Styling from A to Z

For those who know me well, know that one of my very favourite things to do is to escape through the pages of a good novel. My parents tell me that I've always loved books- even before I could read. And it's probably the reason why I collect books. I can't bare to throw them out after I've read them. I not only keep the books I've read but especially enjoy collecting antique books. I tell Steve the reason we have to store boxes and boxes of old books is for my dream to one day build a library in my house (emphasis on the dream).
I often think about the first pair of bookends my grandmother gave me when I began reading in grade 1. It was a pair of wooden bookends shaped like little ponies. Now I outgrew my pony phase by about age 10 and have never found a replacement. I discovered a project on Pinterest that inspired me to create some A and Z letters as bookends.

Spotlight again proved fruitful for finding supplies including paper macho letters "A" and "Z" and wool that was needed. I wasn't sure on the colour I wanted and after a lot of umming and aching I decided on a navy blue and lighter teal colour in the hopes of making an ombre effect- starting with the lighter colour working down to the darker colour.

As the letters were three dimensional a little creative wrapping was needed.

When switching the colours, I wanted to create a bleeding effect so I was happy to have some of the darker colour mixed into the lighter.

It took about half an hour each letter- adding on a little extra time to take pictures- but it was a very easy afternoon project. I was pretty happy with the final project but I would maybe have switched to white craft glue rather than hot glue gun as it got a little messy with the threads of glue and fibres from the wool.

They may not be family heirlooms in the making but they have added some great colour and a little fun to our room. 

From cheap to cheerful

I've had a small collection of magazine pictures and ads in a box beside my bed for some time, and I thought it was about time I did something with them. And a particularly fruitful visit to the local dollar store provided me with the perfect opportunity.
I bought a couple of cheap photo frames that I thought I could unify with a little white spray paint and create a cluster of pictures on an empty wall of our room.

Thankfully I had some leftover spray paint from the last project, so this is going to be turning cheap into cheerful! It only took two coats and about an hour to dry and voila!

I decided to upgrade the frame from my paint chip wall art I created about a month back so that everything was matchy-matchy!

I should have waited until it was morning to take these pics as the light isn't great in our room, but I think you get the picture (pun intended). I highly recommend using cheap frames over buying a match set. In contrast I bought my holiday picture frames from Freedom for $60, and these three frames cost half of that, including the spray paint!

Pintastic!

With barely 10 days until Steve and I reach our first $10K saving milestone, I've been finding myself getting more and more excited about owning our first renovator home. And thanks to the wonderful invention of Pinterest I can spend almost all day dreaming and designing. I've been slowly adding to my Future House pin board with bits and pieces from bathroom inspiration, to home decor accessories even my dream of having a hidden bookshelf entrance into a study. I'm hoping that by the time we have the keys to our new home I'll have honed in on our style and the types of rooms we want to create. And maybe, just maybe, my dreams will become reality.


I love the timber underneath the kithen island



I really like the grey and yellow colour scheme



I love the colour of the walls

Loving the grey, large sqaure tiles in bathrooms

I would love to create this outdoor space. Incredible before and after pic!



I love the use of brick and I think it's a workable design for a small kitchen

Meeting Milestones

Payday is a great day in anyone's book, but I get particularly excited every fortnight these days because it means I'm putting another chunk into our joint savings account and slowing chipping away at the end goal- a home deposit.
Recently Steve and I discussed what we should do to celebrate as we reached the big savings milestones. And while the idea of going away for the weekend or buying ourselves something nice all sounded like great ideas, we must admit it sounded a bit counter-intuitive celebrating saving by spending. But Steve being the genius that he is decided perhaps we make a small investment in a case of wine from a winery we visited during our Christmas road trip through the Barossa Valley to Melbourne.
This week the case of Langmeil Orphan Bank Shiraz arrived!

And mark the milestones with a couple of simple labels!

Every ten thousand dollars we get to drink! It's like a really fun drinking game!

We are approximately 3 weeks off from popping the cork on the first bottle!