chop chop...

Hi girls, last week end all we did was chop chop and chop.  Trees that is. Living on acres and always being so busy we sort of become oblivious to the trees around the house. Ofcourse they are growing silently but surely... and then one day you wake up and say.." how did that tree become so big?!!!"

this tree was touching the power lines and it was massive, Fred had already cut most of it down here.

he tied up the ladder to the ute so he could get higher! CRAZY!!

It was a massive job cleaning up but here it is now so much more open with lots more light. A lot of my plants were damaged but I know it won't take them long to recuperate. Plus it's a good excuse to get some new ones!

we  are into Autumn here now and I have to say we have had more sunny days these last couple of weeks than we had throughout all of summer! I am loving it, so this morning I picked some roses to grace my little table on the verandah.

I'm not finished with the garden yet as I need to do some serious weeding and want to put in some more flowers for lots more colour. I am tootlly in the mood for some garden centre therapy today so I think I'll leave it here. Have a great week ladies, take care, Maryann

my family room remodel..

Hi girls, I call it a redmodel and not a makeover as it looks absolutely nothing like what it used to.

I have gone from shabby to what I would probably call a modern take on country farmhouse...

To see what it looked like before click here...
My main goal was to make my teenage children happy,  a room that wasn't too pretty but was comfortable with a lounge big enough for all of them plus friends and a big TV.. yes a 55"er. I know, I know, but there is no hiding this beast, best just go with it. Have to say I love watching all my gardening and lifestyle shows on it!

As with everything else it's still a work in progress, especially the far back corner, but as of today this is what it looks like...

A new 5 seater lounge replaced the the 3 seater.This was actually a corner lounge in the show room. I just didn't get the corner bit. No one can complain that they can't see the tv properly now.

My family room is what you call a go through room, you have to go through it to the front of the house and through it to the back where the kitchen and dining are. This is looking towards the front. You can see the front door right at the back there.

  I also purchased along with the lounge a new tv stand and coffee table to match. The coffee table I had before was more french provincial and would definately look out of place. I liked this one as it had storage for dvd's and cd's. My previous tv unit was a large chunky country timber cabinet which had a cut out for the tv but was too small to accomodate this tv.

This is from another angle looking towards the dining room. (I was watching the garden gurus) I had hoped to purchase 2 wing back chairs to place either side of the tv unit but they proved a lot dearer than I expected so for now I just put my club lounge on one side and an older wicker basket that had been sitting outside on the other to balance the look. I placed some old cushions I had in it, to fill it up.  

A closer look at the corner that is still a work in progress.  It really has me stumped what to put there. This bakers stand was given to me and for want of a better spot I put it there. I really love it and am reluctant to part with it. I think it really goes with the look I'm going for in this room. I put whatever I had on it for now. I am thinking a nice vintage or rustic french provincial desk would look good here perhaps..??? If you have any ideas I would LOVE to hear them.

 

I also have these 2 cut outs of me which were done when I was only 5. My parents had them done one day when we were at luna park .Apparently some guy would do them freehand. I would classify them as vintage now and can't believe I want to frame them after all this time. I think they will look perfect in here.

So that's it.. this room sits between my hallway which is shabby and my dining/kitchen which are also shabby. The overall look doesn't look too bad, perhaps because the furniture is also light and sorta blends in.  I have left a couple of the shabby mirrors above the lounge to tie it in (and also because I didn't know what else to put there..! )

adios for now, 

take care girls, Maryann

how does your decorating style measure up?

Lately I've been thinking of how I like soo many different decorating styles.  I wish I liked only one as it would make my life so much simpler!
If I had to measure up my decorating style it would probably read like this....

                    1 cup shabby chic
                    1/2 cup french provincial
                    1/4 cup french farmhouse
                    and a pinch of country cottage

They also say that your home should be a reflection of your own personality....
so I am sure people must think I am one crazy, mixed up, totally confused nut lady.

But.. as I always do.. I argue with myself.. why should I stick to just one style? Do I like just one flavour of icecream, nooo, I like vanilla, raspberry ripple, caramel and strawberry too!

So I have decided to stick to ONE rule when it comes to MY decorating and that is that THERE ARE NO RULES!

So... my lounge room will be french provincial ..
        my hallway shabby chic
        my bedroom shabby/country cottage     
        my family room french farmhouse
        and my dining and kitchen and laundry shabby chic once again

I know alot of you might be cringing right now.. and I don't blame you but what's a girl to do?

  Which brings me to a question today I am hoping you can all help me with.
I have come to a stand still with my french provincial lounge room because I'm stuck on what colour rods to get for my curtains. The colours I am using in this room are cream and blue being the main colours.. and touches of gold.
Here is the room so far...

I know this is a dressing table but it's going in the lounge as a desk..

   

These are the curtains, cream sheers with blue flowers for the two smaller front windows and I have also purchased ready to hang pinch pleat curtains in plain blue for the french doors. I did'nt want them all matchy, matchy.

I  am also thinking I may sometimes change out the floral sheers for  toile curtains later on.

I have touches of gold in my chandy, sconces, desk, chair and door handles...

 Do you think gold rods would be too much? The lounge in this picture is only there temporarily until I get my other antique lounge re upholstered in cream. You can read all about it here.  It does have however a timber frame around it which I am not sure whether to leave as is or paint it cream aswell, would the timber look out of place? These two issues have brought me to a halt in this room and usually when I'm not sure about something I'll sit on it for a while (sometimes a very long while) so that is why i am turning to you.. I am hoping with your help I can get a move on again.........  

take care, Maryann

back online.. and what's been happening..

Hi girls, where do I start? It's been so long.. partly my fault, partly not but I won't bore you with  my computer problems which have been totally frustrating.

So what have I been doing? Well let me go back to before Xmas. I did change my family room out, which I will post some pictures of soon. I really like the new look but it has thrown a spanner into the works abit and I have also been feeling a little ... well... not sure really, perhaps overwhelmed.. heavy.. and just feeling the need to declutter a little.. so I have simplified my buffet/hutch in my dining room and gotten rid of a tea trolley with all its bits aswell. More on this later.

The majority of the changes have been outside. Hubby took a week off over Xmas just so we could finish off (or nearly finish off) some of our 'unfinished' projects.
I'm afraid I can't show you before pics as they are all on my old computer but they are mainly of mud anyway so you're not missing much.

We have been working on our home for the past 10 years andI have hated the driveway for all that time. It was an eyesore.  So we finally finished the top part of the driveway by laying a border of pavers either side right out onto the pavement area. These all had to be cemented in and then we ordered a total of 65 tonnes of crushed aggregate.. or crushed cement and bricks. Much cheaper and only 1/3 of the price of pebbles or similar stuff.

Our biggest mistake was not ordering it all at once. We first ordered 30 tonne... which we spread .. hubby with the bobcat and me with the rake, and let me tell you that was hard bloody work!
Anyway, I was liking it as the overall colour was white which is something I really wanted but didn't expect and it looked great against the house. But this was not enough.. so we then ordered another 35 tonne.. which to my disbelief was not the same color! It had way more red crushed brick in it giving the overall look a creamy colour so we had to go over the whole lot againg trying to mix in the new with the old. Let me tell you something if you ever...ever.. have the desire to renovate... nothing .. nothing.. goes to plan! Just be warned... anyhoo this is how my driveway looks now.. and  I am loving it. It looks clean and bright and even when it rains it looks delightful..

 I love the 'crunch' it makes when you walk on it.. like the homes you see in England in that show 'escape to the country' on channel 7 two (one of my favorite shows!)

looking from the back of my yard towards the front.. that netting is in my neighbors yard covering his pear trees.. the cockatoos here can be quite destructive buggers!

towards the road..

towards the back .. we also got someone to cement infront of the garage..what a difference now.. so much cleaner as we only had loose gravel in patches before!

oh.. and here is the newest addition to our family.. meet timone (yes, out of lion king)

this is my herb garden, doing very well I must say..I have rosemary, sage, basil, flat leaf parsley, chives, thyme and mint.. which against my better judgement I planted in the ground..big mistake as it is now spreading everywhere.. should have left that one in the pot..

another project we finished was the front rockery, we had only done one half and the other half was still all mud, so we finally did that too, put in all the plants and laid the crushed rocks and pavers

we have had so much rain these past couple of months everything is growing really well and lush.. the plants are already catching up.

we have been triming trees.. which is a regular job when living on property, they tend to take over the place if you don't. To my delight my windflowers which haven't flowered for a couple of years have finally made a show! I had forgotten what colour they were!

and here are some pics I took this morning.. as I mentioned it has been raining alot lately to the point it is flooding in certain places in NSW .. some not too far from where I live.

look at the front of the house today..

left hand side of extension..

this is the right hand side of the extension.. this is the side we haven't finished yet.. as you can see it holds alot of water.. thanks to council we had to leave 40cm between the ground and the house which made this ground level lower than the existing house. Funnily enough I remember saying back then when we were buiding we should turn it into a mote and throw some goldfish in.. looks like my idea might turn into a reality!

ok, maybe not so funny, we still have to put a drainage system in so this doesn't happen again.. and that's our next project!

take care girls, will visit soon,

Maryann xxx