Tag Archives: home decor

Fresh Eyes

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We arrived home yesterday and I am working my way through the washing.

We had housesitters staying here while we were away so naturally I left the house clean and tidy for them and they did likewise for our return. Nevertheless, it is really interesting to come home and look around the house after having been away.

It is 2 years since we moved here and it is mostly set up the way we want it. Our home is definitely not cluttered but there are still some spaces that have too much stuff or are not adequately organised for my liking. Other spaces tend to become a bit of a dumping-ground so I need to be more vigilant about leaving things where they should not be. I have returned with renewed enthusiasm to sort out some things. As always, one thing tends to lead to another and can turn into a bigger project than planned. A quick tidy up can become a major rearrangement of storage options but that is OK because it usually has a better long-term result.

Here are a few photos of some things I want to tackle. I will share how I do it and the results in future posts.

The guest bedroom. There is nothing desperately wrong with it. The bed needs to be remade and I really need to sort out what bed linen is required at the moment for both this bed and ours. I find this time of the year difficult as the overnight temperatures vary widely. The other thing that is bothering me about this room is the bed. We chose to buy it from the previous owners and while it is a good bed in excellent condition, I can honestly say that I hate it. The storage drawers are useful but not having any space underneath increases the difficulty of making the bed. The wide timber surround is also unhelpful. So, I am determined to search for a more user-friendly bed secondhand. The trade-off will be the loss of the underbed storage but although I do have some linen in the drawers it is definitely not essential.

The 3rd bedroom which is still trying to work out what it is but otherwise known as a junk room. It tends to be a collection of things that I am certain do not belong elsewhere. The wardrobe in this room is wine storage, suitcase storage and some items belonging to a community group where we volunteer. I do intend to set up the exercise equipment better so that it can be used more readily.

Our walk-in wardrobe. This is not a massive space since we purloined half of it to extend the pantry. We only recently added the shelves and hanging space and it is more than adequate for our needs. The box on the floor is administrative stuff for our volunteer work which I put here while we were away. That is overdue for sorting and rearranging and it needs to find a permanent home in the 3rd bedroom. I also want to look for a small seat which would be useful when putting on shoes and socks.

Chest of drawers. We do not have a dressing table as such as I use the large mirror in the adjacent ensuite bathroom. This large chest of drawers is shared by GMan and me. Our folded clothes are in the drawers and the top is a shared dressing table although it can be a bit of a dumping ground. Time for a clean up and decide what belongs here or not.

These jobs will take some time but I will share my progress of each space in upcoming posts.

Buying Blinds

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Today I can unveil the latest addition to the house.

A couple of weeks ago we ordered some blinds. The first was a roller blind for the front door which is glass and faces north. It does not get any direct sun on it because of the overhanging porch but the blind offers privacy as there is a direct view from the porch to the full length of the hallway as well as assisting with temperature regulation in both summer and winter. The was a previous blind in place, however, it was not made to measure so no an ideal size. The colour was not to my liking either.

The new blind.

When it is open we still have a view of gorgeous roses and the rural outlook across the road.

There is an opening between the family room and the small office which allows for plenty of natural light and creates a feeling of spaciousness. However, on cold winter nights when we are trying to keep the family room warm, it is a problem as much of the heat tends to drift up the hallway through this opening and the nearby doorway. We are waiting for the carpenter to install a door between the family room and the hall but that still left the issue of the opening which is about 1m x 1m.

So, we ordered a honeycomb blind to fit the opening. It fits neatly inside the recess.

When it is open it is barely noticeable.

We did notice that the movement of air in the family room means that the blind does tend to move back and forth in the opening so I intend to make a small draught stopper to lie on the ledge behind which will eliminate that problem. I am looking forward to the difference it will make to keeping the warmth in the family room in the colder weather.

On the Wall

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It probably seems counter-intuitive to be sharing about our latest acquisition when I am often extolling the virtues of decluttering and minimalism.  However, I do not subscribe to the bare, sterile aesthetic that is sometimes associated with minimalism.

Carefully curated and intentional purchases form the basis of our home decor and today we were able to collect this newly-framed piece.

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We have been looking for an appropriate piece of artwork for the corner of the dining area for some time.  As GMan would say, “We will know it when we see it”.  Well, we found this right under our noses.  It is an enlargement of a photograph I took when we were on holidays in the south-west of Western Australia in 2005.  This and a couple of other enlargements were lurking in a bag in the cupboard and I found them when I began sorting out our collection of photos.

The next step was to have it suitably framed.  As with any professional framing job, it was a challenge to decide on a frame and surround which would complement the piece.  We made our choice and left the work to be completed.

When we collected the finished framed photo I was very happy with the result.  It looks perfect in this corner.

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And with the blinds drawn.

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Custom Made

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Sometimes we make things to satisfy a creative urge, save money or simply because we cannot buy the desired item.  My most recent sewing definitely falls into the latter category.

Today I made a table runner for the top of the chest of drawers which which GMan uses.  I wrote this post a couple of years ago when we had it restored.  The top of it had been bare and I had not really thought about adding any linen to it.  Lacy doilies would definitely not have been welcome.

I recently found a piece of blue fabric when I was digging around at the op shop for fabric suitable for the Boomerang bags that I make.  I realised that it would be perfect to make a table runner.

Some test stitching to find something suitable to embellish the edges.

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The finished article.

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Pressed and in place.

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The new runner provides a finished look to the chest of drawers, blends nicely with the colour in the bedroom and is not in any way frilly or lacy.  I think it works perfectly.

I think I would have gone crazy if I had set out to find this ready-made.  It needed to be a specific length and colour which I think would have made that quest close to impossible.  However, with a relatively basic sewing machine I was able to create exactly what I needed.