Time Worn Style

Our Country Home ~ Country Style magazine February 2012 WIN A COPY

It's finally here 

our little slice of heaven

featured in this months 

Australia Coast to Coast

Country Style

I've had a rough start to the year,

a friend and I were badly injured in a car accident

so on the road to recovery

this has been a bright light in the grey

I hope you enjoy the article

I know we enjoyed having the lovely Country style team here for our photoshoot

(all photos below Mikkel Vang)

 

 

Country style magazine is available for purchase Australia wide

Overseas readers can purchase a subscription here

I have TWO COPIES to give away

 

 I've had a few lovely emails about the giveaway so am opening it up to all my readers IN AUSTRALIA AND OVERSEAS

Just leave a comment below

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for extra entries

(make sure you comment again to let me know you have!)

 

Entries close 1/2/2012

 

short post, I can only type with one hand currently!

Hope you enjoy the mag!

The Australian Verandah...

One of the main things I loved about this old house when I first saw it was its long and deep Australian Verandahs..

We have them on both sides of the house

You can fit a good size table and chair set on them

and in summer they are the coolest place to be sitting back with 

a G & T and enjoying the serenity..

but of course being such an old house

this more "original" section is in dire need of a makeover

the uprights are sagging

the decking rises and falls with the weather..

more to do with some earlier poor repairs rather than anything else..

 

 

and the bases of the uprights are rotted out..

the railings need to be added back in..

and the stairs replaced..

 

Theres another little room underneath..

the boards need replacing..

 

 

I think this is going to be our next renovation project

over Summer..

its a big one

we may just sit on it for another year

enjoying the serenity..

and hoping it doesnt collapse from under us

and available for purchase now in my ebay Australia store..

 

Antique boudoir clock..

 

My Vintage shop in the Mountains ~ Olinda

People who know me well

know this one thing about me

I've always wanted a shop to sell my treasures from..

Rents here in the hills are horribly expensive for a shop front

Its a wonder retailers make ends meet up here even with the tourist trade..

and we do live in one of Victorias major tourist areas

so the thing is

Build it and they shall come..

 

As a result, the last few months..

So much painting

so much rearranging

so much storing of treasures

its been a long haul from building a studio in the garden

 

to a complete change of plans

and building a shop under the house..

or rather refitting a room that was no longer being used.

These had to be removed..

and these were moved on to a new home via my ebay store

 

 

Then all this

had to be moved upstairs..

 

We needed to change the aspect of the room to the side so customers can enter via the front of the property

and have a nice display area inside too..

So this old window had to go, lovely as it is, to be replaced with french doors..

 

I was going to sell it on as it is an original old sash window with cavity weights but once we took the plaster off underneath there was quite a bit of water damage..

Seems the previous owners installer didnt use flashing to keep the water out ..

So there was quite a few insects and rotten wood in the wall cavity and window frame..

Shame really as it was a lovely old window..

I kept the sash window weights to make a wind chime for the garden

the rest had to go in the skip :)

 

Next some new powerpoints on each wall for all the divine lamps and light fittings I will be selling ...

and a new fuse box with safety switches, time for an upgrade.. fortunatly the whole house had already been rewired by the previous owner so a big saving there

 

A new door to let more light in to the laundry area which is behind this room..

and those "Bunnings" lights had to go too..

 

 

There was a purplish carpet in here which was water damaged so that was pulled up to reveal a maroon concrete floor

with duck feet..

and a cat that followed the duck feet..

I filled in the bigger holes in the concrete..

I have kept the duck and cat feet, they have a story to tell..

and decided just to paint rather than tile as we will be moving furniture around a fair bit on this floor..

This maroooon colour (I think its called Indian Red??) had to go.

After the concrete patching had dried I used some

"white knight Paving paint" in Shell Moon which is a grey but does appear a bit more blue than I originally planned.

I think it will be ok though..

Lovely new Vestibule door bought second hand although never used installed with original Antique porcelian door knobs I had stashed away in my hardware collection..

 

and these three basket chandeliers that I have had sitting in my home for ooooh probably three years, finally a home all together in one place..

 

I love these chandelier type light fittings because you dont need an electrician to install them, they just screw onto a batten fitting ~ too easy!

Then the french door installation

Well lets just say that could be a WHOLE blog post in itself

actually the story of the LOCK on the french doors could be another story in itself...

It involves a company called STEGBAR and a domino effect of poor communication from day one..

You get my drift..

I'm still waiting for them to finish the outside..

hmmm

Anyhow, here it looks fabulous on the inside..

and will look even better once I paint it white (Taubmans "Snowy White") to match the other mouldings..

The mouldings I had made especially by a local company called the "Australian Moulding Co." as these mouldings can't be found anymore (too old) so they basically matched the old ones we already had.

Too easy!

As of today the shop space has had its second coat of wall colour and  looks like this...

That lovely old factory trolley is going to become one of my display tables..

 

 

And just to remind of a "before"

 

 

to "after"

 

I think we really are starting to get somewhere..

Many thanks to C M W Renovations & Property Management ~ a great team to work with!

Alicia

and I'm still madly clearing out more treasures in my ebay store too!

 

Family room reveal...

So its finally done (mostly)..

that horrid green and cream room that was very dated and tired

even though the room itself gets lots of winter sun

and has big Victorian windows and French doors..

it really is a lovely room to be in

but it was.. well.. a bit blurk..

BEFORE:

So we brought the painters in..

We do normally paint the house ourselves

but this was a big job ~ high ceilings, strapping, staircase, Victorian windows

it would have taken us half the year

So here is our big room reveal..

We love it!

This mirror was purchased at Tangerine Vintage

One of my favourite mirrors..

Black slipcovered couch ~ Ektorp from Ikea

 

 

 

Stripe cushions from Target Australia..

 

 

and of course the mirror wall above the stairwell..

which used to look like this..

 

Now looks like this..

 

and this..

 

Nice, white, streamlined and less clutter..

Just the way we like it..

Alicia

and to continue with the decluttering

do pop over to my Ebay store

 

What a difference a Canon Kiss makes...

Finally its happened..

that little thing that I blogged about a while back..

so I finally got to take a pic like this..

 

now I just need the schmansey camera strap and I'm there

heaven...

I have to say I did start with some trepidation..

but my lovely friend Ava gave me a push in the right direction..

so I put that lense on, installed the software and gave it a go..

 

Can't believe the difference in photo quality, have taken my first few pics today for my ebay auctions I am listing tonight

I'm absolutely loving it..

and thats with everything set on auto..

 

Cant wait for the weather to improve so I can try some outdoor shots..

 

Sniffing that special aroma of oil based paint around Greystanes currently..

Painting is nearly finished

It does look amazing..

Originally it looked like this..

 

Now its looking like this..

 

too dark and green...

now much lighter and brighter..

 

 

I really am looking forward to getting the furniture back in!!

Alicia

Renovations continue....

I'm going to blog more

I need to 'cause I like it and I also want to keep a record of the changes going on here at Greystanes..

And there is a lot going on lately.

My downstairs show room is coming along nicely

the doors should be in at around 3 weeks (fingers crossed)

and then the landscaping outside will begin..

In the meantime

the old TV room (as we call it) at the top of the stairs is getting a bit of a makeover too..

Here's a few befores..

Remember the mirror wall?....

that green is going as are the green trims and yellowy cream ceiling..

here are a few "durings"..

patching the walls..

creating a special stand across the stairwell so the large window between the two rooms can be painted..

and then the undercoat begins..

 

There are high ceilings and lots of strapping on the walls and ceilings

so not an easy job..

but its coming along nicely

can't wait to move the furniture back in..

there is going to be a lot less stuff too

so easy to clutter when you are a "Vintage merchant"

Will share the "afters" once its all back in place.

Alicia

 

Help me declutter

there are a few lovelies in my ebay store!

 

My summer painting project..

At the end of last month I realised I was posed with a problem

You see, each summer I set myself a large decorating task

This summer just gone was to paint out the red in our bedroom.

Great idea..

Then suddenly I realised that there were only two days of summer left..

so I had better get cracking

I've never liked the red

Its a large room our bedroom ~ used to be a seperate cottage to  the house ~

with large french doors to the verandah

but the colour made it dark..

And it is lined completely ~ roof and walls ~ with wooden panelling

(the name of which escapes me, do remind me someone!)

~ Tounge and Groove ~ thanks Sue

So painting with a roller was out of the question

It had to be by hand

I was going to paint it a lighter colour

this maroon red...

so it would take several coats to cover it

So with only two days of summer left

I got stuck into it.

 

Decided to spend a little more and use my favourite undercoat sealer

Zissar ~ and the oil based one at that as didnt want any of this red seeping through

I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone (small tip though, get them to mix it for you at the paint store on their shaker machine first as otherwise it is very runny initially)

 

All the grooves painted first

(note my special painting technique of leaving treasures in place till the last minute ie. laziness)

then the boards themselves

I can't believe the difference in light it makes by doing such a simple thing..

The room has always had big windows but the colour just swallowed it up

So now it looks like this...

 

with the light streaming in...

 

 

Its so nice to be in here during the day now...

I still have to do the trims and the french doors which are still in a red "stain"

however I did do the walls..

which is what I promised myself this summer..

 

It was a lot of work...

 

 

and it did involve a lot of ladder climbing...

and a few coats to cover that red...

 

Will share some more "after" photos soon..

I'm still deciding which treasures I will put back in..

Some I am moving on through my ebay store such as these..

 

and this...

 

so do check back for more "afters"

as I'm not quite finished yet..

 

Linkity Linking with Miss Sarah over at ....

And a touch of paint (finally)...

This was the front entrance to Greystanes...

Just after we removed the horrid 1980's Laura Ashley blurk wallpaper...

the clotted cream yellow trims were still there...

 Before

 

Before

 During...

After....

The door hasnt been painted because well

I want to replace it.

Its too old and it sticks and the wonky old leadlight is falling out...

Its on the list

The list is a long one

I think everyone has a list like that...

 

 

and because we have been finishing off this front room

I have been clearing out treasures to my ebay store

so I dont have to clutter it up again..

Like this little beauty..

and this...

and who wouldn't want a French enamel ware candlestick holder hmmm?

On a Queens Birthday weekend...

You get a few things done because...

Not only is my clever husband home

But also my willing to learn middle cherub...

So that finally my lovely old wrought iron sign, found on the side of the road, amongst the hard rubbish..

discarded by a beautiful old Mountain home's owner (were they mad I ask?)...

Has found a new display spot INSIDE our home...

I love old Wrought iron house names but I think this is my favourite of all of the ones I have (although the one in our bathroom is a favourite too)..

and we found the perfect spot ...

For a beautiful VISTA....

Also found some vintage castors in a garage sale miiiiles away from home (at my childhood home away from home ~ Point Lonsdale) perfect to finish off my old BrownBuilt Pigeon Hole trolley...

Now there is somewhere near the back door for all the shoes, hats etc that the kids all drop on the floor as they arrive home from school..

I put some old SINGER SEWING MACHINE drawers inside a few of the compartments for smaller items such as keys etc..

I wonder where this trolley came from that required it to have a CROWN imprinted on it just so...

Also some of my silver plate trays, I'm going to track down a few more to fill more of the pigeon holes as they are perfect for other small items..

Well ok, I didnt actually WIN these trophies for anything but did feel like a winner when I found them at a market (does that count, I'm sure it does)...

So I'm feeling a little more organised now with the cherubs mess at the back door even down to the hat stand for youngest's school hat, the test now is of course to see if they actually use it.. Wish me luck..

Hope everyone had a marvellous weekend!

I'm linking to Cindys Show and Tell Friday

Black and White Bathroom

Our main bathroom here at Greystanes still has its original Bath /shower and bead board walls and roof.

We havent had to do much to it really, although the antique vanity was a mess which you can read about

here

Will do an update on that very soon!

This is how our bathroom looks currently...

I've added a few things and given them a lick of white paint.

The ladder I found under the house (along with the grill of a vintage ~ and I mean 1920's car ~ will have a think about what to do with that)

and that old towel rail at the front of the picture I found at an op shop posing as a plant stand in a strange mustardy green colour...

Slapped a bit of paint on the ladder to give a slightly worn look, the towel rail I was a bit more careful with the finish, undercoat and three top coats of gloss enamel.

My ever wonderful husband knocked the nails and tidied up the ladder a bit so the towels wouldnt catch on it..

I think they already look a lot better just with the undercoat (above)....

The picture you see on the wall I have had there for some time now. Its a favourite vintage "Sheridan" fabric which I stretched onto an artists stretcher and stapled to the back. Instant art work!

The gold towel rail is on the "get rid of" list. Am waiting to track down some antique hooks which I will put there instead. The freestanding towel rail doesnt hold enough wet towels for all of us!

This old cast iron industrial stool I had sitting in my EBAY STORE for ages without a bite.

Why I didnt think of putting in the bathroom earlier I do not know, perfect for resting clothes or a towel on. Or a glass of wine whilst soaking in the bath!! I'm keeping it now....

This is an old doctors surgical cabinet I found in Country Victoria some time ago.

It didnt have a bottom shelf so I added an old vintage mirror instead

 

Great for holding old Chemists bottles...

Next step is to sort out all that old stuff inside the cabinet...

Above is my favourite leadlight window in the house, a bit hard to see from this side, this is how it looks from the other..

 
Feels good to know one room is nearly finished, yay!!....

I've joined a party!