectural model kit.



But I got this instead: the popville book!



Even though I really really wanted this: reflection by Dutch artist Ingrid Siliakus.



But it's out of my budget... for now. It's gone into my wishlist though.

Justine's blog is well worth a read too! :)

What would your favourite shelter magazine do to a dollhouse?

Curbed National was launched in conjunction with Operation Dollhouse on 23 September 2010. Curbed sent out five identical dollhouses to editors-in-chief of Lonny, Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful and Dwell.



Operation Dollhouse was such a success with each shelter magazine producing totally individual and creative responses!

Architectural Digest's creation:

House Beautiful's answer:

Lonny's inspired response:

Elle Decor's vignette:

Dwell's Editor in Chief Saw Grawe was overseas, but he still manages to impress!

How fun this must have been!!!

The better coffee-table toy-box

Almost 2 months ago now, I hightailed it to Ikea (yes it's been a while since I'm able to think about blogging). Never mind that I was the only adult and had a 4 year old in tow, determined to get something to replace our rickety coffee table and provide better toy storage for Hannah's growing toys. Never mind that it was a busy Saturday at Ikea (I actually prefer going on Monday afternoon!). Never mind that there were 1500 kids running around. Never mind that the items I needed would be bulky and cumbersome for one adult. Never mind that I'd only gone to Ikea once before in NSW and didn't drive there that one time.

I knew what I wanted. I was determined. And I knew I didn't need to weave through the maze of Ikea!

Previous toy storage

Then existing (now happily previous!) toy storage for Hannah: A large cheap plastic box. Hannah could only reach and get to what was on top. While she could see through the opaque sides to the bottom, it was rather overwhelming to get to them... which often resulted in a very very bored Hannah, which resulted in a bugging-mummy Hannah.

Previous rickety coffee table

The tea trolley we were using as a coffee table was also on its way out... and didn't really suit our space-saving needs. Held my work and scanner (plus coffee table stuff!).

Now:



Now it has space for coffee table stuff, toys in their pink drawers and a small bookshelf for my currently-reading material, pretty candles and space for the ubiquitous hot drink!



It's a better multi-use solution for this tiny space! Hooray!