Ocean Luxe Love // Curl Curl

Beautiful homes are definitely a weakness for me. I went to the below home last week. The house is smart in design as well as being impeccably finished. Impeccably. Enough to take your breath away. You know when you walk away from a room and actually can't recall any of the finer details once left? I find that happens when the room is so harmonious in design that I am unable to fault it, so nothing sticks. Luckily, I pulled some pics for us all to ogle.

The house, which is in Curl Curl, is for sale through Clarke & Humel property. Auction this Saturday 21st June 2014.

Enjoy.

Pappa's got a brand new...

Letter box. Yep, not bag like the great James Brown suggests or perhaps what you were expecting, but letter box and boy am I one happy lady!

I may or may not have mentioned previously, but my family are a bunch of wonderfully talented folk. My mum can whip up a gourmet dinner from a pantry that screams "I am empty" to everyone else, my father was a builder who is incredibly talented when it comes to wood and well, actually making anything with his hands. My sister is a journalist by trade, but a creative soul by heart who married the love of her life (who she met whilst ski instructing in Switzerland) and lives in Canada. All those craft ideas you see on Pinterest, well most of them came from her, I swear! My brother is a banker. Where he lacks in trained handyman skills, he makes up in brutal strength and enthusiasm for getting his hands dirty and creating things.

That all being said, it was my birthday in October and on that day I received a cryptic phone call from my sister telling me to check my email in 5 mins as dad was emailing me their joint present. What the?

What I found was a blueprint of sorts. A new letterbox that would be designed and built by my dad. Amazing!

So how on earth did they think of a letter box for goodness sake?  Well, as seen on this blog, I have spent a good few hours lusting over Robert Plumb. His furniture, the gardens of his other business, William Dangar... and of course his letterboxes.  Amazeballs.

So my sister, who follows me on Pinterest saw my letterbox fetish and thought that this was something that our amazing dad could build.  Thus, where the inspiration came from.

The log is mahogony. Dad sourced it from the central coast. The box is cedar, sized to suit the heftiness of the log.  Can I add that the log weighed over 250kgs! It took 4 grown men and a massive amount of huffing and puffing to get it 3 metres from the van to the hole. A neighbour heard the men's meeting plan of the exact manouver and had to come help. Love my neighbourhood!

Was a fun day.

So here she is in all her glory!

Ain't she preddy?!!!

And that cute little boy!  Oh man he kills me.  Those peace signs are actually his thumbs up. He hasn't quite worked it out yet. So darn cute.

(We are still to get numbers to go on the log. I tried gold; blah. Black, yuck. So I think we are going to go copper. Watch this space! We also have big plans for the front fence. THEN we will be able to make use of our great front yard and get rid of the old lady garden!)

Modern Day Bohemian // Vaucluse

Having shown given you the home tour of one side of Sass & Bide (here), it's only fair that I show you the other. Just as beautiful and inspiring as Heidi's, Sarah Jane Clarke's home in Vaucluse has only recently been finished. A conversion of two apartments into one home finished just the beginning of this year. It also appears that her other half, Daniel Baffsky, is one of Australia's best known and respected landscape architects; principle at 360 Degrees in Surry Hills. What a dream team!

This home was not what I expected to be honest. Much more refined.

Enjoy.

For more photos and interview with SJC, see original source here.

Don't you just love looking into someone's pantry! A real leveller isn't it.

On a final note, I just love love love big brands who stop, take stock and see beyond themselves and their bottom line. Sass & Bide take part in a ethical fashion initiative in Africa. There is a great clip posted on their site that give us a little insight to what they are doing and some of the special women behind it. See it here. L-O-V-E   I-T. Made with love indeed. 

Beach House Love // Newporter

My favourite beach house in Newport is for sale! I first saw it in Real Living Magazine last year and scouring the local real estate mag this weekend just gone, I saw that it is up for sale.  So, if you are in the market, get in quick. This baby won't be around long!

What I love about this house is that it has been renovated, but the owners stayed true to the home's original character. So many of these beauties are being torn down to make way for contemporary homes or mini palaces.  Long live the old girls!  They certainly don't make them like they used to.

It goes to auction 8th December through Raine & Horne, Palm Beach. See full description and more photos here.

Get in quick peeps!

How good is that cubby!?

Modern Day Bohemian // Avalon

As promised, here is Heidi Middleton's Avalon cottage.  I am not so nosey as simply looking at houses in the area to get ideas for my very own cottage!  Promise. This little house is tucked away, but the work being done was so outstanding, so simple and refined. It was hard not to notice it on one of my walks. The inside, as seen below, is restrained, quite monochrome with touches of lovely textures. Might be a retreat away from the kids perhaps! Has to be surely!

Here are images as posted to Heidi's own Instagram feed. Love Instagram. Couldn't believe the little cottage I had been watching get a makeover was hers. Love those black metal door frames too.

So good!

Gorgeous right!?

Modern Day Bohemian // Palm Beach

I have been been a fan of Sarah Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton of the Sass & Bide fame since their Paddington Market days when I was in high school. Uber cool and effortless style. Always surprising, always drool worthy. Their homes are no different. Beautifully filled with vintage and worldly finds.

Heidi lives up the road in Palm Beach - yes I have bumped into her at WW. No, I did not say hi! She actually has two homes in the area. One up on the hill in Palmy and a smaller cottage in Avalon. Both beautiful. According to her Instagram feed, she renovated the cottage with her mum. I had been watching it's makeover before I knew who owned it. Her insta feed gave a little tour - brilliant!

So the below are a few images of her Palmy abode as first seen here. Check out that Bathroom!

Some more from Heidi's own Insta feed.

I am first to admit that this house tour is not a new kid on the block. It was first featured a little while ago and I have had it bookmarked that long. I guess, as I grow and my taste changes with my lifestyle, different things appeal to me at different times. At this time, this house in all it's odd bod, pieced together tapestry of life, appeals. I hope you haven't seen it before and if you have, then I hope you enjoyed seeing it again. I find the more I look at pictures, the more I see.  It is like watching your favourite movie a thousand times... you keep watching it not because you want to watch the main story every time, but because you start seeing the story and characters behind the main story. All those little things that were missed first, maybe 10th time round. The details.  Afterall, it's all about the details right!?

So I hope Heidi's incredible talent inspires something for you today.

I will post the cottage another day.