NURSERY...

Ok so time for another room reveal... this time it's CHARLIE'S ROOM or what is now the nursery but will one day turn into the office/study. 

Charlie is so lucky to have so many talented people in his life. His room is filled with handmade delights, paintings, mobiles, prints and more made by my mum, aunties, cousins, sister and friends.

My mum painted this for Charlie when he was born, it is all true and correct to the local area and what his dad sees most days hes at work (plus a few hidden extras). 

And special things that are close to my heart. These leadlights hung in the window of my grandparents house when I was a child. Plus who doesn't love Winnie The Pooh. 

 I had fallen in love with these cloud shelves a while ago and had every intention of making them.

Click here for instructions over at How To Nest For Less

However when I stumbled across them at Adairs Kids on sale I opted for the easy option and brought them instead.

Cloud Shelves from Adaris Kids and Anchor Marquee Light from Modcloth

Our nursing/reading corner is cosy and inviting which is lucky when I think about how many hours we've already spent in that armchair.

Framed prints from Etsy and Hard To Find, Armchair from Pacific Furniture, Compass decal on table from Etsy and cushion from Spotlight  

Even the cot is a special piece of furniture with significance, it was my sister-in-laws and all three of her kids slept in it. After a coat of paint it was good as new and has such great history that I can't wait to tell Charlie about. And as for that cute little jellyfish mobile, that was crocheted by my cousin all the way in England. 

Cot quilt from Bubbles Lane

Hotair Balloon from Schots Home Emporium

I put together this table using a cheap coffee table from the $2 shop and a compass wall decal sticker I found on Etsy.

Compass sticker from Etsy

Wall colour - Snow Patrol by Porter's Original Paints
Trim colour - Natural White by Dulux
Curtains - Ikea
Carpet - Swiss twist from Carpet World

Just for a laugh ;)

The most recent love of my life... MY KITCHEN!

It's easy to spend time in such a beautiful and elegant space (even if I do say so myself). Cooking here and in my new oven is a dream.

I've been baking, roasting, grilling and frying up a storm. Here's a sneak peak at one of my latest creations. Chewy in the middle and crunchy on top with little hidden chocolate delights.

The best ever Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

½ cup plain flour

¾ cup cocoa powder

1 ¼ cup caster. sugar

160g unsalted butter

2 eggs, cold

⅛ tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. cornflour

¼ tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup. chocolate chips

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Line a 20x20cm pan with parchment paper and set aside.

2.     In a microwave safe bowl, add the butter and sugar. Heat in the microwave on high for about 1 minute and 15 seconds. Remove, stir, and cool on the counter for 5 minutes, then stir in the vanilla extract and cocoa powder.

3.     In the bowl of a stand mixer add the warm (but not hot) butter/sugar mixture. With mixing speed on low add one egg at a time, mixing just until incorporated.

4.     In a medium size mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. With mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until no flour pockets remain. Remove bowl from stand and fold in the chocolate chips..

5.     Spread the brownie batter evenly into the prepared pan. Place in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the brownies are set. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 30-45 minutes before cutting. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Lights - Teledo Pendants from Schots Home Emporium 
Countertops - Carrara Marble from Corsi & Nicolai
Oven - Belling 110cm Richmond Duel Fuel Range Freestanding Oven from Harvey Norman
Door & Drawer hardware - Cast plain semi-circle drawer pull and Round cupboard knob from Schots
Splashback Tiles - Carrara Bianco Herringbone Mosaic from Beaumont Tiles

And the landscaping begins...

So now to get our heads around landscaping an almost entirely empty 1 1/3 acre block (eeeek).

We are starting with the driveway, we want something that is easy to use and that is no easy feat when Jason drives and F250. However, it seems we have somehow managed to reach that happy place between usability and  aesthetics.

Bringing in the big guns

The progress has been somewhat hampered by yet another downpour of rain as soon as any form of heavy machinery lands on site. It is now a bit of a running joke with the machine driver that, 'hey its raining again, I must be at the York's'.   

Our very own moat.

That being said it is really starting to take shape now, rain or not.

Perhaps one day we will lay bitchumum on the driveway but for now we are just going to have to settle for stone. The wall in the above pic will have to be retained and we are going to make a full length garden bed along it at about 1 metre high. We're hoping to use a brick to match the coloured concrete of our verandah.

INSPIRATION:

week 30 until now (about week 42) ...

Ok so I've been missing for a while but I have a really good excuse I promise.

On January 21st 2017 we welcomed a beautiful baby boy into our lives.

So needless to say life has got pretty hectic lately and no we didn't quiet make it into the house before he was born :(

We were so close to being moved in before Christmas (and Charlie) but tiling and shower screens held us up. It was a typical case of the domino effect. The tiler was waiting for the drain grate and the glazier was waiting for the tiler and in turn the shower screen people were waiting for the glazier.

The offending shower screen that delayed our move.

Nonetheless we moved in to our beautiful new Hampton style home in Charlie's first week of life.

I use the term 'moved in' loosely. The whole process of packing up our old house and unpacking into our new house had to happen by one of us at a time or during baby naps, betweens feeds and nappy changes and not to mention at a slightly slower speed due to our sleep deprived state.  

Day 1 of our new life in 'Our Hamptons Home'

Believe it or not we spent the whole of 2 nights 'camping' in our new home with the bare essentials before we headed off on holidays to Hepburn Springs (via Metung, Geelong, Melbourne and Traralgon) for 2 weeks for my aunt's 50th birthday delaying the moving process even more.