Second Choice

The floral patterned fabric above wasn't my first choice colourway for the curtains in our bedroom at home.  My first choice was the lavender colourway.  However, like so many fabrics we have ordered over the past 12-18 months it was out of stock and not available.  Has this been a problem for other decorators out there too?  With only a few weeks to go before Christmas last year I made a very rushed decision and went for the green colourway instead.  I must admit when they first went in I had regrets because I am not usually a huge green lover.  However, they have grown on me and now I absolutely love them.  Has anything like this ever happened to you?  I'd love to hear your stories!!!

xx

Anna

image 1 - anna spiro bedroom photographed by elouise van riet-gray

No!

Our first born child knew the definition of No well before he ever got himself into too much trouble.  A simple No would always result in him moving away from something I didn't want him to touch. 

Over the years I've had many clients ask me how I am able to keep all my books and bits and pieces in place on our coffee table with a little one in the house.  I have always been a firm believer in leaving all my precious objects around the house and teaching  my children to respect my things which will eventually become theirs {whether they like it or not}.  

HOWEVER, I have to say that I have entered into a completely new way of life with our Max.  Ever since Christmas I have had one very tall pile of books perched right in the middle of our coffee table.  Not because this is a new way I am experimenting with arranging my things.  It is the result of a child who seems to have determination which rivals my own.

Late this afternoon I had an appointment at Betty's lovely home and as I was leaving I spotted her big old amazing tree bearing lots of fruit.  She very generously offered me a few which I brought home and placed into one of my vintage blue and white plates.  I bravely placed it on our coffee table amongst my other things.  It took Max about 5 seconds to arrive at the coffee table.  He snatched his very own lemon out of my lemon bowl and then proceeded to put it into his mouth.  I said no and then I said no again and then again...I think I am starting to sound like a broken record!

I caught the moment with my camera and then I moved the lemons to higher ground.  It seems I need to work out a plan of attack as I can't keep this Leaning Tower of Pisa book arrangement thing happening... 

Any tips?xx

A Perfect Flower Stall

When I was a little girl I was as obsessed with flowers as I am these days. 

I think I might have been around 8 years old when we lived in an old Queenslander at Wellington Point with a beautiful garden which my mother absolutely loved.  I would collaborate with my neighbour Angela who was about a year younger than I was.  We would pick flowers {mostly the daisies} out of mum's very large garden and we would set up a flower stall in front of my parent's house and sell the flowers on the roadside. 

I would never let my children do that these days but back then it was different.  When I spotted these little stalls by Mouta over on Poppy Talk earlier this week memories of these fun times came flooding back.  I wish I had one of these back then.  I think if I did it might have improved sales!!

Cosmo Fun Fearless Female

To my complete surprise I have been nominated with 9 other wonderful Australian female bloggers in this years Cosmopolitan Magazine Fun Fearless Female Competition in the Bloggers category.  I actually haven't ever won anything in my life and I'm not so sure that this will change however, if you do enjoy visiting my blog and if you do enjoy my posts and if you would like to vote for me then I would love that.  Click HERE to vote.  It only takes a few minutes.  I think it would be wonderful to be one of the 3 finalists however, I am just so thrilled to have been nominated in the first place.

Thank you for your continued interest in my blog.  I feel a bit funny asking you to vote...it's not really my thing to ask for votes....but if you decide to then thank you so much!!xx

xx

Anna

Flowers, Vases, Baskets, Fabric, Plates & Pots

I've had a busy few days fossicking around the garden, the markets and local Antique shops. 

In my travels I stumbled across these vintage vases which I couldn't resist.  They now sit on our chest of drawers in our entry hallway.  The vibrant orange of the larger vase makes me happy every time I see it and I just love the quirky bird clinging to the other vase/jug....it certainly is something you either love or hate.

I fell in-love with these little yellow flowers at the markets but I can't remember the name of them so please do tell if you know.  

I also picked up one of these baskets which I have been coveting along with this piece of fabric which I am thinking of making into table napkins for an upcoming event I have planned.



On Saturday I potted up 12 little pots with Succulents for my brother as he was having a lunch at his house over the weekend and needed something wonderful to place down the centre of his dining table. I kept a few for myself to add to my growing collection of pot plants.  {Correction to my post last week the little pots sell for approx. $1.20 at Bunnings and the succulents came from there too}.

It seems I wasn't the only one playing with flowers on the weekend. Mum just sent me this picture of the fresh Banksias she collected from the trees on their property at the beach.  I am hoping she might deliver some over to me this week.



And finally I added 18 mismatched vintage dinner plates to my blue and white collection.  We never have enough plates when we have the family here for lunch or dinner so now we will. NB. Mismatched vintage is so much less expensive than heading out to buy a complete set and so much more interesting I think and the best thing is that I can keep on adding to them as I see them.

Garden Ramblings

This is our garden yesterday with the round garden table Harry and I filled

with pots and also our vegetable garden to the left.

If my ramblings about my garden are becoming annoying just take me off your google reader or stop reading because I am thoroughly enjoying the excitement my garden is bringing me and I hope that these posts might inspire you to get your gloves on too.  I am actually quite a highly-strung, stressed-out maniac most of time however, I am finding that my garden is a place where I can relax.  I tend to drift off into another world when I am out there.  So, this is what I got up to on the weekend.

Harry and I planted up 10 little pots with succulents, herbs, pansies and another little plant which I can't remember the name of.  We arranged them on a round wire garden table which I placed near our vegetable garden.  I think this idea is such a great idea for interest in a large garden like ours but also would be wonderful on a verandah in an apartment or in a courtyard in a small garden.  I originally got the idea from a story on Deborah Needleman in Lonny magazine.  I think it was in one of their first issues...

We also started planting up some terracotta pots with Hyacinth bulbs which won't flower now until Spring but we are prepared and I think I might plant a few more this weekend as they will make nice gifts when Spring comes around. We also planted 30 Daffodil bulbs into the garden.  This weekend we will plant the Ranunculus, Freesias and tulips {which are currently in the fridge}.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will like it here in our red soil and will flower in Spring.

On Saturday we spotted 2 capsicum growing in our vegetable garden along with some corn.  We collected a small basket full of beans and cherry tomatoes which I cooked up on Saturday night.  This week we are planting some pretty sweet peas...this is the perfect time here for planting them.

And just to prove that I am making some headway in the garden compare the top photo in this post to this photo above as this is what one area of our garden looked like just before Christmas last year.  What a difference some effort can make and some help from my Uncle Robbie and Merv our lovely 84 year old gardener.  I can't claim all the accolades although if I didn't work I think I might be out there 24-7!

PS...One day she will be painted white but for the meantime we endure the red, green and yellow...xx

The S.A. Crowd & Home on Sunday

Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I must apologise as I didn't get a chance to post before I left for Adelaide a few days ago.  I am working on a house in Dulwich which is such a beautiful area in lovely Adelaide.  Whilst visiting I had the absolute pleasure of catching up with The S.A. Crowd - Kimberlee from Brown Button, Emma from White & Wander, Kate from Polka Dot Pantry, Pippa from Tres Dodgeois and Alex from French Navy Stationery.  What a lovely group of positive, happy, inspiring, funny, encouraging and creative girls.  We had a fantastic dinner at Sparrow Kitchen & Bar on Friday night and then went out and hit the Antique shops on Saturday together.  I was amazed by Adelaide's history, wonderful food, pretty tree-lined streets, old stone houses and fantastic Antique shops.  It really is a place worth visiting and I can't wait to head back down there mid-year to catch up with the girls again.

After such a busy few days away, today I loved being at home.  I spent the day with my boys pottering around the house and the garden.  We recently put in a kitchen garden or Potager as the French call them.  Our lettuce is growing beautifully.  I picked one today to make a salad with tonight along with our tomatoes which just seem to be sprouting up everywhere in our garden.  Although all of this rain we've had has done some horrible things to our state, our garden is just so green and full of flowers which I have been picking and placing in vases in the house.  There really isn't anything which makes me happier than arranging flowers from my own garden to place around our house...simple pleasures!!

xx
Anna

Today

Today I received pretty pink and orange flowers for Valentines Day from my husband which I arranged in a vintage blue and white willow patterned teapot.

Today I obsessed over this fabric and contemplated it for a new project.

Today I cooked Spaghetti for dinner.

Today I did a guest post on my brother's new blog HERE...

Overpacked

I seem to have a rather persistent problem when it comes to packing a suitcase and that is I completely overpack.  Every single time I just can't help myself and the worst thing of all is that my carry-on luggage could be compared to everything 20 people would need for a 2 week holiday.  It is just ridiculous. 

However, after hauling my usual 10 tonnes of so-called 'I can't live without' luggage on a 20 hour flight from Brisbane to New York a few days I ago it was quite humorous to read an article by Amanda Fortini in the New York Times this morning in which she proclaims her obsession with the overpack too. 

I was comforted by the fact that she too has packing anxiety and as her friend kindly puts it - 'It's like you're traveling by ocean liner.  Will you be accompanied by a porter?'  I WISH I could be accompanied by a porter.  Usually my husband is around and has in the past helped me lug large seashells in my carry-on luggage from Hawaii and cushion covers, mirrors and a painting from LA but this time it is just me and my carry-on and let me tell you it is exhausting running for a connecting flight with 3 heavy bags.  I have vowed and declared that on our return flight next week I will only be bringing 1 bag into the cabin with me and the rest will be checked in.  It will be interesting to see how I go.

It is snowing here in New York which is quite amazing as this time last week I was swimming in our pool with Harry and Max in 30 + degrees.

My Weekend at Home

Ever since we've moved into the homestead {the term our family and friends use when talking about the house} we just don't seem to want to leave. Weekends are spent here with lots of family and friends dropping in for a swim and for lunch. This weekend was no different. Whilst pottering around the homestead this morning I rearranged some of my blue and white things in the cabinet in our kitchen. I must say I think I really am turning into my mother now...should I be concerned? I haven't used one bit of pink in this cabinet which is such a refreshing change for me.

Whilst Brad was standing in the kitchen this morning preparing lunch for our friends I couldn't stop looking at his navy check shorts and immediately made the decision to get our new dining chairs made in navy and white check. I have been trying to decide on a fabric for our new dining chairs for a while so now, based on Brad's shorts, the decision has been made!

We seem to have a standard menu for kid's at the homestead....sausages on bread with tomato sauce. It's so easy and it seems that most children will eat sausages on a bread roll.

Whilst enjoying a bit of sunshine around the pool today I also enjoyed looking at my orchids which have just bloomed.

I also tried to enjoy a few moments reading one of my gardening books around the pool but Ned just wouldn't leave me alone.

It seemed that all he wanted was my hat.

Ever since we have started swimming in the pool over the last few weeks Ned has been angling at diving in and today he did it. He dived in and then we just couldn't stop him from diving in. It was very funny, I must say.

How was your weekend?

xo

Anna

Serious Undercushioning

Finding the time to work out a few little things I need for home has proven to be a bit hard lately with a baby in the house and a busy shop to juggle.

If my friend Faux Fuchsia could see my very undercushioned sofas right now she would be in shock as undercushioning {her very own term for not enough cushions} in her world as well as mine is a big NO NO. Actually, I think many of you would be in shock. So, late this afternoon I spent a few little minutes with myself and my collection of fabrics in our stock fabric room at Black & Spiro. I found a few old pieces of fabric I have been saving for a rainy day and let me tell you my rainy day has come. So I whipped them out and packaged them up and off to the workroom they will go tomorrow.

I can't wait to get some fresh cushions in the house. It really is amazing what a few new cushions can make to a room!! How's your cushion situation at the moment?

The Reality Is...

The reality is that although our house looks pristine and white in the lovely spread Canadian House & Home did in their current issue, it really isn't like that in real life...

I thought I would share a few images with you of Ned and my mum and dad's Golden Retriever, Gus from the weekend. We had Gus over to stay for a couple of days and look what they got up to!

Obviously Ned became very scared once he spotted me...he jumped off the sofa very quickly and couldn't believe that Gus had the guts to remain there without any worries what-so-ever. If you look closely you can see that the white slip covered sofa is in a terrible state...I think it might need a new cover in some hardy denim next time round!!

Just a bit of evidence to show you that we actually live in a white-with-dirty-smudges-everywhere house!!

Thank you Canadian House & Home

I was so thrilled to be included in the just-released May issue of Canadian House & Home magazine and so taken back by the size of the article. Thank you House & Home for the lovely story. You captured my aesthetic perfectly.

PS. No doubt you would all be completely over seeing images of my home here on ABT {huge apologies!!} however, I just wanted to share my excitement about the article and, in particular, I really wanted to thank House & Home for the lovely story and their interest in my work.

images - simon kenny, story - catherine sheilds