Time Worn Style

Simple floral displays...

I love the simplicity of vases

Sometimes its the less obvious that are the most eye catching..

This one is a wonderful reminder of a recent visit to Bangkok

with my sister in law Kate ...

It reminds me of the day we went for a ride on these wonderful animals

through a Thai village..

during a thunderstorm

So each time I look at it I smile..

 

Because it also reminds me of our time spent sleeping on water

The River Kwai.. 

 

the delicious Thai food..

 

 and the beautiful Thai people..

 

so there is a lot to be said for simple floral displays..

 

oh and don't forget I do have some wonderful items available for purchase over at my ebay store

 

Thrift / Op Shop Chairs makeover ~ to a Country Style Magazine

Thanks to everyone for your lovely feedback on our Country Style magazine shoot..

can't believe that I'm sitting at that very table pictured below typing this blog post by the big window 

still all very surreal..

I'm still blown away by Mikkel Vangs photographs..

and such a lovely person too

you can see more of his beautiful work here

Anyhoo

In the article it was mentioned about the chairs around the dining table being found in an op shop

All true, those who know me know that I don't buy furniture new if I can help it

So this is what they looked like before...

They cost me $10 each 

but I wasnt big on the original finish..

So an undercoat of Zinsser to seal and hide the brown varnish

Love this undercoat / sealer because you don't have to sand first

worth the extra $$

Then two coats of gloss enamel..

 

 and they were magazine ready

 

photo ~ Mikkel Vang

I'm still putting more treasures into my ebay store

slowly whilst typing with one hand

seems the car accident injuries will take up to six weeks to give me the full use back of both arms..

but you cant keep a committed treasure hunter down

I'll still be finding and selling

just

a little 

more 

slowly...

Yes it finally happened...

It was short notice and quite unexpected ..

but I really didnt mind..

for one thing, the house got a complete spring clean

and decluttering

a seperation of my own treasures from the showroom..

so it had to be done

and this was a great excuse

an 8 page spread in one of my most favourite Aussie interior design (and exterior!) magazines..

So yesterday we were visited by the amazingly talented photographer

Mikkel Vang

the incredibly creative stylist Rachel Vigor

who brought along some oh so gorgeous cushions, flowers, throws etc etc

to weave her magic with my own selection of treasures..

wish I had stashed that beautiful $900 throw somewhere, I'm sure Rachel wouldn't have missed it ;))

 

and the ever lovely Melbourne editor of

Country Style magazine Virginia Imhoff

who was such a delight to work with..

you couldnt hope for a lovelier group of people to put you at ease right from the get go..

 

which is a good thing..

for as my close friends know

I was just a

tad

just a smidge

nervous..

fear of the unknown..

but boy was I in seventh heaven

it was a long day

but I was told the light was just right..

and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process..

Will let you know when the article comes out

I hope I can be patient!!

so of course there are even more treasures in my ebay store and showroom now..

linking up with good life Wednesday

 

Shop fittings..

I have a couple of friends who have Antique / Vintage shops and I always remember them mentioning how tricky it is to display treasures..

by that I mean in regards to shop fittings..

you see if you sell that lovely table, then all of a sudden you have a space and lots of little items with nothing to put them on..

so I have had to make the easy hard decision to hold onto a couple of things..

Like this.

My husband put it together for me, a couple of old french doors gathering dust on our verandah..

a corner screen to hide the fuse box and hang a few items off as well as a great backdrop..

plus it's in that gorgeous chippy blue that I love..

 

the doors are a bit too far gone to install in a house but just right as a shabby screen for a shop..

 

and of course these old green painters ladders are keepers too..

 

Perfect for displaying quilts and linens..

and in the chippy soft green that I also love..

But of course some things I just have to move on

I no longer have room this beautiful pink roses Antique oil painting

it was always one of my favourites too

but I have found another which is a better size for my wall..

so you see you can part with most things in the end..

except this gorgeous old pressed back chair even though it was in dire need of repair..

here's a handy bit of advice for you..

if your partner has his/her tools out for fixing/creating one thing

make sure you mention those other items that need fixing/creating too..

you see they are "on a roll" so make the most of it, that big pile of half finished items will go down quick smart!

This dear readers is probably the most valuable advice you are going to come across whilst crossing blogland..

So here's the after (but I do need to paint though as I am the official painter in this household) isnt it great how he matched the original seat perfectly?

So lots being moved/ finished / created around this house..

Had some lovely visitors to the shop already who have made quite a few purchases..

will be doing a market stall shortly to clear out some extra goodies too!

stay tuned

Alicia

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

 

Old Doors antique and vintage

If you have a bare wall

and you need to cover it up

or if you are renting a house

and you are not allowed to put nails in the wall to hang that picture

Then try this trick...

Lean a door against it

This old time worn blue French Door is sitting outside our back door..

 

I simply hung an ornate Sconce in front of it for some instant art work..

And this old door with glass inserts..

I found one day on the side of the road ready for a dump truck..

So I gave it a lick of white paint

and framed the chandelier in front of it..

 

There is just so much you can do with old doors

 

 

(this picture from the world wide web ~ author unknown~ thanks to Kirstie for finding it ♥)

Now I just need some more walls to lean them on...

Alicia

Gorgeous goodies as always at my ebay store

Delicious Axminster rug all vintage and yummy..

Swiss Voile Prom Dress

and turned wood Standard Lamp..

Blackboard message boards and easels

As we head into Autumn here on our Mountain

Our hydrangeas are cheering out their last hoorah...

So I picked you a bunch..

I hope you like them

all in white..

 

As I've been busy trying to get this house organised

between phone calls to insurance companies

and quotes for repairs...

I thought it was time to get a better messaging system going for this family

but of course it had to look good

and fit in with our houses aesthetic...

What ever that means, but it sounds impressive like I know what I'm doing don't you think?

I hope you are impressed.

Anyway, I didnt have a door that I could paint like Sarah at the Beach cottage  as basically there is no where to lean it where it could be read

And I sure do love that door she has rockin' that cottage...

But I had to think of something else...

My friends already know this, but I am actually an artist by trade, studied at Uni for three years so needless to say I have a bit of a collection of artists bits and bobs around the house...

Including this easel

which had been sitting in a corner

not doing much

because I havent been doing a lot of art work lately..

So I thought I would put it to use and add this very old School chalkboard to it..

I gave it a couple of coats of blackboard paint first to freshen it up..

and it was ready to go..

 

Tried to think of something clever to write on it but that was all I could come up with sorry..

Its the best I could do..

I'm tired from cleaning up flood damage..

Anyway I want you to be impressed with the chalkboard not the message :0)

Currently it has "Buy Rabbit Food" on it

Which we have

So job done, its a great message board me thinks.

And just to be super efficient I added this old wicker trolley in the space next to it..

Which is now our new recycle bin,

the kids can wheel it out to the big recycle bin.

I'm so glad I didnt listen to those people who told me to paint it white.

I love the old worn French Provincial look about it, just as it is...

So there you have it,

efficiency with no huge effort, just using what I had around the house

Next time I will think of a more impressive comment to put on the chalk board..

I promise

Alicia

 

Linky linking with..

super dooper treasures all the way over here in the land of Australia and my ebay store

 

The sweetest Murano lamp in pink and gold...

 

The sweetest little chippy white ballerina pictures...

can you not feel the shabby sweetness ooozing through this photo?

I sure can..

 

 

 

 

Painting....

I don't know what it is but as soon as I get a paint brush in my hand

I have to keep painting

I've told the kids not to stand still..

they could be next..

heaven knows there is a child like shape somewhere against a white wall..

So as I mentioned in my last blog post, I painted me a large bedroom..

with all that bead boarding..

It took a while

Lets just say..

which didnt help me get over my Autumn flu symptoms..

But I had the brushes out so thought I might turn this..

 

 

Into a little French Shell Grey number...

 

Holds a stack of books

and a cuppa

and of course rather than clean the brush..

I thought I might finish these as well..

 

Two of them infact...

I think they would look perfect next to a white slipcovered sofa..

You do share my vision don't you?

 

Both are available in my ebay store

if you are wanting a little French Grey in your life..

Now..

what else can I paint...

Alicia

 

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 ....