White is Not The Mere Absence of Colour*

Such a beautiful cover and issue of Vogue Living (Apr 13). Gracing the cover is the home of Wendy Paterson (pg 114) and she has a love for beauty and words and decorating. She surrounds herself with beautiful quotes, 'mot de jours', like this one: "He who seeks beauty will find it": Bill Cunningham. 

When asked what she does in these rooms, she answers "...nothing. They have the luxury of having no obvious purpose except to be beautiful."  What a glorious luxury. She has a love of light, space and the idea of "visual silence" and like me, once she has read a novel, she passes it on, yet she can't seem to part with images "...pictures are like food to me."

We are renovating at the moment and our rooms have no obvious purpose either. They aren't beautiful (yet) either. We'll get there.

*Title is a quote by Gilbert K Chesterson quoted on pg 124 of VL Apr 13

Feeling Green

Doesn't this space feel beautiful? from The Design Files

Nothing Like The Danes

Anne Black's apartment via Style Files

New House Idea

Well, we're finally in - quite exhausting this moving business and the house is full of empty boxes and disorganised chaos. We of course need more storage...How fab is this IKEA idea? and they have a blog...who knew? p.s. to save you searching, these are Prant boxes and are held together with bulldog clips. You'll need to paint them yourself.

I'm officially a magazine-aholic. Mr could not believe the collection I've amassed. I had to sneak manageable piles into the bottom EVERY box in order to smuggle them all into the new house with the promise that I will cull...but how? I even did a few trips myself of just bags of mags 'cos I felt sorry for the removalists.

Harts Lane

I have finally added another little town to my travel blog Anywhere But Here...and that town is Daylesford in country Victoria, an arty spa town with fantastic food - I went last year for my birthday and posted about it here & here. The images above are of Harts Lane house & studio in Daylesford via Harts Lane & Daylesford Getaways.

Look At That Face!

My flying nephew.

p.s. Yes Mrs S I will send you the photos. X

Gingerbread House

A real life gingerbread house. No bathroom and no kitchen...but a bed and books is all you really need isn't it?

Credit: Trevor Tondro for The New York Times

Their First Apartment

This is mum and dad's first apartment. Mum tells me it was very chic at the time. I like how she has roses in a crystal vase in the kitchen and they reappear again on the contact-paper-covered- TV. Either she was ahead of her time (or we're behind) - When I look closely I notice trends that have come and gone and come again since...there is a bird cage in the dining room with a table setting I'd kill for now. More flowers and plants in the living room with mirror tiles on a green feature wall and a Kartell storage cabinet (just out of view). The bedroom comes into its own and I love the sheer curtains in the spare room where her little sisters would stay.

I wonder what my kids will think of my apartment in decades to come.

Home for the Weekend

We arrived in Daylesford on a dark and gloomy afternoon after driving for a couple of hours in the pouring rain in our bright red hire car which kept taking wrong turns. Finally Daylesford found us, tired and hungry. It fed us a late lunch of warm warm roasted veges and lamb pie w/peas by the fire at cosy Cliffy's and sent us to the house that had been waiting for us with a fat slice of syrupy lemon yoghurt cake to enjoy with a cup of tea.

Get Inspired & Come With Me

My favourite ever store would have to be Empire Vintage in Melbourne and I have been looking for the perfect excuse to stay at the lovely Lyn Gardener's White House in Daylesford for ages. So for my birthday last week, there I went, booked since January and counting down the days. You choose the room you fall in love with and get the whole house. I thought I had mine picked from the website, but when I arrived I chose the other. The one with the toile wallpaper and big bare globes with a portrait beside the bed of an old man I'll never know. This is the little garden studio which I peeked through the windows of - it's perched beneath a yellow leaved tree hung with baby bird cages.

p.s. For a lovely post with more info and images Pia has compiled one for you right here.

White Alright

Images from Country Style mag.

Warehouse Fit For A Queen

Images 1, 3, 5 & 6 by moi, other from Domain.

To walk through such an inspiring space with such incredible potential was a real privilege. We enter through a roller door into a 6 car space holding a kiln, and benches and shelves of ceramics. The next huge room houses large tables covered in enormous sheets of paper with half drawn artworks of amazing intricacy and the very front room holds true to the workshop it was with the 'waiting room' couches and 'office' etched on glass fronted door and a toilet for customers off to the side.

We ascend the stairs via medical cabinets filled with curiosities (old razors and their associated shaving paraphernalia) past one of the owners well hung artworks (this one with beautifully drawn feathers in fine black pen and the signature pinks of striated flesh.

Then welcome to the polished floor expanse of white walls, shelves for tonnes of books, a walk-in-pantry, gorgeous big kitchen and cooktop, a timber table with seats enough for 10 and old dentists chairs with various headrest attachments dotted about the place.

Enter the main bathroom to a stainless steel hospital basin and kidney dishes on the side of the bathtub holding razors and soap.

The fascination for all things medical/surgical become well apparent and I absolutely share his passion for biology, anatomy, medical science, hospital fittings and surgical wares and love the industrial vibe.

Taste Impeccable

Mr and I wanted to look at this place today, only to find it sold pre-auction, and why wouldn't it? Gosh I was excited about seeing a Vogue Living cover home in real life and walking through the pages of the rooms, but alas, t'was not to be. We did look at another warehouse though...big enough for a worshop for Mr and a studio for me and oh, 16 guests for dinner. I'll post pics from there soon.

Images from Domain & Vogue Living Jan/Feb 07.