Happy Random Weekend

You know what? I have loved blogging lately.
You know why? Because of you.

(Was that as cheesy to you as it was to me?)

But seriously, ever since I poured out my vulnerable guts in this post: The Truth about Blogging, I have been way happier here. Perspective = flipped. And you guys are AWESOME.

It's the weekend here in little old NZ and I am heading into the LAST WEEK of my architecture course... not quite sure what I will be doing after that week.....eek. But my heart is pitterpattering at the thought of learning how to socialise again... and doing things around our house that I can share here. (And maybe getting a job, or maybe launching myself into interior design... who knows).

For now, here's a little peek of the inside of my brain at this very moment:

 {White floral H&M cushions; Urban Outfitter scallop rug; flamingo painting source unknown}

I have a few ideas up my little sleevies.

Oh yeah, end-of-school here I come!

Before I go, the point of this random post was actually to say:

1. I kind of love you
2. I have updated our home tour page
3. I have a zillion ideas in my head and don't know how to structure them into a post. (Maybe next week)
4. HAPPY WEEKEND

White buffet: Living Room update 2

This post starts UGLY and then gets pretty. I promise.

We bought this buffet second-hand when we first moved into this place. I love the style and colour of it, but it turned into a collection spot for things that looked terrible everywhere else......

Oooh, nasty.

Funny enough, they also looked terrible on the buffet. But I didn't really have the time or energy to do much about it.
The buffet is right by the front door - and this end of the buffet became a dumping ground for whatever we brought into the house:

Check out our little catch-all for keys and pocket-junk:

Delicious, right?
As you can see, the buffet came in a USED condition and even though I wiped it thoroughly with spray-and-wipe, there were a lot of marks that wouldn't come out. Only this weekend, after I don't know.... 9 months of owning it, did I think to SCRUB it hard with an abrasive cleaner and a scrubbing brush. Much better.

And then I got all that nasty junk off the top of it, snapped up a white mirror on sale (40% off, making it come it at $60.... not bad for a large new mirror. The height of our tall ceilings makes it kind of shrivel away into the wallscape, but it's actually pretty big!)

Once all the junk was clear, I realised that all I really want on this side of the room, is white. And maybe some greenery. But I definitely want it to be serene, clean, and simple. We're moving into Summer here in New Zealand and that cluttered look isn't working for me anymore.

Here is the simplified result:

 {This is the view from the sofa which also received a simplifying-makeoever in this post.}

The bamboo mat ties into the natural wood-work in the house, and the books are antiques from my lovely Grandma.

I also added these 3 simple gold hooks to the wall by the front door, below. Secretly I am getting a real buzz out of making this space more FUNCTIONAL as well as pretty. Hopefully these hooks will prevent some of the clutter and make our lives more efficient.

That's all folks. Isn't it liberating to see what simplifying a space can do?

Originally I wanted a gallery wall here, but I'm so glad to have this clean and simple look instead.

Plus I have always had a thing for WHITE: especially beautiful when combined with simple, natural wood (which our house is rolling in).

I lied, that isn't all.
Turns out I just freakin LOVE using my SLR camera. Even on a cloudy day, everything appears light and bright.

White with gold knobs = my thing.

Has anyone else been enjoying simplifying their decor lately? Or culling down the colours in favour of white?

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Living room update: Simple

Whatup world,

Before I start: I have been AWOL the last few days and I am sorry. I'm spending most of my time on architecture homework and model-building.... but you don't want to hear about that! Onto the juicy stuff!

Usually I am a pro at telling people what's wrong with their interiors. Not like an actual pro, but like a pro in my head. However when it's something closer to home, I struggle to step outside my little box and see it with objective eyes.

You may know, our couch over the last few months has been graced with a selection of quite garrish pillows. Exhibit A:

At times, said pillows appear really pretty on Instagram.

And in various shots around our living room in this home tour. 

HOWEVER. They are also garrish. What made me think I could impatiently buy up all the brightest and most graphic pillows at Spotlight then expect them all to coordinate on our ONE sofa, I do not know. Especially without one iota of consideration for the fact that some are COOL toned and some are WARM toned and it's all very confusing...

 Ugh, I am ashamed.

So today I decided to try something new. It's called: simple.

I just removed all the existing pillows

 (i.e. placed them on a nearby chair until husband tells me to get rid of them) 

and replaced them with the yellow ones from our bedroom (which is also in our home tour).

Because who wants to kick the pillows off your bed every night so that you can go to sleep, and try to cram them onto your bedside table because you have a phobia of hair and dust getting onto it if you put it on the floor?

Not I.

And then, since I was simplifying, I banished the coffee table books to a side table. (That whole corner of the room needs serious attention. But baby steps...)

And now the coffee table looks scarily empty. But I am weary of thinking about styling piles of books and then having to move them every time we go to eat something (this is our only table). So I kinda like it. 

I feel like clearing things away gives me some space to think about what the room needs.

....... like SOMETHING for that big ol' piece of blank wall under our ridiculously (and lovely) tall ceilings.

Any ideas? What colours would you use in this room?

As for the rest of the room....... there are a few other changes I shall tell you about after the weekend.

Hope you have a lovely one!

What I've been up to

1. New neon necklace and tee

2. Considering a bedspread like this

3. Found a use for my black swan!

4. New skirt my mum bought me from Australia

....because clearly all I do is sit around trying on pretty clothes and looking at pretty homewares, right?

I mean, I don't know what YOU do all day but I definitely don't have a real life with dirty dishes to wash, bags under my eyes and truckloads of BORING homework assignments. And I definitely don't frantically kick yesterday's clothes under the bed when I take my outfit photos on Instagram, knowing full well they are going to come out with some kind of hairy tumbleweed attached to them. And for the love of all things good, I do not, ever, repeatedly allow pots to boil over on the stove whilst I am distracted by doing THIS and then go downstairs to find I've accidentally invented a new kind of rice glue and it has displaced itself all over the stovetop.

Nope, not here.
But if you are wondering why I'm not popping in here as often over this week and the next 3 weeks to come............ don't ask Instagram. (amy_Fivekindsofhappy).

Dreaming

You know when you're really sick and you are sitting at home coughing your lungs up and unable to focus on your architecture assignment for more than 15 minutes at a time? And you're downing Lempsip like a crack addict and wondering how many painkillers you can take over the top of each other? And the internet is being super unreliable but you can't help yourself from throwing together a moodboard because in between homework procrastinations, you accidentally redesigned your whole lounge room?

No?

Okay well, I did.

{1. Ezibuy Flower Lamp 2. Rochelle Andrews paintings}

And when I say 'redesign' I mean rip everything out, win a bazillion dollar makeover spree, and start over.

Our current lounge room (which you can see here in our home tour) is a pretty nice room, but there are definitely things I would change. For one, the walls need a shade of off-white that isn't going to accentuate the orangey-wood-floors. And then there's the humongous white couch which is just massive and so stark that everything else looks dirty.

It can take a long a time to learn your signature style. Maybe it's because I am sick and kinda crazy-stressed over the final weeks of my architecture course, but I am craving me some warm, cosy, inviting, and dare I say it possibly slightly beigey interiors. Splattered liberally with colours and textures and patterns of course. The one above is pretty much my fantasy right now.

The artwork I've used here are by our good friend Rochelle Andrews - she does the biggest most gorgeous close-up and photo-like flower paintings ever - check her out!