Clever Gambrel

Another lovely home by Steven Gambrel. Imagine sitting there on the water's edge like that. So gorgeous.

My Life Right Now

My life has been pretty hectic with the arrival of little Max. The life I knew which was that of a working woman with one child, a husband and 2 dogs has changed. I used to purchase my favourite magazines and be able to sit down on the sofa and read them that night. I used to have time to do my own thing. But not these days.

I have had the new Country Style magazine sitting on my bedside table now for a few days and I haven't even had the chance to open it.

I actually glanced at my bedside table tonight and thought I would take a photo of it to show you.

It consists of the Country Style magazine which I am dying to open. It also consists of that pink fabric which, even though I had ordered the yellow colourway on Friday, I changed it today to the pink. I don't usually change my mind once I've made my mind up - what is happening to me? It also consists of a book I purchased on Amazon which I think is very applicable to my life right now - Just Let Me Lie Down Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom by Kristin van Ogtrop. I also love the colour of it's cover. Today Harry made me the origami swans which you can see sitting there. I love them. Brad and Harry brought me in a bowl of Harry's favourite treat - ice-cream with coke bottle lollies on top just now to try to cheer me up. It worked.

I'm sure tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow our container full to the brim of Stuart Membery furniture will be arriving on our doorstep. Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day.

xx
Anna

Friday Flowers

It's been a while since I have posted some Friday Flowers. Mum arranged this foliage for me last weekend and in amongst our lovely old garden we found a passion fruit vine so we picked some and plonked them in another vase as above. I'm planning on a quiet weekend pottering around the new house. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

xx

Anna

Absolutely In Love With...

I am always on the hunt for new, exciting, beautiful fabrics as fabric is my starting point for the rooms/homes I design. We have just received some absolutely beautiful new fabrics in and I must admit I am completely smitten with this orchid fabric. My favourite colourway is this one above but it doesn't work with my current wall colour at the new house. As painting the house {which is going to be a mamouth cost} is not yet on the agenda I am going to have to work with the existing colours which are all very heritage!! So I am going to cover a couple of old chairs I have in the yellow colourway which you can see peeping through underneath...it's very beautiful too but that pink is just to die for, don't you think?!!

Birkdale House Circa 1888

We enjoyed a lovely first weekend in our new house. Family and friends dropped in all weekend. Lots of wine and fabulous food cooked by my brother, Sam and my friend Annie was consumed. Brad has become obsessed with lighting the fireplaces and cutting the wood perfectly with his new axe. My mother is transfixed with all the wonderful things in my new {old} garden. She created a couple of wonderful arrangements. For me the house has all of those things I associate with my dream house...fireplaces, claw foot baths, big verandahs, large block of land, lovely swimming pool, history, a name, a wonderful garden . This is the place we will stay with our beautiful boys for a very, very long time and if Brad has his way, we will never move. I am looking forward to my new project which will probably keep my busy for the rest of my life!!

So Cute

I couldn't resist posting this image of this very cute little boy. We are always bombarded with so many images of pretty girls and pretty things for little girls so here's one for the boys or should I say here's one for those of us with boys!!

PS. This gorgeous little thing {known as Sam} belongs to photographer Aaron Snow

image via erin ever after

Inspiring Bits

Here are some more little bits of inspiration I have collected from some wonderful blogs and magazines over the last few days.

image 1 - design sponge via erin ever after, image 2 - via neo-traditionalist, image 3 - vogue living, image 4 - world of interiors, image 5 - via mary ruffle

Colour Filled

I tend to be known for my love of colour. Here are a few little hits of colour inspiration which jumped out at me from my picture files today.

image 1 - kate spade via pink lemonade blog, image 2 - eddie ross, image 3 -via coco + kelley, image 4 - anna spiro, image 5 - kate spade via neo traditionalist blog

Mariska Meijers

Today I am inspired by the artwork and words of Mariska Meijers. I have posted some of her lovely paintings and images of her creative space above.

In her own words...

"I collect, tower and pile stuff. I just can't help it. My house is like an over sized mood board. I hardly have room to manoeuvre. I admire people with empty houses and just can't figure out how they do it. I need my stuff, it inspires me, it is part of my life..."

I'm with you Mariska, all the way!!

Teena's Office

I thought I'd post some photos of an office I just completed for one of my clients as above. The factory lights came from an old factory in South Australia. I actually purchased about 20 of these lights in an auction and have installed some into our new Design Studio as well. Teena fell in love the the MC Pagoda fabric so I worked up a scheme around it for her. The desk skirt is one of my favourite things in this office. It works so well and hides ugly computer equipment which is stored underneath...

Happenings

Another snippet of our new Design Studio.

Some cushions we have just had made for a lovely client.



A fun little playroom which Melanie has been working on.



A pair of wing chairs in the process of getting recovered in a beautiful Manuel Canovas fabric for another one of our clients.


Downstairs is in a huge mess as you can see above!

Just days before I had Max one of my clients dropped into our new Design Studio to see me. She couldn't believe what we had going on. As she walked up the back steps past the humongous pile of rubbish we had waiting for our rubbish man she proclaimed - "This is the most severe case of nesting I have ever seen!" At the time I didn't think anything of it but now after having Max and stopping for a week or so I realize that I have had some major things going on and I still have some major things to achieve in the next 2 months. Not only are we renovating the store, next week we move into our new house which is very scary considering I haven't even started to pack!

As the renovation progresses at Black & Spiro we have also been working on some great jobs. I thought I'd post a few snippets of some things we have been working on as above.

Next week I am back at work full-time. That is also a bit scary considering how much sleep Brad and I are getting at the moment with our new little one! However, as usual I will take it all one step at a time. The new things we are having made for the shop are looking so beautiful. I can't wait to share it all with you in the coming weeks.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

xx

Anna

Annie's House

I thought I'd share some photos with you of my friend Annie's house which has just gone on the market for sale. No doubt you can see lots of things she has purchased from Black & Spiro over the years including her most recent purchase of my 2 black and white wing chairs from my dining room at home. Don't they look gorgeous with her Antique table and chairs. Annie shares my love for colour and mismatched style. She has collected the huge number of cushions on her bench seating and sofas from me over the years - she has even been known to snatch a few from my own sofa at home with a "bill me" as she gets in the car to leave!! I'm sure her beautiful house will sell very quickly. Click HERE to see more.