Harry's Room

Over the weekend I spent some time sorting through a few things in Harry's bedroom. Wow, don't they collect a lot of things! I thought I was the hoarder in our family but it seems I may have bred another little one!! Harry seems to love collecting things...just like his mother!! He has snow domes which Brad & I always buy him when we go away to a new place, he has rocket ships, he has cars but I think one of his prized possessions is the photo of he and his father on a dirt bike which was taken down at our friends farm last year. After the clean through the room looked lovely again and I thought I'd take some photos to show you his little abode. I had the wardrobe custom built for him by my very talented cabinet maker when we moved into the house last year and his Antique bed and painting above the armchair were special things I purchased for him when he was a baby. I will pass on these two very special pieces to him when he has his own home one day...hopefully he will cherish them forever.

Blue & White Plate Collection

You all know how much I love Blue & White and I know so many of you out there love it too. I was recently excited to find this image of a Blue and White vintage plate collection displayed so beautifully in a kitchen by US designer Darryl Carter.

Kitchen Love...

Hello again! Hope you had a great weekend!!

Another kitchen in my files is this one which Elements of Style posted a while ago from a 2005 issue of House Beautiful. I love those pretty bar stools - so gorgeous and the monkey vase is a quirky piece don't you think??!!

A Weekend @ Home

Oh, look at this cool little dude!! I'm off to spend some time with my 5 year old...lots of reading, playing and chatting in store with him this weekend. He's on school holidays and I love nothing more than snuggling up with him on a Saturday morning in our bed with books and toast and a cup of tea!! Hope you have a great weekend too! See you next time!

Image - Delphine Chanet Photographer

Celerie Kemble For Schumacher

Hothouse Flowers

Betwixt Bear Ivory

A little while ago I mentioned I had dinner with Andrew Puschel from Schumacher. At this time he promised to send me a preview of a collection which is due for release in America late August by much publicised U.S. designer Celerie Kemble. Well, Andrew stuck to his promise and recently sent me these images of a couple of the fabrics which will feature in the collection. He also sent me a little blurb as below;

"Celerie's look is based on beautifully refined traditional design with a reinterpreted and updated approach that speaks to a new generation. Her collection for Schumacher combines classic looks with very modern details and geometric patterning, using unexpected metallic finishes, exotic touches such as ikats and embroidery, as well as glamorous moiré, silk and velvet all in a rich and sophisticated color palette of saturated hues and subtle neutrals."

This room above is one of my favourite Celerie Kemble rooms which I believe is in a house in Palm Beach - very classic and timeless.

Charlotte Street Hotel

Loving the pretty blue and white colour scheme chosen for this guest room at Charlotte Street Hotel in London!!

Hampton's Weekender

I seem to be on a little bit of a roll this week with my 'Weekender' posts but here is another gorgeous house located in the Hamptons which I had to share with you. I absolutely love the round mirrored table with the shell chandelier above and the beach baskets below - so pretty! This house is featured in this month's Elle Decor and is by much talked about US based (expat Australian) designer Emma Jane Pilkington. To see more pictures click HERE...

Nappa Valley Weekender

Loving this white timber house in the Nappa Valley as featured in House Beautiful. Apparently the property boasts the original 1940's ranchers cottage (revamped, of course), a big barn house and two tent bungalows! Wow, sounds (and looks) fantastic!!

Straddie

Well it was a lovely weekend at Straddie. The weather was beautiful even though it was cold. We had a great lunch yesterday with our friends and my mum and dad on the back verandah. I thought I'd share some new photos of the house with you. Please email me anna@blackandspiro.com.au if you are interested in renting the house for a holiday and I can send you some information.

Happy Weekend!!

I'm so glad this week is nearly over...it's been very full on!! I'm off to Straddie this afternoon for a few days with my boys and we have some friends coming over tomorrow with their two gorgeous boys. I'm having a big lunch at the house on Sunday which will be lovely as we've just had our Straddie house painted (white of course) and it's all looking really pretty. I hope you all have a great weekend and I look forward to having lots of great posts for you all next week!! xx Anna

Image - Delphine Chanet Photographer

New York Metro

I was thrilled to be informed by a few of my New York readers about a little article New York Metro Newspaper did on me yesterday in their Blogarithms section. Wow, how exciting! Thanks for letting me know and thanks New York Metro for the mention!!

Kitchen Love...

Some more kitchens to add to the Kitchen Love files above! I love the pretty celadon green and white china collection in the cabinets in the first image and the little vintage painting leaning against the splash back and I also love the little bench seat breakfast nook in the last image - so gorgeous!!

Image 1 - Ellen McDermott via Desire to Inspire

Image 2 - via Atticmag

Image 3 - via Domino

P.S. I Love You

Another great movie I recently saw was P.S. I Love You starring Hillary Swank & Gerard Butler. I absolutely adored their small yet gorgeous New York apartment. I always love to see the houses and apartments used in movies and the way they have been decorated. In this movie I particularly loved the brick walls which were painted white and then rubbed back to give an aged appearance...so gorgeous and I just loved her mismatch of furniture and accessories. She also dressed in some fabulous outfits. It is a tear jurker so do be prepared with a big box of tissues...definitely a good one to watch at home!!

Image via Movie Web

July/August Vogue Living

I'm very much looking forward to reading the July/August issue of Vogue Living...doesn't the cover look pretty!! The latest issue is out now.

The Week Ahead...

Hello again. I hope you had a lovely weekend! I will be posting a little sporadically this week as my schedule is a little crazy with end of school term for Harry, job installations and preparing for my seminar at the upcoming Decoration + Design exhibition in Melbourne. I will, however, have some lovely things for you so do pop back tomorrow!! Oh, and also a big thank you to you all for your lovely comments on my office sneak peek. I promise I'll have some pictures of the entire room very soon!!

Image - Paul Massey Photographer

Happy Weekend!!

Hope you have a lovely weekend with your family & friends. See you next time!!

Image - House Beautiful

Something For The Weekend...

If you live in Brisbane and you're wanting something to do on the weekend I would highly recommend checking out the 'A Day On Earth' closing down sale. Lots of great vintage pieces, artwork and accessories at fantastic prices. They are located at 18 Arthur Street, Fortitude Valley. If you're after a bargain I would definitely head over there!!

Note Paper Love

I'm loving this personalised note paper from Paper & Ink! It matches my new look in my office. Oh, I can't help myself I am going to order some right now...

My Office Sneak Peek

A little while ago, well no ages ago I told you all that I was re-decorating my office at Black & Spiro. Well of course it has taken longer than I had anticipated. Client work has had to take priority of course and that meant my office project was put on the back burner!! Well, I am thrilled to say that my little project is almost complete with the last piece (being my desk) due in by the end of this week. I am so happy with the way it's looking and I just couldn't wait to show you some pics of my artwork cluster wall as above. I will of course post pictures of the entire room hopefully by next week but here is a sneak peak. Hope you like it!!

NB. I would like to give credit to artists/crafters Anne Harwell, Samantha Hahn, Variegated Inc. as some of their pieces are included in this wall.

Absolutely Loving...

I've been obsessing over Pippa Holt's London apartment since it appeared in the March/April 2008 issue of Australian Vogue Living. I know you've all probably seen it but I just love how she has mixed modern with old and thrown in collections of treasured things including some Australiana to remind her of home. This image above is currently on my inspiration board for my new kitchen as I am going to have a wall in the new kitchen wallpapered in this paper. If you haven't already seen this article click HERE as there are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!!

Tia Zoldan Says Hi

Today it seems the inbox was overloaded with lovely emails! Another exciting email was from US Interior Designer Tia Zoldan. Tia had recently stumbled across ABT and whilst browsing the archives found the post I did a few weeks ago on her GORGEOUS house!! She was so kind to send me an updated picture of the house which I was thrilled to see. A few changes are noticeable but the character of the house lives on!! If you haven't already visited Tia's website do so, it is well worth a visit. Her work is stunning!! Click HERE to visit. Thanks for saying Hi Tia. I LOVE your work!!

Image 1 from Tia Zoldan

Image 2 from My Home Ideas

Tracey's Vintage Art Clusters

Today I received a lovely surprise in my inbox from Tracey who lives in Sydney and is a collector of vintage paintings among other things. I couldn't wait to share the pictures of her clusters with you and here's what she had to say about herself;

"I am actually a part-time collector (my husband says accumulator!) collecting mainly antique paintings of roses (for my dining room), vintage art deco paintings of women (for my TV room) and vintage paintings of flowers for my daughter's bedroom (which she doesn't want anymore!) I also collect antique French fabrics (which I have made into cushions and trim on blinds for my formal lounge), antique silver and cranberry glass and antique sewing items. Of course, that is just scratching the surface. Full time (my real life) I am actually a Maths Teacher! One day, I will live my dream and open a shop selling vintage and antique items and one off pieces of furniture (I have more sofas than rooms!)."

Thanks for contacting me Tracey I love your vintage artwork clusters (my favourite being the top one) and I'd love to see some pictures of your other collections too!!

Another Week Begins

I love filling my blue and white ginger jars and vases with fresh pretty flowers just the way Meg Braff has done above - so pretty!! I hope you all had a great weekend! To start the week here at ABT I would like to thank Grace over at Design*Sponge for featuring my 2 wing chairs in her before & after series - thanks Grace for your continued support. I'm looking forward to lots of great posts here this week so stay tuned!!

Image via House Beautiful