Jackie Kennedy decor

I was searching yesterday for blue bedroom images as inspiration for my bedroom makeover I told you about last week. And I stumbled upon this picture...

A lot of things jumped out at me:
The soft blue/grey, the chandelier, the Louis armchair, the frames above each bedside table, that really tall dresser mirror.

And then I tried to date the image and when I clicked into the website to find out more I discovered that this was the White House Master Suite during the Kennedy era! It was actually Jackie's bedroom, JFK had his own.

Take a look at some more pics (I wish my bedroom was even half this size!).




Don't you think the bedroom could be set in any era really? It's so classic, feminine but not overtly so, also very practical. And the date... 1962.

Take a look at a comparison of the same room decorated differently for four different Presidents.

via here

They are all a vast improvement from this image of the same room in 1893... they sure didn't have a decorator!
images via here

It's quite fascinating and you can read more about the Kennedy's Renovation of the White House at www.whitehousemuseum.org

So... thanks for the inspiration Jackie. Love your style!

Photoshop effects on Saturday's photos

I have been looking into Lomo cameras and Lomography.

An extract from Wikipedia: "Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, "happy accidents," and alternative film processing are often considered part of the "Lomographic Technique."
Check it out some beautiful Lomo shots here http://www.lomography.com/

So I thought I'd cheat and try out some Lomo style photoshop effects from an online tutorial here.

First attempt

before

after

Second attempt

Third attempt

I like the one of William on his swing. Although I think it makes the photos look a bit spooky so I'll have to try some more techniques myself and maybe play around with filters to try and get a more ethereal look which I'm after.

The first two photos shown above were from a little luncheon I hosted for three of my girlfriends yesterday. It was a lovely afternoon sitting out on the deck with pink bubbly and yummy food. My friend Louise had a beautiful little boy Aleksandar five weeks ago so it was very special to see him too (he was sleeping the whole time so I didn't get a cuddle) .

The third picture is of a very happy William on his swing which he got from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. We have strung it up under the deck so that he can swing rain, hail or shine. He loves it as you can see from his gorgeous big smile!

Will and I are off to church this morning and hubby won't be joining us today as he's going to a 2hr eco gardening course run by the City of Sydney. All participants will receive a worm farm kit at the end of the talk! Pretty generous isn't it!

Here is a picture of our beautiful old church building, I think it was built around 1930.
Have a lovely day all,

Thanks Meg

I just wanted to say a big thanks to Meg Duerksen the author of the wonderful blog 'Whatever' for including the Custom Birth Print I made for her in her post today.

The print was a gift for gorgeous baby Levi! Take a look at the beautiful photos she took for the family. And visit her blog for more adorable pics: http://megduerksen.typepad.com/whatever/2010/01/levi.html
You can see why Meg's blog was the winner of the Apartment Therapy 2009 Homies award in the Kids at Home category.

Thanks again Meg,

House before and after - Lounge Room

I thought I'd share a before and after of our Lounge Room.

Here is bit of history of our house.....

• We bought the daggiest little house possible almost 2 years ago.
• The last owners loved wood and mission brown - Ahhhh!
• The house is a 1950'2 weatherboard cottage.
• We're not sure what we're going to do with the house long term i.e. knock down and rebuild, extend and renovate, move. So we are trying not to put too much money into the house as it could be reduced to rubble in a few years.
• I'm really growing to love our little house now that we've put our mark on it and the dagginess is beginning to disappear (wait till you see more before and after posts, you'll see what I mean!).

So here is the lounge before and after....
Before:
There was very old carpet in the lounge, dining and hallway which we pulled up and sanded and polished the floor boards
The weird TV unit thing attached to the wall was pulled out and we had our builder man extend the wall to create a separate entry way.
The curtains came down pretty quickly as did the lime green light shades throughout the house.

So does anyone else have any house horror stories?

Have a great day,

A corner of my home

I thought I'd post a snap shot of little corners of my home each week.

This photo is taken at the entrance of our bedroom and is of three postcards we picked up in Paris a few years ago that I had framed.

They are old advertisements for Soir de Paris Bourjois perfume and I love the imagery. The women look so glamorous and the setting so romantic.

Here are some more Soir de Paris ads I found via google images.
I have been thinking of redecorating our bedroom lately so I think I'd like to redecorate using a French theme. I might try to come up with a moodboard of ideas. I will post on it when I've got all my ideas together!

Bonne journée (have a nice day),

Look who's blogging today...

Hi it's William here...
Mummy has let me loose on the laptop so I thought I'd blog about a terrific thing I love to do with my Daddy. Please excuse the picture... Mummy and I are still in our PJ's and we haven't brushed our hair yet.

So anyway, we live right next to the National Park and Daddy takes me in the backpack and we walk down to the river together to see the ducks and birds and bunnies. It's great! I love being up high and bashing Dad on the head as we walk along. I often fall asleep in my carrier after a while and I sometimes think that was Mum and Dad's intention but I don't mind.

I'm a bit too heavy for Mum to carry me in it, so it's just a blokes thing that my Dad and I do together. And it gives my Mum a chance to chill out and paint her nails and do that sort of girly stuff.

So I just thought that if there are any Mums and Dads out there reading this who have a little kid like me, you should get one of these carriers, your kids will love it!

Image via here

Have a great day, oh and my Mum says 'Hi',
William

My new fav movie - It's Complicated

I went to the movies on Monday night with my lovely sister-in-law. It was just the perfect evening, so nice to get out at night.

My local movie theatre is a beautiful old art deco cinema, which makes the movie experience all the more pleasant! Much nicer than going to a big noisy complex.

Image via here

Anyway we just loved the movie, laughed so much and enjoyed the eye candy of Jane's (Merryl Streep) Spanish style ranch house. Ahhhhhh... take a look.

When it got to the part in the movie where you see Merryl Streep in her massive vegie garden, all perfect and flourishing, I turned to my sister-in-law and said 'Wow... she doesn't have possums!' we both started laughing hysterically and couldn't' stop. Here's the garden...

Images via Hooked on Houses

So in movie reviewer style I give It's Complicated 5 stars!

Happy Australia Day

Max Dupain - Sunbaker via here

Happy Australia Day everyone!
I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the time off with family and friends.

In celebration I've put together a small selection, which is my take on the quintessential Aussie artists to celebrate our beautiful country! Enjoy!

Margaret Preston - Corner of Mosman Bay via here

Brett Whitely - Opera House via here

Sidney Nolan - Ned Kelly via here

Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri - Love story at Ngarlu via here

Frederick McCubbin - The Pionner via here

Makes you proud doesn't it!

My every day objects

I thought I'd do something a bit different for today's post and put together a grouping the things which I use every day and have become my routine. It's actually an interesting exercise to do. Stop and think what would be on your 'every day' list...

Craft Project: Bunting

I made bunting for William's room with the left over Alexander Henry 'Juicy Jungle' fabric and some navy and white striped fabric I had left over from sewing Will's nursery decor.

The photos aren't great sorry but you get the picture. I wanted something to jazz up that wall and the bunting sits nicely above the sliding door (we have sliding doors to the bedrooms which I guess the previous owners put in as a space saver).

To make the bunting I just cut the fabric into triangles of the same size and hand stitched them onto thin white ribbon, spaced about 4cm apart.

I think it looks pretty cute and looks nice sitting above Will's Eye Chart print.

There will be more pictures of his nursery to come soon, so you can see how the fabric ties into his curtains, cushions, blanket and wall art.


I also wanted to say a big thanks to Babyology for posting about My Sweet Prints on their fantastic website today. Babyology was a finalist in the 2009 Homies awards in the Kids at Home category so it was very exciting to wake up and see their lovely post!

Have a wonderful Sunday,

Start of the collection

Aren't they gorgeous?!?

Since I saw the post over at Design*Sponge about the new Penguin Clothbound Classics I have been looking out for them to arrive here in Australia. I love the look and feel of a clothbound book and I think the cover designs are a perfect blend of old and new.

I spotted them late last year at Borders but refrained from buying. Well my patience paid off as I found them at 20% off today!

So I bought Sense and Sensibility and Emma. Gotta love a Jane Austin classic! I plan to add to the collection every time I need to treat myself to something.

I felt the need for a treat today as I've been nursing my sick little bub who has a runny nose and is very clingy and whingy, poor little darling. Breaks my heart to see him sick and suffering.

Have a great weekend,