Steal the blue

I have already shared some of the gorgeous images from Country Living, but I have to post some recent inspiration along the blue lines.

From Brown Button… stunning hydrangeas, one of my favourite flowers. I could put a few uses to that cute shed too!

The Lettered Cottage… coffee table repurposed from an old school desk. Love it Layla!

From a lovely post by Catherine at Simply Natural (via Absolutely Beautiful Things).

Via Sarah’s Fab Day (source unknown), reminds me of Layla’s redo (above), with a great rustic mirror above the table.

 

And from the Country Living coffee-table book:

 

A perfect tone of dirty pale blue. Would look great with a brighter splash of red in it to set off the colour.

I had recently been thinking of cinnamon when I came across this one,

One of my favourite images from the book, all similar toned drawers, wooden pails, utensil crate and even the rolling-pin. Love that dirty blue colour!

 

The scrubby cabinet was on a porch, stocked ready for afternoon teas – how nice! Great wicker basket holding dried hydrangeas too.

The door and console both were painted with milk paint, the console with a black undercoat.

And it doesn’t get much more loved than this little fella,

So, what is your favourite image? Does a bit of blue do it for you?

 

Romana

Ideas from the past

While out op-shopping I stumbled across a copy of a late 1980’s Country Living hard-cover. Wow! What inspiring photos! Sure, there is plenty that is either quite dated or just not really my taste, but there are plenty of images that just sing to me. Here are just a few:

So many of the elements appeal to me, worn timber, scrubby paint, texture from woven baskets. I guess the styling is dated, but apart from that, I can see many of these images in Country Style today!

What do you think? Too dated, or something to inspire?

 

Romana

These look gorgeous!

Want to have a chance to win one? Head over here. Livs Lyst is a stunning blog, great images.

Good luck!

“Mum, I need a dangle”. “Huh? What?”

Can you guess what Miss Chooken wanted?

Yes, that’s right. She wanted to be a student graduate with a cap and tassel. (The black thing is a cardboard cut-out, the blue feather is her tassel.

I hope Miss Chooken doesn’t pose like this in any graduation photos!

Miss Sunshine wanted to join in and put a tea-towel on her head.

Yes, this is my entertainment in the evenings :)

Bi-lingual?

By rights, I really should be bi-lingual. My father is Dutch and still speaks Dutch with my Oma and other rellies. I loved studying Indonesian at school (Selamat datang!) and would enjoy taking up the challenge again. (At least it is cheap to visit Indonesia and get some practical application of the language). I have Chinese (Mandarin) speaking family members who would be chuffed if someone else in the family could join the convo.

But, alas, I am not fluent in anything but Australian-English. My favourite Dutch word is “lakker”, always directed at the deliciously guilt-ridden butter-cookies my Oma makes. It means “yum”, lol. Probably a good thing she lives 500km away.

However, there is hope!

Miss Chooken appears to be taking a shine to Spanish! And we all know how much in demand that is in Australia :s

I can not take the credit however. It is all because of this girl. Thank you Dora!

Unfortunately, Miss Chooken also has a very good imagination and now believes she can put an “ico” or “aa” sound on the end of any English word and insist it is Spanish.

We may need to also work on eliminating some Aussie slang. A recent conversation went something like this:

(Miss Chooken is walking our pet dog Zam, I am walking with Miss Sunshine to the park).

“Mum, stop a minute.”

(I turn to look at what caused the tenth stop in the 50 meters we have travelled from our front door).

Pet dog is having a squat in the road verge. Then Miss Chooken pipes up a very serious look on her face:

“Mum, Zam is doing a piss. That’s Spanish for wee”.

Oh, sooo wrong. Oh, sooo funny.

Anyone for early English tutoring?

Please wipe your feet

I love this idea for its obviousness……gumboot cubbies with in-built coir mat. I’m surprised I have not seen something like this before!  The perfect spot for gumboots, riding boots, footy boots, gardening shoes….all those little beauties that need an extra clean, but you usually come in wet/cold and need to get warmed up first.

The built-in dog beg is cute, with the perfect place for leads and toys in the drawers.

Image Country Homes and Interiors, spotted at This is Glamorous.