Displaying posts labeled "Jo’s House"

HELP!!!!! The UFOs are taking over. The fact that I have enough of everything is not stopping me from hunting down the bargains. But what bargains!!!!! The credenza was all of $39. There’s a lot of work and a couple of chips to fix and it is only veneer BUT it was only $39. Dining room or office?

The headboard (or bedhead as we like to call them) was a steal at $15 and will grace the master bedroom. Still deciding on a colour. The two cute bedside tables were bought a few weeks apart and were destined for the bedroom as well but now I want to use these……

A glass topped pair also thrifted and in the process of turning red! I’ll have to find a new home somewhere for the others. Or maybe I’ll leave the decision until the room is pulled together a bit more. So this is what I’m doing this weekend. Painting and procrastinating on which pieces where. Oh and praying for rain! We’re in the middle of a severe draught here on level 6 water restrictions with only bucket watering of plants. That’s why my poor little courtyard has only a few sad plants and a couple of blades of grass I’m struggling to keep alive. It better rain soon!!

Things are happening in my office. I have a large double sliding door cupboard that gives away the room’s original purpose as a bedroom. So I rasterbated (or is that rasterized) this classic 60s b&w photo (At the Cavern Nightclub, Liverpool, 1963, by Lewis Morley) and popped it up. Popped is not the word. I had to blu-tack it because this is a rental and it took forever! The chair is my new thrifted office chair, a bargain at $10. The 70s light box coffee table I’ve had for a while. I’m going to upholster it in the last of my Sydney bus roll fabric. Not sure of the kilim I have on the floor at the moment. I love it to pieces even though it has badly faded on one side. I’ll have to wait till the houndstooth modular suite comes back before I make up my mind. Where’s my computer? Inside the cupboard. But that’s a work in progress. Oh and I’m one row short in the photo so that still has to be fixed. Gotta love Saturdays when you get a decorating punch for pennies.

Just an update on what’s going on with my UFOs (unfinished objects) at home. Not much!! My old dresser is now painted a teeth clenching green (I love it!) and my thrifting continues.

I’m playing with arrangements and buying things on ebay and at the thrift stores that I really don’t need but I really really have to have.

The ebay fabric may go on an ottoman and the birds were a great thrift shop find. My sister has returned some paintings that she has been “babysitting” for too many years now. I can’t complain though because she also transported the free table/desk that I found. It’s in my dining room at the moment and desperately needs a new paint job and some much chicer draw pulls. The artist’s mannequin at over 70cms gives me an excuse to hang some of my beads and looks happier in my place than in the thrift store where I found him.

I’ve framed my ISO50 prints in cheap Ikea frames but had some mattes cut to improve the look. No idea where they are going but I’m playing with vignette ideas already.

Finally I’ve been playing around with printing some of my drawings and hand colouring them with watercolours. I’m testing some ideas for an etsy store. I’ll keep you posted. I’m sorry to say that’s all I’ve got for you today. You see I’m rather busy. I’m finishing some upholstery.

I’m on to my next project even though my others are in various stages of completion (or should that be lack of completion?). I call them UFOs or unfinished objects. I’ve narrowed down the field on fabric for my Grant Featherston Numero chairs. I have 2 singles and an end chair as shown above. I’m leaning heavily towards the houndstooth but the wide pinstripe is coming second. The suite will go in my office and must withstand our dog Mickey and his never ending search for a comfortable seat so much as I would love this by Diamond Baratta at Lee Jofa or a Paul Smith Bespoke Stripe wool, I don’t think so. Now I just have to make up my mind so the upholsterer can get to work.

Thought I’d show you what is going on in my new place. First let me say that the carpet is going. YUK!!!!! I have ordered a room size coir rug. Everything here is thrifted, bought on etsy, found in secondhand shops or through retro dealers except the screen which is from an interior design student exhibition from my university days. This is not how the room will look, just an idea. Wait till you see the travertine, chrome and glass coffee table I have coming. I’m going for a Wary-Meyers retro boho look with lime green, navy and a clash of chrome and gilt. I am trying to pull this all together on a strict budget and with mainly thrifted finds because a)I want to show that it can be done, b)I believe in reuse and recycling and c) I’m broke at the moment! Check out my Flickr for more explanations.

And here’s what prompted me to post this now. I found this couch on Chez Fifi through a link I found on Absolutely Beautiful Things today. A red suite similar to my now navy blue suite. Small world!