Are you the right type?

First came the dumb quizzes, then came the mood board maker, but I think I've outdone myself this week.  I bring you TYPE WAR.

Guaranteed to waste hours of land-waiting time, minutes previously dedicated to lending institution frustration and seconds of colour choice second guessing.
Click here to let the wastage begin.  (I apologise in advance)

Some much needed R & R

It's stressful business this whole building thing - and we haven't even turned the first sod yet.  So we manufactured an opportunity to have a few days rest in a quiet little spot off the Great Ocean Road with amazing views of Apollo Bay.  What a great base to explore the area!  We drove, we walked, we talked, we laughed, we sang (badly), we ate, we slept.  And after hitting control-alt-delete for a few days, the wait doesn't seem so hard to swallow.

I'm in the mood...

How freaking cool is this mood board?????  I know, right?

But check this out - a website that makes it easy peasy to make your own, and even easier to "borrow" someone else's ideas (my fav thing to do right now).  Might take a few days off work so I can have a play!

What's your colour?

I love a good online quiz, and today I've dragged up the definitive solution to home building colour choices that will put interior designers everywhere into an obsolescent panic...  click here to take the test


This is me (apparently)

Yellow is the colour of sunshine and energy. You are always on the go and love to meet many people. People love your enthusiasm and optimism. You like bright places and prefer to have an open and informal home environment.

 Putting this one in the dubious category, I searched on and found this little test, which is actually quite good with a whole palette to work with.

This time I'm "sun kissed" and I'm happy to see some shades of orange in there so I'll stop searching for silly quizzes now :)

Pro's & Con's of canvas living

I'm starting to come around on the idea of pitching a tent in either Janine's or Deb's (thank you for the offer) front yard... cleaning would be a breeze, there's only 2 of us anyway so why would we need all that space of a non-canvas house, the dogs always sit or lay on us so they don't need much room, and I'm sure our landlords would do us a favourable deal on rent - maybe even in exchange for domestic duties.  The only downside I can see right now is that there aren't any trees on the estate to pee behind.  And it could get a little cold in winter.  And developers approval of the facade may be tricky!

What's our land worth?

One total BONUS of all this waiting, waiting, waiting is the rise in land value at our estate. Check this out...www.realestate.com.au
Doesn't mean they'll actually sell for that amount of course, but it's still pretty impressive growth  from a <$220,000 purchase price in February.
But on the down side, our lender doesn't accept increases in land value for purchases less than 12 months ago, and as we haven't sold our current home (or even put it on the market) as we (read, not me) were hoping to time it all perfectly and move straight from one to the other, which will more than likely push us into mortgage insurance territory - ouch!!
I'm so totally over it all today that I could just sell the land, pocket the profit that the bank doesn't recognise and live in a tent in Janine's (http://fromcharlesgreentocharlbury.blogspot.com/) backyard :(

We're on the map

Here's the latest Nearmap image from October 3.

MASSIVE changes from the July 3rd image.

HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The natives are getting restless

To fill some time while we're waiting waiting waiting for our land to title, we spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon wandering Kuranga Native Nursery in Mt. Evelyn, and making mental notes of what will eventually go where in the garden.

Love the look of a mass planting of Kangaroo Paw.  Should look great against the light rendered walls.

We'll throw some of this in as a contrast against all the green.

And a few of these.  We have them in our garden now and the fur kids love to hide under them.

And definitely some of these to add height and obscure the front bedroom windows from the street a little.

Okay land - we're getting REALLY impatient now!!!!!!!

Sweet dreams are made of this

 The first few display homes in our estate have opened, and I couldn't resist snapping a couple of sneaky pics on the iphone.
An ink black colour scheme made the master bedroom of this Simonds home really cozy looking, and I love the repeat of the patterned fabric on the headboard and the pillows.






 Quilted pillow covers added some texture.

And the padded headboard almost looks simple enough to have a go at one myself.

All the single ladies...

...don't worry Loz, I'm not dropping a hint, but I am dropping a shameless plug for my blog friend Jazz of The house that Jazz and Brett built.

Jazz's blog is really nifty and I love her fun sense of humor and funky design.  But what I only just realised is that in her "spare" time, Jazz is an event manager extraordinaire - and the image is from her own destination wedding - via her business Event This

Apart from lots of dreamy pics, Jazz has heaps of style boards on her site which translate into interiors as well.

It's getting closer

Paths are done, crossover in place, road fully sealed, street light (isn't it beautiful?) is all ready to shine.  The naturestrip is seeded, block levelled, top soil spread and now we're just waiting for the file to go to the titles office later this month with settlement in mid november.

On the house front - we've signed the contract, paid the balance of deposit, signed the 1 little post-contract variation (the ensuite niche was in the wrong place), and now we wait...semi-patiently.  Who am I kidding - HURRY UP ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Studiously studying studies

I'm thinking of a little space tucked away in one of the spare bedrooms, or even the reading room, to be my girly, creative place, with everything in it's place. Stationery at the ready.  My beautiful box full of derwents on show.  Mags in various stages of page flagging, pic clipping, website listing happiness.

 A space that doesn't look too study-like, but inspiring just the same.
 












And if I can't get a whole corner of a room, I'll at least find space for a cupboard, with doors I can close on the creative clutter...and paint orange :)

Don't judge a book...

                                                    ...by it's pretty cover!

Here's an easy, low cost way to blend books into our colour palette - cover them.

I'm not intending on covering the entire collection, but a few well placed, bright covers may help to break up that blokey book look.  Here's some more that I like...

The Reading Room

We (Loz) have a very large collection of words, which need a place to stay without clashing with my newly found "Metro" style.  We've designated one of our living rooms with a southerly aspect as our reading room.



So here comes the challenge...how do you fit hundreds of books, stylishly, in a modern home?

We have some cheap Ikea "Billy" bookshelves in a pale timber laminate finish that will do until funds allow something more extravagant, but in the meantime, I'd like the room to look a bit spesh and to take advantage of the room dividing fireplace, making it a cozy place to sit on a chilly weekend.

Not my style and a bit of a girly room.  Most guy books have dark covers too.  I don't mind the sofa and side chairs though.  They could work with some warmer colours thrown in as accents.

A bit minimalist, but the brown wall behind the shelving works, and I like the idea of the sliding doors to close it all from view of things get a bit untidy.

This is more like our collection.  Well half of it anyway!  Although the walls are white, I think the aged leather chesterfield gives it a cosier feel.

The use of a solid cupboard in between shelves is worth considering.  It just breaks up those solid rows of dusty books and would add some much needed storage.

An ORANGE wall behind the bookcase - me like!  probably breaks every design rule in the book (not that we have a book on design rules), and the placing of orange covered books throughout ties it all in.

What's your style?

I'll admit to the occasional bout of "style envy".  A practical, no-frills sort of a person, I sometimes linger longingly in magazines and dream of a perfect all white scheme, the beach-house look or a french country farmhouse.  But when it comes down to decision time in a new build, a blank canvass ready for you to wave your artistic brush and create an inspired yet welcoming space, how do you define YOUR style and stay true to it without becoming lured by fad and overwhelmed by choice?
At times of crisis such as this, there's really no choice other than to turn to everyone's good friend google, who served up this little gem - a style quiz!
It might be American, but I thought it was a bit of fun all the same, with lots of pretty pics.
There's 7 "lifestyles" on offer; Loft, Glamour, Estate, Metro, Country House, Global & Villa.
Follow the link and don't be afraid to share your style.

I'm Metro - no surprises there!

Plans to Landscape not Manscape

We have to apply for Developer's Approval (again), so thought I'd share a draft of our submission.  This is the Ladyscape plan not the Manscape, as I'm sure Loz's ideas are more forest-like, less structured with way less grass.
(I'm still talking about the landscape plan here).

To make sense of it all, there's a legend below.  And for those of us over 40 who need a little help in the vision department, you can click the image to make it bigger (Mum).

Perhaps Loz's competitive side will come to play and he'll break out the derwents this weekend and put me to shame with a visionary concept that's way better than mine.