Crochet table and chair

 I love this crochet chair and table by Marcel Wanders

Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has launched Crochet Chair – a seat made using the same technique as his iconic Crochet Table.The chair is constructed from individual, hand-sewn crochet flowers that are stitched together, formed over a mould and stiffened with resin. It is manufactured by Moooi

The Crochet table was designed by Marcel Wanders for Moooi. Defying all fabric capabilities, the laced Crochet table is the ultimate accessory for any interior. The Moooi Crochet table looks delicate but it is durable enough so it can be used as a regular table. A magnificent contemporary piece to have in a room

 

Moooi Crochet Table by Marcel Wanders

Marcel Wanders grew up in Boxtel, the Netherlands, and graduated cum laude from the School of the Arts Arnhem in 1988. Marcel Wanders’ fame started with his iconic Knotted Chair, which he produced for Droog Design in 1996. He is now ubiquitous, designing for the biggest European contemporary design manufacturers like B&B Italia, Bisazza, Poliform, Moroso, Flos, Boffi, Cappellini, Droog Design and Moooi of which he is also art director and co-owner. Founded in 2000, Moooi has grown into an internationally renowned design label. Additionally, Marcel Wanders works on architectural and interior design projects and recently turned his hand to consumer home appliance

A quote from Marcel Wanders
‘Nowadays people don’t just have things because they need them, they have things because they love them. That’s my vision.’ I’m trying to do something that makes you feel like life is exploding. If that doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t make sense'

Click here to see more about Marcel Wanders
http://www.marcelwanders.com

Vintage beach pails

I found these at www.completelycoastal.com and fell in love with them, they are just gorgeous. I need to get me some of these

Painted beach sand pails and buckets can add whimsy and storage to a room, perhaps even bring some memories back! You can use them as containers for anything imaginable. I remember seeing pails and buckets used in bathrooms holding rolled-up hand towels, for utensils, or as table centerpieces with potted plants, even as hanging storage.

Go here to see more

Ideas for Sea Inspired Living | Beach & Nautical Decor, Seashell Decor, Crafts & more.: Painted Beach Sand Pails & Buckets:

Shabby chic style

Shabby Chic is a comfortable, casual decorating style with a look that uses vintage accessories, pastels and comfortable furniture. While people have been living with old lace tablecloths, dreamy soft floral fabrics, light painted furniture, wrought iron curtain rods with filmy sheer curtains, and colorful fresh flowers for a long time.

Shabby Chic is no particular style, but rather balances elegant things with old and worn, shiny silver accessories with painted wooden tables, soft throw rugs with rough old lace

Here are some of the ways you can use a Shabby Chic decorating style in your home:

Florals

Florals are an important part of Shabby Chic style - primarily cabbage roses. Fabric remnants, old sheets, old curtain, and other fabrics can be used to create your style. Use them for pillows, upholstered seats, and braided rugs - just a few of the budget-friendly possibilities available

Overstuffed Upholstery
including large "sink-in" chairs and sofas are a Shabby Chic  staple. Comfortable, slipcovered, rumpled, ruffled, and rounded, with chairs almost big enough for two. Upholstery should look sat-in, well used, and definitely not pressed. Note that it is not "messy", just comfortably "used" and "lived-in". Mismatched tableware, pillows, lighting, and furniture pieces add to the shabby Chic lo
Architectural Details
Seek out everything from glass doorknobs, iron corner brackets, concrete column bases, old mantles, and more. They will bring authenticity, style, and interesting detail to a space.

Tea Stained Fabrics
Collect fabrics from around the house or buy vintage-looking fabrics even if they're new. To give the illusion of age, fabric can be made to look old, worn, faded, and soft by staining them with a brew of tea. Be sure to test a piece of fabric first to get just the right shade. You can change something that's stark white to a soft creamy white-- just right for the look

Combine Patterns and Colors
Combine stripes, checks, and floral fabrics to achieve a warm and inviting look. Gather yardage or fabrics from yard sales and flea markets. You don't have to follow traditional rules of combining prints, but for easiest mixing keep the background color the same (white or ivory, etc.). Then choose one color to repeat in almost every fabric, such as a soft green or pale pink.
White Painted Furniture
Almost any piece of wooden furniture will fit into a Shabby Chic interior if it's painted white. Collect pieces from flea markets, garage sales, and the attic. Once dark and heavy pieces magically turn light, fresh, and summery, and a roomful of mismatched items is transformed to instant harmony. Spray with white paint, sand off the corners and rough it up a little, and instantantly you have Shabby Chic furniture. You'd be surprised how a coat of paint transforms a dark dingy chair or table  

Metal
Even metal has a place in Shabby Chic interiors. Metal furniture, headboards, and decorative iron accessories are another successful addition to the Shabby Chic look. Peeling paint, rusted sections, and vintage looks are all the better
Flowers and Candles
Fresh flowers are a natural for a Shabby Chic  room. Big handfuls of pink or cream roses plopped into a china vase, floral fabrics and needlework pillows, books on flowers and gardening. Candles bring a romantic mood and interesting lighting. 
Think Outside the Box
Not every chair has to be sat on. How about using a sturdy, painted straight chair as a table at the side of a bed or sofa or in a corner to hold a vase of flowers? An old picnic bench or trunk can serve as a coffee table. Stack wooden boxes at the side of a chair for books and flowers. Look at thrift stores for old rugs. The soft, faded look of old rugs will anchor your room. Be creative and use what you have
If you are looking for a decorating style that will make a comfortable and family friendly home with a bare bones budget, there is no better style to use than Shabby Chic®. All the wear and tear of family life which lessens the appeal of other decoration styles only makes Shabby Chic more appealing. It's perfect!

• Rachel Ashwell, founder of the popular Shabby Chic ® style, began her decorating quest in the late 80's, searching garage sales and flea markets for furniture with "good bones" and nice lines. Then she took it home and painted it all white. Upholstered pieces were dressed up in loose washable slipcovers, and vintage accessories were collected to complete the look. She started doing it to furnish a home for her young family, but has since expanded from these humble beginnings into designing her own custom furniture and fabric lines, opening a network of Shabby Chic(r) stores, writing style books, and becoming a TV how-to expert on E network's style channel. She is also a featured designer in Victoria Magazine's book, Designers In Residence . Shabby Chic(r) is a look that's easy to live with and remarkably versatile. It's a study in contrasts between casual and elegant, fresh and traditional, simple and ornate, plain and patterned, rumpled and tidy. And it is a style that easily merges a variety of objects into one harmonious whole through the liberal use of white and pastels.  If you love to collect mismatiched teacups, vintage lacy linens, soft floral fabrics, painted furniture, crystal chandeliers, and lots of white accessories, this may be the style for you.

Click here to see Rachel's official Shabby Chic blogspot
http://rachelashwellshabbychic.blogspot.com.au/ 

Keeping your home organized

Small organizing actions are the seeds of creating an organized home and little steps are what success is all about. Daily routines, little rituals, creating designated places for things and taking a few minutes to make space to get organized can rapidly propel you to creating order in your home. Just a warning, organizing feels so good and the rewards are so great it can be addictive and once you follow these organizing tips and experience the benefits organizing brings, you’ll want to organize more!

Containers

Think about containers that co-ordinate and sort out smaller clutter  in  the different rooms of your home: for example different size baskets with or without lids look great in the bathroom. For kitchen clutter Some organizing tips are  to use boxes, A4 magazine holders, baskets or jars. Keep them in the same color and use them to get in control of all your surface and small clutter.

For a streamlined, less cluttered look get lots of the same boxes in one color. Ikea have a lot of different boxes and baskets in lots of different shapes and sizes to choose from.

I found these versatile different size set of 6 boxes at Ikea, they could be used in many rooms in the home. Click on this link to see more

SKUBB Box, set of 6 - white - IKEA:

Keeps socks, belts, jewellery, pens, nicknacks etc. in order. They fold, therefore saving space when not in use. Available in Lilac or white

Labels
Are what keep you organized and every box in your home needs to have a label. This not only helps you find what you need, it helps you put things back in the right place. You can label a container with a category name or detail the contents

 

Edit, edit edit

How many plastic containers do you really need or want in the cupboard or drawer?

How many clear vases can be filled with flowers at one time? How many ugly pens you got for free do you need? Its a good idea to go through your cupboards and wardrobes every 6 months and do a purge. It opens up the way for new to come in

One in - one out

When getting something new get rid of something old. If you get a new item of clothing, see if there is an old item of clothing you can either give away or throw out. If I get something new  I check the cupboards to see what I have'nt used or worn for awhile, then I give away or donate that item to charity.

Rotate your collections

It’s not necessary to display all your belongings all the time. Switch items around when you feel the need for a change. I like doing this with the different seasons

Buy white
Buy day to day supplies in white, no print, no color, just pure white. Paper towels, toilet brush, dish towels, toilet paper, candles, napkins, the list goes on. White looks clean and fresh and doesn’t draw attention to the boring day to day stuff we all need

Put a grocery list on your refrigerator
One of the biggest time consumers and money wasting areas is the kitchen. An easy tip to implement is to put a  grocery list on your refrigerator and get your entire family to fill it in when they see a food needs replacing.

This habit takes seconds and of all the home organization tips this one can have the biggest time saving, money saving impact. The key to success is to take a minute to check the list, say after dinner, and add what food needs to be replaced in the next shop.

What is wonderful about this is when shopping day comes around your list is almost finished, you have a grocery list tailored to what is being consumed in your household which can eliminate unnecessary buying. You eliminate frequent runs to the grocery store and this will save you time and money.

Organize your finances
Good money management is critical to living a successful organized life and a good financial organizing tip is to put your bills in one place. If you loose bills, incur late fees make this a priority.

The key to success is to set up reminders on your calendar in red, on your computer, post it note what ever you need to do to pay bills on time. Late fees are a total waste of time and a source of unnecessary guilt and friction.

Organizing your bills in a file, binder or drawer in a designated place is a baby step towards clutter free and organized money management. This puts your bills in order for easy access and psychologically begins to create clarity around your finances.

Separate for better visibility
This is so important and is a strong step towards setting limits and preventing over crowding of any space. A little space around every item creates a sense of order and looks neater. and goes a long way to organizing your home. Think about wooden hangers which give clothes breathing space, drawer dividers and uncluttered surfaces which will give your home a sense of calm and comfort.

Plan rewards for yourself
The most enjoyable home organization tip of all is to reward yourself and celebrate your success for the shifts in thinking and the actions you are taking to make life easier.

Organizing is all about making the time, money and space to enjoy and make the most of your life. Make sure to include in your time out something you want to do personally for yourself. Try reconnecting with someone you value. This may be non busy time with your children where you talk and listen, call a friend to say hi, coffee alone in the morning with your husband or wife, or just wishing some one well. Make a connection of value a daily habit.
Feelings of connection and wellbeing are uplifting and energizing and give your organizing attitude a huge energy boost.

Eliminate all your paper clutter
Another important organizing tip is to begin to eliminate all your paper clutter. Buy an A4 notebook and start to write your do lists, messages, and small bits of information in the one notebook. Next time you need to look for that one off address or the phone number of the plumber your friend recommended it will be recorded in your notebook.

Writing all information in one place means you no longer loose it, no longer have to look for it and saves you countless hours of frustration over time as well as decreasing paper pile ups. The key to success is to put it in an accessible place with a plan.

Creating visual cues are important in the organizing process  
and making beds in the morning is a must to shift to an organized home. This may sound ridiculous but a neatly made bed sets a visual standard that is contagious. A room with a well made bed makes any clutter, junk or mess really stand out and a lot harder not to pick up. This is the best habit to get your family into. The key to success is to get the beds made before you get busy with the morning tasks.


Start a daily organizing routine

A top tip is to start a daily organizing routine that includes the entire family. One of the easiest routines is a daily family pick up. Select aside ten minutes after dinner, set a timer and for ten minutes every member of your family picks up and puts away.

This saves you hours of housework a week, encourages teamwork and with a little music can be a fun activity to do. Most kids can cope with ten minutes of picking up and just starting this as a family quickly morphs into an unconscious habit and often you will find when the ten minutes are up everyone keeps on working!  If you want to reclaim hours of time start this today.

Get into the habit of putting your clothes away
A great tip to getting organized is to get into the habit of putting clothes away. It takes seconds to put clothing into a laundry hamper hang in a closet or put in a drawer but it can take you hours a week to put away piles of clothing.

If this is a clutter and organizing issue for your family use your ten minute pick up routine as a putting away clothing time.

The key to success is to first model putting away and taking care of your clothes and then set aside a minute or two after school, or before bed to remind your family of their new organizing habit. Soon it will become automatic so stick with it.

The most important tip on getting organized is that success is really a moment away and unless you try it and give it 100% you will never know if it could really work for you.

These tips are short cuts to your organizing success and creating a home and a life that really works well for you. Start one or start all of the organizing tips today so you can work smarter not harder and enjoy life more.

A tidy tub of summer

I found this great style tip and wanted to share it with all of you readers, Tanya

Whatever the season, head-out-the-door essentials tend to congregate right where clutter is already at its peak—in the entry way. Design blogger Benita Larsson, had the great idea to divide up a galvanized tub into useable compartments (by using “walls” of foam core) for all the unfindables. In the summer time: sunscreen, goggles, and bug spray; and in the winter time: mittens,  gloves, and hats. Zippered nylon pouches offer grab-and-go convenience for different activities.

Rocking style

I found this cute colourful rocking horse from the Scandinavian Design Center website. Part of the colorful children's room range from the Swedish company Micki. Click on the link below for more info

Rocking Zebra from Micki Leksaker by Elisabeth Årbrandt

World map

My daughter and I found this fantastic world map when we went to Adelaide in May at the Adelaide Vintage Markets. It was prepared and published in 1964 by the Education Department of South Australia for use in schools.It now hangs on my daughters bedroom wall. She has hung some white fairy lights along the top with some lights hanging down. When she turns the lights on at night it looks awesome.

'James' the doorman

I found James online and fell in love with him, I just had to share him with you

Tanya

Need a doorstop, try James the doorman, James is available in Lime, Orange, Black, Red and Blue.

James' creators, British industrial designers Dan Black and Martin Blum, developed him out of necessity: They were moving into new offices and needed something to hold the door open. As with all black + blum's pieces, James not only had to be functional, he had to have personality. Made of synthetic rubber: H 19cm W 11cm D 4cm. Please note: Maximum gap between door and floor should be 2.3cm

As his popularity rose (you can see why) the designers added to the product line, and there's now a James the Bookend for your bookshelves, too.

James the Bookend has a stainless steel plate that is fixed to his foot, ensuring that any number of books can be leant against James' outstretched arm without him slipping over. He can be used individually or as a pair. He comes in Red, Black, Orange and Blue. Made of synthetic rubber with a Stainless steel foot plate. H 19cm W 21cm D 5.5cm.

You can check out more of their awesome products at
http://www.black-blum.com