Displaying posts labeled "Jo’s House"

Thought I’d turn around and take a snap. Tidied up my office this weekend and took this picture from where my office chair is. I realised I hadn’t shown any more photos of where I slave away in my free time. Just kidding. Lousy photo but I’m actually quite proud of this small space. Everything in this room with the exception of the kilim which I have had for over 15 years was bought in a thrift shop, on eBay, Etsy, secondhand shop, fleamarket or created by me. Mind you I don’t get to sit in the Grant Featherston Numero chairs that much as I’m always over here on the computer! I had the chairs reupholstered after I found them in a thrift store – is that cheating? Anyway just thought you’d like to see. Now if I just squeeze over to the other side of the room I could take another shot. Maybe next time.

I’ve been so busy at work and most thrift shops have been closed. What’s a girl to do? Take a holiday of course! I’m not posting or going to work next week so I can….. wait for it….. paint my apartment. Sorry I don’t know how to relax. Only a few finds this week. Two little frames that I’ll add to a grouping I’m doing for the lounge room. The gold one will be painted white and the vintage mirror frame will be home for one of my peacock prints. Can’t show you all of my new etsy letterpress. Bad cuss words. Got it at rar rar press, full of fab and funny letterpress goodies. Kim will be posting all week and I’ve seen the cool stuff she has found. I’ll drop in occasionally to say hi if I have the time. Have a great New Year everyone!

What a week! Work is so busy at this time of the year and Christmas cleaning is just as overwhelming as Christmas shopping. Today I took a little break from putting together the holiday reading guide to work in my little garden. Some of you may know that we’re suffering through a very serious drought in Australia. My home town is under level 6 water restrictions which means no hoses and only bucket watering of gardens 3 days a week for a few hours only. When we moved in the garden was dead.

Now there are signs of life and my biceps are a little bigger with all the bucket carrying. Of course there have to be some thrifted finds in this post. I did manage to find a couple of cute little pots which I planted up today and the sweetest tiny brass watering can. A lot of my garden is potted to conserve water and my garden beds are heavily mulched. Time to go back to sweeping the patio if I can.

Help me! I’ve been thrifting again. Things are bad when the thrift store managers not only know your name, they have your phone number. Mr X (name concealed to protect my source) rang to tell me about an entertainment unit and a 20% sale. Unfortunately he still won’t sell me the 60s era rattan wall size display cabinet but that may be lucky as it probably wouldn’t fit. The entertainment unit wasn’t my style but I found all these little beauties.

A West German floor vase 50cm tall and a lovely “subtle” orange. It’s by Jasba Keramik and was a steal at $20. I felt bad taking advantage of Mr X with this one as he didn’t think it was West German. You can see some of my other pots in the hall way and some of my Papua New Guinea artifacts.

Finally a matching pair of bedsides. Now what do I do with the 3 unmatched ones I have? Thank god for friends who want to buy them.

Finds for the garden. The cast aluminium planters will be tarted up with gloss navy paint and find a home on the patio.

This lovely old copper tub will be filled with ferns tomorrow after a visit to the nursery. Love it’s old patina.

The bird bath is destined for the small garden by the door. Filled with water and floating flowers it will greet my visitors. I’ve promised myself I won’t go thrifting next weekend unless Mr Y rings…..

The sewing machine is out and my foot is pressed to the pedal. My name is Jo and I’m an ebay addict. Fabric is my weakness. I can’t stop myself. The Ralph Lauren blue and tan fabric is heavy and beautiful to the touch. The green fretwork pattern is for the backs of cushions. The red asian fabric is gorgeous in real life. I’m going to make a full width bolster for my bed with it and perhaps trim a roman blind. The black and white print is much lighter, more drapery than upholstery. I had been thinking bedroom but I’m not sure how it goes with the red fabric. Perhaps the office as a feminine touch to all the geometrics going on or the kitchen window? Over 9 yards for $43.80 USD. Bargain! One cushion down lots more sewing to go.