still here

Hi there! I'm still here, I promise. Things have just been a little bit quiet at the Ayling household lately, so I don't really have much to blog about. In fact I worked all last week AND weekend - exciting life huh! But I have been feeling such an urge to nest around here lately, starting with our living room which is the most decorated room in our house so far and my favourite room too. I love sitting in it enjoying the white fresh walls and tall cathedral-like ceilings - it's my happy place for sure :) We have a few lovely pieces which we have loving bought and made but it has taken me so long to work out what colours I want to go with that we haven't got further than that. And then I found this amazing artwork below which has inspired the look and tones I want to go with. So I put together this mood board with some pieces we already have and some wish list pieces too...

from left to right:

1. artwork - I have no idea where this came from as I just found it by a happy accident. But I'd love to credit and then buy it!!!

2. Eames rocker (already have) we got ours from replica furniture.com

3. 'Lappljung Ruta' throw cushion - Ikea (only $12!!!)

4. Jacob Floor lamp (we already have) - Beacon Lighting

5. Linen and gold throw cushion - by me longings on etsy

6. Elizabeth Hurley Zelda Cushion in gold

7. Gumball Ottoman from Kush Living

8. Curio + Curio orange parrot cushion from Crate Expectations

9. White storage basket (sorry I forget where I found this image)

10. Grey Lounge - Hilton Lounge from Freedom in esquire pewter. We won't be getting a new lounge this time around, but we will be covering our existing lounge in a fabric similar to this - yay!

11. I also forget where I found this image but it is inspiration for my feature chair re upholstery project (chair shown in this post)

12. I also forget where I got this image from, but colour inspiration for throw cushions

Now I have some direction and a mood board to keep coming back to, I am excited to really see this room take shape and become a little more styled. I promise to record our progress here too :)

itching to get decorating!

The current state of our spare bedroom/craft room/home office...

ughk, right!

it's basically just a junk/store room right now.

And this non-inspiring space has been the reason that not much crafting has been happening around here lately. I can't stand it anymore- so much so that the door to the second room stays shut pretty much all the time I am home.

I can't wait to get in there and 'prettify' it by...

1. Getting rid of that ridiculous spare room sink!??!
2. Refreshing the walls with a new coat of paint
3. Buying a new bedspread and cushions for the single bed (I want to turn it into a more day bed/lounge and put on a larger quilt cover so it hides the ugly plastic covered mattress underneath)
4. Purchase a new rug (especially for winter because I can imagine those tiles are going to be cold then!!)
5. Purchase a new desk
6. Add floating shelves above the desk for added storage
7. Finishing painting 2 x roadside furniture finds (a wardrobe 'craft supplies' cupboard and the rest of that white chest of drawers shown)
8. Hang fun artwork
9. an inspiration board and;
10. decorate with lots of fun accents!

Here's my little inspiration mood board ... (click to see it larger)

It's quite colourful and I probably won't stick to it completely ... but I think with the simple waem grey walls, whites and timbers I can easy change the look and feel of it with smaller accents and decorations and allow the room to evolve over time.

And speaking of desks, for our wedding I couldn't find any big old rustic tables I liked for our lolly station so dad made a desk top out of three old wooden planks which he glued together (I know I am super lucky!!) and placed on some trestles - it looked really good! I was going to get dad to make me some more white ones as a desk for the craft room (I wanted a really long desk and couldn't find one in our price range that I liked anywhere). Then I came across the Vika Artur Ikea Trestle - I love that it has shelves underneath too - and is adjustable for drafting (this would of been perfect for college!) or cutting out fabric.

And since then I have seen it being used in some pretty fun spaces ...

(another fun trestle table - i LOVE them!)

Sadly though it seems I am going to have to wait till March to get my desk as we were informed on Saturday that they are sold out of the vika trestles and wont get more stock in for a couple of months - rats!

summer toes

this is where you'll find me on Sunday afternoons ...

barefoot and daggy (and not pregnant!) in the garage stripping layers of paint of an antique cupboard I saved from the side of the road a few months before our wedding - in absolute pouring rain too :)

It feels so good to get stuck into it now and get rid of a thick layer of mission brown paint...

then fluro green ...

then a yellow stained white.
noice!

Once this cupboard is restored it will go in our spare room/studio craft room to store (hopefully) all my fabrics and craft supplies.

I have plans to paint it a fun colour, but am having a hard time deciding what colour exactly...

any suggestions?

I have no real inspiration or starting point for that room yet - I think I may need to spread my resene paint colours over the floor in that room and see if anything grabs me.

in the meantime here some inspiration images of cute painted furniture:

source

 

 

Can't wait to hear your ideas :)

for the walls + floors.

eeek! I just saw over on Apartment Therapy that Amy Butler is going to be bringing out her own line of wallpaper for Graham and Brown. It looks so lovely and fun. I hope they make it available here in Oz. I'm not sure if I myself would do a wall in my home up, but I think they would look particularly amazing in a commercial environment! Or used in other fun crafty projects ;)

On the other hand I would gladly put one of her rugs in my home!
isn't it pretty

I love lamp(s)...

Mum + dad just brought the 'Jacob' Floor Lamp from Beacon lighting the other day for the lounge room + I REALLY love it - so much so that I want to inconspicuously pack it in my suitcase and take it with me when I move out. Except for the fact that mum would see her missing lamp when she comes to visit and probably want it back ;) I just love that wooden tripod stand and think my parents have great taste :) And at only $189 (I think mum and dad got theres for around $170 - so be sure to ask for their best price) I think it's a great deal. Especially as I've been eying the Oxford floor lamp from Oz Design furniture (sadly no longer available) but it was just over $200...

I also had no idea they also have a table and pendant light in this same design. I am thinking the pendant lamp would look so lovely in the flat in the dining area - did I mention we have a lighting problem in the flat? As in there is only one ceiling light to light up the whole kitchen/dining/lounge space?! crazy and very unpractical I tell you! :)

small and cute!

So today went really well.

We met up with Uncle Ken (it's been since Feb since I've seen that guy!) and went through our draft ceremony layout M had typed up.

I can say I am excited over the way our ceremony is shaping up.

An outreach to family and friends, a glimpse of God's love for us and purpose for marriage, Marriage as a reflection of god's love and special moments to happen including loved family members and close friends.

And really trying to make it personal - anyone have any other lovely ideas on how to do this?

now if only we could pick and agree on some pretty songs :)

Then we answered a questionnaire for our marriage course. So the computer can well.. compute things and give an overview on our relationship strengths and the areas we need to talk on too.

I had to laugh answering a few questions and knowing exactly what M's answer was - the complete opposite to mine :) But it really encouraged me that our relationship is strong and healthy and that we have discussed so much of what we want our marriage to be like and what our expectations are, as well as chatting through answers on the way home and digging deeper into areas together.

It also made me realize again how blessed I am to have Mr M and how sweet he really is.

that sweet CM :)

So after a really lazy afternoon of watching movies, heading to the hardware store and super cheap auto (yup fiance of the year over here ;) We had a quiet night at M's house and I decided to measure and draw up the plan of 'our flat' which I've been meaning to do for awhile.

The flat is actually a cute little 2 bedroom flat above the garage at M's house. His parents have blessed us by allowing us to stay here while only paying board while we save for a deposit on our own house. Hopefully within the span of 3 or so years. It makes me giddy just thinking about it. We are also going to give the flat a fresh coat of paint and possibly possibly get a new kitchen put in! The old one is so not workable for long period of time - no lights, a TINY amount of bench space and drawers that stick shut but with a clever daddy such as I have I know we will be able to work something out that is stylish and well in budget.

So I thought I'd get all the dimensions and start designing up a new workable kitchen up :)

wanna peak at 'our place'?
this is the existing layout and furniture...

 

Because it is so small (and I come with a heck of a lot of stuff) we need to get clever with storage solutions - so I am on the look out for clever ways to use the space.
We will have the beautiful and spacious main bedroom and the second bedroom will become a spare room/study/craft and sewing room  (but mostly a craft room) - I'm so excited to get my own!

I am also trying to combine to kitchen dining area to make the space more workable and to give us more space overall.

 it's so very cute and I can't wait to make it look more like 'us' 

our first fun little love nest :)

Totally Spoilt

Remember when I mentioned that I was very spoilt this Christmas?

We'll it's true I totally was!!

 And not that we take note or anything.. but I also won the prize for the top two biggest presents of the year - always fun! 

We opened presents with my family on Christmas Eve (as they spent Christmas on the boat and had to leave that afternoon) which meant we got to dig into this loot early too.

On top of a beautiful cutlery set (a belated engagement present from the parents), a USA power adaptor from brother, some fun USA spending money and a few other fun things M presented me with this large box... which I didn't even know was for me until then (he sneakily got it upstairs while I was out)

And guess what was inside...

A white Eames Rocker!!!

I may have screamed, ran into his arms and then just burst into tears right there on the spot - just maybe - I was so excited!

Isn't it lovely... only wish I had hardwood floors in my bedroom for photo purposes too!

And if you have been a reader of my blog for some time you might remember this post where I mentioned my search for the perfect unit for my room. And the crush I had on this one that was just over $1,000.00 aka NOT IN THE BUDGET! The search has been going on all year with no luck and so this is what my dad built me for Christmas:

 

And can you believe he found those shuttered door fronts on an old cupboard by the side of the road, Cut and modified them to fit and painted them up?!? How clever is he?

I was so excited to see it all finished and sitting in my room.

I also got a little teary when he pulled out the middle drawer and mentioned how he had written a little message for me there!

And oh how I love the extra storage!

Although I think I am in need of the rest of the furniture in this set now ;)

Hope you and yours were just as spoilt during the holiday season too!
oh and total cost of the unit just over $100, crazy huh!

It's Crazy!

Hi all!
Sorry it's been awhile hasn't it?
Things have been good here. Just rather busy...

Firstly, some fun things that have been happening since the last time I posted:

- After much careful deliberation I finally decided on and got the blue ipod nano. (I was wanting the green but my brother has it in green and I just knew we'd end up mixing them up at least once). I love it & can't believe how thin it is! I also wanted the 16GB one but all the stores only had yucky colours left and so I was a super girly and went for the 8GB, simply because the colours were nicer! I also love the shuffle feature how you shake the ipod in your hand and it changes songs for you - awesome! and it is making that train trip a whole lot nicer!

- After even MORE deliberation I finally decided on the Macbook laptop. The Windows vs Mac debate went on for a few weeks, I'm really happy with the Mac already, it has some really great features, like Photo Booth:
Just still figuring out where everything is located. Do any of you use a Mac? And is it bad if I mention I am more than super excited about the prospect of blog surfing and watching movies while lazing about in bed? Counting down the days till our broadband is all sorted.

- Morgan also brought a laptop. A super sleek black Dell, although he has had a few troubles with it already, poor boy :(

- Have almost learned how to handle my super duper heavy duty HEAVY tape measure without looking like a complete dofus! (I had to measure my room for a Drafting class - I actually really enjoy drawing plans up!)

- Finally found and PURCHASED a chair for my room!!! which I found in this amazing antique shop in Lane Cove (for a rather small amount of money). It has wooden arms, fabric back and seat and is fairly low lying. The fabric needs reupholstering (hello Amy Butler!) and the wood needs sanding back but it is perfect! I'll make sure I post up the end result, I'm excited to get started in the school holidays coming up (oh that sounds so weird to say that again!)

- caught up with an old friend from my junior highschool days on the train & talked non stop all the way home - almost 5 years of talking to do!

- Had a fun excursion today to Academy Tiles. Wow! these guys have some amazing tiles like out of wood, or with digital images, stainless steel, beautiful mosaics, tiles where lights reflect through the embeded perspect, tiles with sparkles & beautiful intricate patterns. Who knew tiles could be SO much fun!?
and even these interactive liquid floor tiles, where the liquid moves when you walk on them!

- Also dropped into Baresque who sell wallcoverings and commercial grade upholstery fabrics. The wallcoverings are kinda like ultramodern wallpaper with amazing textures, patterns, shiny surfaces, matt surfaces & so beautiful!

On top of all this March is a very busy month for us...

It is the boyfriends birthday.
The Mother's birthday, which is the day before...
The brother's birthday. He is old enough to get his Learners permit this year!! and guess who will be helping to teach him to drive!
the best friends 21st birthday & party.
The brother's big school rowing regatta.
Another close friends engagement party (Morgan is in the bridal party).
& plenty of due assignments. Not that I'm complaining they're actually enjoyable to do and involve painting and picking fabric samples and materials etc!
The Mother's birthday party. I voluntereed to make all the invites - it took ages! will show soon.

image from Baresque.

ok off to bed now hope you enjoyed the 'update'
x

back to school.

Jer 29:11 (NIV) "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Lord,
Thank you for blessing me. Thank you that I live in this amazing country and have the opportunity to gain a higher education (in my chosen career path) and thank you for the job and funds you have blessed me with which have enabled me to do so.

I commit this year of studying to you. Learning to go against my 'stressful' nature and to not worry about what the future holds or whether I will have a job at the end of this time. But instead confidentially rely on you for these things.

May I be a seed in the many lives that I will encounter this year whether in class, on the train or just passing in the street. Shine through me God, so that people may look at me and know there is something different & desire it themselves.

and thank you lord that I may one day be able to use these talents and the skill I will learn for your kingdom.

Pslam 37:4-5 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him(lean on, rely on and be confident) also in him and he will bring it to pass."

Yes, tomorrow is my first day of college. And I am a little nervous but also very excited. I can't believe this thing I have been thinking of and planning and praying for two years is finally happening!

And now I'll leave you with some pretty eye candy of images that have been inspiring me lately and be back tomorrow night to let you know how it all went, and possibly with a Kt & Cm video!

from paperpony:

next three images from hulaseventy.

next two images from sfgirlbybay: