What To Do With Towels

Bath towels, beach towels, tea towels, hand towels. If you're not blessed with a linen press then you'll have to deal with towel storage. It almost sounds like an affliction. My remedy? Roll them. On a flat surface, fold them into a nice tidy rectangle and roll tightly from the unfolded end. Pop them into a basket or stack them on a shelf. My tea towels are close at hand in the kitchen, my Olympiad-in-waiting has his pool towels at hand on his bookcase. A nice practical solution and looks great too.

IKEA STAR LIGHTS ARE BACK! (and so am i :)

Oh my, how time flies. It's been a while between drinks but I'm back in the saddle (too many metaphors?)

Here's something to celebrate before Xmas has even arrived. IKEA stores are stocking those fabulous hanging star lights they had a few years back. Anyone who knows my house will have seen these hanging in my front windows - I never did take them down after Xmas - because they just looked so good! They look great in the day and really stunning at night. Hang them in a window or in front of a long mirror. I have the plain version myself but they also have them in silver and shiny red - so festive - so stylish.

School Holiday Craft with Mexican Oilcloth

Yesterday being the first day of winter school holidays meant my poppet and I were hankering for a craft project. We purchased an off-cuts bag of oilcloth for $12 and an hour later we'd made this gorgeous lunch-bag! A very simple sewing project (really) and we still have plenty left-over for a few more crafts - book covering a quick and easy one too. Check out post below for details on where to buy oilcloth and heaps of other oilcloth projects from Me Too Please.

Mexican Oilcloth

My passion for using fabrics for decorating (more on this in another post!) naturally extends to Mexican oilcloth and rather luckily for me I have Sydney's #1 stockist just at the end of my street. Me Too Please stocks a HUGE range of this versatile (not to mention gorgeous) fabric. Buy it by the metre for all sorts of uses and projects - from outdoor tablecloths to crazy easy craft, recovering chairs to lining shelves - there are patterns and colours to suit all tastes and styles. It's pretty addictive as applications are endless and the store website is brimming with ideas and tips. If you're keen but not in the area they will happily pop your oilcloth in the post. Check out the link to their blog on the right or visit http://www.metooplease.com.au/

Oh - and they have lots of other wonderful home-wares and gifts, all following the Me Too Please philosophies of reusing and recycling and sourcing sustainably. Love it.

Great Ways to Display Artworks

Source: Uploaded by user via Lynn-Anne on Pinterest

Nice Mugs

Loving these bowls and mugs I picked up from... Woolworths! The mugs are my preferred size and shape for tea and the bowls are that good cereal size. Not to mention the great patterns and colours. At $3 and $4 a piece I think I have to go back for more :)

Lindfield Home Before & After

This lovely Lindfield home is full of beautiful furniture and many artworks. A bit of tweaking has made the rooms more functional, showcased special pieces and made better use of the spaces.

In the lounge room we moved a large canvas and instead filled the wall with old family portraits that had been gathering dust in the office. Grouping like subjects this way makes a feature of the subject matter that would be lost if the pictures were scattered over different rooms. The couches were moved to sit opposite each other and brought closer to the large coffee table so as to be within arm's reach.

Published!

Giving myself a little pat on the back - my first post has been published in this month's Cafe Society magazine! Next edition out at the end of this month.

Bookcase Overhaul

I've had such great feedback from my 'Beautiful Shelf Display' post. Lots of people were inspired to tackle their own bookcases and there were quite a few requests for a private consult! It was a case of good timing for my friend-in-need Tina and on a recent trip to visit her in Canberra I did an overhaul of her very neglected shelves. Before and after pics speak for themselves!

Plants Inside

I really like the look of plants around the house and having a plant in a room gives it a sense of life* and freshness (if you appreciate their air purifying qualities). I think often people are worried they can't keep indoor plants alive but in my experience a Peace Lily is pretty forgiving :) and a quick Google search will show you heaps of more interesting choices. If you're still not convinced then a variation on the theme is displaying cuttings or even whole plants in water. This is a personal favourite decorating tool and costs next to nothing. Pretty glass bottles, small glass vases, fancy jam jars, even chipped heirloom glasses are all potential vessels for cuttings pinched (literally) from neighbourhood walks and visits to friends gardens. Some things put out roots and last for ever, others wilt and die in weeks - just experiment. Display your plants in a row of mixed glassware on a sunny kitchen windowsill or fill a blank shelf on a bookcase with a single stand-out piece - gorgeous and too easy.

* the plant has to actually be alive and healthy to achieve this

The links below are a good start for more detailed info.
http://www.ivillage.com/top-10-indoor-plants/7-a-258925
http://www.rodale.com/easy-houseplants

Creating Beautiful Shelf Displays

Creating Beautiful Shelf Displays

By Brigitte Oberlander

I’m happy to admit it – I do good shelf. Everyone loves shelves and bookcases but getting the display right is the difference between having storage and having a showpiece. Here are some tips to get you started. Take everything off (yes, everything) and clean all surfaces. This will also encourage you to get rid of things you’re tired of or that really belong somewhere else. Combining books and interesting pieces is always a winner but grouping is the key. Grouping books by colour is a clever trick and stack some horizontally for variation. Items of similar size, shape or colour will have better impact when placed together. Don’t overcrowd every shelf and rather than bookends try using a beautiful object or framed picture. Small plants look great, as do cuttings popped into interesting jars or bottles of water (see below). Lastly, don’t be afraid to keep changing it around – at least until you can stand back and say “gosh I do good shelf”!

Next post: Indoor Plants and Plants that Grow in Water

Beautiful Interiors – The First Step

Beautiful Interiors  – The First Step
By Brigitte Oberlander

The very first step towards creating a beautiful interior is to get rid of clutter. Not only does de-cluttering your home create physical space and order, you’ll discover the wonderful side effects of feeling less stressed and more mentally organised – bonus! How to start? Make a day of it and be brutal – throw away, recycle, donate or send to auction unwanted, unused or irreparable items. If you struggle with this part get a friend to help – they’ll be more decisive. Next – organise – put items that aren’t used much out of sight, file away bills and unsightly paperwork and return items to their rightful place. Everything in your home should have a home. Lastly – do a big clean and don’t forget your mirrors and windows, clean windows make any interior feel spacious and fresh. Now you can sit back with a glass of wine, admire your efforts and let feelings of virtuousness overcome you.

Next post – Tips on Creating Beautiful Shelf Displays.