Wednesday, May 29, 2013

USA Shopping List - Part 1

We are heading to the States next month and I have been busy planning our trip around furniture stores, vintage markets and galleries.  I am sure I will be tempted by the clothing sales whilst we are there but personally, I would really like to come back with some special bits and pieces for our house rather than clothes.  

I recently saw these beauties and they have gone straight to the top of my list.  Designed by UK designer Lee Broom these hand crafted crystal bulbs won the ELLE Decoration British Designer Award in 2012.

I would love one of these hanging on either side of our bed as our bedside lamps.


CB5

CB5

CB5



M xx

All images from here

Monday, May 27, 2013

House Envy

A few weekends ago I flicked on the television during the day and saw that a repeat of Blue Lagoon was on.  I don't think Brooke Shields could possibly be any more beautiful than she was in that movie.  Stunning!  Perhaps I am a prude after so long living in Dubai but I was fairly shocked by all the nudity.. I didn't remember that from when I was a kid! I suppose it was shocking to me as both main characters  seemed so young...  My interest piqued, I googled Brooke to see how old she was when she filmed Blue Lagoon (she was 14 in case you are interested!*) and I stumbled came across this article in Architectural Digest on her Manhattan Townhouse.  OH.MY.GOODNESS. A collaboration between architects MADE and designer David Flint Hicks the house is absolutely stunning.  The clincher for me from the article was this line...  

"One of the team’s first excursions was to the hangar-size warehouse in New Jersey where Shields had stowed the treasure—and detritus—from her own many moves and from her mother’s decades as an obsessive comber of flea markets."

Wouldn't I have loved to have been part of that team that explored that warehouse!!






Read the full article here 

M xx

* apparently Brooke later testified before a US Congressional inquiry that older body doubles were used in some of the nude scenes. 


Thursday, May 23, 2013

Latest Find

With being away and busy weekends we haven't had a chance to get back to the Tip Shop recently.  So it was great to finally get there recently and find it bursting full of new pieces.

You will know I love bentwood chairs and stools from one of my earlier posts so I was pretty excited to see these as soon as we walked in!






No doubt a replica but I love them just the same.  So they were promptly put in the back of the car and taken home.  Now to paint them or not to paint them...

M xx






Thursday, May 16, 2013

Too ambitious?

So I haven't yet mastered my DIY beaded chandelier and now I have just seen this!

How amazing is this white shell chandelier from Manyara Home?  At $6000 it is not cheap... do you think a DIY white shell chandelier attempt is a bit ambitious??


M xx

Image: here

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

DIY Inspiration

My love of bed heads is no secret and predictably ones that I could make myself are my favourites.   I love how they can instantly change the mood of the room and it is something you could easily replace, change or alter when you feel like updating your room.   

Who would have thought that dated vertical blinds could be used to make a great new bedhead!  


position the headboard

woven blinds headboard

Read all about it here

M xx


Monday, May 6, 2013

Necessary Purchase?

When determining a budget there are those inevitable conversations about what are necessary purchases and what are not.  It seems my husband and I have different ideas about what is a necessary purchase and this can make for some interesting negotiations on my behalf.  My most recent example are these awesome skull jewellery boxes I read about on Peep my Style.  Necessary?  Yes!
 
You can buy them here

M xx

Friday, May 3, 2013

My Dream Auction!!


When I was looking for vintage props for our wedding I became a little addicted to checking websites of auction houses and placing online bids.  Sure you miss out on the excitement of being at the actual auction but when you are living half way across the world from the actual auction you don't really have much choice.  

Although the wedding has been and gone, my addiction continues and this week I discovered the most exciting of all exciting auctions yet.  Auction 428 - Medical, Dental & Pharmaceutical items is happening on the 8th May at Leski's Auction House in Melbourne.  291 wonderful, quirky and in some cases, a little creepy, items!

Coincidentally my great friend Simon worked on this collection in his previous role, he has impeccable taste.  It is my dream auction collection!!

These are my favourite items:
Hospital heater on tripod with extension arm

Vintage dental instrument trolley on wheels

DISPENSING BOTTLES: with polished pontils, labels, 18cm tall, all in good condition & all with stoppers

Vintage hospital trolley with glass shelves

Group of prints (in frames) of hand drawn historical figures relating to the medical & scientific professions, including Charles Darwin and Pierre Curie. (9 items)
Imagine turning this vintage trolley into a table.  Like this one here

And there are a couple of things I won't be bidding on:

Female hand held urinal!!
2 early vintage urinal bags


Can someone who lives in Melbourne and won't have to ship their purchases across the country please buy lots of items so I can live vicariously through you?

You can find the full collection and details on how to bid here.

M xx


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

DIY Candle Holder

We were wandering around Bunnings a few weeks ago (everyone does this on the weekend right?) and saw these wooden blocks on the shelves.  I thought they'd be perfect for an easy DIY project.




After umming and ahhing over what to make we decided to make a DIY candle holder.  The original plan was to create two candle holders, each made of two blocks.  After spraying them I decided they look better as a stack of four so I have only one for now.  A good excuse to go and buy four more so we have a pair! 

For colour I decided on black and used Dulux Spraypax in Gloss Black.  I hadn't used a gloss spray paint before and found it does have its challenges...  after spraying the blocks outside it felt like every time I came back to check on them I'd find bits of dust/sand/miscellaneous items stuck to the blocks!!  The downside of living with a sea breeze I suppose!! 




M xx