Malden Makeover

After attending a Shannon Fricke workshop with Angie last year, I have been keen to makeover my lounge room and dining area. Faced with a collection of timber overload (floorboard look lino, timber blinds, timber furniture, timber french doors etc) I set about trying to 'lighten' our living area. We purchased a cream leather lounge (Oh No !! I hear you say, so far so good and the lounge has survived the 10 year old twins !!) and some Providore Furniture from Freedom.  Although I am far from finished (insert gasp here from Mr AnK...what do you mean you haven't finished !!), I am well on my way to creating my own style.  A few weeks ago whilst shopping in Emerald (the big smoke) I picked up this hat rack from Kennedy and Grace (lovely new store with loads to offer emeraldites...must visit !!).

I had big plans for this hat rack, which I shared with Miss Emma (aka Malden Governess extraordinare).  Since finding some fab fabric at Shannon's gorgeous attic workshop abode I had been on the hunt for something similar.  Last year I purchased some fabric samples from ebay store The Persian Bazaar

It is the most beautiful, soft fabric which I instantly fell in love with.  Only problem is, when I went to purchase more (with the aim of upholstering some chairs and getting some cushions made) ....the ebay store was closed !! I'd appreciate any leads ANYONE has on sourcing the same fabric (yes I have tried to contact the store) - it is an upholstery fabric that has been treated with a mould inhibitor and scotchguard and is so very soft.  There is no name on the fabric but I'm almost certain the seller mentioned the fabric was from overseas - China or Japan maybe !!

Anyway after trapsing all over the internet to no avail trying to find something similar, I decided to go with what little fabric we had.  We upholstered the hat rack (envisage The Block style challenge, with the addition of 2 not so helpful children and a spilt glass of water !).  Here is the end product......

VERY impressed with how this turned out...what do you think ?? I was pleased to see my idea actually came to fruition and with the help of Matt (Miss Emma's husband) is now hanging on our wall, directly above our new piece from Freedom.

Miss Emma was also able to whip up some cushions with the remaining fabric (it's all gone now ...oh no ! ).  She is certainly a whiz on the sewing machine (thanks Mum for the lend of the machine and Angie for sending over the wadding used in the hat rack.)

Next project...curtains !!  Apologies for the photos (I need to master inside shots !!), I did learn a few tricks from Emma Steendam Photography in the process ;)  Hope you all had a relaxing Mothers Day, I enjoyed lunch with a friend whilst admiring the new touches to our living room and some flowers from our garden :)

A day of Decorating with Shannon Fricke

This post is not coming from my usual spot in my office, but a beautiful house in Bangalow (near Byron bay, NSW).  I have had the most enjoyable day with some fantastic ladies and Shannon Fricke.  Shannon has opened up her little cottage studio to normal, average people like me to share in a world of interior decorating.  The ladies I spent time with today all had a 'story' and I could sit and listen to them all day.  We all offered something different to the conversations but all shared a love of beautiful interiors. 
Shannon was a superb host and we all sat enthralled with her presentation.  It was a very interactive day and she allowed all of us interior decorating starved women loose in her beautiful studio.  We were like children in a lolly shop.
Our first project was playing with colour and seeing how it changed once you layered it onto another colour.  This was a very eye opening activity and it was very clear to me the differences.  It was something that I would not have considered in my own home when choosing colours. 
We had a beautiful lunch that was prepared by Nicki. All morning we could smell the most amazing smells wafting up to us on the upper level of the cottage.  The spread of food was to die for and after a morning of trying to absorb every little morsel of information it was a welcome relief.
After lunch we all had a chance of creating our own mood boards and finding our own style.  Now, I thought I knew what my style was but until I put it on a board it is now clearer and I have a direction of where to go.

Today was like a fairy tale for me.  Just being in the same room with someone like Shannon, who is such an inspirational person has been a very uplifting experience.  She made us all feel very welcome and listened to all our stories and decorating ideas with full attention.  Shannon let us build our 'stories' through our own knowledge and ideas and also gave tips that has helped evolve our ideas into our own work that we can all be proud of.

This is my mood board.

Shannon's blog is full of eye candy and inspiration and there you will find all the information on her workshops.

I will now go and stoke the fire and settle down with a nice cup of tea and some lovely little chocolates. The perfect finish to a perfect day.

Angie