Laundry Rooms

Laundry’s do not normally appeal to me at all, as in, it’s not a room where I think ‘yippee,a creative outlet’. But they are a necessity and whilst I like the idea of the smallest hole in the wall laundry with some lovely doors that conceal all of it, it’s actually the one room in a colonial house that you can really jam pack with storage. So that’s what I’m going to do.

Looking at laundry images has altered my thinking ever so slightly, there are some beautiful spaces like these below.  This wall paper got my heart racing ... and that pendant light. Holy Mary ... where can i find one?

 

This one above's practical and rather pretty too. The short curtain to the sill appeals to me in a laundry

 

 

Being that ours is a narrow room, I need to make it workable and full of storage for all linen and nick nacks that never have a home, .. jars for example. Forever, the laundry tubs has been used for anything and everything in my world. Cleaning the fish tank, watering indoor plants, washing paintbrushes, soaking stuff etc etc etc. So I’ve decided do use stainless steel tubs and benchtops for the workspace element. Something like the below:

It does look sterile and is more often than not supplied to kitchens in KFC’s but it’s the sterility that I like and the double tubs.  I’ll add a wooden bench underneath for clothes baskets to sit. This'll keep them out of the way but totally accessible at the same time. The floors will be dark grey slate.

Doesn't that look neat below. Not worthwhile for me, i don't plan of having tea and cake in there. Actually, that cabinetry is the same as what we have in our kitchen, fancy that.

I’m jumping between study, wardrobe and laundry at the moment. My attention span is that of a fish when I know there’s a few projects on the go and I can’t rest on the floor plans until I know what the room needs to consist of (dimension wise). It’s a vicious circle isn’t it?

Here are some more pretty smaller laundry’s. Not going to work for me this time around, but they may work for you?

Really love this one above. Superb use of space for the cottage home. Gee I like VJ ceilings.

Oh, the carpet tile. Remember that post i did yonks ago on the cheap reno where we decked the cottage out in carpet tiles? SO cheap and SO effective. (I copied off Julie over at Restoring the Old girl )

I really do love the idea (if you have the space) of a mud room that doubles with the laundry. Kick off your boots and gardening gloves, throw your dirty clothes straight in the tubs and chuck on a clean robe ... sounds good huh

Well, I need to get out the sketch pad and put what's in my head on some paper. Finalising plans is fun, for a little while ... a very short little while, and then it's just bloody tedious.

Friday tomorrow, nothing tedious about a weekend. Go the Wallabies!

the perfect study

At the moment, we're finalising downstairs floorplans and have opted to maximise space for a better wardrobe, therefore scrimping on space for the study. 
This has me smitten.

I love the red and white blinds.

One wall will look like this in the way of seating for two chairs and centre drawers, but there will be overhead cupboards and a window at one end.

This one below is similar to what i envisage, but not AS narrow.

I think this is what i want... i think. Floor plans are so damn hard to fine tune.

Indigenous Art

I've been admiring Indigenous Art for a long time. I think, like Surrealism, you either love it or can't stand it.

A friend has just been out to the Red Centre and then on to Tennant Creek. As soon as she told me she was going, I jumped on her like a mosquito and pestered her to send me some photos of the art. She did. And this is what she placed into my hot little hand this morning...

It's called Women Dreaming. They are separate ponds where the women are sitting and, well ... dreaming. The pond on the bottom right hand corner is my fave. Once canvased, i think it'll look lovely on a white wall.

 This one is called Bush Seeds. The colours are gorgeous. I love the simplicity of it. Here's a close up.

I'm really chuffed with these two above, and being that the art centre at Tennant Creek provides a really great environment and workspace for the artists and pays them directly for their work, i'm happy knowing that the cash is going straight back into a great community initiative.

The piece i am rediculously head over heels with is this one below ... It's called Mina Mina Dreaming

It's reduced at the moment to $13,200. Unless i win one of those new fandangled million dollar scratchies, this little fella is staying put. This painting amongst other stunning pieces can be found on http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/ Beeauuutiful isn't it?

Rainbows, Cocktails & great coffee!

I ducked down to Melbourne for the weekend to visit a friend who lives in Richmond. After a late lunch we were greeted by this.

A double rainbow.

Isn't it glorious with the afternoon sun on the building? This was in St Kilda. We went to Stokehouse for lunch which was superb (of course). They're opening up in a new development at Southbank in late October this year and they're bringing 'The Bombe' dessert with them. Mmmm, tantalisingly delicious.

For anyone visiting the Richmond area you must pop into  Der Raum. A waiter at a bar in St Kilda gave us the hot tip. It's a cocktail bar. I have never tasted cocktails so magnificent. It's very quirky. This is what they give you to cleanse your pallet.

Everything's served in old medicine bottles or test tubes and the bar is covered in a overhead sea of hanging bottles. Definitely look at the website to get the idea.

Gypsey and Musquito in Richmond is a cafe with a cracker menu. It was kind of Australiana. Crocodile sausage was one thing on the menu. I opted for something non exotic/strange - potato hash with bacon and hollandaise. But the coffee, man oh man was it good and the decor is so cute. I really could live in that city.