New around my house

I spent all day yesterday getting the majority of my Christmas shopping done so I didn't have much time to prepare a post for today. I thought I'd just share some photos of new stuff around my house. To start, I finally pulled something out of storage I've been dying to display for a few years. When I got married in 2010, Jo sent me a Moroccan wedding blanket as a wedding gift. It is absolutely beautiful and one of my most treasured possessions. I had planned to hang it in the bedroom of my new house but since that house has been delayed, I figured to hell with it, and hung it over a branch we found at my sister's cottage and positioned it over the bed as a headboard. I love that I can see it every day. And the cats leave it alone so that's a bonus. (To note, my bedroom is a dumping ground for furniture that doesn't work in any other room, and has linens picked more out of necessity than anything else so one day I hope to have my bedroom set up a little more planned/calculated)

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Bentwood chairs in the dining room

I have been at a loss with what to do with my dining room. It's been a couple of years since we painted it a rich, dark blue and since then ... nothing. We never use it. It's a passage way, a sad old table used as a dumping ground. But that's about to change. When one of our advertisers, RelaxHouse, offered to send me some bentwood chairs to try out I jumped at the offer. Dining room you're getting a shake up.

After I stripped the room of all furniture (and boxes and assorted crap), I moved in a cowhide and my old trestle table. We (hubby, a friend and lots of bossing opinions from me) hung a wooden bead chandelier I had left in its wrapping since March. And then I waited for the chairs to arrive. Not very long as it turned out. A couple of days after ordering, two boxes with my beauties arrived at my door. The Vienna 18 and the Le Corbusier B9 Armchair, both white, both with natural wood socks, both seriously sexy. The chairs come directly from the Polish factory (founded by Thonet's son) that has been creating them for well beyond 120 years. The quality and finish are fabulous. But there was one problem. I wanted to use them all over the house. Dining room, kitchen table, hallway, office, even in the bathroom.

I have settled on my original plan. I'll be picking up a few more to complete the set and I think they will work as a perfect foil against the dark blue walls. But maybe I should get pink, or yellow, or green. That's my next problem. The chairs are available in a rainbow of colours as well as a black and natural socks combo. Decisions. Decisions. Then there are the Czech made Brokis lamps and lighting. Yum. Might have a get one of those too!

This post is in partnership with RelaxHouse and Huset but all opinions are my own.

I don't like eggnog

Never did like egg mixed with my alcohol. I might just have to change my mind. Circa at Prince of Wales Hotel St Kilda, Melbourne by Meme.

Restaurante Sexto

A huge thanks to David Zafra for sending us these photos of Restaurante Sexto in Madrid. David is responsible for the interior design and I can honestly say it's one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever seen. The neutral colour palette is so soothing and his selection of modern seating is perfection. If the décor is this amazing the food must be heavenly!

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Little projects around my house

I didn't really know what to blog today and since there are a couple of new little projects around my house I thought I would just share that today (a sad day I might add - we're heading to my sister's cottage with the family to help close it up for the winter). Aside from the cat house and new paint job on my desk, I did more painting and some fabric dying which I had never attempted before. Fabric dying was quite the experience. Since I don't have a big laundry sink I'm grateful to have a backyard with half dead grass where I could make a mess without harming anything. I have had a very large piece of white linen in my fabric stash for several years that I have been dying (pun intended) to do something with. I decided I would use a piece of it for a curtain over my desk and another for a seat cushion for a chair in my bedroom. So off to the fabric store for some black dye. All they had was 'black velvet' which I assumed meant a light black. I tested a couple of strips of fabric - one bundled up tight and wrapped in rope, and the other I dipped right in. 

I opted for bundling up the fabric and wrapping it because I wanted it to look really odd with faded parts. Unfortunately not knowing what the frig I was doing, I bundled it too tight and there were too many light spots, and the fabric didn't turn out dark enough. So I had to do it all over again. 

After a second bath in the black dye the result was perfect! Much more subtle and dark but not too black. While I was at it I added all of my vintage doilies that I had dyed dark grey a while back but they turned out too blue. 

After washing and hanging them to dry, I balled up the fabric and left it like that for a while because I LOVE the look of wrinkled linen. 

In reality the lighter parts are not as bright as in the photo above. It turned out pretty awesome. My doilies are still fairly blue. Ah well. I have wanted to stitch them together into a table runner for ages but never got around to it. 

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