mirror mirror on the wall

We have been looking for a mirror to grace the wall of our hallway for some time but they are so expensive. $600-$700 for a fairly standard silver or gold framed mirror is a little over our budget. I found one at IKEA but it had a plain white laminated frame, which would have matched our colour scheme but it looked so cheap, so no match. The two pictured here are currently on eBay for half the price and so now we just need to decide which one is more suitable. The top one is 1640mm x 640 and the bottom one is 2100 x 885. They're huge which is just what we've been looking for. The hallway is long, more like a corridor, with a cupboard on one side and nothing on the other, so that is where it will live. Which one do you like best?

thanks for the komplement

Komplement/PAX Storage System from IKEA

I would do anything to have this amazing storage system behind sliding doors in my bedroom. Did you hear me ... anything!!! The space we have is slightly smaller that the one shown here in the IKEA Wradrobe Catalogue and so i am going to improvise and use this design as my insiration. 

Collectively, we have over 100 pairs of shoes, and before you sigh and blame me, most of them actually belong to Matt. So, a shoe cubby is a must. Also a must is ample hanging space, drawers for the lacy knickers ha ha just kidding, I mean underwear and the like, somewhere for the tonnes of expensive jewells to bask in all their glory (ok there is no expensive jewellery, but there are plenty of plastic adornments that need a home!) and somewhere to store all those folded items like t-shirts and singlets.

This is my version of the storage system, which will hide behind 3 mirrored sliding doors. The left-hand side is specifically designed for a female, with 4 baskets for underwear, shirts etc, 4 jewellery storage trays with 9 compartments, a long hanging space for dresses and coats, and a space for shoes. 

Komplement Wire Basket from IKEA, $20 each

Komplement Storage Tray with 9 compartments from IKEA, $50 each

Komplement Storage Boxes from IKEA, $45.99 / 3

Having such a small space means we need to utilise every milimetre of space as best we can. The Komplement Boxes are a great way of hiding all those unslightly objects or mess of random bits & bobs in a neat minimal fuss way. They have a fabric strap which enable easy access, particularly when they are on a high shelf. The Komplement Storage Tray is the best thing I've seen since sliced bread, and it comes in three different sizes. We will have to go with the smaller size because of our space constraints but it will work just as well. No more lost earrings! Good one IKEA. And a big thank you in advance to my step-father who will be custom building it for us.

colour chamelion

 Heavy Metal 427     Imperial Mist 403    Diamond White 419

By British Paints

We have refined our colour scheme down to 3 for the walls, skirting boards and ceiling. I mentioned in a previous post that we wanted to stick with cool greys along with black and white as our main colour palette. Almost any colour combination will match this palette, and so we think it's a good choice whether we live in the apartment, or we rent it out to another lucky resident. 

The colours are Diamond White 419, Imperial Mist 403 and Heavy Metal 427 from British Paints. It's an Australian company (as the name suggests ??) with an excellent product so it was an easy choice. Diamond White 419 will be used on ceilings and skirtings, doors and frames. Imperial Mist 403 is to be painted on the walls of the kitchen, lounge/dining and hallway. For the bedroom, we are changing the mood a little and going for a deeper darker palette of Heavy Metal 427 on the walls. There will be no feature wall in my house, an awful concept that should be left in the early 90's. We will colour all four walls of the bedroom, and should complement the mirrored built-ins and the bright window over-looking the garden perfectly.

sink or swim

Armix Lux Pull-Out Sink Mixer by Artema

On the weekend we stumbled across a stocktake clearance at Cass Brothers and the timing couldn't be better. They were offering 50% off floor stock so how could we resist. Almost all of the items we wanted had a sold sticker on it, just our luck, but in the end we decided on the Armix Lux Pull-Out Sink Mixer by Artema in Chrome. It was about rrp $375 and we got it for less than $170 with a further industry discount. Not bad.

day one

It's been a few weeks now since we picked up the keys and we've been making decisions, then changing our minds, then thinking of new ideas, then changing our minds again.Where do you draw the line and say to yourself "I love this idea!" and then stick to it? We have both made ourselves giddy with the enormity of this job and have had to basically calm ourselves down by getting stuck into a job we initially thought wouldn't happen, but then... we changed our minds.The skirting boards.

They were smothered in 20 layers of paint, think and bubbly, chipped and well, to put it bluntly, bloody ugly. Originally we proposed to rip them all off and render over any chips in the wall left behind. That left us in a bit of a bind, because if we go down that path then you have to streamline it by taking off the architraves around the door frames... which is a lot of work, with all the paint stripping, rendering, sanding, etc. So we changed our minds.

The stripping part wasn't as bad as i'd expected. We bought 2L of stripper, Methylated Spirits, rubber gloves, 2 scrapers and 2 brushes from Bunnings, and we were on our way. With our face masks securely tightened we painted on the first layer of stripper. It was thick and gluggy but fairly easy to use. I discovered it burns like acid on your skin so protection is a must! 3 layers later, we had the paint stripping of easy as pie.

www.archiexpo.com

The skirting needs a good sand after the final layer of paint is scraped off, and we also had big gaps between the boards and the wall, so we filled the gap with some heavy duty silicone, and sanded again.We are going to keep them white, and above is what they will look like in the bedroom after we paint it Heavey Metal 247.

What do you think? Was it worth it? Total hours not including painting is approx. 10. I'm so glad we decided to keep them because on the weekend there was an "Open for Inspection" in one of the units in our building, so of course, we had a little sticky-beak and they had the original skirting boards, minus all the paint mind you, and they looked fabulous - and so will ours!

settlement day is here!

Hip hip hooray!!! Settlement Day is finally here. This is definitely one of the scariest but exciting things that has ever happened to us. It is simultaneously exhilirating and gut-wrenching. What have we gotten ourselves into? What if we make a mistake? What if we choose the wrong colour carpet or cause the apartment above to tumble down on us in the middle of the night? We ask each other these questions every single day, but we keep reminding ourselves that this is our opportunity to make a life for our family, and that there is no way of failing if we listen toour instincts, listen to our hearts and do it together every step of the way.

settle petal

Yesterday was supposed to be Settlement Day, but unfortunately we have hit a bump in the road, and the 'giving of keys' ceremony has been delayed until further notice. We have been looking forward to this day for exactly six weeks, and now we must keep waiting until the seller is ready. Massive bummer! And they don't even get penalised... so unfair. Lucky we're not forking out hundreds in hotel rooms fees or paying huge amounts of rent at the moment, and so we can wait... but not for long. Hurry up!!!

fit for a king

 

Kato Lounge suite by King Furniture

We have decided on the aptly named Kato lounge from King Furniture. It comes in luxurious leather for a whopping $12,000 and so we will not be living like kings, and will opt for the more affordable fabric option. Still looks amazing but without the price tag. 

The modular system can be configured in many formations to suit any room or function. Also included are interchangable arms, backs and trays that can be used as side tables or dining trays. It even converts into a bed. I can't wait for ours to arrive.

sweet dreams

 

House & Garden Top 50 rooms

 

  

Woollahra House by Greg Natale 

One of our design dilemmas is what to do with the bedroom. Do we paint it, cover it with fancy wallpaper or just keep it plain white? The room is a little on the smaller side, and there won't be much room left over once the bed is in place, so unfortunately no love-seat in the corner or private make-up boudoir, what a shame. One wall will house the mirrored built-ins, another has a lovely window that looks out into the garden, and a third has the entrance to the ensuite bathroom. Yes an ensuite. That's exactly what i thought when i first realised there was no common entrance.

We looked through the plans to see if we could perhaps re-locate the entrance to the ensuite from the bedroom to another main wall such as the hallway, or lounge, but apparently there are a tangle of pipes that will prevent us, so the ensuite stays. We will just have to make it look amazing!

So with only one wall left, we have decided to paint the whole room in a dark shade of grey (above middle image). We are hoping that this will compliment the light grey and white tones used throughout the rest of the apartment.

colour palette

 

Shades of pink and grey

I know the thought of using pink in interior design is as crazy as it sounds, but when used ever so slightly it can create a warm and serene atmosphere in an otherwise cold environment (black, grey, white). The above swatches are far from the final cut, but this is where we are going to start.

 

 moises esquenazi from desire to inspire

bar's open!

  

image from house to home uk

Although it wouldn't take much convincing for Matt to agree on having a full bar in our kitchen for cocktail parties and the like, we unfortunately do not have the room. What we do have room for is a scaled down version, to display our small obsession with the elixir of life. The 'cocktail bar' will be discreetly disguised as a wine cubby housing 12 or so bottles neatly tucked under the benchtop. The rest of our collection will have to reside the the not so glamourous pantry behind closed doors. Cocktail anyone?

set in stone

 

ceasarstone in osprey

The stone we have decided on for our kitchen benchtop is called Osprey by CeasarStone. It is a very light minimalist style. Also a much cheaper option to marble (~dream~) as our kitchen is actually quite massive for a one-bedder. At least there'll be heaps of space for all my appliances and kitcheny stuff!

the kitchen sink

 

Olivieri undermount sink $1199

 

Ebay $345

We were specifically looking for a square undermount sink that didn't have a divider - which by the way fits absolutely anything in it. Another pre-requisite was that it be square-edged rather than round. We came across this perfect specimen on ebay for a fraction of the rrp. Bargain!

treasure trove

 

orson & blake $55

 

 ebay $23

 

safari fusion $595

 

ebay $135

 

$270

 

ebay $55

 

orson & blake $35

 

ebay $23

These are a few of the treasures i have found on ebay recently. The Bamileke feather headress was an absolute bargain! It measures 90cm diameter and im going to hang it above the bed.

time for a change

 

This is our initial sketch of the changes we would like to make. We are planning to gut the kitchen entirely, knock down the dividing walls and create a light and bright working space. The windows in the original laundry and kitchen will provide glorious morning sunshine and warm up the entire apartment.

The ensuite bathroom in it's current condition is a fabulous salmon pink - enough said. The bath will be replaced with an extra-large shower recess with frameless glass and we will custom-design a practical vanity with plenty of storage space. There will be a wall to wall mirror that can be seen through the louvres from the bedroom, and should reflect the light that comes in from the bedroom window, making the space feel bigger and brighter than it really is.

There's much to be done so I'm off to research colour schemes. Will let you know what we decide on!

welcome to the property market

We have finally found our first home. We've been looking for over 9 months, and 2 weeks ago, we fell in love with the most adorable one-bedroom apartment. It needs a lot of work but that's exactly what we've been looking for. 

Matt and I are so excited to get in there and start from scratch.

 

LOUNGE

 

BALCONY

 

KITCHEN

 

BATHROOM

 

BEDROOM