Pale Yet Colourful

Sometimes I think people are under the impression that I only create very bright and colourful rooms however, this isn't the case.  I thought I would post this room today as it is one I recently finished for a client who wanted a bit of colour but also wanted a more formal and sophisticated look.  I love the palette we selected for this room and the curtains with the orange banding turned out just as I had hoped.  We worked with all of the existing pieces of furniture and just added cushions, curtains, lamps and recovered the ottoman.  It's amazing how these few things have completely changed/improved the look of the room.  Now we just need to hunt for a beautiful painting for behind the sofa...

The S.A. Crowd & Home on Sunday

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I must apologise as I didn't get a chance to post before I left for Adelaide a few days ago.  I am working on a house in Dulwich which is such a beautiful area in lovely Adelaide.  Whilst visiting I had the absolute pleasure of catching up with The S.A. Crowd - Kimberlee from Brown Button, Emma from White & Wander, Kate from Polka Dot Pantry, Pippa from Tres Dodgeois and Alex from French Navy Stationery.  What a lovely group of positive, happy, inspiring, funny, encouraging and creative girls.  We had a fantastic dinner at Sparrow Kitchen & Bar on Friday night and then went out and hit the Antique shops on Saturday together.  I was amazed by Adelaide's history, wonderful food, pretty tree-lined streets, old stone houses and fantastic Antique shops.  It really is a place worth visiting and I can't wait to head back down there mid-year to catch up with the girls again.

After such a busy few days away, today I loved being at home.  I spent the day with my boys pottering around the house and the garden.  We recently put in a kitchen garden or Potager as the French call them.  Our lettuce is growing beautifully.  I picked one today to make a salad with tonight along with our tomatoes which just seem to be sprouting up everywhere in our garden.  Although all of this rain we've had has done some horrible things to our state, our garden is just so green and full of flowers which I have been picking and placing in vases in the house.  There really isn't anything which makes me happier than arranging flowers from my own garden to place around our house...simple pleasures!!

xx
Anna

Work in Progress

I thought I'd share a couple of in-progress photos of a house I am currently working on.  The wallpaper in the powder room was just installed the other day and we also recently completed the main bedroom.  We are about to commence work in the formal lounge room.  The colours we have chosen for the lounge room are orange, purple, green and duck-egg blue.  Next time I'm over at this house I will try to take a photo of the outside as it is one of the prettiest houses I've seen here in Brisbane.

Ormiston House in Veranda Magazine

Well, it's turning out to be a big week for us.  We just found out that the Ormiston house has made the front cover of Veranda Magazine in Poland.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with Paul and Hayley on their beautiful home and am overjoyed by this wonderful article.  The morning of the photo shoot I gathered lots of flowers and foliage from my garden at home and arranged them at the house.  My favourite arrangement was the one I did on their dining table in a collection of Hayley's mismatched antique jugs and vases.

Thanks again must go to Catherine Shields and Simon Kenny for their continued interest in my work and their beautiful coverage of these lovely family homes I have had the pleasure of working in.

If you would like to see more images of Paul & Hayley's house head over to Content's website HERE...

Gumdale House in AWW

Back in 2007, I was very excited when Sharnel & Perry Dollar asked me to help them with the interior of their new family home.  The latest issue of Australian Womans Weekly magazine features their alluring home.  It was lovely to look at the images and remember all the work which went into making it the special place that it is today.

Sharnel was a wonderful client to work with as she was very open to everything I suggested and recommended.  Catherine Shields & Simon Kenny's story certainly captures the ambience of the Dollar's beautiful family home.

Almost There...

Today I delivered this armchair to one of my lovely clients in Toowoomba.  The orchid printed linen we covered the chair in is actually one of my favourite fabrics at the moment.  I can't wait until tomorrow night as we will be completely finished our pre-Christmas installations and deliveries.  It certainly has been a wonderfully hectic Christmas season and I can't wait to have a couple of weeks away with my boys!!

Norman Park House

The Art of Hanging guys do a wonderful job of hanging pictures...I think they almost die everytime they see a booking from me as they know that a cluster wall will be involved!

Every week for the last couple of months my lovely client has been visiting black & spiro picking up bits and pieces for her beautiful home. I was so excited when I walked into her wardrobe and saw all of our black & spiro shopping bags! When we first opened black & spiro 10 years ago we couldn't really afford to have the printed shopping bags so whenever I see our shopping bags now I smile!!

Look at this fabulous wall vase we hung on their cluster wall...I love this!

I've been trying not to post photos of the lovely jobs I've been working on lately as I am attempting to save them for our new black & spiro website which will launch in 2011. But, I had to share these photos of this job I have just finished working on as I absolutely LOVE it! It's so bright and so happy and so fresh and my lovely client {who has just been the best fun to work with} is thrilled...phew, nothing more wonderful than a happy client especially at this time of year!! One of my favourite things in this house is the multi-coloured vintage bentwood dining chairs we painted up for her. Enjoy your gorgeous house HB!

Working On

This afternoon I visited some lovely clients who I have been working with for quite sometime. We are just finishing off the final bits and pieces in their home like framing and lampshades.

You may recognise the green vintage lamp on their antique entry chest of drawers which they purchased from the antique shop in Marburg I posted about a few weeks ago. Although I love the colour of the old shade, we are making a new one as this one is a bit too vintagey and also has a few dints. We decided today that the new shade would look best made in a very similar vibrant green silk.

We are also having a set of antique copper etchings framed and hung above the chest of drawers. The etchings are actually of entry facades which is so perfect. We have selected a gold bamboo frame to work back with the gold detail on the lamp base and handles on the chest.

Throughout the house we have used lots of blue and white and we have also added some green. I love this fresh palette. The blue and white plates pictured above are from Black & Spiro. We are hanging them on a wall in their informal dining area.

My client was also inspired by the post I did on green leaf arrangements the other day and has used some golden cane palm fronds from her garden in a blue and white umbrella stand which she placed on the antique oval table in their sitting room.

I know I have said this in the past but sometimes, lately more than ever, I feel I am writing this blog for no reason and I also question my ability to continue to inspire with so many other wonderful blogs out there nowdays. However, when I see that my clients are inspired by my arrangements, selections and finds it really does make me understand why, after nearly 4 years, I continue to write this blog.

Ben & Phoebe's Daybed

I recently helped my cousin and his gorgeous fiance {they just got engaged on the weekend} with the cushioning on this lovely daybed which they purchased from Cotswold for their beach house. We selected an array of brightly coloured exterior fabrics for the scatter cushions and a trusty navy and white stripe exterior fabric for the seat cushions and voila this is the result. I just love it and apparently they do too!!

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