Saturday, May 28, 2011

The don'ts, flowers, Penny Scallan and leopard print carpet.....

I love our house and we have felt at home here the minute we moved in, however, there are some changes I would make if we were renovating again.
For instance.....
  • I would have a larger linen cupboard
  • I wouldn't have black floors, then again, we didn't have a lot of choice, since the newly replaced floorboards were white and the originals were honey coloured.

  •  Pedestal sinks look fabo, but where do you put your toothbrush - or your lipstick, make up primer, serum, eye cream, night cream, day cream, tinted moisturiser or mascara? I'm a girl who is heavily dependent on both bench and cupboard space in the bathroom, and I should have thought about this more.

  • I would also tile the floor of the shower rather than having one of those built in units.
Nothing major I suppose, but worth workshopping, and maybe handy to know if you're about to embark on some work yourself.

A few things just quicky before I go and park myself on the couch for a comfy Saturday night in.
We had some freaky fog during the week. This is what we saw from our back verandah.




It's no secret that I love a bargain and this morning I got myself a good one. I went to Trades Secret (shh!) in Capalaba, which is so far over the southside you need a valid passport to get there. I didn't find anything too exciting, then just as I was about to leave, I spotted some seriously discounted Penny Scallan bags. Unless you have a kindy or school age child, you probably don't know who Penny Scallan is. Technically, I'm not sure exactly who she is either, but her name is usually plastered over cute, although overpriced, backpacks and lunchboxes, etc.
However, this morning I stocked up. I got this cute little apple backpack for Peaches. It was $60 reduced to $20 - love it!


Also picked up this big zippered bag so now they can go for a sleep over at their grandparents without taking ten little bags each. It was $18, down from $60. I also got a new lunchbox for Mim for only $10, usually $35 and a couple of drawstring library/swimming bags, $8 from $24. When you have young children you can't have enough hats, shoes or bags.

Some quick flowers......


These red roses are from Grandma and Grandad's garden. The fragrance is unbelievable. I love home grown roses. They are a thousand times better than those waxy, fragrantly impotent little phonies sold at florists.

Now, to finish up, some leopard print carpet. Just because.  Not everyone's cup of tea maybe, but I think it's a case of being so bad, it's good! Just the thing to go with your leopard print Snuggie, and I know some of you have them!



Stay warm!

7 comments:

  1. Totally agree, old fashioned roses are so much lovelier in looks and fragrance. I imagine a rambling rose garden would look right at home at Euphemia...

    ps. We have dark floors too, nice idea but a nightmare to keep clean...

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  2. Hi Madama, I am planning a reno at the moment. Have been reading and loving your blog since day one. I am wondering why you slightly regret your dark wood floors? What would you have chosen if you did it over again? Thanks!

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  3. Nadia, Originally we wanted them white, but heard from many people with white floors that they were difficult to keep clean. When you replace floor boards there is a lot of colour disparity between the new and old ones, and we didn't want a patchy floor, which is what we would have had if we'd stained them a honey colour or similar. I think half of the dirt on floors must be white and the other is black, so either way it seems, its difficult to keep them clean.I'm really not sure what our other options would have been, but this is probably something that could have done with a bit more research.

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  4. I'm renovating our Queenslander and have chosen pedestal style basins for our bathroom. So I was thinking of having a separate dressing table for my make-up. And maybe some mirrored cabinets for stuff that I need near the sink. But I'm still working through the options. Amber

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  5. Another option is to have a glass shelf below the mirror to hold everyday items like toothbrush etc.

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  6. Yes, that is an option, but my shelf would have to be the size of an ironing board.

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  7. mmm...thanks for the information re floorboards....food for thought. I love the photos you took in Lamington National Park!!! We really are so lucky to have such 'remote' places so close by. Minyon Falls at Nightcap National Pk is well worth a visit too. Love your blog!!

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