"Crikey Mate!"

I feel like I have just wrestled a crocodile!! I have just finished wrangling the cushion inner into the tight-as cover of this ottoman, for the second time I might add (it needed a little tweaking). At least it's a nice tight fit which is want I wanted. It's a shame none of you got to see my performance as it really was quite entertaining and it came veeery close to needing censorship for expletives, but I was very self-controlled... just a few of the following - "far-out", "shoot", "bloomin'heck" .
It is so gratifying to work hard and get great results.

BEFORE (above)

AFTER (below)

Now I can ring the owner and she can come and collect it (and pay me, woohoo)

I have a couple of blogs I would like to recommend. Both are in their early days but I am so happy to have discovered them.

A Dream House For Trish is the first one. Trish and her family have moved to the Hunter Valley where they have bought some land and are going to be building in the future. I am looking forward to sharing this journey.

The Five Year Project is a blog belonging to Jenny from Queensland. I discovered her blog from a comment she left at The House That A-M Built. I asked Jenny if she would mind me giving her blog a mention and I haven't heard back yet but I was so excited to find her (her kitchen is to-die-for!) that I couldn't wait :-/ I hope she doesn't mind!

Be sure and check them out.

NB I have just been informed that the links don't work so will get on that and try to fix things up, (Thanks for letting me know Tina).

NB All fixed. Please visit and enjoy these new blogs :o)

Formal Lounge

Since I started blogging, I have been so inspired by many decorating styles. In fact, it has left me in a bit of a quandry at times, as I try to inject elements that I love into my home in a very eclectic manner, not always successfully I might add!
When I recently came across this image in Home Beautiful (June 2009), it really hit a soft spot for me. So with this in mind, I am going to set about reorganising my formal lounge and hopefully end up with a room that is welcoming, restful but with some elegance. To this end, I snapped up 2 lamps that were on ebay this week. The title said "Lamp" so I was assuming there was only one but thought $40 (Buy Now) was still an okay price , so imagine my delight upon reading the listing, to discover the auction was, in fact, for 2 lamps, eek. I picked them up this morning and they are de'light'ful (groan).
The seller lived just down the road from an op. shop that I hadn't been to for a while so I thought I'd pop in for a look-see. I found 2 good sized pictures ($5 each) which will be getting a going-over. I thought the pictures were kind of cute though.....

*SIGH*

"EEK"

Okay, so the lad is relieveing himself in the middle of Paris.....

love the expression.....

haha.....

and just look where the contents of his bladder are going...all over his cute wee toes!

For some reason, this image conjures up memories of childhood road-trips, scrambling through roadside vegetation to find a lone tree to crouch behind.....oh the joys.

Bits and Pieces

I have a few projects waiting in the wings at the moment.

I finished these chairs today. I just had to screw the cushions on. Don't they look nice around my dining table. I am going to sell these as I am still infatuated with my white/grey studded chairs.

I went op shopping yesterday. Didn't score much but I picked up this (see below). Not sure what to call it but I do have a few ideas about what I'll do to it. One idea involves cooking utensils and the other, coat hooks. Do you have any other ideas for me? Feel free to share!

This table is one of a pair which eventually will go either side of the sofa in our "formal"lounge. They need a bit of finishing and a coat of paint. I have high hopes for these 2.

This clock I bought at the Reject Shop. It is going to look so different once I have had my way with it...stay tuned :-)

A before and after (don't we all just love a good before and after?)

El cheapo lamp/wicker shade.....

BEFORE

AFTER

And last but not least, this is the ottoman I am working on for a lady I met recently. Bit of an animal print thing going on here....

...and this is the fabric she gave me to recover the ottoman with. I'll keep you posted as it progresses.

Mothers Day

"Happy Mothers Day Mum"

A post's just not complete without a good before and after. Beautiful as ever Mum!

I wish my Mum wasn't living so far away, then I would get to wait on her hand and foot the way she did for me while I was growing up.

This is what I woke up to this morning and it was all thanks to my 2 beautiful daughters. Such thoughtful, caring young ladies!

Yes, this french toast was as delicious as it looks!

See, I've got my mouth stuffed full.

Who's a little camera shy Jake? Better get over THAT before your wedding day,hahaha

TV Cabinet Makeover

I have another finished project to share with you all.

Firstly, can I say THANKS for all the kind and encouraging comments many of you have left, what a buzz!

This project is a corner TV cabinet which I won on ebay for $46. Not a huge bargain but it was the right piece of furniture for the spot I wanted it.

The handles are from a set that I won on ebay last month which I painted white. The interesting thing about the handles is that as soon as I set foot inside the sellers house I knew I had found a kindred spirit. I couldn't stop myself from checking out her lovely interior decor. She has some beautiful pieces of furniture and I had to control myself from wandering off to check out the rest of her home! We got chatting and I mentioned that I do a bit of upholstery. Well, out of that short conversation (hubby and girls were waiting patiently in the car for me) I am now reupholstering her large ottoman and 8 dining chairs for her. When she said that she would remove all the staples from the chairs before she dropped them off to me, I could swear I heard a choir of angels singing the Hallelujah chorus from Handels Messiah.
So I guess I'll have a few more posts up my sleeve.... never a dull moment:o)

I have just realised that the script for this post is in some random spot between my photos and I still don't know how to move it around so I'm sorry about that!

Chairs - Before/After

My hubby has set me up with a spray booth in the garage and I have got my spray gun/compressor working. I am like a kid with a new toy! I started using it on Friday evening and woke at the crack of dawn on Saturday(and I'm NOT a morning person usually) rearing to go.

I managed to get 3 coats of paint on these chairs in one day. I love the way they look with the blue paisley fabric (which was $5/metre at Spotlight).

I also managed to get 2 coats on a corner TV cabinet...... but that's another post;-)