Author: suzanne

 I am very excited with my new BLUE door.

My back door was a mundane wooden door which you find at every hardware store in town.  When the plans for our house were drawn up, we failed to realise that our back door which goes out of the scullery to the washing lines is right in full sight.

Concentrating so much on the details of “more important finishes” like lights and cupboards and cornices etc, we once again failed to pay enough attention to this back door in full sight.

Someone once had wise words, that when you have a furniture item which does not really go with any of your other stuff, or it is an odd colour, or a different, out dated style -then instead of hiding it; make it a feature…and the ugliness of the item can be turned around into something really striking.

It is exactly what I did with my mundane door – I painted it blue!.. and now it is a great asset to my home.

 

 Our house is standard in size and not very big, but we live comfotably in it.  There are however a few additional rooms that I can think of that would be nice to have.. one day.  One of them would be a play/ tv room for the children.

a Few nights ago, my husband and I were having a glass of wine around a fire on a lovely summers eve.  We came up with a great idea… we were going to transform the small little storage room underneath our stairs into a make shoft play room.

The first weekend that came up, I relocated all the things that was stored under the stairs to the garage and other cupboards so that the room was empty.  I then got a small dvd player as well as a small tv, and arranged the room to have a table and chairs for painting, drawing, playing with clay etc.  I put a mattrass in front of the tv so that she can lie there and watch her movies, and I put her creative box (sciccors, crayons, paint, etc) close by.  Her blocks and puzzles are also right there.

I painted the walls with fun pictures to finish it off.

Even though it is small, she absolutely loves her own little playing space and often retreats there to keep herself busy.

   

When it comes to making your house pretty, which rooms are most important to you; if you were to draw up a list in the order of most important to least important?… I doubt anyone would even have their scullery at the bottom of the list?!

Well, I was thinking that even though the time spent in the particular room is not necessarily fun to the person spending the time there. why not at least make it good looking around them.  Who knows, the work done there might just feel a little lighter.

I roped my husband in for this one and asked him to make me 2 square shelves.  We bought the wooden plank from Builders for only R80 (it was enough for 2 shelves), and the paint was just over R100.  I decided to use a bright, happy yellow called Field Daisy.

With fresh cur flowers or any fresh and interesting part of a plant from the garden, why not smile when walking into the scullery?

 

 

 

 

  So, in two days my dream is coming true…

I am starting to work for myself from home.  Ever since I can remember it was a dream of mine to one day work for myself or have my own business, and since having two children that desire has increased, especially to have the luxury of being flexible in order to be there when they need me.

When we built our house, an office was not really part of the budget, so I don’t have a room which I could convert into a office,  It was time to be creative about clever usage of space,  We have a rather wide corridor leading to our spare room, and I saw the potential to create a long thin office space.  I had the tresles made by an acquintance, as well as the table tops.  The shelves were solid wood planks from our nearest Builders Express and so are the brackets.

My darling husband was the most important tool in assembling this master piece.

For bookstops, I fished for interesting objects throughout my house.. and whoalla.. Here is my simple, yet modern office…  Classy, don’t you think!

Writing today from the US, I have brought my bathroom pictures along to share.  I have thus far added some accessories to two of my bathrooms; the spare room bathroom as well as the girls’ bathroom.

As with most of my décor ideas, I tend to stay away from clutter and try to have one or two focal points of something special, rather than having a room look the my grandmother’s display cabinet.

In the guest bathroom, I have added 3 simple pieces; a collection of white crosses above the “loo”, a “rubber tree” in a white pot in the window sill, and a lovely linen “basket”.  The white crosses echo the white mirror and also break the big dead space above the toilet.  Since deciding to add plants to the bathroom décor, I have loved the feeling of freshness they give when you walk into the room.  The linen basket is a lovely find from Loads of Living, and makes a beautiful container for magazines or toilet rolls – or both!  I just love how the colour and texture goes with the wall finishes.

Since my daughters’ (the one is still to be born in upcoming July) don’t really have a traditional pink bedroom, but rather a room that reflects a traditional “lappieskombers” (blanket made from a mixture of leftover pieces of material) – I have decided that their bathroom will be more mellow.  Pink is a prominent colour (tying up with the colour of the year – which is a pinkish Radiant Orchid) in the bathroom.  What I have added here as accessories, is a spotted rabbit door stop with pink ears, a beautiful pink and white orchid in a weathered white pot; and vintage pink  photo frames with a collection of pink vintage hearts.  Lastly, I have also added heart shaped numbered hooks in pink and green.  Usually I would not really personalize a bathroom with photos, but since this bathroom is en suite to the girls’ room, I thought it a nice touch to add pictures of Elizabeth playing in the field.

Just to end off, I found the loveliest shop in Manhattan, called West Elm Market, and I bought two things for my kitchen.  Check out their funky bird Salt and Pepper Shakers.  A pity I am going home by plane and not by ship – otherwise I would have gotten some larger items!  Perhaps not such a pity for my purse : )