No Eight vintage furniture

No. Eight in the UK does wonderful vintage furniture. In fact, No. Eight does wonderful everything! There's not a thing on their online shop site that I wouldn't love in my home. All these beautiful painted and battered pieces are available on their site. Which one is your favourite? If I was forced to choose, I think I'd take the creamy dresser in the second shot.

Now if I could just work out how to ship one of these babies back to Australia for next to nothing I'd be one happy girl.

I love the dog in this last shot - he reminds me a little bit of Scruffy from 'The Ghost & Mrs Muir'. I wonder if he's the shop dog or a model? Do they have such things as 'model' dogs?!?

All images from No. Eight.

Camera-less

Image from John W Golden

My camera is broken. I hadn't realised how dependent I'd become on this little piece of machinery until it's laying on my husband's desk in several pieces. Let's just say that the incident involved my son, a torch, and broken screen in my digital camera.


My husband being 'Mr Fix-it' had no trouble removing the screen. We rang camera repairers and they said that since we'd already done the all the hard work removing the screen that it would be best to deal directly with Nikon to purchase a new screen. But trying to get a replacement screen from Nikon spare parts is like trying to climb Mt Everest! The switchboard won't deal with you, they just put you through to Spare Parts. And, every time you ring Spare Parts their message bank is full! So, day after day I try to get my beloved camera fixed. It wasn't an expensive camera, it might actually be more economical to buy a new one, but I prefer to fix things rather than just consume more stuff.


And why is it that without my camera I have seen a thousand and one images that would be wonderful to photograph!

Monday morning shop post - Mark Tuckey

Well, Mondays are turning out to be very busy lately, so once again my Monday morning shop post has turned into 'a very late Sunday evening shop post'.

Such deliciousness at Mark Tuckey's furniture emporium! I cannot visit without running my hands over the smooth, beautifully finished timber of his dining tables. Oh how I'd love one for my own house. But of course, that will have to wait until I win the lottery.

The Mark Tuckey showroom in Melbourne is situated at 231 Johnston Street, Fitzroy. And he has recently opened a Sydney showroom at 303 Barrenjoey Road, Newport Beach. Both the showrooms stock a large range of timber tables, beds, chairs, storage, and outdoor furniture. Mark and his designers work mainly with new and recycled Australian timbers. As well as the range that's available in the showroom, he also creates bespoke pieces.

Over 10 years ago I bought a chest of drawers for my son at Mark's previous business, Ancient Modes, and I still like it just as much as the day I bought it. It's solidly built, beautifully painted in a deep, rich blue and has very well formed dovetail joints.

Here are just a few of the goods that are currently on display in the Melbourne Mark Tuckey showroom...

Wouldn't this make a very stylish storage unit in living area. The drawers in this storage console effortlessly glide open and shut...
I'd really like some of these stools for my kitchen island bench (I love the colours they're painted)...

I have a little stool just like these in my living room and you wouldn't believe how handy it is (but I must admit, it's a tad heavy to drag around)...

Now who wouldn't want a gorgeous four poster bed like this to collapse into each night...

And wouldn't this be fun for the littlies...

A beautifully crafted chest of drawers...

And last, but not least, a very handsome and solid dining table that I'd be happy to eat at any night of the week!

All images are from Mark Tuckey.

Ampersands

I personally think that typography is a lovely feature in a home and I particularly like the ampersand. Why? Because to me it infers a whole raft of possibilities...

Today the sun is shining and...

See what I mean. The rest of the sentence could be anything that you want it to be.

I also like ampersands because they're used as a conjunction, bringing two things together. And what's better than bringing things (and people) together. Jack & Jill. Punch & Judy. Thick & thin. Bright & shiny. Here are a few examples of ampersands I've come across in blogland...

Grey metal ampersand from Ville Kulla...

Letterpress stationery from The Beautiful Project...

A bright ampersand cushion from a sneak peek over at Design*Sponge...

Another ampersand cushion, but this time in muted neutrals. Best of all, this gorgeous cushion is handmade by the lovely Ness over at Marley & Lockyer and its available for sale on her Etsy shop...A small white ampersand resting against an intricate carved wooden panel (as found on Geisslein's blog)...
Handmade ampersand notebooks from Leah Mackin...

A framed ampersand collage from Green Chair Press...

And here's my very own ampersand that is currently resting against the wall in my living room...

Hope you all have a happy and relaxing weekend filled with lots of good things.

Wishing I was here...

Last August/September we were lucky enough to spend a week or so in Hong Kong watching my nephew Matt compete in the showjumping at the Beijing Olympics (obviously the showjumping wasn't held in Beijing but Hong Kong instead!!), and then we went on to spend another week at the Westin Resort, Langkawi, Malaysia. It was a divine trip - time spent with family amidst the hustle & bustle that is Hong Kong, and then a week spent thawing out from the Melbourne winter in Langkawi. Bliss! Today I'm dreaming of being back there again and these holiday snaps provide a wonderful reminder of our holiday...

My nephew Matt is mostly based in Europe so it was lovely to see him again and spend a bit of time with him. Here he is riding in the individual qualifying round of the Olympics...

Hong Kong was everything I dreamed it would be - and the shopping was amazing! Here's the view from the peak...

And another view taken from the famous Star Ferry...

After Hong Kong we indulged in a week at the Westin in Langkawi, Malaysia. Here's the view from our room if you turn to the left...And here's the view from the right (sorry about the hazy shot - it's just my poor photography skills)...Here's the kids pool, which we spent a lot of time lounging around with our son...

The boys were far more active than I was, choosing to go sea kayaking and sailing...

And here are the two main pools...

The tide is out in the next couple of shots, but it still looks lovely...

We had a wonderful time in Hong Kong and Langkawi. Now I'll have to get started planning this year's holiday!

Vintage hire at The Propery

I think I'm having a bit of a love affair with vintage this week! First the post on The Junk Company, and now The Propery.

After following the links on the fabulous post about stylist Megan Morton posted on The Design Files, I came across The Propery - an amazing 'bespoke props hire business' (that's how they describe it on their site) in Sydney that's run by stylists Megan Morton and Sarah Silm for stylists. This place definitely makes me wish I was a stylist. Here are some random things they have available for hire that are pretty damned stylish...

And here's what The Propery looks like. Wouldn't this be a great place to spend an hour or two looking in every nook and cranny...

All images are from The Propery. What's your favourite? Make sure you check out their fabulous website.

Dining in style

Don't you just love this idea of using old scarves to tie your napkins at the dinner table! I love this simple but colourful setting - a white starched tablecloth, thonet chairs, smart silver cutlery, small scented posies of flowers and beautifully lit metallic candle holders. It would be wonderful to spend time eating, drinking and talking with friends at a table like this.

And the food looks suitably swish (and yummy) for an event such as this...

Do you have any special things that you do when setting the table for guests? Please leave a comment...I'd love to hear from you.

All images from B2 Studios.