junk style

Just when I'd almost given up on furniture finding, along comes all this. The council clean ups don't happen as often these days.

I stumbled on most of these vintage treasures discarded outside a lovely old building nearby. They look like they had lived there for many years.

With almost summer like weather this week it's been perfect to be outside with a paintbrush. It's always fun to see the amazing transformation paint can make isn't it?

Here are some things I've completed so far. My partner undercoated everything for me with Zinsser primer which made it a lot easier. I used some sample pots I already had to mix the colour with satin enamel paint, brighter aqua on the bedside table and lighter for the drawers, then sanded lightly over everything for a worn look. I'll have to get myself some chalk paint one of these days.

I painted the mirror, once varnished timber, a while ago. It was left behind when my son moved out.

Fun for me playing around with vintage finds but a bit disturbing for Miss Bella who likes everything to be left in it's place.

I was imagining my own cluttered shop, market stall or the inside of a beach hut.

now for a cat nap..

Happy Weekend!

sharing at

My Romantic Home

coastal collages

Making collages with my favourite things.. driftwood, shells, vintage books, white flowers, crochet, sea glass and natural finds.

Getting ready for Christmas with a driftwood tree. The people from Bespoke magazine Australia are going to feature this in November, after seeing it on etsy this weekend (:

Sailing away with beach finds and recycled materials. I found the driftwood, sea glass and shells at the beach and the vintage button portholes are from my grandmother's button collection. The blue and white fabric is leftover from the Christmas stockings I made last year.

Have a great week!

rustic signs and beach finds

It's amazing how much fun you can have with some bits of recycled timber and simple finds from the beach. We've had some lovely old weatherboards leaning against the laundry wall for a while ages.. someone wanted to chuck them out but I knew they'd come in handy one day (;

There's nothing like the rustic beauty of old wood, weathered and worn with interesting layers of old paint. The builder of the family cut them to size for me and I've been adding some more layers of paint in beachy colours I mixed.
I attacked them with a sander and enjoyed watching the layers of colour coming through. I recently bought myself some good quality alphabet stamps to add some simple messages to live by. 

The sea glass, sea pottery and shell finds have been put to use and I'm in the middle of making some larger pictures I will show you later.

They stand on a shelf or can be blue tacked to a door or wall.

Have a great week & remember to enter the Reclaim Prints GIVEAWAY drawn this Wednesday!

small space garden ideas

Even though it's still technically winter, Spring is in the air with some beautiful warm days this week. It just makes you feel like growing something!

It doesn't matter how small your outdoor area is you can always have a garden. Our back deck and front verandah are our garden, full of hardy plants and herbs living in pots, containers and recycled tins.

I love the Scandinavian deck pictured above with the metal containers filled with geraniums and lavender. 

Here are some more ideas I've collected that don't take up much space. I love the way some of these have repurposed recycled materials.

Isn't this a great idea for growing veggies and herbs?

I love how this old tyre has been turned into a hanging garden.

A clever use of guttering and looks good too.

I've often admired this balcony on a B & B on the south coast of NSW. Bouganvillea is so hardy and such a gorgeous colour amongst all the green.

Another brilliant idea with pallets that cuts down on weeding.

A vertical garden using something usually used for shoe storage.

What's growing at your place?

via 1. dusedrommer.blogspot.com 2. housetohome.co.uk 3. diyshowoff.com 4. juneauempire.com 5. loveinabandb.blogspot.com 6. unknown 7. instructables.com

kitchen by mike

While I'm on the topic of recycling this week, I thought you'd like a look around Koskela and Kitchen by Mike. They occupy an old industrial warehouse in Sydney's inner city. It's full of inspiring Australian made homewares and furniture using recycled and natural materials.  
I've been here a few times for lunch and a wander around Koskela design centre. This is where Kara Rosenlund's Frankie was parked on her visit to Sydney.

A canteen style eatery with fantastic food and an everchanging menu based on seasonal produce. 'Mike' McEnearney was formerly executive chef at Sydney's Rockpool.

This is a brilliant idea, but not easy to get a good photo of. A window / wall of chalkboard painted herb pots, each labelled with chalk writing. The pots sit in 2 layers of steel mesh. It has it's own irrigation system and trough at the bottom to catch and recycle the water.

 sail bags and bean bags

I love this wine barrel table and rusty recycled gate.  

Great use of recycled pallets 

Styling workshops and kids classes at stylist Megan Morton's The School.

Paper chandelier art

1/85 Dunning St
Rosebery

Happy weekending!

recycled pallets

With millions of wooden shipping pallets ending up in landfill every year, it's great to see people coming up with so many creative ways to reuse them. 
These are some of my favourite ideas.

swinging seat

small space gardening

adirondack chairs

pallet desk

indoor or outdoor furniture

Last Crumb recycled pallet cafe in Amsterdam

scandinavian style bed

This amazing pallet house was originally designed for refugee housing. 
See the full story here.

What do you think? 

Do you have any pallet recycling ideas?

via 1. architectureartdesigns.com 2. http://pinterest.com/sandra_trebbne 3. frenchbydesign.blogspot.com 4.http://www.hometalk.com/b/857408/recycled-pallets                 5. thistlewoodfarms.com 6. mandytremayne.blogspot.com 7. inhabitat.com 8. unknown 

simple macrame diy

In this fast pace, high tech world we live in it's great to see some old school crafts coming back. In the 70s (were you born yet ?) I had a macrame plant hanger in my room and remember having a go at making some kind of macrame wall hanging. 

Inspired by all sorts of macrame hangers I've seen in shops I figured out how to make one that's really simple and quick using things you probably already have around the house. 
Maybe an idea for kids to make in the school holidays.

1. Cut 8 lengths of string about 1 metre 42" and knot together at the top

2. Hang on a wall hook, divide into pairs, then tie knots about 42cm 16" down the string

3. Knot the strings in a criss cross pattern

4. Place a recycled tin inside. At this stage I laid the whole thing on a table and continued knotting, repeating 4 or 5 times. Tie all the strings together at the bottom. 

This size also fits a glass jar.

Remove the tin and fill with potting mix. I used cuttings of Japanese money plant, which are surviving well inside with plenty of light .. any kinds of succulent would look good. 
Top with white pebbles or shells.

I'd like to try a more complicated design sometime soon.

Hope you have a great week! 

joining
finding silver pennies