Have a great day!

Well, I suppose I better get back to study and supervising the plumbers who are fixing a lovely leaking pipe (which we were unaware of until our rates came at a ridiculous price). Then sending off my applications for teaching registration. Hope everyone has a great day!!!!

Saraya xo

Bathroom

We are currently retiling our toilet and replacing what used to be a bright blue Royal Doulton toilet and had bright blue mosiac tiles on the floor(original 1980s style) with a glossy white toilet and high white gloss 300 x 600 tiles on the walls and extra large porcelin floor tiles. Dont have photos atm because of my camera broke but it is looking good!.

However I am currently looking at bathroom ideas- We will have a white bathroom to keep it modern and neutral however I have once again convinced my partner that we need to go a bit indulgent as this is the main bathroom. So of course the ones that I finally like are Bisazza Mosaico tiles- the type is called Giovanna, which is a white pearl so it looks white and then when the sun hits it it reflects pearl. However.....we need to do about 4 square metres of it....so far the types i like are $400 a square metre and reaching $1500 a square metre for some. Better keep looking for ones that dont make him fall off his seat!.

Wallpaper Ideas

After about 6 months of trying to convince my partner that wallpaper is the way to go and him laughing at me- I have finally convinced him to put it in our house. We have a bare wall at the end of our wide hallway (where the bedrooms split off from) and I feel this would be the perfect place to put high impact wallpaper. I love the peacock feathers from florence broadhurst which is silver and the eyes of the feathers have an aqua squiggle (technical term) lol. As I would like to keep it to netural or blue hues. However something a bit more wow from Kelly W. would be great. Any ideas or places to purchase wallpaper will be greatly appreciated - looking for Brisbane/Gold Coast shops. Cheers!

More renovations....

Over the weekend we have pretty much finished the spare bedroom with a light blue feature wall and downlights, chrome fan, timber blinds and white walls and ceiling. We have nearly finished the built in cupboards with just the mirrored doors to go on. We call it the cloud room (the pictures do not do justice) as when the blinds are open during the day it would be hard to feel sad in that room as it is sooo light and calming. Also over the weekend the second lot of bi-fold doors were installed opening out to the deck- both will fold back so the hardwood post in the middle will be the only thing left **i took the bottom photo this morning it gets beautiful sun i cant wait to eat brekky out on the deck

Renovations

thinking of putting this into my living room...im a sucker for bookcases as i have a million books, vogue magazines and vases/decor items to fill this beauty.

This is one of the 2010 colour forcast for Dulux Paints-hmmmm some of the darker blues would be nice as the feature wall for my living room...as it has around 6 bay windows and bifold doors opening it up...it has alot of natural light..so i think a dark colour is needed.. to break up all the white walls, gloss white furniture and off white leather couch..

I will just have to do with simple feature walls as I have been unsuccessful in convincing my bf to allow me to have wall paper...or to paint a chevron stripe myself...

Wall Art- Vintage

So i'm thinking about hanging these vintage images in frames on one of my feature walls... The feature walls in the bedrooms will be lighter blue/greys so the bold blue would really add some colour...thinking about large white frames to make the blue pop. Either in a 9 series of frames (3 per row) or just 3 large ones in a line. I also like how they look like coral or sea urchins to fit into my coastal theme without being too obvious with anchors and nautical items...Thoughts...

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The Weekend!- The Home Show

Yay! its the weekend. Rather than spending my days lying on the beach like in this photo...(taken whilst on my little valentines getaway)...I will be cleaning and painting the house...and....visiting the 2010 Home Show at the RNA Showgrounds in Brisbane. Im sure i will spend the whole 8 hrs walking around in amazement and then trying to convince my bf to install the most expensive items i find lol. Wish me luck!!!

Obsession of the week- Coffee Table Books

As I am still renovating in the early stages I am unable to make large purchases such as the lounge, coffee table, dining table etc so I have to resort to little decor items to quench my thirst for decorating. Here are some of the books I would love to have on my coffee table along with the countless Vogue Living and Vogues that already fill the draws and underneath of the table lol im a little obsessed. just over a year ago I fell in love with a day spa down the road from me when we were living in and renovating a town house. It is called Le Plunge Day Spa...which is a beautiful cottage style day spa that is filled with homewares, candles and beauty products in the front store. The books that they have are amazing ranging from HUGE designer biographys to photographic books to cute books showing the beauty of Italy. I must visit again to pick up some coffee table books. And perhaps something for me.....

Obsession of the Week- Ralph Lauren Home

(images via Ralph Lauren Home)

Here is my obsession of the week, the fabrics, the styling...i love love love Ralph Lauren Home..i love the mix of modern and rustic beach style...on my wish list is some of the fabrics which are to die for...maybe a belated valentines day gift????

Bedroom Number 1

As I have stated before- nearly everything needs to be redone in this house- so completing a bedroom even takes ages as we need to pull the ceiling sheets down, the cornice needs to be pulled down, all the built-in cupboards need to be redone and everything plastered and painted. Here is the bedroom number 1 as of today- still alot to go- we picked out our feature wall colour last week- a nice calming light blue with a hint of steely grey so it doesn't look too much like a 4 yr old boys bedroom- just nice and relaxing and full of light.

More of The Deck

Progress is happening slowly, the roof was put on over the weekend- where that ply sheet is on the side- another bi-fold door will be put in hopefully this weekend so once they are both open their will only be that hardwood post in the middle opening out onto the deck- note we will be rendering the whole house so excuse the horrible bricks. Aren't those hardwood posts gorgeous?

The Deck

So what would a coastal style house be without a beautiful deck that captures the beautiful and year round bay breeze? Nothing. My beautiful and most talented boyfriend has completed all the works on this house including- concreting the driveway- plastering, cornice work, painting and completing the deck including roofing himself -with some help from his father and brother (all part of their construction company Liona Constructions).

Here are some images from the deck- Being in the trade my boyfriend was able to source some stunning bi-fold doors which replace the outside wall which was where the breakfast room and windows were located- this was knocked out-replace with bi-folds and gorgeous hardwood posts.

Inspiration Board

( Elle Decor)

It is hard to tell from my previous posts with pictures of my house but it will be a beach resort style house with nautical and island life decorating. Yes very cliche but what I wanted was a house that once you walk into it-you escape your daily life and you would feel like you were staying in a holiday house at the goldcoast, noosa, bondi, the bahamas etc...

When you drive down the hill toward my house you have panoramic views of the whole of moreton bay and north stradbroke island so this style is very fitting.

Note: My favourite reads/websites are Coastal Living, Vogue Living, Celebrity Holiday houses, Elle Decor, The Wifestyle Files, Chichi and Luxe, Swish and Swanky, Lonnymag, etc so more than likely they have provided this inspiration for my future bayside beauty.

So here are my inspirations- I apologise in advance as I have been collecting these images for a long time so I am unable to quote all references etc so if you recognise these feel free to comment and I will add it in.

The House

One of the bedrooms

The new driveway- exposed agyrate in checkerboard- black and white stones- picture does not do justice

The desert more commonly known as my backyard

The hallway once we ripped up the carpet- not polished or sanded.