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The time that was and is to come

When Rick and I first got married, we used to go over to his parents’ house for lunch or dinner at least once a week. Sue, Jess and Mark – Rick’s two sisters and brother-in-law – would often be there too. Mary, Rick’s mum, would usually have something roasting in the oven, be it pork, beef or lamb. There would be also be gravy, baked vegetables, salad and apple cider. Sometimes instead of a roast, mum might make a lasagne, which would be equally delicious. Whatever she made, there would almost always be an apple or peach crumble to follow, served with creamy vanilla ice cream and a hot cup of tea. We would chat, laugh, swap stories and some of us would even catch up on a nap now and again (okay, I admit, that was often me).

Though I wasn’t aware of it then, that was a truly special time in our married life. It was through those conversations over the countless meals we shared together that I got to know Rick’s family – my family. I learnt family history, family trees, family stories, family rituals and family jokes (and boy were there many of those). I learnt why Rick is the man that he is – so expressive, so gentle, so loving, so warm and so kind – because that’s what his parents are like. I learnt that in the Mason clan, family comes first, and nothing is too much trouble if it means helping each other out. Words cannot express how blessed I felt to be included and welcomed so unconditionally into such an amazing family.

These days, we don’t often get to enjoy a family meal together at mum and dad’s place like we used to. Everyone lives further away, work commitments are more demanding and for us, having the little ones means that it’s hard to go out at night or at lunchtimes, because that’s when sleeps and naps (theirs, not ours) take place.

On Friday, however, we packed the boys into the Discovery after their nap time and made the trip to Pa and Nan’s place. It was dad’s birthday, and mum had invited us over for a family meal. We arrived to see a meat pie baking the oven, a lasagne on the benchtop ready to go, and homemade chicken nuggets for the boys. Jamie jumped straight into Pa’s arms, while Angus and Pete bustled about emptying the toy cupboard and trying to get Nan’s attention. Being the amazing grandmother that she is, Nan of course managed to keep both boys happy whilst finishing off dinner preparations. Honestly, I aspire to be like her one day.

After dinner, which was admittedly a slightly chaotic affair, we bathed the boys and put them in their PJs. Then, with much excitement, Nan brought out Pa’s birthday cake and one by one the candles were lit while the boys looked on with great anticipation. We sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Pa, with both Angus and Pete joining in. In fact, as I watched Pete shout “Hurray!” along with everyone else, I was suddenly struck by how much he’d grown up in the last few months. Naturally, the boys devoured the chocolate cake (if only dinner went down as easily) and Pete even asked Nan for a second serving, that cheeky little monkey.

Even though we had to rush off after the cake and had no time for cups of tea, the family time together gave me a beautiful taste of what is to come in the future, when the boys are a bit older and can stay up later. As for now, I shall cherish this wonderfully chaotic stage of life, because this shall surely pass in the twinkling of an eye.

p.s. Happy birthday Pa! We love you to bits.

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Hello there, welcome to my studio space

My studio, my office, my study – whatever you want to call it, it’s the one room in the house which is all mine. It’s the room where I work, write, blog, chill, crash and nap (in no particular order). (Okay maybe in reverse order).

My studio was the one room in the house which I had complete creative freedom when it came to decor, furnishings and layout. I could decide what I, and I alone, wanted to do with it (so much power, I know). Plus, Rick’s office had previously inherited my IKEA Billy bookcases and when we moved to this new home, I also gave him my IKEA Gallant desk (generous wife that I am). So yet again, I had a blank canvas to play with.

Ironically though, with so much ‘power’ and freedom, I was stuck for a very long time. I’m sure I went through at least five different ‘drafts’ of what I thought I wanted my studio to look like. I wanted a yellow table, no a white one, or maybe a black one, actually one of those old school industrial tables would be cool, or even just a plank of wood on two sawhorses (something which I would still love to do down the track). It was only after trawling through a gazillion images on the internet that I finally nailed what I thought my ‘true style’ was. And I think I got it right.

Even though there are still a few things I would like to do with my studio, the basics are all in place so why not share it now?

We may as well start with the much-hyped table. This is where I do the first three things I mentioned above: work, write and blog. An insane amount of paperwork also passes through here. As you can see the final table is not yellow, white, black nor industrial. It is, however, solid wood and has the most beautiful turned legs. I bought it on eBay for an awesome bargain, and Rick thereafter spent about a month and a half taking it apart, sanding it back, varnishing it and re-assembling it for me. A true labour of love. It sounds romantic but the reality was increasing frustration on my part that it was taking so long and increasing stress on Rick’s part that he couldn’t get it done as quickly as I wanted. In the end, it turned out beautifully, and I’m so thankful to my wonderful husband that he insisted on sanding it back twice with two separate varnish applications.

There is no art yet above my desk, as I’m still trying to decide whether to cover the wall with a inspiration/mood board, or to go for the more minimalist approach of an inspiration string similar to these beauties made by Bri and Jen.

Also in the picture: Yet another Tolix chair, this time in galvanised silver, and the same Space lamp as the one in the dining room. As you can see, when I’m onto a good thing, I don’t mind repeating it throughout the house.

I don’t even drink Pepsi but I love my vintage Pepsi crates. They are such an easy way to group a number of small items together. You can find them on both Etsy and eBay. As for the cushion on the seat: I’m not tall enough for the table and therefore need extra padding (my own version of a booster seat).

I saw this mid-century jewellery box on Etsy while I was browsing one day and just thought it was gorgeous. I was so pleased when it arrived as it was in almost mint condition and the actual colour and texture were both just lovely. I use it to store bits and pieces for crafting, as well as notes and cards that I’m hoping to include on my inspiration board/string. The letter B is from Freedom.

On the other side of the room, underneath the window, I have this stunning antique couch. This is where I do the latter three things: chill, crash and nap. I hunted this down on eBay two months before I even saw our new home. I knew, though, that I wanted something like that for my new studio and if it really didn’t work or fit, I could always use it in the living area. Despite being an antique, it is in the most beautiful condition, and boy am I glad I won the auction with my ninja-like last-minute auction-bidding skills. The burlap cushion is from The Nest UK, and offers a perfect contrast to the ornate detail of the couch. The quarto sheepskin is from New Zealand, and it is seriously the softest and fluffiest sheepskin my feet have ever stepped on.

To the right of the couch is this white Alex drawer from IKEA, which is incredibly well-designed and makes extremely good use of space. Again, it’s a nice contrast to the couch and table, in terms of colour, texture and design.

The framed artwork is one that I made myself several years ago now for our home in Newtown, using scraps of specialty paper that I’d found at a local art store. It is probably the most inexpensive piece of DIY art I’ve created to date. The frame is none other than the Ribba from IKEA, which comes with the matboard. Usually, I like to keep the space in front of the frame clear, but now and again, I like to make myself a pot of red date tea and drink it throughout the day. I can see myself doing this a lot during the cold months ahead!

On the other side of the couch are these vintage suitcases, which I was originally going to use in the boys’ room. However, when I put them next to the couch as a temporary ‘holding area’ while I worked on the boys’ rooms, I realised that it was actually the perfect place for them. They fill up the empty space nicely, plus I could finally get rid of my tatty old IKEA cardboard container which held the original packaging for all my software since I could now store them in these gorgeous suitcases instead. Inexpensive vintage suitcases can always be found on eBay or Etsy, and you can generally get them in pretty good condition too.

Yes, my studio has a walk-in! It’s awesome, because it is the perfect hideaway for my filing cabinet, and I’ve also managed to put in a narrow Billy bookcase (from IKEA) and a hanging organiser on one of the clothes rail. It’s like my dream storage space come true.

The vintage swivel chair was originally from Explore the Kerb, and the chalkboard sign is the one we made for Jamie’s birthday party. The ‘Make An Impact’ collage is just made up of promotional postcards from K.W.Doggett that I had in my paper stock folder. I had lots more that I could’ve used, but I decided to keep it simple and minimalist until I’d made a decision about the wall above my desk. The metal pail holds rolls of posters and leather, along with paintings that the boys have done at home which I’m planning to use as gift wrapping paper. The eye examination chart is a tea towel from Maia Gifts, which I hung up with bull clips that are stuck to the wall with Blu Tack. Simple, right?

I have a bit of an obsession with vintage signage, and had to limit myself to only three of these vintage petrol number signs from Etsy. Again, the numbers were meant to go in another room (the dining room in fact), but as soon as I put them against the wall on the floor of my walk-in, I knew they had to stay there. Who knows, down the track, I’m sure I’ll have fun swapping things around.

And if you’ve been wondering where on earth I put all my books and folders, here’s your answer: the IKEA Expedit! (Doesn’t everyone have one of these?) I’m still trying to decide what to do with the space on either side of the bookcase. I’ve been toying with the idea of an old wooden ladder, on which I can hang pictures and other keepsakes, but we’ll see. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions!

To see my other room tours, go here.

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Our very first formal dining room

I know, I know, this second room tour has been a long time coming. But hey, it’s here so take a seat and let’s get right into it…

For every room, there is usually a starting point: whether it’s furniture you already have that you want to incorporate or some specific functional purpose that you have in mind for the room. As this was our very first ‘formal dining room,’ it meant that we had no furniture whatsoever to go into this room. In other words, it was a completely blank canvas.

My starting point was therefore the use of the room: apart from the obvious ‘formal dining’ aspect of the room, I knew that Rick would also be having a lot of his church meetings here. This meant we needed to be able to seat at least 8 or 10 people at the table. Also, as with every other room in the house, I had to bear in mind the colour of the walls and the colour of the carpet – neither of which we were going to change.

The first thing I searched for was the dining table since, in my mind at least, this would determine the rest of the room. Rick and I are very much still in love with mid-century furniture, so it was a no-brainer when we found this Danish inspired, extendable dining table on eBay that could seat between 8 to 12 people.

It took me a long time to decide on the chairs. At first I considered having a range of mismatched secondhand chairs, but decided against it because I didn’t want to risk the room feeling stale – plus I still think the ‘mismatched chairs’ look works much better on floor boards than on carpet. Once I’d chosen the replica Replica Pauchard Tolix chairs, the next consideration was colour choice. Rick liked my idea of different colours, but in the end, I decided that we would get them all in yellow to create a bright and solid contrast against the wooden table and the brown carpet. When the chairs arrived, I was so happy and relieved with my decision, because the yellow completely lifted the room and added just the right amount of cheer.

As for the end chairs, I’d originally wanted replica Philip Starck Ghost chairs, but ultimately decided on replica Verner Panton S chairs. I think these ended up being a good choice because the matt plastic contrasts well with the metal of the Tolix, while the simple ‘S’ shape provides some relief from all the table and chair legs. (Tolix chairs from Sokol, S chairs from Matt Blatt.)

For a while now, I’ve been keen to hang this Perfect Twist poster by Debbie Carlos somewhere in our home and the large dining room wall seemed to be the perfect spot. I love that down the track, I can easily swap this poster into one of the boys’ room or my own studio. Here, I’ve attached the poster with Blu Tack and added a piece of yellow washi tape at the top to give the impression that it’s hanging from the top.

I don’t know about you, but I find it incredibly hard to locate a good floor lamp: one that stands up straight, that isn’t too short, isn’t too expensive, isn’t too boring… you get my drift. After extensive Googling and even ordering this tripod lamp that ended up being too short (thank goodness for money back guarantees!), I found this Space lamp from Online Lighting that reminded me of those cool industrial studio lights but it was only about one-tenth of the price. Score! No, major score!

The sideboard was a bargain buy from eBay. If you’re after something similar, just add ‘retro sideboard’ to your saved searches and wait till a good bargain trundles along. We drove one and a half hours to pick this up, which equated to a three hour tear-our-hair-out round trip with the three boys, but it was totally worth it.

The spotty canvas artwork was one we made for our third home. Back then, it adorned the wall of our studio/nursery (yes, remember that?). In our last home, it added colour to our meals area, and now it has been ‘upgraded’ to the formal dining room. If we didn’t already have this canvas, I would probably have chosen something quite different for this wall but I quite like the playfulness it adds to the room – the perfect counterpart to the yellow chairs and a nice contrast to the monochromic ice cream poster.

The ‘CREATE’ letters were from my old studio, and the ‘Y’ letter was from Freedom (yes, there are a few of these floating around our home). The green lamp is an old IKEA one – you can still buy it in white but they no longer sell it in green.

Oh, and the empty corner on the right of the sideboard? That’s the ‘naughty corner’ for the boys when they deliberately choose to disobey mummy or daddy’s orders. Works wonders.

This is the other end of the dining room. The oil painting on the left is one which we’ve had since our third home. We bought it at the Glebe markets while we lived in Newtown. It’s by a Melbourne artist called Bob White and it’s a painting of a rainy day in Melbourne. I just love the colours in it, as well as the richness and texture it adds to any space.

The tall canvas art is one that I designed myself and had printed through The Online Framing Shop. They’re not only affordable in their pricing, but their service is amazing. The owner actually drove to our place to deliver the canvas himself at no extra cost because he didn’t trust the couriers with such a big item! I was thoroughly impressed.

The artwork itself is simply one of Rick’s favourite passages from 1 Samuel 2 in the bible. I used an unusual typeface called Parkitecture to make it more visually interesting and to make people look a bit harder to work out what the text says. I was originally inspired by Elise’s big script art but I quickly worked out that I didn’t have the calligraphy skills to create anything like Elise’s artwork and a computer script font just didn’t have the same effect. Rick and I both love our final product.

The swivel armchair was another bargain find, this time from Gumtree. I was a bit hesitant about the green clashing with the yellow Tolix chairs, but it’s all come together just fine. I’d also stuffed around trying to create a small side table for the armchair by using a stack of magazines, but in the end, keeping it simple was the best solution. The cushion was probably the last item to be added to the room and yes, it’s also from A Cushy Number!

We’re almost there – well done for staying with me. Just some more detail shots…

..and we’re done! I do hope you enjoyed the tour. Let’s hope the next one doesn’t take three weeks to prep. Have a lovely day, everyone!

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Finally, a room tour post!

It’s been such an emotional coaster ride setting up our new home: the excitement, the stress, the exhaustion, the adrenalin and – ultimately – the fun! To me, setting up a new place is all about turning an empty box into an actual home, and transforming an empty space into an actual room. Even though these two months have been crazy, I feel this is exactly what we’ve managed to do with our new home, and Rick agrees with me!

I wanted to kick off the room tours with Jamie’s room because, well, he’s a special little guy and his room is one of my favourites. You might remember, this is what his old nursery looked like (well, bits of it anyway). I wanted his new room to be a ‘big boy’ room: fun and colourful with a slight eclectic feel and with pieces of decor that could be used in other rooms of the house down the track. I also wanted to use furniture that we already had.

First up, we kept the Hensvik change table/cabinet by Ikea (shown above). This has proven to be a good little change table for us, and I can picture us keeping it for some years to come. Even though its colour is white, it does give off a somewhat girly vibe because of the curved, um, bits at the top. So I tried to make it more boyish by using an old Vittoria Coffee tin for storing the plastic nappy bags and by snapping up a deep red planter pot from Bunnings to replace the very pastel-coloured bin we were using before.

My initial idea was to stick old pages from vintage books onto the back panel to fill up the empty white space. However, for the sake of time, energy and my sanity, I decided to keep the number of DIY projects to a minimum (when you have three boys under three, opting for efficiency and sanity is a no-brainer). Instead, I picked up the ‘Bonjour’ sign from Bed, Bath & Table on a whim one day and, in my opinion, it completes the space perfectly.

The delightful bunting is from Paint Robot and was originally purchased for the other boys’ room but it works beautifully here to add interest and colour to an otherwise bare wall.

This is the view from the entrance into the room. Even though the window isn’t that big, the room still gets a good amount of light.

This room started out with just the Boori chest of drawers (on the left), the Ikea Tullsta armchair and the dark brown cot. Add to that the slight latte colour of the walls and the dark brown carpet, you can imagine how desperate I was to add some colour in order to inject some life and vibrancy to the room.

The replica Phillipe Starck Aha Prince Stools were the first things I tracked down. I really wanted them in yellow and was close to giving up when I discovered that Life Interiors did yellow ones! I ordered a pair because I didn’t think that a single one would sufficiently fill the space, plus I was confident there were at least three or four other places around the home where I could use one. That’s one of my key tips in home decorating – if you’re ever unsure about anything you’re purchasing online, always have one or two other backup uses for it!

The vintage red Planet lamp was from my old studio (purchased from Explore the Kerb when we moved into our last place), and the crochet blanket was from eBay. I have to say, you will be seeing at least a couple of other crochet pieces in the other room tours. It’s an easy and classic way of adding colour to an armchair, couch, bed or even – the floor!

Speaking of floors, I’m still patting myself on the back for finding this awesome rug from Crate & Barrel! (Yes, my fellow Aussie friends, Crate & Barrel ships to Australia and might I add that the shipping charge for this rug was only like $30.) The unconventional stripy design was exactly what I was looking for, and the colour palette was irresistible. Word of warning though – this rug is more purplish than it appears online and also the rug feels a bit rough, like hemp. I was slightly disappointed by this at first but Rick convinced me that it simply made the rug more suitable for a boy’s room. Men and their logic.

Of course, no kiddo room would be complete without some beloved soft toys! Clockwise from top left: Nino the horse (he actually neighs, which for now freaks out Pete and Jamie so sadly Nino doesn’t get ‘ridden’ a lot); Monkey, Rick’s oldest friend (he’s had it since he was 0-1!); Jamie’s teddy; and Woof Goes the dog and Flappy Ears the dog, both given to Angus when he was born and both named by Rick. The red cross cushion is from A Cushy Number, and the union jack cushion is from Table Tonic. The alphabetical artwork on the chest of drawers is the ubiquitous OLUNDA picture from Ikea, which comes already framed.

And last but not least, the ‘Keep calm, go to sleep’ canvas art was one that I designed myself and printed through Cheap Canvas Prints. Originally the words were going to be ‘Home, sweet home’ but Rick was absolutely adamant that we didn’t use that phrase (I still don’t understand why). So I thought I’d jump on the ‘Keep calm’ bandwagon and give our little man an essential piece of advice: to go to sleep (and most of the time, he does do this very well, bless his cotton socks).

Well, that wraps up our first room tour. Hope you enjoyed it – more to come!

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Le rocker

Our Eames rocker arrived this week and oh my gosh, it is as comfortable as it is gorgeous. Rick, Angus and I all approve (Pete and James have yet to cast their vote). Now I just wish I had one in every single room of the house. A girl can dream, no?

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Kitchen views

It’s safe to say we’ve been ridiculously busy around here, what with moving, Christmas, unpacking, settling in and Rick starting his new job last week. Updating this blog has taken somewhat of a backseat as I wade my way through setting up a house that is almost double the size of our last. The amazing thing, however, is that at some point during the craziness of these last few weeks, this new place became… home.

Tonight after we put the boys down, I finally got my act together and actually picked up the camera. And so I give you – our kitchen. The very first room of the house that I set up. And no, those numbers are not significant in any way (although this is the fifth home that we’ve lived in, and this is the first month of the year) – they were simply the ones that came in black and that would stand up straight. Clearly, I’m all about the deep and meaningful.

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Stockings

Our new home. Lots of rooms. Lots of space. Lots of doors. I miss our old home, but I know we will create new memories here. Every day, we are settling in more and more. Today, I actually finished unpacking the last box, and Rick even got the internet set up. My head is filled with a billion thoughts, and my body is running on adrenalin. Will share more in the next few days, but for now here’s a tiny sneak peek. Can you spot the Christmas stockings?

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Smoky

It got pretty smoky one afternoon last week here in Sydney’s north. Rick thinks it was back burning. I’ll go with what he says since he watches more documentaries than me. I sat on the patio staring at the smoky mist for quite some time – it was inexplicably bewitching.

Received some devastating news tonight. Life is so transient. Cherish those you love.

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Corner

Now that we are drawing near to moving once more, I find myself attempting to savour all the nooks and crannies around the home which I have come to love. This particular corner with the yellow lamp is in the family play room, where I spend a lot of my time either watching the boys play with their blocks, cars and other toys or crashed out on the couch asleep. Once in a while, Rick and I might share a cup of tea or a mug of Milo here in the evenings while we snuggle up and chat about nothing and everything. This is also one of Rick’s favourite places to read during his down times.

Moving is always hard. This has been our fourth home since we got married seven years ago, and all four have been special for their own reasons. At Freeman Place, we set up our life together as husband and wife. At Brickfield Street, we got ready for Cameron’s arrival then grieved madly for him when he died. At Little Queen Street, we attempted to rebuild our lives and eventually brought Angus home with us after nine months of anxiety. And here at Morris Avenue, we welcomed Peter and James into our family, and for the first time, we had little boys running around – thus turning this into a true family home. One that I will surely miss and remember for many years to come.

Who knows what the next place will bring, but whatever happens, I’m confident we will turn it into our home just like we have done in the past – hopefully one where we will make new merriment and new memories as a family.

p.s. That is my ‘bits and pieces’ kitchen bench-top tray. Rick thinks it takes up too much unnecessary room but I love how it acts like a holding area for all the stuff that the boys and I use throughout the day. I can’t stand bowls and cups and bottles haphazardly left on the bench-top but if they’re all on the tray, it somehow feels neat and tidy thus allowing me to breathe easy amidst the chaos. (Weird, right?)

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Recharging

It was quiet in the house today for about two and a half hours while all three boys slept. Those are the hours in the day that allow me to recharge, regroup and refocus. As much as I love the boys, I also love the down times. Jamie, as usual, was the first one to stir. He didn’t want his milk. He didn’t want his rice cereal. So I gave him a water cracker.

That, he liked.

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