Thursday 26 February 2009

Eat Cake...


If I were to list the most joyous aspects of living, for me, eating cake would have to be right up there in my top 5. Could there be anything more centering and relaxing than a cup of tea accompanied by a delectable piece of cake in the afternoon?

pic from www.rice.dk

Tuesday 24 February 2009

On The Inside...

Finally! The inside story...
Where do I begin?
Well, as you can see the inside of my old house was in need of much TLC - she hadn't had an update for 25 years or so and it really showed. The kitchen was a mess as was the brown and orange colour scheme, the bathroom wasn't functioning well as three cubicles (shower, toilet and bath all separate) and all the rooms were very tired looking. More than that though, the house had a terrible feeling to it. It almost felt like it was choking - lacking air and good energy.... To be honest I felt a certain degree of trepidation when we bought this house - there was no question that it had great potential and was in a beautiful spot but I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to erase that terrible feeling without having to resort to an exorcism!!! And how a house feels is just as important as how it looks. There was much work to be done!





The first thing to go was the old, battered carpeting. Almost every room had a different carpet - brown, cream, fuchsia and aqua swirls. Underneath were the original floors which were in reasonable condition but in good need of a scrub and a sand. We left the boards in the original timber tone - just oiling them for protection. The walls, which were painted in a multitude of different colours - mint, teal and baby blue - were given a freshen up with Dulux 'White On White' - my favourite white of all.





The kitchen was in a rather funny position in the house, squashed in between the lounge and the dining rooms - but separated by walls and half benches. Originally it was built in a u-shape - and was completely cut off from the other living areas. We decided to create an opening in the walls between the kitchen and lounge and to punch out the half bench between the kitchen and dining room - instead creating a galley style kitchen that connected all three rooms. We didn't go 'all out' in the construction - sticking to a Laminex ice blue for the drawers (the kitchen is made up of nearly all drawers, no cupboards), a Laminex white bench top and an IKEA enamel sink. The splurge was on the appliances - Miele oven and dishwasher and Highland stovetop.





Other than punching through a wall from the kitchen to the lounge room, exposing the carpet and giving the lounge room a coat of white paint - very little changes have been made to this space. The beauty of it, is all in the decoration!







The bathroom was originally divided into three little cubicles - shower in one, toilet in another and the bathroom in the third. Neither space was particularly roomy and each certainly needed some love. I decided the best way to deal with this space was to knock out the dividing rooms - creating one large bathroom. I kept the scheme simple, with marble mosaic tiles for the floor and very affordable white, brick shaped tiles for the walls. The bath came from the paddock and was sprayed in white. And the little vanity was custom built from white Laminex with a marble top.

I've always believed that you can create a beautiful home without breaking the bank. Of course, some special pieces and finishes do make a difference - however, if you choose wisely and keep your palette simple, then less expensive choices can be just as effective. I am over the moon with the way that these spaces have turned out. The simple changes have made a difference to the look and the feel of the house. Punching through the wall from the kitchen to the lounge room, literally allowed the house to breathe again - and made room for loads of good energy to circulate throughout. We all love living here. It's exactly as we want 'home' to be....

Monday 23 February 2009

What You Do For One....


You must do for the other....
Not one to be outdone - my almost 9 year old son Joe - wanted me to show you all a sample of his creative abilities as well! Joe created this felted elephant (called Rainbow) at school last year - isn't it just so cute... The children spent days laying out their felting wool (which was backed with a piece of muslin) to create the template for this cuddly elephant - then they cut the pattern, sewed some of the edges together and filled it with stuffing to give it this rounded shape. Once all of the edges were completed using blanket stitch - our lovely elephant was decorated in a golden blanket and sparkly head dress. Two eyes were glued on and a tail which was finger knitted using red and pink cotton thread. Viola - a very creative keepsake....

Saturday 21 February 2009

Snoopin Around...





Well, I've been snoopin' around again on realestate.com.au - not that I'm the market for a new home or anything - just because I love checking out other people's houses! And this one - situated on the cliffs overlooking Sydney's Whale Beach - is a beauty...

Thursday 19 February 2009

A Precious Gift...


I love that my 10-year old daughter Inez has taken up sewing - doing chores around the house over the past six months to save up enough money to buy her first Singer sewing machine. These days, she spends all of her free time sewing - everything from a skirt, to an apron and little presents for the family. This one she made for me with fabrics that she chose all by herself! Isn't it so cute. I can see this one framed and on the wall at home...

Wednesday 18 February 2009

Colour And Majesty...



Oh, I just love that colour is coming back into style again - particularly when it's used with dramatic effect - as it is here on this lovely hotel in Valencia Spain. The Hotel Ferrero is owned by Spanish tennis champ Juan Carlos Ferrero and his winning formula translates beautifully to this majestic building. The tone of mauve on the exterior is subtle, pure but still striking enough to make an impact. Don't you think it would work beautifully on the exterior of an old weatherboard?
This pic is from the latest issue of Gourmet Traveller mag...

Tuesday 17 February 2009

And The Winners Are.....









Drum roll please.....

Well here I am, with Nicky my offsider, dipping into the little blue bag for the winners of the Inside Out magazine competition...

I've had so much fun reading all of your comments - particularly because you've all been so nice about my life and my house!!! Thank you for your continued support.

And without further adieu - the winners are.....

Kerry - who left an anonymous comment
Easytomissdotcom
Rosie - Rosie B Cards
Hayley - Porchlight Interiors
Michelle - Armas Design

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE.....

Can all of the winners email me on email@shannonfricke.com with their delivery details.

sx

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Where Will The Heart Reside....



If home is where the heart is then where do our hearts reside when we lose our homes to the wrath of nature's fury?

As most of you know, this week Australia has been ravaged by the worst fires in our history so far. Many people have lost their homes and in some tragic cases, their loved ones, in a blaze that has been sweeping much of Victoria without warning and without the hope of escape.

In tragic times like these - our hearts have no other place to reside than within the support of one another. Please give generously to the Red Cross Victorian Fire Appeal 2009 www.redcross.org.au

Sunday 8 February 2009

The Outside Story....

I promised you the insider story on our home reno.... I thought that it would be best to start with the outside and work our way in over the coming days.

 You've probably worked out by now what a fan I am of old weatherboard homes - there's something about an old home that evokes a soulfulness that I don't find in newer spaces - to me, weatherboard houses feel as though they are alive and connected to the earth in a way that I don't feel in a brick home. However, they can be a lot more work in terms of maintenance!! When I envisioned our move to the country, there was no question that I wanted to live in a weatherboard house - however finding one, let alone one that was in reasonable shape was not an easy task. Can you imagine my delight when we came across this old girl. Beautiful and majestic, I fell in love with her in an instant - but she had been neglected and was sorely in need of a little TLC...


What was lovely about the house is that it had great bones - however it had been tampered with over years with most original features removed and replaced with a 1980s internal renovation (that included a brown and orange kitchen), a building in of the outdoor verandahs and inclusion of aluminium doors - none of which did bode well for the house aesthetically. When faced with a house in this kind of compromised state - I find that you have two choices. The first is that you go all out, gut the place, spend up big and get yourself a whizz bang new house. Or you work with what you have - tinkering away to improve the spaces but essentially giving the house a face lift rather than a whole new face!!! Neither Michael or I felt comfortable with the first option at this stage of our lives. Always mindful of funds and careful not to extend too far beyond our means we decided to go for cosmetic work instead - working within a strict budget to keep costs down. With two middle sized kids in tow - and a desire to avoid the stress that comes with a big reno and finishes that we all felt too scared to touch -   we worked with what we had, trying to bridge the gap between what had been done and what we needed to do to create a space that felt like ours - with flow and good energy! 

The first thing on our list was re-levelling the house to make sure that it was in balance, after all, a balanced house is a happy house. Once achieved, we moved onto patching up the existing boards which were mostly in great shape. Those that were rotten were sanded, primed and filled to their former glory or replaced where needed. Our biggest dilemma was what to do about the aluminum doors and windows that surrounded the house on every facing. Replacing them seemed like the most obvious option - however would costs tens of thousands of dollars. We decided to keep them for the minute (we could always change them later and they weren't too offensive) and see how we went living with them before investing in that added expense. 

It was painting however, that really made the difference to the exterior. Naturally, white was my colour of choice - to go back with the grey corrugated rooftop - and I went for Dulux Antique White USA - bright enough to give the house some zing but not too bright to overwhelm. The white and grey colour scheme matched the colour of the sky above the house and seemed like the most sympathetic palette given the environment that surrounded us. The fascia boards were treated to a soft blue/grey tone to blend with the existing roof. A new deck off the back would give us some much needed entertaining space. Some outdoor lighting would give us the ability to see our view at night - and the lovely outdoor furniture (table from Porch, chairs from Tolix) and some potplants made the space usable. And with that,  the outside story is complete... Very simple!

Wednesday 4 February 2009

InsideOut Comes To The Farm....








Hello there everyone...

I've been offline over the past few days trying to come to terms with the drama that is my computer breakdown!!! Doesn't life just come to a screaming halt when the technology is not working.

However, I seem to be back on track and what perfect timing too as the new issue of Inside Out has just hit the stands - and inside is a story about my life up here on the farm and featuring my farmhouse reno too. I know that some of you have already seen it because I've been receiving some lovely emails about it. For those of you who don't live in Australia or don't get to see Inside Out - here it is... I hope you like it. All the pics are by none other than the divine Prue Ruscoe - who seems to wave a magic wand making everything look more beautiful than it really is - even the photograph of me with the washing basket! Thank you Prue! Also, a big thanks to the gorgeous Alix Johnson, for writing such lovely things about us.

Now that the pics are out I can give you a before and after sneak peek into the house reno - what we've done and how we've done it. So stay tuned...

p.s I thought it might be fun to do a bit of giveaway of this latest issue of Inside Out. So, I have five issues of the March/April issue (featuring yours truly) to give away. All you need to do is leave a comment telling me why you'd like a copy of Inside Out magazine and five lucky winners will receive one magazine each. All comments need to be in by February 15th at 5pm. Good luck!

p.p.s Remember if you are leaving an anonymous comment then please leave your name at the end of the comment so that I know who you are!

Sunday 1 February 2009

A Floral Flourish....




Whilst on the floral theme...

I've just come across this gorgeous pic in a file on my old computer which I'm using again as my new computer is having a 'sex in the city' moment - and has completely blown up on me....

Again, this one is from a very, very old issue of Inside Out - I just love the strong array of colours used here. They make for a very bright and delightful table setting.