Tree of Life

Moontree Candle Studio


Believe it or not, Andrew chose this artwork. It is a set of three mangowood carved panels.

The tree of life holds alot of emotional and spiritual sentiment for us, for Andrew especially.

So when we visited the Moontree studio in the Blue Mountains back in December, Andrew saw this beautiful artwork and bought it on the spot.

I think it will take pride of place in our lounge room or perhaps in the hallway so it can be seen as people walk through into the house.

The worst thing about this is that since our visit to the store, they have added more mangowood carvings to their range......





Guess who wants to buy this one but has been told there's not enough room....





(sheepishly raises her hand)

My latest finds for the lounge room

Moontree Candle Studio (my favourite shop in the whole world!)


M&S wool rug



M&S hurricane lamp




Driftwood wall sconces on eBay



How pretty are these sconces? Very creative I reckon.

Not sure I'd actually have them in my house - I mean, our house.... but they are really lovely anyway.

Wow!!

I just received an email response regarding the Chatsworth cushion cover that I am lusting after. The stockist still has a few and she is selling them at.... one pound each. That's about $2. Plus VAT (British taxes) and delivery. So maybe $10 in total? How good is that!! If I don't like the covers (I doubt it) I probably won't get my money back as they are a clearance item, but who cares, it's not a great deal of money to lose is it?

So I've replied to the lovely lady's email, asking how she would prefer me to pay and whether she could hold the goods for me until I have flown to the UK.

Oopsy-daisy. I think I just broke my promise not to spend money.

Just because I can

theglowcompany.co.uk


Orson & Blake


Ikea (!!)



Freedom Furniture

I've been trawling around for some inspiring homewares both in the UK and Australia for our new home. Andrew, if you are reading, don't worry I haven't bought anything, these are just some ideas!

I absolutely adore the owl lamp from Orson & Blake, I just have this obsession with owls. Wouldn't that lamp make a brilliant conversation piece?

The other lamps look elegant and classy. I'm still in shock that Ikea has such a pretty lamp and from memory the price is very reasonable too.

Success

It has taken me hours of browsing online to find these cushions to compliment my colour scheme in the main bedroom. I kept searching for "dusky" pink but discovered that it is also referred to as "dusty" pink, which is a bit of a typo by my standards. And then there's also "damson", "rouge", "clover" and "blush" pink just to confuse matters further!

This first cushion, the Chatsworth, looks absolutely luscious. The downside is that I don't think it's available anymore, and I'm waiting on an email requesting more info from the supplier.



Chatsworth by Jeff Banks (left)



Wallace Sacks pink faux fur



Sarah silk dusty pink


Peony by John Lewis




Lulu's Salon Collection Dusty Pink Button



Cross dyed cushion


Mandarin cushion



Beaded pintuck faux silk



Peacock by Graham and Green

Before photos

Brace for impact.

This is how the house looked before Andrew moved in. Some rooms had already been painted so you won't be able to see the hideous kaleidoscope that was our home. But these pics should still give you some idea. Our bedroom was a horrid salmon pink colour. The person who chose the colour scheme and painted each room was the guy who had been living in the house for about 10 years. Yes, a man chose these colours!! Was he colour blind?

Fireplace

I know.

It's a shocker. Isn't it.

The drop sheet is gone now, so is that wooden thing (no idea what that was!), the screen has been folded up and put to the side. I'm sure Andrew has swept it out and tidied it up by now also.

We don't intend to use the fireplace for heating the room as there are radiators all throughout the house which ought to warm us up nicely. The fireplace is our last resort if we're freezing our bottoms off.

So then we are left with this rather ugly stone feature that I want to pretty up.

I think I'll buy some mirrors to fit inside the fireplace, then fill the pit with lots of candles. That can at least give an "aura" of having a fire going and it's less messy.

Andrew's best mate Andy is a professional joiner (not a carpenter, thank you very much! lol) who works with his father Ken in Somerset. Perhaps Andy could build a new mantel to fit underneath the mantelpiece?

The other option I thought of is to just tile it over from top to bottom, but I'd much prefer a new mantel and then just put down some black tiles at the footing (sounds good, but I don't know what that part is actually called hahaha).

Suggestions please.

More photos of our home

A very overgrown hedge leading to our front door. I guess buying a hedge trimmer will be the first thing to do when I arrive!

Hallway

Dining room with pizzas ready to go in the oven - the kitchen is behind where Andrew would have been standing to take the photo

Looking upstairs from the hallway

Looking downstairs - that window ledge is where we will put Wendell the carved wood wombat when he arrives

Spare bedroom

Hallway from outside our bedroom

Bathroom vanity

Bathroom - nicely co-ordinated with black towels, bath mat and black accessories. Oh, and Shaun the Sheep sitting on the window ledge!

Lounge room

The left corner is where the computer will be set up. And we'll probably buy a couple of low bookcases to fit along the back of the sofa.

The colour scheme hubby & I chose for most of the house is red, black and cream. This works beautifully because the walls are all freshly painted cream and we have exposed beams throughout the house that have been painted black.

I have been busy with knitting needles and sewing machine to make some pretty cushions to scatter on the sofa and along the window seat. I have finished two cushions so far, one is a knitted bamboo wool cover, black on one side and a chili pepper shade on the other. The other cover is a red Indian cotton fabric that I picked up at Spotlight. I will post some pics here when I get back to Sydney and take photos.

I digress.

So far there is little furniture in the house, just a black sofa bed in the lounge room, a table in the kitchen and a borrowed air bed upstairs. The rest of our worldly goods are packed away in storage down in Victoria until we can afford to ship it all over to the UK. At least I will have some time to get the decorating done before everything arrives!

I have found a few wallpapers that might be suitable for the loungeroom, just for a feature wall:


Graham & Brown Mode 'Elinor' in cream

or red:

Graham & Brown 'Portobello' 18997



Graham & Brown 'Mosaico' by Umbra

I'm not sure if I would actually go with the red floral 'Elinor' just in case we change our minds and want to alter the colour scheme a bit later on. At the moment the 'Portobello' wallpaper is my preference for the lounge room.

Sanctuary

While waiting for my visa, I've been doing some browsing online for wallpapers and decorating inspiration. I've decided, without hubby's input *hahaha* that I want to do a feature wall in our bedroom with some wallpaper. I figure, wallpaper isn't hard to remove and it's less messy than paint, and there are so many stunning designs available that I'm sure to find something nice!

This is the main bedroom that I want to decorate. At the moment all hubby has to sleep on is this massive airbed but we've already chosen our new mattress and we are getting hubby's best mate to make the base. The base will have storage draws which will be ultra useful as the room is so small, we probably won't have much space for storage once we add a wardrobe and dresser.

The room has been freshly painted a soft cream colour (as seen in the pic - I didn't get any before photos but it was a hideous pink!). I only want to wallpaper behind the bed and leave the walls as they are.

I really want to achieve a dreamy, restful and romantic sanctuary, of black & cream with dusky pink and purple accents.

I have already chosen the bedlinen which I snapped up in Australia while it was on sale a few months back:

Margaret Muir 'Crystals' quilt cover and pillows

The sheets & extra pillow slips are a slate grey colour similar to the bedhead in the photograph above. Now I'm hunting around for some accents in purple (that's easy) & dusky pink but do you know how hard it is to find this particular colour??

It's driving me crazy! If you happen to know where I can buy some soft furnishings like throws and cushions in dusky pink please leave a comment. I will be your bosom buddy for-ev-er. Pinky swear.

So here are some wallpapers that have inspired me:

Sanderson 'Ceres' purple wallpaper

Graham & Brown 'Isabella' Charcoal damask retro

At the moment I am LOVING the Sanderson 'Ceres' purple wallpaper. Purple is my favourite colour and I think this wallpaper would contrast beautifully against the bedlinen and give the room a shot of glamour without being too over the top.

Nor is it too "florally", I'm trying to avoid being flowery and going for something that is a bit more punchy and exotic. Geez, not wanting too much am I!!

Sorry

Nothing exciting to blog about I'm afraid.

My visa application has most definitely been received at the British High Commission and it is undergoing the normal investigations now. I have no idea how long it will take, it has been almost two weeks already and I'm pretty sure that the current processing time for a Settlement visa is around 12 weeks.

I included a letter with my application, requesting that my visa be granted in time for me to travel to the UK and be re-united with Andrew in time to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary on October 15th. I don't know if the letter will have any effect, but it's worth a shot. Otherwise, I doubt that I'll get my passport & visa back til mid-November :(

The separation from Andrew is unbearable at times. My blood pressure has been a bit up and down, no doubt due to the stress of being away from him for so long. Thank goodness I have my craft projects to keep me busy or I'd be a total mess.

Finally

Here are some photos of my knitting as promised, the bag has been finished but I haven't taken updated photos yet.


Main body of the bag


The strap


Close up of beading.

The yarn is Moda Vera "Tucson", in berry red, and "Tammy" in multicolour. It was very expensive to make, but as usual the yarn is all reduced to clear now and the "Tucson" can be found for $2 a ball. Dammit.

The yarn and beads were all bought at Spotlight.

I have since lined the bag with some Indian cotton, also from Spotlight, which I bought for about $6 a metre.

In other news.....

The visa application has been sent. At last.

What a nightmare it has been. If I can help it, I never want to go through it again. Totally harrowing if you don't know what you are doing, and the information on the Visa4UK website is very vague and misleading. If you ever need assistance to apply for a UK visa, get in contact with Restless World, this company is based in Surry Hills, Sydney, and they specialise in helping people to navigate their way through the process. They can help you fill out your application or just give you guidance on what to include with the application. They do charge a fee but, if you want to give your application the best chance, it's worth paying.

Other than that, I have sold my car recently, so I've been using public transport for the first time in years. Interesting. Some weird people on the trains, and some scary people. Aside from that, I'm getting alot of incidental exercise because I have to walk everywhere so that can only be a good thing. I've got to burn off all the glasses of wine I've been consuming while I have been staying with friends in the Blue Mountains.