Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Updating Ikea Furniture

When I first moved to Dubai in 2008 the plan was to stay for a year before moving to Australia.  So when choosing furniture for my apartment the plan was to stick to affordable basics for my 'temporary' home that I could sell a year later.  Well that one year turned into four years and then we were relocated to Perth and sure enough we still have our 'temporary' ikea couch!

We've actually grown quite fond of our couch over time and as it is also a sofa bed and a storage unit it has been really handy over the years.  Like any soft furnishing it is starting to show its age and has some marks accumulated on it from our beach days in Dubai.  We do keep an eye out for new couches but I am saving that purchase until we buy a house here.   To tide me over until then I have recently discovered a company called Bemz... a Swedish company that has created covers for a whole selection of ikea furniture in really great fabrics and colour choices!

Our sofa is the Manstad model and the below are my short list of my favourite covers:



Can anyone guess I like stripes??

M xx

All images from here






Thursday, April 25, 2013

Daily Mantra

As an avid reader of home interior magazines and blogs I get serious house and apartment envy on a daily basis.  As we are currently renting it is easy to wish your life away (or those fun years of creating a home!) and want that perfect dream home right now.  

But today I saw a saying that struck a chord with me.  It's a good reminder that we are just at the beginning of our 'dream home' journey in Australia.  I haven't even been back in Australia for a year yet so I have plenty of time ahead to work on our perfect home that hopefully someone else will read about in a magazine and blog one day! 

 

M xx

Image: here

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

DIY Inspiration

The new May issue of Real Living is a great one! It's full of bright and colourful decorating ideas and things to add to my house wish list.  But there was something on page 53 that particularly caught my eye...


I just love those beaded chandeliers and feel inspired... I think maybe I have just found my new DIY project!

Beaded Chandelier Green



Do you think I am being a bit ambitious?

M xx

Images: mine, here, here and here

Monday, April 8, 2013

Bali - Food

Leading up to our trip we had received many recommendations and suggestions for restaurants to go to in Bali.  So armed with a long list of places we had to try we attempted as many meals out as we could.  These are some of my favourites:

Sea Circus:
A friend summed up the decor in Sea Circus by saying "if you were to have a shop this is how I'd imagine it to look".  It was right up my alley!  From the chevron painted tables to the neon drink cart in the corner.  There was DIY inspiration for me everywhere I looked.  The food is pretty fabulous here too! The fish tacos were the table favourite that night.  



Sardine:
Sardine is located in Pettinget so just a short drive from Seminyak but once you are there you feel so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the busy Bali streets.  The restaurant is located on the fringe of working rice paddy fields which are tended daily by the local farmers.  It was such a beautiful and peaceful outlook.    



Mama San:
My favourite restaurant from the trip.  The asian fusion menu had so many dishes that I wanted to try.  We ordered about 7 dishes between the four of us and I loved them all.  Even when one was a bit spicy for us they brought over some frozen cucumbers for us to suck on - service!  We were recommended the steamed snapper dumplings which were delicious!

Concept Downstair


Rock Bar:
Located in the stunning Ayana Resort, Rock Bar was a perfect ending place for a great trip.  Built into the cliffs at water level we first had to line up to catch the inclinator (had to look that one up!) down from the resort entrance.  Luckily we had been pre-warned about the lines and got there fairly early so we didn't have to line up for long.  Once seated on one of the several terraces it is ironic that although we had gone for the amazing view we had to shelter under huge black umbrellas to escape the beating sun!  Once the sun dropped a bit, umbrellas were collected and we were able to enjoy the view and toast a great holiday with some cocktails.  





M xx



Images: here, here, mine, here, mine, mine and mine

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Bali

We were lucky enough to head to Bali for a mini break over Easter.  I had never been to Bali and had heard mixed reviews from people we'd spoken to but I was really keen to see it for myself and explore as much as we could in only four days.  Turns out you can get a lot done in four days and we had a fantastic time away.  

While there is so much more to Bali than the shopping, there are some great retailers around with some really creative fitouts and visual merchandising like the below.  




 

Turns out my favourite purchase from the trip is something that didn't come from any of these shops but came from a roadside stall in rural Ubud.  In the pursuit of getting a great photo of the rice paddy fields I had stepped down off the road and stood alongside a local market stall.  Hanging up outside were these amazing buffalo skulls!


Not knowing whether we could get one back into Australia I was hesitant about buying one as it would have been horrible to leave it at the airport.  The lady offered us the top one for $50 which was such a great offer  we couldn't refuse.  Turns out it was absolutely fine to get it through customs so now 'skully' is home with us and I couldn't be happier with it!




Now I just need to find somewhere to hang it. 

M xx

P.S the latest issue of Adore Home is out and look what is on the bottom right corner of page 25!