My Amazon wish list...

For todays post I thought I feature my LONG list of books I'd love to add to my design library.

With the Aussie dollar doing so well against the Yankee dollar at the moment it's actually cheaper to buy books online at Amazon.com including postage from the U.S than the astronomical prices they charge at Borders.

While I was browsing Amazon last night these are the books that appealed to me. If any of you have any of these books and can offer me a recommendation or if you know of one or two not being that great I'd really appreciate the feedback :)

The two books above I actually plan on purchasing this weekend as I head up to our holiday house. I know my favourite store Veranda stocks these imports. There is only one Veranda store in Sydney and unfortunately it's over an hour away from me so I only get to visit when I travel up north for holidays. This is also the only store I know of who stocks these exquisite books.

The next 7 above look to be stunning books just by their titles and covers.

I LOVE Betty Lou Phillips! Her books are some of my favourites. This will be my 5th BLP book and judging by the gorgeous cover I'm sure it will not disappoint :)







^^I can't get enough of my French country style books :)


And I thought I'd throw a Tuscan style book in the mix for something different.

The next 4 books above are must haves I know. I've tried so hard to get Kelly Wearstler's book but it sells out so quickly and you can't get it anywhere in Oz.

As a design student the remaining books on my list would be very handy books to own as well as beautiful and interesting.

So thats it - finally lol. Of course these all wont be purchased at the same time but I will get there eventually lol. My love for design books is a scary obsession but I guess there are worse things I could be spending my money on :)

Happy Birthday Beautiful Friend....and My Bed Post.

Dearest Brook, I wish you a truly wonderful birthday. You've been such a good friend to me over the past 5 years. I cherish our time chatting about all matter of things, sharing thoughts, troubles and dreams, and of course treasure hunting together. I love that we share a passion of all things vintage, girly and pink. You are the only friend of mine who gets that about me lol. I wish you all the very best in life and may all your wishes and dreams come true. I can't wait for our dinner date this week :)

The past few weeks I've been overwhelmed with blogging pals tagging me. I'm so honoured and humbled by the fact you want to know more about me. I apologise for not playing along, I hope I haven't offended anyone. With so many at once I just felt a little tagged out :)

One tag though from Chantal at Interior Dreaming simply asked me to post a picture of my bed. I wish I had a deliciously glamourous bedroom I could show off just as I dream to have someday but alas I don't. My bed is lovely though, an Australian oak sleigh bed. I found these pics in my files of my bed taken a few years ago. My room hasn't changed in that time. I do have different bedding for the different seasons. This photo was taken in spring. Sorry it's not so clear.


I posted this second pic to show a little closer view of the bedding. The quilt and one pillow is Laura Ashley and another pillow is Rachel Ashwell. Look at my gorgeous baby Tigger! He's all grown up now but still as loveable. He's the friendliest cat I've ever known. Sometimes I think he thinks he's a dog lol.

This pic is of one of the guest beds I use at my dads farm house. There is another bedroom next door and each room is partitioned from the living area with gorgeous candy striped curtains. It's so much fun! My dad has promised to send me some shots of the guest house soon to show you. He's a much better photographer than me lol.

Another bedroom I can't wait to show you over the next couple of weeks is my guestroom at my mum's home on the lake, and two - too die for - patchwork quilts my aunty lovingly made for me - absolutely stunning!

This last image is of my dream bed - currently owned by Paris Hilton :)


For anyone out there who wants to show off their bedrooms I'd LOVE to see them :)

Please let me know if you make a post like this.

A Beautiful Kitchen...

I'm sure most of you have already seen these images but just incase you haven't I had to spread the love of this amazingly beautiful kitchen.

I noticed lately alot of my favourite blogs were posting images of kitchen love so I decided to jump on this band wagon and post my favourite.

This kitchen belongs to the truly talented and gorgeous Sara Duckett, entrepreneur (she has her own online boutique selling French wares as well as web and graphic design), blog author and now photographer all under the name of Sadie Olive.

Sara even designed my stunning header that I'm still so in love with :)

Sara's kitchen is a stunning example of classic meets contemporary with a charming french flair.

Really this kitchen looks very basic. Thats why I love it so. Anyone could create a beautiful kitchen like this. I love Sara's adventurous use of painted, panelled and tiled wall treatments. I adore her choice of granite colour and my favourite element would have to be the breakfast bar featuring the scrolly iron brackets - too die for! Sara's sense of class and style is evident in everything she does.

Sara's home has also been featured in romantic homes magazine. Visiting her lovely blog to see all her fabulous creations is a must!

Oh No, I've created a monster...

After a glorious trip to the flea markets this morning with my fellow treasure hunter Brookie, as you can see I've now developed quite a little collection of nautical pieces :) Like I mentioned before I really have no use for these amazing items in my home but I can't help but keep collecting them. I guess I'm building inventory for a future interior design/retail business? ;)

My purchases today included this gorgeous boat print very similar to these displayed in this stunning home in Nantucket. Pics are from House Beautiful via one of my favourite blogs Habitually Chic. Personally I think my boat print would look outstanding in a boys room.

The sweet vintage tins were bought on previous flea market trips but aswell as the boat print today I found this beautiful little ocean painting that was in the ugliest frame so I got rid of that. The lovely seagrass basket I found yesterday on a clearance table at a homewares store. Perfect for summer picnics at the beach or the lake. I know summer is quite a few months away for us Aussie's but when I read Julia's blog everyday I can't help but feel excited about the pending warmth and good times :)

My other purchases for the day included more vintage frames, a white urn and stunning hummingbird tin.

The frame above was perfect for a treasured old sketch of a birdhouse my beloved grandpa made. The last project he built for my mum before he died (miss you everyday Pa). I love how the gold frame really compliments the aged worn paper .

I love the provincial look of this urn. It's not as big and beautiful as yours Gail but it comes close ;)

Look at this amazing tin!^^ The colours are so vibrant and it has just the right amount of chippyness.


With all the rain Sydney has been washed with recently and being sick for over a week it was so nice to get out and about amongst one of my favourite environments again hunting for treasures through everyone elses trash :)


For anyone looking for a beautiful book dedicated to coastal living this book is THE BEST!!! Filled to the max with breathtaking images and ideas you will truly love it as much as I do :)

Gorgeous pictures are via the gorgeous blog Absolutely Beautiful Things .