Dining and Lounge Room Tweak

This room was virtually empty when we moved in 3 years ago.  (Apart from the packing boxes that stuck around for about a year!) We had little furniture to put in here.

When I bought the three piece lounge about 1 1/2 years ago, it allowed me to create 3 distinct areas within this HUGE room.

Lounge and TV Area

BEFORE                                                                      AFTER

I still have not managed to convince Duncan to give up his installation of the WTC1&2. He wants to take them to our new house. Thankfully the Titanic is gone.

Quiet Reading

BEFORE                                                                       AFTER

 Bookshelf - We added the double Billy bookcases from IKEA about 1 1/2 years ago. I would like to buy the glass doors to add on to these.

BEFORE                                                                       AFTER

Dining Area

BEFORE                                                                       AFTER

The dining table and chairs belonged to my husband's grandparents. They have that mid-century Parker and Chiswell furniture look and I would love to give them a refurbish. I like the fact that the table can be extended.

 Sideboard - I have plans to change the handles on this piece.

INSIDE

BOOKSHELF

BEFORE                                                                        AFTER

Duncan's LEGO and paper models of the Tower Bridge have pride of place on top. The green bags were full of children's books for me to cover with clear contact for the School and Preschool. They are nearly done.

Music Corner

Then I bought a couple of floor rugs and created a 4th area for playing piano. One day we may be able to afford a real one.

I use dark couch covers to protect my lounges from my three children. I know they don't look great but they will save the original upholstery for now. 

I am linking up with Home Organisation 101 at A Bowl Full of Lemons.

Fresh Air

We've had some glorious dry autumn days this week. Crisp morning starts but lots of sun and a little breeze during the day - perfect for drying the washing on the clothesline. Yesterday I had a 2 hour job of sorting out 8 baskets of dry washing, folding and then putting away. I was successful in the latter stage by only 50%. I still have my basket, the towels, the sheets and the kitchen stuff to put away. 


And then there is the other aspect of domestic chore - shopping! I had to head into town this morning to purchase some long school pants, jumpers and groceries. Another hour of packing away groceries and it was lunchtime. Settle down for a tasty fresh ham, tomato and lettuce roll and reward myself with a 'James Taylor (whenever I see his smiling face...I have to smile myself) Live in Concert' dvd.


However washing and grocery shopping weather is not conducive to sewing. 


Fussy Fairytales Update

I have nearly finished hand quilting Fussy Fairytales. I am still concerned that the larger panels have too much unbasted fabric to contend with.  As quilt designer Kate Conklin hand quilted her original version, I wanted her opinion on what to do. So I sent her a message, to which she relied that some of the panels might be too big.

The largest section is 6"x7" and so I may have to add some more stitch-work to tie the quilt sandwich together. I can't decide whether to baste these sections with some kind of invisible thread, a short little basting knot or to highlight a feature within the panel. So more hand-quilting is in store for me. I don't really mind putting in the effort to get a more satisfactory finish. Plus starting next week, there is a new linky party each Friday for hand-stitchwork.


You can find all the details at...
                                                        
Katie Jump Kites

That is what I have named this quilt, a combination of the fabric line 'Katie Jump Rope' by Denyse Schmidt and the pattern 'Kaleidoscopic Kites' by Faith @ Fresh Lemons Quilts. I finished the cutting on Monday and I got just an hour and a half of sewing time today to start the patchwork.

The blocks are all made up the same way however, different in the fabric choice so I had to keep referring to the grid reference. They came together quite quickly and to have a new project to sew is a breath of fresh air. 

This week's stats:
Completed projects - ZSSA - Rain Cloud Mug Rug

  

Currently in progress   - 'HR Far Far Away 2&3 Fussy Fairytales'  hand quilting the windows and peekaboo                                           squares.

                                               - Katie Jump Kites - on cutting table
                                               

On Hold projects   - Mystery Quilt - top pieced

How are your WiPs going? 


I am linking up with....

Cutting through the Clutter

I tend to accumulate clutter...well flat surfaces really - table tops, floors, and especially the kitchen bench. It is a constant battle and some days I win and some days I lose. I was alerted  to a great book called 'Cut the Clutter' by Cythia Townley-Ewer and a website called http://organizedhome.com/articles/cut-clutter.

I found that I fit more than one of the profiles of a clutterer - 'Hoarder - "I might need it one day"; Perfectionist - "Next week I'll organise everything perfectly""; Deferrer - I'll think about that tomorrow"; and Sentimentalist - "That belonged to my....". Four out of the five listed personality traits were mine...so I was in BIG trouble.

Plasticware

Yesterday I tackled the dreaded corner cupboard...always a difficult shape...but I had seen a great idea using an old cd rack on Pinterest and I put mine ("I might need that one day) to use. It turned out well. 

I also used an old Elfa shelf (see that came in handy too!) that was orphaned in our garage.

Kitchen

During the recent school holidays, a lovely friend gave us her old fridge for FREE, we in turn gave our skinnier version to another friend (love the 'pay it forward' attitude). But I was determined to make a fresh start. 

Using another  Pinterest idea, I bought some plastic shelf boxes with handles and made a tidy fridge. After 6 weeks, it is still holding up well under the demands of a family of 5. Can I also say that it is such a bonus to have more door shelves for jars and bottles too!

Loungeroom

Our dvd and cd shelves were prettied up with a couple of purchases from vintage stores...the tree and birdcage. 

Our sideboard top was covered in Christmas decorations and photos...so it got a clean and dust.

It has been 2.5 years since we moved in and I finally felt confident enough to unpack the good crockery (usually we find out that we have a new posting soon after I do this...so fingers crossed!) and hang a few pictures on the walls.

And I put the tea and coffee cups into the drawers. The two on the right come from my mum's crazy tea set collection. They include cup, saucer and a dessert plate. Beautiful.

About 2 months ago, we bought some Ikea 'Billy' bookcases for only $69 each. I decided to keep some topics together (Pre-Raphaelites, North American Indians, cookbooks, Tolkien etc.) but for the rest I sized and colour-coded. Having 2 bookcases meant that I could also break up the book stack with some frames (original painting by my preschooler) books on display.

My 'La Passion D'Adonis' J.W.Waterhouse frame was a bargain from a second-hand store.



Workspace

After 9 months, I finally got around to having the computer guy come and 'fix' the computers. It turns out that my computer  wasn't on the blink, but I had the monitor cable plugged into the wrong socket on the back of the CPU. 

Our Expedit comes in handy everyday. On hand are things like address books, envelopes, board games, scrapbooking pages, OT, Speech and visual aides. 

Lower left basket for cardboard boxes for preschool, centre left for wayward toys, centre right for playdough and mats and lower right for receipts. Upper right magazine holders have notes from Preschool, Kindergarten and Grade 2 respectively.