Street Art

I Just love street art! I'd love to have some street art somewhere in the house. Otherwise a series of framed photos of street art on the wall. Here are a few of my favourites.

 These girls are all from Melbourne

 This is in Venice and is made from recycled cans.  Why have bamboo from Bunnings peoples, when you can have this as a privacy screen?.... and you would be helping the environment at the same time!

This groover is from The Cinque Terre in Italy. I LOVE that place!

Barcelona, Spain. Just outside our Apartment. We stayed there for a week in 2007 (it wasn't long enough). The place is positively oozing with Creativity and Coolness.

 This is our favourite little bar just around the corner from our apartment. It is called La Forquilla Voladora. We had just spent about 3 hours in Tappa Tappa Tappa trying everything on the menu and this bar was on our way home. It was the pink resin bar that caught my eye.
We stayed til 11pm after a few Caprioskas (it was happy hour) and the kids (then 6 & 5) drew 'Alien Monsters' on the footpath. It was the kids who didn't want to leave!

 La Forquilla Voladora By Night

 ...and by day

Upper Frames

We've had a few days of fine weather (amazing how much can be achieved in such conditions!)

The Upper frames are complete. It doesn't really look like a normal house... more like a series of boxes floating a bit off centre.  At this stage it's usually easy to picture what the interior & exterior of a house will look like however, I have a feeling that this house will only start to make sense towards the end of the build.

This box is the front of the house (guest bedroom and kid hangout). It will have black glass windows and large vertical helical fins. We saw the fins last week at Vanguard and they are quite impressive!  They are usually used on commercial buildings. When we bought the block it came with a concept front elevation (including the helical fins) and we thought it looked so sexy that we kept it as it was.

The big cantilevers in this house have been a challenge for our engineer.

This is a bridge that leads to the master bedroom. The bridge separates the kids & guest bedrooms and bathrooms from the master bedroom area and sits in the middle of a massive void above the living & dining areas (this is why light choice & placement here are so important).

 Left is the loungeroom and kitchen looking East from the deck and the right photo is taken from the bridge looking down to the kitchen. The room above the kitchen is our ensuite with a very large walk in shower.

Not a bad view from our bedroom! I stood right here for ages, not wanting to move. I think I'm going to move the coffee machine, bar fridge and my computer up to the bedroom. Look, I can even watch the kids in the pool from here so there's no need for me to leave the bedroom.

 Prosecco at Sunset anyone?

The Sugarcube

The house we currently reside in was built by us and completed 3 years ago exactly (what a long time to stay in one house!!). When it started taking shape my mum came to visit & said, "It looks like a big sugarcube!" and VOILA, the house was named! Thanks Mum.

There will possibly be a few themes, colours & shapes being carried over to the new House. We are actually extremely happy with how this one all "came together" ;)

The corner block appealed to us when we bought the site. We also have city views and river glimpses. We are surrounded by a mixture of modern and old houses. No doubt our big white Sugarcube upset a few old school Queensland folk however, we had done our fair share of bringing life and love back into some very tired colonials & Queensland homes and felt like we had earned the right to 'scar' the street with a touch of modernism.  The little room beside the pathway is clad with Marble.  It took us months and months to decide on this. It was a risk but we love it! The entire colour scheme for the house was based on this marble. I carried a marble tile around with me everywhere. We have since seen it replicated on a few houses in the area and if the idea came from us I'm flattered!

The garage and the house are separated by a courtyard and pool area.

We love our living area!

This lovely marble wall is our TV area and fireplace. We've chosen an 'Oyster' caesarstone benchtop to compliment the marble.

This photo was taken shortly after moving in (hence the lack of furniture & signs of life). It was styled for a Kitchen & Bathroom Magazine shoot and the readers like to see the finishes & appliances rather than 'real kitchen stuff'.

The pop-down outdoor video projector is kind of extravagant but we just wanted to give it a go as we had the perfect space for it. The kids love snuggling up with us on the lounge outside with popcorn & hot chocolate and watching a movie. The courtyard transforms from drive-in to dance floor when an 80's music video just happens to appear on the wall!

Our backyard isn't massive though plenty big enough for a small spring-free trampoline and several kids playing soccer.

The courtyard pool wraps around the house in the form of a lap pool.

This is the kids bathroom. Very simple with a heated towel rail and a natural stone wall. 

We have used grey sheer curtains throughout the house (with recessed double tracks). I would definitely use these again. I LOVE grey. I find it a very calming colour. We will also continue to use this flooring which is Blackbutt panels (peeled from around the tree). We have used this type of flooring several times now for ourselves and spec. houses and even though it is more expensive than a standard timber floor it is absolutely divine.

Our ensuite with natural stone tiles and caesarstone benchtop. We love these ovo basins by minosa.. you'll be seeing those again too!

Apart from the bookshelf this area virtually never gets used! If I had my way it would've been a covered deck instead. Aha.... you shall see how far my nagging went when you see our huge deck in the new house :)

More lights

These lights look great grouped together. They are copies of the Classic Tom Dixon 'beat' light in brass. I know it's probably wrong to buy a copy, but these are one sixth of the price of the original (and the large copy is one tenth of the price of the original).  If I can save money on these ones I might just get that Allegro light from SPACE that I'm lusting after?!

 Another option for the Kitchen perhaps?

This light is at Coco Republic, but I think I would look much better in our house! 

Perhaps in our study the reading corner in our bedroom. It reminds me of a lighthouse beacon, so I don't think it would look out of place in our bedroom overlooking the water.

Floor trusses

We now have floor trusses! 
The day I took these photos it was pouring.  We have probably had more rainy days than fine days since we started and considering this I think the house is progressing well.
The next step is flooring, then upper frames, roof trusses and then the roof....
All of the above can be completed in a week if the weather stays fine. I will be praying to the sun gods every night.

The upper frames are sitting to the left of the photo. I remember the day I walked on site to inspect the lower frames and thought they'd only completed half the job. Downstairs we have a bathroom, laundry, study and one open living & dining area...the majority of the 'walls' downstairs are windows and doors. Anyone know a well priced window cleaner??

bookshelf & crates

I love this living room... the green, the timber, the pottery. This bookshelf is similar to one we have in the Sugarcube (our current house) and we are going to build a few into the new house. I need to start thinking about such additions at the frame stage... speak now, or forever hold your piece!!

I have a few soft drink crates like these fruit boxes around the house. I've always loved them. I'm not sure where I got them from, but I've had them for years.  I love them on the black wall. I may consider this for shelving in Remo's room. 

I would LOVE to get my hands on an antler light. I have a single white deer antler which Billie has claimed as a hat rack for her "forest bedroom".

Once again, lighting needs to be considered now... well before before the sparky comes back. I like a bit of grunge.  A is no fan of the eclectic (he hates that word!), vintage look and prefers the minimal way. We'll meet somewhere in the middle. 

"Mum.... have a cuppa!"

My nearly 9 year old daughter Billie makes the best cup of tea.  I was feeling a tad stressed a few days ago and she said, "Sit down mum. I'll make you a cuppa!" She's a gem!!

I have to mention that the cookbook is a new addition to the Kitchen. I had Brekky with Bill Granger a couple of weeks ago at his book launch (5 doors down from The House) and was overjoyed when I was told to sit directly opposite him. He was lovely and his latest cookbook really is getting back to basics (that's my kind of cooking!!... also, the Italian way... keep it simple)

He sits along side my Vintage Pimms Glass Jug (which I picked up at Vinnies complete with stirrer and 8 glasses for $14), my green Eames pottery ($14 from an antique shop) and my Blue 'Made in Japan' (I think?) cookie jar bought last week in Salvos for $8.

Inspiration

Surry Hills

I always love going to my sister in law's studio.  It makes me feel like I'm in Paris.  Nina is a very talented designer in Surry Hills. Her label is called Petal Bridal Couture. Do yourself a favour and check out her website

www.petalbridal.com  

Nina also has a lingerie label called Emerald Pillow 

www.emeraldpillow.com 

also well worth a look! Last year I went to Sydney Fashion Week to see Nina's wares being paraded. I was so proud of her!! Her blog is called 'unusual bird'

Up a little spiral staircase is my brother's studio.  Tim is a very talented artist with an amazing mind and a gentle soul.  I love going to stay with them. They always make me feel very welcome and I don't think they realise how much a 3 day stay there inspires me.

www.timkliendienst.com

www.alphabetstudio.com.au

 Of course with 2 very talented people you would expect a very unique child.  My niece is one of those gorgeous quirky little munchkins that you just can't get enough of. When I stay with them she wakes me every morning with little wet puppy dog nose kisses.  4 year old Miss E took this photo in a cafe in Surry Hills.

I saw this light in HUB in Surry Hills. I just love it. It could be an option! And yes, it's Italian!

 Tim & Nina's friend owns this store ici et la, also in Surry Hills. 

LOVE!!!

 Look at these fantastic vessels!! I'm not sure if A loves them as much as I do, but I may be able to sneak one into our house somewhere??

Steel & Frame

We have Steel, we have lower frames..... and we have a lovely Pandanus Palm.

Steel!

This is our Pandanus.. I mean, you can't have a water view without one!  We chose her online and she was brought down from the Sunshine Coast on the back of a truck and craned into the yard.  We had to plant her early because there will be no access once the house is built.  She cost us about the same price as the Allegro Light (a lot!) however, I believe it was money well spent and it was love at first sight!

My next purchase will be a Singapore Frangipani Tree for the front yard/entrance.  For looks, privacy, Feng Shui and above all, the smell. It's all about Chemistry!

I also purchased some "little" granite boulders to sit with our tree but they have only been brought in as far as the side pathway.  I'm not sure how we'll get them as far as the back fence (the large one weighs a tonne... literally!)

 As you can see, not much of a yard (if you could call it that?).  What we do have is a huge deck, pool, boardwalk, water and city views and a great park (& off leash dog park) about 100 meters away.  Not to mention, great neighbours, a fantastic cafe/restaurant/wine bar and city cat and ferry terminal 5 doors away.... OK, I'm bragging now...

Here are the boys in my study, standing frames in the rain. Chop Chop!