May 3

More house hunting

Posted in Architecture, Gardens, Hamptons style, house hunting, Uncategorized

Or maybe I should say house dreaming…I love this one for two main reasons: First, the elevation! Having different levels and outlooks in a house is something I dream of, and I have a major weakness for any house on the high side of the street with steps leading up the entry. But aside from the elevation, this house has a very pretty face, and I like that it’s partly obscured by trees.

And here is reason number two: this fabulous room with the timber-lined pitched ceiling, dormer and circular windows, and french doors leading to the garden. If I had the chance to build only one room onto an existing house of mine, it would be a little something like this.

You can see the french doors are actually on both sides of this room, and yet it doesn’t look as though it lacks privacy. I like the central fireplace flanked by bookshelves. But the beauty of this room is the ceiling line and those upper windows facing the trees. Can you imagine this same room but with a flat ceiling? Not remotely as nice.

In the main bedroom the balcony and view across the treetops is amazing and must be wonderful for the lucky person who sleeps here!

I really like changes in levels in a house, and here the steps define the dining area which opens onto the large terrace. Wouldn’t this be a great house in summer, with those doors all open leading to the pool?

The white-painted pergola across the back areas of the house (which is actually the North-facing side of the house) really adds something beautiful doesn’t it? Even though there don’t seem to be any plants growing over it, and it doesn’t provide any shade, I think it smooths the transition from the house to the garden so that it works better overall.

This is such a great entertainer’s yard but also so great for kids. With that said, yes, I do see a very unobtrusive glass fence around the pool!

And, of course, the essential floorplan:

Have a great weekend,

Naomi xx

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Apr 26

Latest ebay find and Mother Nature

Posted in ebay, fabrics, Gardens, Ralph Lauren, Uncategorized

It’s been another beautiful and mainly rainy day here in Melbourne. This morning I had to go and pick up my latest ebay buy in the hills outside of town, which took me right by my sister’s country property:

I’ve shown bits of my sister and brother-in-law’s property before; they are renovating a former country retirement home, and the much older weatherboard cottage that’s on the same property. They were blessed to inherit a lot of wonderful established trees, but have also replaced a large field with a newly-planted orchard of various fruit trees.

This is one of their veggie gardens, with various types of lemon trees heavy with fruit behind. Lucky I have my own lemon tree or I would have snaffled a lot of those lemons! Is there anything better than a really tart lemon pie?

The driveway enters on one side of the property, circles around and exits on the other side, giving you a full tour through oaks, pines, elms, birches and agapanthas.

Can you tell I’m just a weeny bit jealous? I just love visiting. Then it was off to collect the chairs:

I’ve been looking around at wing back chairs for a little while now, but haven’t been in a rush to purchase them (as they are, of course, for the future country property!). I’m also pretty fussy about the shape and style. I didn’t want any that were too tall, too wide, or with wings that were either too large or too wimpy. I sound a bit hard to please don’t I!? And most importantly, they couldn’t have queen anne-style legs - straight, open legs with a central cross-bar were essential. So when I saw these ones on ebay I snapped them up.

And look at the beautiful scenery I got to enjoy on the way to collect them:

So I had pictured these chairs as being recovered in a dark charcoal grey wool or felt, with the backs in a co-ordinating tweed. The existing fabric isn’t actually all that bad- it’s quite an interesting kilim-patterned velvet in reds, blues and greys. I could easily make it work as is if I needed to hold off on the reupholstery, but I’m envisioning either the dark grey or maybe a scheme of reds or raspberry in velvet and chintzes (I still do love chintz in the right setting).

But on the topic of tweeds, have you seen the new Greenwich Linen collection from Ralph Lauren? I’m such a big fan of these classic designs and warm neutrals:

Very English country house! Can you imagine them paired with some timber beams and old battered leather suitcases? Lovely.

Naomi xx

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Dec 20

Versions of a Dream House and Garden..

Posted in Architecture, Gardens, Uncategorized

As we count down to Christmas this week it’s a whirlwind of finals; final day at Kindy, Final playgroups, Christmas break-ups and farewell catch-ups (though only for a couple of weeks!). There’s also a lot of shopping, cooking, cleaning and wrapping going on in our house, and much excitement!

Amidst all that I wanted to share some of the outdoor spaces that I am just loving at the moment, like this beautiful wisteria-surrounded doorway above. There’s a real sense of mystery about what’s down that intriguing hallway..

Now this (above) is a dream English country house! Beautiful windows with shutters, a gorgeous garden, all that lovely stonework, heaven!

There’s something about all those long French doors and windows, the private courtyard and all that untamed greenery that makes this a perfect outdoor space (and house design!- above).

These pics (above and below) were sent in to me by a reader after my visit to Paul Bangay’s garden a few weeks ago. Stuart Rattle’s garden (I posted about the house here) was open on the same day but I didn’t manage to get to it (distracted en route by lovely shops at Woodend).

The house is an old schoolhouse. Stuart added the second floor, most of the windows and a kitchen wing. I love his colour scheme outside.

You can see the garden is a bit more ‘loose’ and though structured, the plantings are a little wilder and softer that at Paul’s house. So beautiful. And I love the little outdoor room (below).

Have a great Tuesday!

Naomi x

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Dec 10

Summer blues and my favourite garden

Posted in blue and white, Gardens, green and blue, Hamptons style

Well I guess summer has officially arrived- the past two days have been rather warmer than I would like! I am certain I will have mentioned in previous posts that I am not a hot weather sort of person- give me a grey stormy beach walk or cocoa by the fire over a hot summer’s day every time! This weather is reminding me why dark reds don’t really go hand-in-hand with Christmas in Australia, not in the same way that the colour lends warmth and richness to a Christmas in a colder climate- sometimes it’s just too hot to crave warm colours! So my thoughts are straying away from traditional Christmas colours today and towards soothing blues and greens..

I love this room (above) because of the blues and greens, the mix of patterns and because it has a bit of an English country manor vibe to it.

One of my all-time favourite libraries! Not long after I started this blog I remember doing a post on blue libraries (read it here)- and I am still obsessed with them! This one has it all for me: the grey-blue colour, the flowing silk curtains (for me loose, flowing curtains correspond to an active and wandering imagination, so they are the perfect complement to a library!), the symmetry, the bookshelves and ladder. All beautiful.

I love these very subtle blues and greens mixed with neutrals (above). Those barn doors seem to be popping up all over the place, and I like these ones because they are full-height. The herringbone brick floors (which I covet big-time) with steps leading up to the kitchen makes the room infinitely more interesting.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned (probably more than once) that I wanted to get some brass lamps (here and also here- the ones I ended up buying). Well I picked them up today which gave me the chance to stop with the kids to visit my parents-in-law, whose home and garden is one my favourite places, particularly on a hot day. It’s just so beautiful and inspires me every time to apply greater activity towards my own green-thumb aspirations..

As I have been writing this post it has started to rain here which means the arrival of a cool change - lovely!! Hope you’re having a great weekend.

Naomi x

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