Halloween

Bathroom Furniture

James Michael Howard

I am very fond of placing small pieces of Antique furniture in bathrooms. I think it adds an element of coziness. It also adds interest and personality to a room which we usually don't think about furnishing.

Whether it's a small table {like above} to place some towels on & a beautiful tray with lots of perfume and lotion on for your guests or a lovely old chair upholstered in a pretty fabric, I think it's a great look.

In the Gumdale house I have been working on I suggested this concept to the client and she went with it. We painted the old pieces we found for her bathrooms white and they look fantastic.

So, if you have room for a lovely little old table or chair or even an old mirror in your bathroom my advice is...go for it!

Oh and while we're on the subject of furnishing bathrooms - I also love little paintings in bathrooms too!!

2 New Pieces! :: twigs & honey shop update

Just a post to say that I have two new pieces in the twigs & honey Etsy shop today! They are both so much fun and very elegant. I think both would be perfect for a wedding or any other special occasion. The hair piece features a little vintage locket that you can spritz with your favorite fragrance! The flower will smell like a flower and so will you. :)
Enjoy!

Velvet flower hair piece with vintage heart locket.

Flower and lace necklace/choker.

Only 1 More Day

Now for some Halloween treats-

Passionate About Blue & White?

Well then you must get your hands on a copy of Carolyne Roehm's new book - A Passion for Blue & White. Look at this dreamy image from the book! I think my mother will flip out when she sees this post! I think this book would make for a wonderful Christmas gift! Jennifer over at The Peak of Chic has done a great post on the book today and Lily-G also posted about the book earlier this week too! Can't wait to get my copy!!

Cakes & Flowers {A Post by Felicity}

When I saw Vicky Crease's beautiful work on South African blog Anything Goes I thought she would be perfect for Absolutely Beautiful Things and when I saw her quote in one of her press articles .......

"I love to bring people joy"

I smiled and knew I had to contact her.

Vicky is a South African based cake artist and events coordinator who has created and styled events for Nelson Mandela, South African President Thabo Mbeki, Tiffany's of New York and Richard Branson. Here's a couple of questions I posed to her as well.........

Vicky, what project are you currently working on?

Amongst others........

Christmas at Cartier,

The Twelve Apartheid Heroes Gala Event for 800 guests,

the Reserve Bank Governors' Awards Ceremony;

and Miss South Africa.

Also lots of events for the FIFA Soccer world Cup in 2010

What is your favorite event that you have created for?

1. Nelson Mandela's birthday Cake

2. The Launch of Cartier

3. The Launch of Virgin Money in South Africa

4. A private dinner party for Celine Dion

What's your most popular cake that you make?

Definitely the Death by Chocolate double chocolate fudge cake with a decadent ganache icing, topped with a mass of fresh roses and drizzled with icing sugar.

What's the best thing about of living in South Africa?

The sunny skies, great climate, deliciously diverse food, fabulous South African hospitality and the fact that there are no rules within a design framework, thereby allowing you to express your creativity freely. Also, my fabulous family.....

What are 3 of your favorite fashion/homewares boutiques in South Africa?

My sister's store "Life" in Sandton for rare objects and stylish homewares,"Wizards" in Hyde Park for great fashion pieces and"Woolworths" for everything else (food, clothing, body products, linen, towels etc.)

Thank you so much for chatting to us Vicky, I'm sure Absolutely Beautiful Things readers would agree, your creations are works of art.

All Images Vicky Crease

Only 2 More Days

Harry's {New} Room

Skona Hem

SR Gambrel

James Michael Howard

When it comes to boy's bedrooms I personally prefer a classic navy and white scheme with some red thrown in and even some pale blue thrown in - see inspiration images above. I have always decorated Harry's room in this manner. When we moved into the cottage we put Harry into the only other bedroom we had which is the size of a shoe box!! At first I thought it was very cute and charming but then as time went on I found it to be completely impractical for him will all of his toys and books and things overtaking the space...don't forget he's a collector/hoarder just like his mother!!

So, Harry is now moving into a new room which was actually the original lounge room. I think he's very lucky as it has the most beautiful old ceiling in the entire house.

With his move comes new curtains and a few new pieces of furniture will also be required. I will be incorporating his old red and blue striped armchair and of course I will be using his beautiful old Antique bed {images above}.

Now that Harry is a little older it isn't as easy as it once was decorating his room. He is now old enough to have an opinion. I have been bringing home lots of fabric samples over the last couple of weeks to look at against his armchair and I have been quite surprised by his response. After much thought and consideration we have FINALLY made our decision. Of course I am the one who makes the final decision {definitely no Spider Man bed linen or racing car beds in my house!!} but I have enjoyed the challenge of him putting forward his opinion. This has actually made me consider other options and I think it has resulted in a perfect solution for the room.

I just purchased an old chest of drawers on Ebay which we will use as a bedside table for him. I will be painting these drawers a pale blue and I will replace the handles also. This will be a great storage piece for him to keep some of his toys in and it will be a fun weekend project for he and I to embark upon. Once we have finished painting it he can actually say that he painted it himself{with my help of course}!!

I rather liked the navy blue lamp bases which Tory Burch used in her boy's room {pictured below}. I have found a very similar lamp base which I will paint navy with shades made in the blue and white fish patterned Lulu DK fabric in the below image. I was a little concerned at first that this patterned fabric was a little too 'girly' but I decided it looked a bit like a pair of vintage board shorts...well that's what I told Harry!!

We decided on the navy and white geometric print {above - bottom right} for his curtains which we will install on an existing white painted timber pole.

I thought I might frame some old flags I have and also some old vintage sailing boat prints which I will hang around his room. His new {vintage} sailing boat will fit in perfectly!

I haven't made a decision on the bed linen yet however, I may use his existing patchwork quilt which I bought from Douglas & Hope a couple of years ago or if I decide to do something new {budget permitting} my choice would be to go for something very plain....maybe even a denim doona cover. I have lots of cushions I can re-use from his old room which I will place on his bed along with a couple of his most favourite teddies.

I'll be sure post some after pics once we are finished!!

What colours/theme do you like in a boy's room?

Rug Love

I'm loving these gorgeous rugs from Elson & Company!!

New item :: Cozy Wool Beret in Pebbles & Paisley

I think that handmaking lovely little things is contagious!

I'm so excited to say that my mom, who taught me so much, has handmade a very pretty wool hat with floral brooch. It is very comfy and warm! I have it listed in the Pebbles & Paisley shop at the moment. Be sure to check it out. :)

Like the top? My mom made that for me too! It is actually a dress. She knows my "office" attire mainly consists of PJs and slippers, and thought I would like a comfy but also stylish dress to work in. I like it!

Antique Hunting with Harry

Harry with his ship and the pink bentwood

Hello how was your weekend? Mine was lovely. Harry and I went hunting for vintage furniture on Sunday morning. As you may or may not know we are currently smack bang in the middle of a renovation. Stage one will hopefully be completed in about four weeks! Anyway, as we are extending our cottage we have the need for a few more pieces of furniture. I have been collecting old furniture and bits and pieces my entire married life and I think I may have a bred another little collector!! Whenever we go Antique shopping I always let Harry select one little thing for himself. I love watching him select his piece. This time he spotted this fantastic old ship in the back of one of the stores at Paddington Antique Market and I was so impressed! We bought it for his new bedroom. I spotted this gorgeous old pink Bentwood chair which I am going to add to my collection of mismatched Antique dining chairs. I also found a few more bits which I am thrilled with. Overall it was a very successful mission. I love that my son is learning to appreciate Antiques and vintage pieces and its just so lovely to have him give me his opinion on my finds too...even if we don't always agree!!

I Actually Went Out!! TWICE.

Big week this week.

Went to this...

"Paul Young, and the lead singer from Spandau Ballet, Tony Hadley: two of the biggest names from the eighties, together on one bill! Performing all their hit songs and some new favourites: Gold, True, Wherever I Lay My Hat, Everytime You Go Away and many more!"

As you can imagine it was fabulous and hilarious and a great night was had by three chicks who can't quite get over the 80's.

Then 3 days later Surfer Boy and I celebrated his birthday at this...

Tex Perkins proved that even singing bad 80's tracks he still is a 'Rock God'. They were brilliant.

The Palms at the Casino is obviously my venue of choice now.... hmmm maybe Bonnie Tyler in November?

Gumdale House Update

It's been another busy week in my little world. Apologies for my lack of posting. This week we started installing the wallpaper and window coverings at the Gumdale house which I have been working on for over a year now. Next week we are installing all the furniture which is very exciting. I thought I'd post a few little snippets to get you excited. This certainly is one of the most beautiful houses I have ever had the pleasure of working on. I'll hopefully have more photos for you next week. Until then I hope you have a great weekend!

Heirlooms & Treasures {A Post by Felicity}

Heirlooms and Treasures by All Things Bright and Beautiful

Here are some of my mother's treasures, which I photographed when I was home last time - there are some more here too. Even though we have little space and they wouldn't really suit our minimal-ish, white, "art gallery" styled apartment, it doesn't stop me from kind of wishing we had more heirlooms here with us in Hong Kong to remind us of home. Family treasures suit any kind of decor really, don't they? Mementos we do have here with us include some of my mother's silver and my grandmother's occasional chair. Most of our other treasures (not that we have a whole lot:-) are in storage back in Australia. What family treasures do you have that you display to remind you of people you love?

Hugs Bugs!!
xx

Felicity

More Hawthorne House Pictures

Here are some more images of the Hawthorne House we have been working on.

Today I Love...

Hello again. How was your weekend?? Mine was lovely thank you...very quite and restful...just what I needed after a hectic week last week. This week we have Felicity back on Wednesday with a lovely post so stay tuned for that. Thank you so much for welcoming her at ABT with all of your lovely comments last week!!

Today I love these three images which I recently added to my I Love Files. What do I love about these images you may ask? In the top image I love all the colourful pretty plates and of course I love the flowers. In the middle image I love the round buttoned ottoman with the box pleated skirt and I love the concept of that bed for a child's room. In the last image I love the natural linen tablecloth and the piles of books and the blue and white jar with the fresh flowers. Actually just looking back at these images now - do you notice something else?? Yes, they all have a little bit of blue and white...mmm I am turning into my mother!!

I hope your week has started with lots of happy thoughts!! See you tomorrow.

Image 1 - Jane Roarty Stylist

Image 2 - Architectural Digest via Decorology

Image 3 - House Beautiful