A hue of blue

While the sky remains a dismal shade of grey, i've brightened up the inside with a couple of painting's i've picked up of recent times.

This is my favourite. The location of the framer (on the back) was the suburb i grew up in, and it looks to be a highschool piece of the 70's with 'Grade 11Blue' written next to the name on the back. I wonder if the artist went to my highschool?

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And this one. Very simple but this shade of blue always gets me and with all the timber framing going on in this room, a bit of stretched canvas is a nice modern addition (even if a 2 year old could do it).

It's texturised which i like and being that the two are in the same room, it makes the first one more vibrant and brings out the blue tones in all of the Tretchikoff's.

Another piece of clutter for the house comes in the shape of an early 1900's Surveryours staff. This is a close up below. They're 3 pieces that slide into one another so it's very long when extended all the way.

It's lounging in the kitchen at mo. I like it but it's another item that i could really live without, yet refuse to.

We're finishing off the downstairs part of our house, so over the coming months, i'll share some bits n pieces. It was nearly 5 years ago that we demolished the original house and relocated a dwelling from across town. It doesn't hinder us that it's taken this long, but it'll look a hell of alot better done and dusted. Here's a few links One and Two  back to the minimal before and after's i have of upstairs. This time i plan to take many more shots. It's amazing how much you forget.

Dreaming of Danish ...

There's a Danish furniture sale on at Albion Antique Auction Centre this week. Started yesterday and ends Saturday. 

I hopped on the website and spotted this chair that I had to have .....

$15,000. Ouch! Glorious though. Not surprisingly, a sign at the store says ' do not sit on this chair'.  

Regardless of this little emotional setback, there were a number of other items which looked great and were priced more affordably to moi. Quite a few extendible tables, sideboards, there was this desk which in real life is gorgeous. I think it was $600 or something like that? ... good price, or maybe that was another desk. not sure.

This lounge, which i am very fond of, is $3,900, it has a planter box as part of it. Very cool, unique and a good price and excellent condition.

Lighting

There's also some period antiques in another room which are equally lovely. I adore good craftsmanship and the smell of nicely aged timber.

You can check out items here: http://www.aaac.com.au/auctions.html

Cricket and Cocktails

I'm a bit behind the 'happy christmas and new year' wagon. So, in order to catch up, i hope you all had a heap of fun. Seems like an eternity ago now.

2011's over and in some ways i'm glad. A nice fresh new year always comes along at the right time and brings with it positivity and hope for many people. No new years resolutions for me per se. Just the usual detox, try to stunt the ageing process, win lotto and so on.

The last few weeks have been pretty good at my end. Lots of these

and a fair few of these

Christmas day was a cracker at the family home. My nephew received a beach cricket set for chrissie which we set up out on the footpath.

It was deja vu. This same street through the 1980's was constantly filled with our laughing, yelling, crying and carrying on. As kids we were always out  and about playing cricket, tennis, riding bikes, building cubbie houses, raiding mulberry bushes and swimming until our bodies were shrivelled and eyes ached. There were 4 main families whose kids all hung out together. To this day we still remain in touch.

As cars drove past on christmas day to see 3 generations out playing cricket, people smiled, waved and nodded the same way i do when see a family having some good old fashion fun. Sometimes i see kids out swinging on trees, playing hopscotch on a driveway or having running races on the footpath, but not often. Shame really, even at my age, hitting the ball with my brothers is still a blast.

Flights are so cheap to LA for the month of Feb and March. About $1,200 return. Throw in NY and you can do it for about $1,600. Who can resist? I'm not sure that i can ... Meanwhile, the new sideboard is settled into this little nook for the time being

I just love cocktail cabinets of any kind. Pulling a bottle of scotch out of the pantry just doesn't seem right to me...

These swizzle sticks were a purchase from Palm Springs, They're glass and never been used. I just can't bring myself to take them out of the packet

Speaking of, i'm still kinda searching for the right Flamingos for the garden, but they're all too small. Some sold on Ebay early last year that were perfect. If you see any of the big one's give me a hoy. They're so pretty.

Have a great weekend!