Live Breathe Decor

How was your weekend? Sadly I didn’t get a chance to do any cottage-hunting, though I’ve been thinking about it (a lot). I’m keeping a close eye on the houses coming up for sale on realestate.com, but so far in the areas I’m thinking about there is nothing old for sale- and I can’t get away from the appeal of a little old cottage, hopefully with an old established garden to match. Sadly, there don’t seem be many run-down French stone or Hamptons-style villas in the areas just outside Melbourne! But of course, that doesn’t stop me from dreaming..

A cute little stone cottage like this one (above) would be a dream come true!

How I’d love to happen upon something like this, complete with glowing leafy forest and swimming pool.. and here’s the guest house, or maybe a very fancy potting shed:

I think I’ve posted this photo before (above), but I just love everything about it! Just love the look of climbers growing on the outside of buildings.

The floors would be stone or terracotta and there’d be no shortage of charm and character.

I would spend my weekends cooking, reading, pottering about and gardening, and creating tasteful arrangements of potted herbs in a sunny corner..

Here’s one version of my Dream kitchen- Hamptons-style joinery and polished nickel pendants, but some rustic elements too; old timber ladder, a timber-topped island bench, branches from the garden displayed in old jars..

The kitchen might open onto a little courtyard, where I’d grow espaliered fruit trees, loosely-clipped topiaries and lots of fragrant things in pots.

I just love the rustic brick arches of this outdoor room – too much for a little country cottage?

Inside, I just want one big living room with a pitched barn-like roof, with lots of books and comfortable chairs.

Maybe with an old spiral staircase leading to a mezzanine kids’ area.

But if all of this is too rustic for the rest of the family’s tastes, then I could happily suffer living in a slicker version of a French-country inspired barn conversion:

I just love the double height ceiling over the kitchen, the upstairs balcony ‘bridge’ overlooking, and the timber beams to create a ‘ceiling’ over the kitchen area (above).

Imagine the kitchen being where the bar is (above) – This is perfection! Love the moody feeling and the low lighting in particular.

And I love the colour scheme and mix of textures of this open-plan room…