French Doors

What is it about French Doors? They seem to scream at you .............'open me up!'

We have a five sets of French doors accross the front of the house, two sets side by side at the back and four sets internally.

As I walked Ollie down the driveway to the school bus this morning it was freezing but as soon as it warm enough I opened up the back doors!

They dont have fly screens as I think this completely ruins the look but somehow we manage. I am looking forward to many a spring day and summer evening sitting outside at the back table with the doors open! x

Made Over!

I would like to say a huge THANKYOU to the very talented Katrina Chambers for completely making over my blog! When you don't know what you are doing call for a professional. Still finding my feet with this blog thing though. x

Totally Inspired!

You absolutely wont believe this but this beautiful home is tucked away at the end of a pub!

Yes, it belongs to my darling friend Georgie and is located at the end of the hotel accommodation at the Dalrymple Hotel in Stansbury, SA. This proves that you can do anything with any space.

I just love it when Georgie comes to lunch, beautiful food, wine and home style discussions and tips inspire me to change/paint something every time!

I love Georgie's style and all of the artwork you see is done by her. I am very happy to share with you that I will be showcasing some of Georgie's work at a special winter shopping evening next Friday night............I can't wait.

Also her amazing home has been photographed today for a homemaker profile in an upcoming edition of Australian Country Collections Magazine! Also very proud to see lots of lovely homewares from The White Shed featured in the photos. xx

Sunshine Award

I have now received two Sunshine awards thanks to Jenny at The Five Year Project and Christine at Sunshine & Lollypops ........thanks girls!

Well it is time for me to tell you 7 things you may not know about me!

1. I am an Adelaide girl born and bred. Grew up in the lovely beachside suburb of Glenelg!

2. Met my gorgeous husband Paul when I was a mere 18 years of age.

3. I have two beautiful boys Ollie nearly 5 and Tommy nearly 3 and a half who I absolutely adore and make me laugh every day..............especially Tom!

4. I bought my first house (a stone villa) at the age of 22 and this is where my love of decorating started.

5. I ran a small ballet school when I was younger and still give the odd private lesson.

6. LOVE musical theatre (dance, drama, singing excite me) and have been in many shows. Favourite role Nellie in South Pacific.

7. Favourite wine Shaw & Smith Sav Blanc.....beautiful Adelaide Hills wine!

I would like to pass this award on to a lovely girl, the 'queen of frills', Kate at The Polkadot Pantry!

Time for the white paint ........again!

I have just spent a glorious week at my parent's house in the Adelaide Hills. I had a fantastic time with my lovely husband, went out twice for dinner with just adults (anyone in Adelaide go to Chianti it is amazing) and took my boys to see Toy Story (in their cowboy hats)! On the work front I put in 3 huge orders of beautiful stock and met with my web designer about my online store!

I have come home refreshed and with a new outlook and am going to get painting............again!

Above is a picture of my formal lounge room now and I will post another after shot later! I plan on painting my wine rack white and getting a studded linen ottoman. We are quite limited with the layout of this room as it has three sets of french doors in it, but I will have a little play and see what I can come up with!

Also huge thanks to Ange at Chair Up http://chair-up.blogspot.com for the lovely mention on her blog! xx

Bus Scrolls

I absolutely LOVE the bus scrolls which appear in just about every magazine at the moment! I looked in to purchasing one and even wholesale they were way out of my budget. I was lucky enough to stumble upon Bus Roll Tea Towels!

They had a wonderful Adelaide version seen above. I purchased myself one (a little reminder of home) and will be framing it and putting it on the wall in my kitchen. Same look and a fraction of the price! I have also seen them stretched on canvas and this also looks fab.

I am very excited to have have placed an order for my shop today and am now going to be stocking them!

Topiaries & Urns, Apples & Pears!

I LOVE topiaries! Especially in urns. So when I was planning my 30th earlier this year, (a garden party at my parents home in the hills) I wanted something that was unique and reflected my style.

I came accross the beautiful work of Samone Shepherdson of Melbourne Based Design Studio, Red Letter Studio http://redletterstudio.com.au/ when sourcing unique cards for my shop. I was thrilled to learn that Samone did custom made invitations! She completely captured my style and personality to come up with the invite above! I LOVE them! What a talented lady!

Another favourite of mine are the apple and pear cards which I stock in my shop.............good enough to frame Samone!!!

Front Covers!

My lovely friend Sally K sent me a text today letting me know she had just bought the Australian Country Collections Magazine and that my dining room was on the front cover! This January we had the lovely CC team come over for a day and shoot us, our house and my shop for the magazine. It was such a great day and very interesting to see how they style and shoot! I wasn't sure when it was coming out so thanks for letting me know Sal! Funny to see what the pictures look like as I have changed my house so much since the shoot.

Also this week another friend and fellow Yorke Peninsula resident Kathryn of Pink Apple who makes beautiful jewellery, clips and headbands (which I stock in my shop) got a picture of her beanies on the front cover of the Studio Bambini Magazine Directory modelled by more local girls Olivia and Lily......stunning girls and a great pic by their Aunty Kelly as always!!!

Kitchen Stools?

I bought my current stools for $24. Not what I was after but for that price they were worth getting even temporarily! I have been searching for the right look for ages and still havent found anything that takes my fancy. I also keep changing my mind about what I want! Opinions please and if you have seen anything that you think may suit please HELP!

Bureau Makeover

Well I may have gone a little crazy with the black paint lately and I have done it again! My lovely mother gave me this cute little bureau and after trying to decide what to do with it for months.........do I paint it or have the wood restored, my darling little Tommy decided to hang off the door and snapped it completely off! In order to repair it it needed glueing, so my decision was made for me, paint it to cover up the glue! I have added some nice little accessories on the top (probably the last of my David Austins for the season) and I just love the new look.

Polkadot Canvas

This beautiful canvas for the shop arrived yesterday. Perfect for a girls room any age! I just love it! Also available in blues, reds etc for boys. It would look amazing hung above a single bed. Painted by wonderful Stansbury artist Georgie Rankine.

The house we built

I have just realised that it is nearly 4 years ago that we moved in to our brand new house. I remeber our first night so well, we felt like we were in a hotel! Carpet in the bedrooms, central heating, an ensuite and a TV in our room! It took us 2 years to design and what seemed like forever to build! It was at times extremely frustrating, but so worth it in the end. I know I could have been their most annoying client ever, but I like attention to detail. Things like toilet roll holders and door handles DO matter! More inside pics to follow later.

My beautiful boys!

Being the very proud mother I am I couldn't resist putting on these gorgeous pictures of my two boys Oliver (Ollie) nearly 5 and Thomas (Tommy) 3 and a bit! Photos were taken on our farm again by the talented Kelly, http://www.blacksheepphotography.com.au/ they are dressed in my favourite children's label by Adelaide Mums Freyr Lennon and Luise Geddes, Tiddles and Chich http://www.tiddlesandchich.com.au/

Bedhead

After never really being happy with my bedroom I have been playing with it a little lately. I made the bedhead/headboard by cutting out some board (well actually made Paul cut it out!), bought some wadding and stapled it to the back, then used a beige top sheet I wasn't using to cover it. Quite happy with the result, but I think one day I will wad it a bit more and cover it with a beautiful fabric!

Finally I blog!

Well I have been toying with the idea blogging since starting my business and finally I have done it! After recently making over a few pieces of furniture and being amazed at what you can do with a can of paint, I wanted somewhere and someone to share it with! So here I am and here are some pics of my beautiful black (yes black) dining table and dresser. I am quite sure that some people were horrified when I first told them of my idea, but I am absolutely thrilled with the outcome!

Photos are by the wonderful and extremely talented Kelly Dyett of http://blacksheepphotography.com.au

Thanks, Georgie for convincing me to use black and NOT white paint!

Black is the new White!