Happy ADORE HOME day: June/July issue out now!

I love nothing more than Adore Home Day! Click here to read the June/July issue.

On sale now/soon: US Vogue + House & Garden

Just rescued from an extremely wet mailbox - US Vogue (June 2011) and Australian House & Garden (July 2011). And boy am I glad to see them!

Table Tonic: Week(end) in review

Now would be an appropriate time to remind you about the Toro Tissue Ring - I love this thing so much I blogged about it back here (Lord knows, I could have used one of these babies over the past few days). Anoushka-Tonic has been sick with a virus since last Friday, which means I am on day 5 of nose-wiping, snack-getting and middle-of-the-night-Nurofen-administering. DAY 5! She looks to be finally on the mend though (hacking cough aside), and I'll be back in full force soon. Happy Tuesday, Tonic-ettes!

"Lavender florals not your style? Toro is an alternative to the ubiquitous floral-print cardboard tissue box. Part paper weight, part portable hole, Toro is made of ultra-hygienic stainless steel. The ring’s absurd simplicity is actually the result of a carefully-engineered balance of weight and size; just right to let one tissue through at a time while staying firmly planted on the stack." If you're in Australia, buy it here.

 

Our house: Louvres and lights!

You know you've made a good design decision when something looks like it's been there the whole time. It's a perfect fit. It just feels... right. Which is how we feel about the new additions to the dining room!! (Please excuse the mess, but I just couldn't wait until Monday to show you). So, we now have a vintage Louis Poulsen pendant above the dining table and the "ball lights" have been moved to the kitchen (no more fluorescent glow yay!) and replaced with energy efficient downlights. The louvres are in too, with Mr Tonic and I spending the better part of the morning edging that enormous frame into place! It's damn heavy, but was an absolute perfect fit. Ta-daaaaa!

See the BEFORE shots here.

29 bookmark-worthy sites I (only) discovered this week

I honestly didn't know there were another 29 websites to discover!  Enjoy them, my sweet readers. Happy weekend! x

 
gild and grace
because its awesome

the iconic blog
sweet dreams in my world
style-spot
miss-design  
all things stylish
domus nova
moleskine de capucine
super fresh kids
luxury-trend
pamela love's tumblr
traveling mama
etymologie (anthropologie's tumblr!)
the chic muse
les anti modernes
red carpet-fashion awards
the animal orchestra
glen proebstel tumblr
dirty flaws
sea of ghosts
miss moss
les composantes
bkfst
from me to you
souvlaki for the soul
bimba & lola
my little jedi
liner notes

Gimme! of the day: Ralph Lauren Men's Sweater

Shopping in the menswear section is one of my favourite pastimes, and why should (net-a-porter's guy site) Mr Porter be any different? I'm having major instalust over the minty freshness that is this Polo Ralph Lauren Cashmere Cable knit Sweater. "Ralph Lauren cashmere evokes country clubs and tennis shoes so wear with white chinos and sneakers for a clean, sportswear-inspired look." Indeedy. But for £285? I'll have to think about it... Click to buy.

DAN300 sale tomorrow in Sydney!

A day in the life: 26.05.11

Looking like this:

 Witchery knit (here) / Sportsgirl leather pants / Marc Jacobs satin flats / Vanessa Bruno bag

Feeling like this:

Again with the Brrrr! So cold and wet in Sydney today. Heaters are on and Audrey is buried under a sheepskin throw in my office! 

Eating this:

This is how Mr Tonic and I begin the working day - A pretzel (pretzel roll for me), and a large (home made) latte. It's the only way.

More pretzel love can be found in the Wildfox lookbook...

Loving this:

Cuteness via ...etc 

 

Schlepping this:

(aka in my handbag)
Lanolips Lip Ointment in Sunshine (buy it here)

PK chewing gum

L'Occitane hand cream (buy it here)

Red mock croc Tampurse (buy it here)

Il Bisonte "key bell" (buy it here)

Karen Walker sunnies

Madame Mooi gold crackle wallet

Huggies baby wipes

Country Road cobalt washed leather coin purse

Lucas Paw Paw ointment

Our house: It's renovation update time!

So. Mr Tonic has been soldiering on with the renos every weekend. Mainly "prepping" surfaces - sanding, undercoating, painting trims - not terribly blog-worthy stuff, hence the lack of updates. But I know how much you love them so here goes. This weekend will see a few rather exciting developments in "operation rough-diamond". See these sliding doors?

That's them above... and below...

They will be glass louvres! Three vertical panels, floor to ceiling. We abandoned the glass sliding doors for a couple of reasons. 1. They're not safety glass. Which is actually illegal now. 2. They have gargantuan cracks in them (see number 1). And 3. They're actually adjacent to the front door, so are somewhat redundant as doors. And besides, louvres are divine. I think they'll visually usher the house into 2011 nicely.

(below) That same angle before we bought the house - a photo from the real estate campaign, and a subtle reinforcement of the old adage "Less is more". Don't you think?

(below) IT'S A JETMASTER WE'RE GETING A JETMASTER! Also known as "the tax return-funded hunk of burning loveliness". Mr Tonic was hellbent on a log fire, but having experienced one at the Blue Mountains last winter, I reminded him that it was a romantic notion and nothing more. And by golly do you churn through the fire wood?!?!

So yes. Everyone is happy, and instead of blowing on scrunched up pieces of half-lit newspaper, we will press a button and basque in the toasty glow of natural gas. Happiness. Obviously, this (below) is where it will go:

  

Mr Tonic's brother is an electrician. Handy for when you need 4 pendant lights hung in a house with 50s wiring.

The large one on the left will go above the dining table (see first 3 images in this post), and we have 3 of the smaller ones - one for each of the bedrooms, which currently have rusty old downlights.

As I mentioned previously, these are genuine vintage Louis Poulsen pendants Mr Tonic bought from an ebay seller based in Denmark. You gotta love ebay!

 (below) The ratty old fly screen has been pulled off the screen door, and the front door is undercoated!

(below) As old and grubby as they are, one of my favourite original features of the house is these terrazzo floor tiles, which run through the hallway and also the laundry:

(below) Not really renovation-y, but this is the beautiful view out my office window, where the sun streams in each morning. And I subsequently curse it for doing so.

In other house-related news, this is the patio wall - finally painted in Dulux Pale Icelandish (quarter strength). We toyed with the idea of going half strength, but it's actually gorgeous. Powdery and subtle.

(below) Same same, but with added sunshine!

Now all we need is that perfect little 50s patio setting... 

Well? What do you think? I read each and every one of your comments, and am always so interested in another point of view. So please! Shoot!

Modern Wisdom

theyallhateus

A day in the life: 25.05.11

The threads:

Country Road wool scarf and the best ever Target leather jacket from 3 years ago. It's a little bit Brrrrr today!

The mags:

(above) House Beautiful June 2011 - killer issue, BTW - and (below) IKEA Family Live magazine, choc-full of cute-to-boot homes from around the globe. And better still, it's free! Sign up here for copies delivered straight to your mailbox!

The bed linen:

Castle and Things "have finally succumbed to the many, many, many requests for CASTLE bedlinen in children's single bed style". Happy days. Or, should I say, happy nights!

The sandwich:

Bacon, baby spinach, tomato, mayonaise. And great bread. Gotta have great bread...

The devastation:

On Monday afternoon, I made a cup of tea. Nothing special there. But as I went to return the sugar to the shelf, all 3 of my Samantha Robinson handmade porcelain cups, which I just adore, came crashing down. One survived (surprisingly!). The other two? Not so much...

The scene of the crime:

This is what I have to live with every day of my life - A glorious Bassike store less than a kilometre away from my house, full to the brim with organic jersey basics (hence the name) and a healthy sprinkling of Jerome Dreyfuss handbags (omg). Interior by Akin Creative. So good.

The fashionable DIY:

A bunting crafted from magazine pages? I'm calling it the DIY of the decade (and the ultimate in upcycling!). Via Design Shimmer.

The candle:

Cristina Re does it again - How pretty is this "Jardin de White Lillies" candle? Seriously? Gold gets me every time. It's going straight on my bedside table! Get yours here.

The innovation:

In an Australian first, Australian Good Taste mag has handed over the reigns to its readers, giving them complete control and power to create the June issue. Readers Issue Ambassador Tobie Puttock (aka Jamie Oliver's Aussie best mate) who couldn’t have been more full of praise for the issue and the reader editors’ winter-warming choices: “The food looks absolutely amazing … It’s stuff I would like to eat on a cold winter’s night – comfort food, but it’s also quite elaborate.” The June issue of AGT is on sale now!

 Photographer Catherine Muscat/ Australian Good Taste
 

Stylish Homes: Nikki Tibbles's Notting Hill townhouse

This 5 bedroom townhouse, situated in London's Notting Hill, belongs to florist Nikki Tibbles, a stunning example of the unexpected and the juxtaposed resulting in an extraordinarily triumphant interior. I've spoken before of my love for Florist's home decor. They have a certain aesthetic, often surprising, always a little organic, rustic even. Art is always present - in abundance. Would you have considered a dove grey interior with bursts of colour throughout? Me neither. But by golly, it's rocking my socks off. PS These magnificent images were found via the fab ladies over at Desire to Inspire.

If you're sitting there wondering where you've seen it before, you may remember Nikki's home from the January 2011 issue of Inside Out magazine (below):

Now, wasn't that a spectacular way to start a Wednesday?