I Dream of the Perfect Boudoir

I can't seem to fully wake up today.  You know those days when you wish you could just laze around in bed for as long as you wanted?  


Alas those days are gone for me, having children fixed that pretty quickly.  

I just want to laze around in bed, reading, writing and snoozing. 

This is a very clever use of printing on fabric.  Almost like a tromp l'oeil yes?

If ever I do get to spend some time in bed, (usually when I am unwell), I tend to start pointing out to myself all the things that are wrong with it. 


 Like the fact that I would love a king-size bed, the constant lack of storage, the  dilapidated lighting fixtures and the piles of stuff lying on any available space.

I have always liked painted floorboards, but with a black labrador that sheds like nobody's business, this would be a nightmare.  I also like the very simple platform here for the mattress.  

Every room in our house has been finished just how I want it, all except for the master bedroom.  Instead it has become a dumping ground for paperwork, clothes and just stuff we don't know what to do with.  I'm quite sad about it.

This reminds me of a hotel we stayed at in Florence.  Quirky decoration but functional with a lovely use of colour.  We even had a view of il Duomo and it was only 75 euro a night!  

I know this is a single bed, but I am loving the warm sunny yellow doonah, it is just so inviting!

Simple, minimalist, easy to maintain and yet comforting.  

This is the ultimate bedroom I think.  Having doors that open up to the outside is just perfection for me.  The hint of the tropical surroundings makes me feel like I am waking up in a resort on some hidden island (I wish!).

This doonah is gorgeous.  If only I could dress my bed in something like this. Keeping the dog off the bed would then become a full-time occupation though - and not a very successful one either.

I want to buy a new bed, and turn our bedroom into a sanctuary for two long-married lovers and a haven for exhausted parents. A place that we can retreat to when we don't wish to be disturbed. But how to do this on a budget is the big question. I have been collecting images to help keep me inspired. I think that I may have a little anxiety about it which could explain why our room is still unfinished...


One day I guess?

Ciao for now,

Hx

Places To Sit

So yes, I do have a thing for chairs. It's true. I have more chairs than bums in our house. But I love them.

Chairs can turn an otherwise boring room around. All of my chairs have a story. I love that about them. My first chair was given to me when I was only a teenager, by a Canadian friend and over the years I painted it many different colours until I finally had it completely stripped back to reveal its beautiful Silky Oak timber. Over the years I found two lovely ladder-back chairs which I found in an old shearer's cottage on a sheep station. A couple of bentwood and Australian colonial spindle-wood with rattan seats and of course my station-master's chair that I sit on every day when I am writing. I have a small collection of wicker arm chairs that I scavenged off the street and a divine Chesterfield three-seater lounge that we were given by a truly benevolent friend in our time of need when we needed a new couch and were unable to afford one. I have scrimped and saved and had to pay-off many of my chairs because some of them are over 100 years old and too valuable for me to be able to buy outright.


Alas, being old chairs, they are prone to the effects of age and from time to time they require TLC and some repairs. At the moment I have two chairs that are not safe to sit on as they are in dire need of clamping, gluing and generally a good rest. But I love them anyway.


Here are some gorgeous images of chairs and the places we put them - all just to have time to reflect, read, relax, cuddle, enjoy a cup of tea or glass of wine. Fill your imagination with to inspire your living space, your workspace or any space you can think of. Christine, this blog's for you darling!

To say my friend Christine is a chair whore may sound harsh, at first. But this girl truly knows her chairs, she lives and breathes them. I have learnt more about modern design from her than from anybody else. She is truly passionate about chairs and it is this passion that has inspired this blog.

My dining / kitchen table has an eclectic mix of chairs around it. I have always felt that, for me, a table with all the same chairs is just too formal. I imagine that if I did have a formal dining room some day, then I will furnish it with identical chairs. But for informal dining, a table surrounded by a collection of chairs I love, well it is the perfect mix for me.

I love the flockati rug under this table. I could never have this look as with children who still prefer eating with their hands like cave people, as opposed to using their cutlery, the food invariably ends up on the floor under their feet. Not a good look with this type of floor rug.

How cool is this idea? Remember your teacher at school forever telling you to stop rocking on your chair, lest you rock too far back, fall backwards and crack your skull? Well all schools need to buy these chairs. Problem solved.

Eames. The Aston Martin of chairs for me.

Eero Aarnio Ball chair. Just one of the coolest chairs ever. I always wanted one of these to be my reading chair or just a chair I can crawl into and hide away from when I am having a bad day.

Eames Rosewood

Eherner

Vintage Eames.

Harry Belltoia

Kartell Louis Ghost

The Naked Lounge chair d'amore by Russell Grigg.

I really like the use of colour here. The accessories have dressed up the room, but with yellow, this room could easily be more casual too.

The tulip chair. Always a favourite.

I am going to have to find some more modern chairs to put in my home I think. Something less likely to need so many repairs. Some of these contemporary designs are so beautiful to look at, just like works of art.


Many of these fabulous chairs are available to buy right now if you wish from the fabulous online store Regencyshop.com.  I recently discovered this amazing store (they ship globally by the way) and they have reproductions of designer chairs, check them out!

Ciao for now,

Hx


Source: desiretoinspire.com, designsponge, chairwhore, livingetc.

Librarian's Rule

 This post is a tribute to a favourite inside feature.

Doesn't this lovely room look inviting?  I can see myself curled up on this love-seat, book on my lap, a warm cup of tea and my dog lying next to me.

Once in a while I like to have a good long look at my bookshelves - or my library, as I like to call it.  I look at it for quite a while, sizing up how the books are placed.  Sometimes I'll shuffle them around a bit, take one out and flick through it, maybe even get excited about discovering a book I had thought once lost. 

Mostly I like to admire it.  This probably seems like strange behaviour to some of you, but this is just one of my little quirks, (of which there are many...), those of you who know me well, know what I'm talking about.

A place for quiet time, not something I get a lot of these days, but a sneaky Nana nap goes down well in a place like this.

When I am scouring the internet for images for my posts, I often come across images that are just so pleasing that I simply have to save them for a rainy day.  Often I end up using them in a post, but some just sit there in a folder waiting for that rainy day.

I just adore the colour coding of the books in this library.  So pleasing to the eye.

 
And so, after editing my pictures folder, I discovered that I had collected quite a few images of home libraries.  Goody, goody I thought - there's a great post already in the making!

 A home library can become a place to lose yourself in.

In my home in the mountains, I made a home library and reading retreat out of a small nook in our main living area.  A spot that was difficult to find a use for was suddenly the most popular place in the house.

Floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall, above a door, there are many places a library can be built to make room for your collection of much-loved reads.

This bookcase is an objèt d'art all on its own.

I scoured the Net for inspiration and boy did I find some!  There are a tonne of blogs and designers and websites out there dedicated to the home library, bookshelves, book displays and bookcases.

Arranging your books and objèt d'art can be fun and an excellent rainy day past-time.  I like to keep Shakespeare and Jane Austen together, books relating to fashion and design are shelved together.  I also have a section for books about movies and film-making, as well as an entire shelf dedicated to J.R.R.Tolkien and one for my collection of beloved Jilly Cooper. 

There are many different ways you can display and store your books and magazines.

I love this idea of using space under stairs to store books.  It's ingenious and space-saving.

More stair storage. 

My first bookcase was an old falling-apart piece of junk I "inherited" from a flat-mate.  I use the word "inherited" loosely because basically she left it behind after she moved out.  It was unpainted, and it wobbled and swayed from side to side.  It's shelves were uneven and it was literally falling apart at the joints.  But as I had nowhere else to keep my books, it was better than nothing.  I went to the hardware store and I bought sandpaper and glue.  I sanded it back, glued it together and voila!  What a difference.  'Course, I think I ended up giving it to the Salvation Army when my hubby and I decided it was time to purchase grown up and married furniture, I didn't even think twice about discarding what was once the only piece of furniture I owned besides my bed!

This diagonal design turns a plain wall into a feature wall.

Think of them as decoration, not just as books.  A few of my friends don't even own a bookcase because once they have read a book, they discard it by giving it away.  I have never understood this because to me, a book I have read always becomes a memory for me and discarding a book would be like losing part of my memory.  That and the fact that I often re-read favourite books. 

 The smallest of nooks can be your saving grace - a place of solitude and respite.

I also believe that books make a home.  And they don't have to be cerebral and artsy-fartsy books either.  Don't go putting on a show with books that you've neither read nor understand because when you have guests around, chances are someone will ask you about one of your titles and if you haven't the faintest idea what they are referring to, then what's the point?  Books can be conversation starters, even makers of great friendships. 

Make good use of an extra wide hallway by having a carpenter build you a wall of shelves and seats for your reading pleasure. 

 Another space saver is to have shelves go over a doorway.  I personally love this look, especially in older homes where doorways are usually not as high as they are in modern homes.

 

 A custom step ladder looks great for those walls of books that are above your reach.  A wall of fabric to curtain off your library adds intimacy to a room, love that idea too.

This library is a major feature of this home. It takes up two walls and is functional and suits this space beautifully. 

Your library at home doesn't have to be a huge affair, nor does it have to be built-in, custom-made, designer influenced or a permanent structure.  We are currently renting our home and that has in no way restricted my home library vision.  We have a fabulous white MDF square structure from Ikea that serves as a room divider and bookshelf in one.  It is a great piece of furniture because it serves more than one purpose.  It houses many books, as well as photo albums, a stereo, speakers, photo frames, trinkets and divides our living room so that I can have my home office where I can keep an eye on my girls while writing.

Your options are only as small as your imagination. 



Ciao for now,
Hx


Sources: Domino Archives, Style Carrot, DesignSponge, DesireToInspire, Google.

Heart and Soul

The entry hall in your home is often a neglected area, which is a shame because I believe the entry hall is the window to the soul of your home.  By that I mean, a person's first impression of your home (and your personal style) is determined when they first enter.

You ring the door bell, you are welcomed in, you are relieved of your coat and your hat is hung and before you know it you are shuffled off into the living room quickly and perfunctorily.

I really enjoyed turning our entry hall into a welcoming alcove for guests but especially for ourselves.  I filled the walls with a puzzle-like arrangement of family photographs.  I remember buying the antique kauri hall table before I even had a place to put it.  I just knew one day I would have the perfect entrance for it.  

Since then I think I have developed a bit of a preoccupation for entry hall furniture and decoration.  It is obviously an interest for many others as it was not difficult to find some fabulous images to share with you.

You know what I mean when you enter a person's home for the first time and you are left breathless because of the warmth and inviting nature of the entry hall.  It's like the design equivalent of a hand-shake.

Decorating your entry hall I think is an untapped design experience.  Why?  Because you can use the entry hall as a place to store items that you don't know where else to put.  For example, I have now in my new home a floor lamp that would normally be in situ in the living room, however our new living room does not have a place for it and so I decided to put it in the entry hall to offer nice warmth when you enter in the evening.  It also offers low light for the children to run to the toilet in the middle of the night without having to turn a bright light on.

Coats and boots and wet weather gear can be stored there along the wall on hooks, so good if you lack a closet for storing such items, which is often the case.  A plant looks nice and those knick-knacks that you can't find a place for but look good all placed together in a bowl you collected from some foreign land.

I am constantly tweaking my entry hall, I don't think I'll ever let it just be, it's too much fun!