My love for... one small room

Ok, so I have to tell you about this fantastic shop in Croydon (Adelaide), one small room. A couple of my coolest friends (Gypsy Lou & one small orchard) talked this shop up  until I really had to visit.

A couple of months ago Roger and I decided that we really needed a new dining set. The one we had used to be his grandparents, and it wasn't wearing so well. I was feel bruised on my butt and thighs from the seats, and that's not a good sign!

When I visited the store I was overexcited and bought both chairs and table (even though we'd agreed to just look at chairs, oops!) Anyway, long story short we loooove our new dining set. We love teak, it's really comfy, the table's extendible, it looks super cool and it's by the same 60's maker (Noblett & Son) as our cabinet!

(disclaimer, on getting the set home we did notice a couple of tiny issues with the table, but they're fixable. I think next time I'll take a man to look furniture over with me!)

Just think how good she'll look once we re-do our kitchen!!

hmm, not the best picture, but you get the idea!

ps - I also bought a new bikini while visiting the store, it's totally adorable!

pps - One of my fave blogs (The Design Files) has a peek into the house of one small room's owner, Rebekah Cichero, today - check it out (prepare to drool!)

Dexter is eight months!

I know every mother says this, but I can't believe how fast my kids are growing! This little chunker is eight months already. Dexie's hair is still growing straight up and slightly back now, I think he might have wavy hair! He has two big teeth on the bottom now, with which he happily demolish's rusks and anything else in his path. Dex is totally on the move too (he's figured out proper crawling), as soon as he hits the floor he's off to explore. We're having a battle teaching him not to go in the kitchen! I'm constantly hearing Evie yell 'Mum, he's in my room touching my things' - I have a feeling this is just the beginning! I should mention that Dexter is awesome at sitting too. During the last month I discovered that he could sit already, I just hadn't tried yet! Also the talking, we're getting lots of 'da-da-da' and 'ma-ma-ma'.

Man does this boy love to eat. He is well and truly into solids now, almost every meal is followed by dessert to fill up his tummy! I'm still giving him a bottle before I go to bed at night because he's so happy to drink it down (and I love the extra smiles and cuddles too!) Have I mentioned that he sleeps eleven hours a night? (gee, this is turning into a brag session!). What a perfect second child!!

I'm pretty sure you can see it in these photos, Dex is an absolute delight!! He's pretty placid, just goes with the flow of our family. At the same time he is full of movement, excitement and joy. What a darling!!

Evie took this last one for me (don't mind the washing!) thanks cutie!

Photo hit

Ok you guys, I totally won a competition on my favourite blog, The Beetleshack! I've won an adorable pair of rubber boots that I'm hoping Evie and Dex can both wear in turn, woot!

I've had photos piling up to share with you lately, so here's a few in one big hit:

cute chubby in a swing

 Evie all dolled up for a family coffee date

we took Evie to the movies for the first time, to see Madagascar 2

excuse my huge arm!

I sewed myself this top from the Wiksten Tank pattern with thrifted fabric

I've been teaching Evie to use the sewing machine on her own, I'm such a proud mama!

always twirling, dancing and accesorising

delicious dhal for dinner, you should give this recipe a try!

Dream kitchen reno

Our current kitchen is functional, but not pretty or really that practical. The oven is quite old and either burns or under-cooks  The cupboards are a creamy yellow, but with silly shelves that don't fit properly. The benchtop is bright green, but to tell the truth I'm quite used to it and it's quite cheery! The flooring is a pain; slate (which I hate!) in the small kitchen, faded lino in the eating area and stained carpet in the lounge room.

Ha, I know these are 'first world problems', but there you go. When you spend as much time at home (and in the kitchen) as I do, then these things bother you!

We've started talking with Dan and Amy from S2 Studio about a kitchen renovation, oooh! We know Dan and Amy from our past lives (ie from school and old friends) so are excited to be planning this venture together! We decided to get architects involved because we didn't think that a kitchen company would take our whole house into account when planning a kitchen. We've discussed our dream plans for our kitchen, how we use the main areas of our house and how we feel about our space.

I thought I'd show you some pictures (discovered on Pinterest) of how I see our new kitchen in my mind!!

One day we will replace the three mis-matched floor coverings with some sort of wooden flooring; throughout the kitchen, eating area and lounge. We're dreaming of the new kitchen in white and wood, one of my favourite combinations. Check these pics out!

from apartment therapy

from apartment therapy

How luscious are those wooden shelves! I would have to learn the art of dusting if I owned them though!

from House & Leisure

This pic has a pool out the front, which we don't have (waaa!), so just ignore that! Here I love the dark upper wall (with the shelving) and the placement of a washing machine in the kitchen. I'm thinking of doing the same, to free up storage space in the laundry.

from keltainen talo rannalla

I love the style of this older kitchen, most of all the dramatic splashback, how cool is that! I've got this idea in my mind that we could totally rock this type of tiling, maybe in a smaller dose. Check out the black and white tiles in the next pic for another example:

from faile, via Thoughtful Day

from Bolig

I've also got this idea that we could have black cabinetry at floor level, and then any higher cabinets could be white to keep the look from being too dark. (I also think that the black would hide more spills!!) I super love those pendant lights too, but unfortunately our modest house doesn't have dramatic high ceilings, so check out the light in the next pic for an idea I've got:

from Elle Decoration, via SF Girl by Bay

I love that black wall lamp, it would be great task lighting in a kitchen, and moveable too!
(ps, I haven't yet shared with you our new dining setting, but it is quite like the pic above but with white seats, amazing!!!)

What do you think, any other ideas for me??

Evie the fashionista

My lovely Evie is a creative girl and loves to choose her own clothes. Here's a small sample of some of her more outlandish choices from the past few months.

Layered up and ready to walk to kindy. When we got to kindy she pulled the beanie over her face so everyone would think she was a real raccoon!

Evie decided she didn't like me taking photos of her, so here's a couple of sneaky ones!

Beautiful dancing girl, yes, wearing socks as gloves!

Ha! Evie wore the fairy dress under a jumper and tucked it into her tights to sneak out the house wearing it. I knew, but it was so clever I let her think she got away with it!