And So The Feeling Continues.....

A little while back I wrote again of my craving for a pared down feel to my rooms.... I seem to have morphed into a phase of needing more earthy, textural, natural elements and less 'in your face' colour than I'm usually attracted by. (This is BIG.)

And, I've been going about the process of doing it slowly... a little here, a little there. I sat with it for quite a while just to make sure it wasn't a fleeting impulse before I spent any money on anything (which I haven't done much of).

I sent 6 themed boxes of various bits and pieces to the auctions the other day and got back $100, so that was a little extra for me, and I know the people who got them will give them a good home and have fun decorating.

Win/win!

This house really got my attention whilst browsing last night. I can see myself here. I can feel myself here. I kinda feel like I'm shedding one skin to grow into another.

All images from Dust Jacket Attic.

I would seriously like to go and disappear here for at least a week by myself and just soak up the amazing vibes of this home and drink in the serenity of it all.

Then I'd invite some friends around (I know how you love a good swim Bobbi!) to utilise that pool and simply hang out and relax.

I just know I'd sleep well in this home.

There's even more pics of this beautiful home here.

Bliss.

Linda. xox

PS. Nearly 40 people have registered for the Tiny Tidy Challenge now!! I hope everyone ends up diving in and getting down to the nitty gritty of taking part and having some fun.

I'm really looking forward to meeting all of you on the private blog!!
 

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This Bedroom Is So Beautiful... and A Big Thank You

Ok, perhaps Bobbi was right in a comment she said a while back on one of my posts.

Maybe her current craving for more neutral and soothing colours is contagious and I've caught it.... because I have to say this bedroom is absolutely making my heart melt.

Not my usual style.

But I just adore it.

Image from Alvhem

The hint of red via the rooftop glimpsed through the window is probably tipping it over into the sublime for me... it gives that pop of bright red I usually crave in spades while the bedroom itself is so calm and soothing.

Maybe my obsession for red is having a mid-life crisis.

Maybe I'm moving into a new phase (which would be an absolute shock because I've been in heart stopping love with red for so long), maybe I'm starting to shed my current 'skin' and evolve into something else.

Who knows! Either way, it's all good and it'll be fun to see what happens.

I feel an experimental redecoration of my place coming on.

Linda. xox

PS. I'd like to thank the 30 or so people who've registered their interest in the Tiny Tidy Challenge!

Woohoooo! (Your invite to the private site is coming out tomorrow)

Go to this page now if you'd like to join with us and participate in a fast, easy, simple way to get some clutter out of your home.

Here's to a happy and healthy home, and a happy and healthy you!

 

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In My Heart I Remember....

Image from Coco and Kelly

Happy Father's Day to all in Aus, and I hope you had a lovely time with family where possible.

I spent time with my Mum in memory of my beautiful Dad who passed away over 14 years ago from Leukemia. He was, is, and always will be a massive influence in my life. A good man, husband, father and friend who had to leave us too soon.

I love you Dad.

In the home I carry with me, you are always present.

Linda. xox

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A Home Amongst The Trees - I Want To Live Here...Plus, Here Comes The Tiny Tidy Challenge.... Get on Board While It's Free!

Look at this.... a home amongst beautiful trees.

That's it - I'm sold.

Pics from Nicety via At Home Arkansas

Trees are so calming and soothing to me. I used to spend hours either sitting in them, under them, or leaning up against them when I was young. There's something about having a tree at your back that's so grounding and comforting.

I also love the stonework in this home, so textural and solid.

This house would be a dream for me (it just needs a very teeny tiny bit of red here and there, although - shock horror - I think I could cope without it in this house).

Linda. xox

Oh, and by the way, the Tiny Tidy Challenge is nearly here!

Woohoo!

Yes, I'm close to launching this little motivational experience.

It will soon be Spring over here, the perfect time for some gentle decluttering. But Autumn is a good time to clear out a few things too, so you can feel content and joyful as you get ready to nestle into your beautiful home for Winter.

Either way, and no matter which side of the World you're on, we're going to get together and have some fun (yes indeedy - fun), getting rid of a few bits and pieces that are getting in the way of your home putting its best foot forward.

If you sign up this time around, it's FREE!!

Places are going to be capped at 50 (if we get there), so be sure to get in early.

Find out more here, or click on the banner below.

Love your home and love yourself  Tiny Tidiers!

Pssssst, and another little nugget of info for you... everyone who joins us for the Challenge will go into a draw for a lovely prize, and no, it won't have anything to do with de-cluttering. This one is for celebrating!!!

 

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Singing To My Heart...

The image below 'had me at hello', can you guess why?

Image from Anthology Blog via Heima Store

Those of you who know me well will remember my penchant for red, my love of owls, my adoration of quotes around the home, and my fascination with pattern and colour in general.

How then, could my heart not skip a beat when I saw this great photo over on the Anthology Blog via the Heima Store.

LOVE the desk with the red and pink drawers, the owl lamps are divine of course, and the art works based on quotes are gorgeous.

And, using books as part of a room's decoration (stacking them, using their spines to entice the eye etc) is always part of my design mojo!

I'll have the whole thing transported to my place thanks!

Linda. xox

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It's My Music.....So Bite Me.....

The other day at work I was having a bit of a rare mini-break (my brains felt like they were about to fall out - one of those kinda days), and I was listening to a song on You Tube.

A colleague (who I like and get on well with) walked by and noticed/heard what I was listening to.

Well...... shock horror.

He wanted to know why on earth I would be listening to 'that'.

He said 'How old are you?', and mentioned there must be something wrong with me because that was one of his 16 year old daughter's favourite songs at the moment. I was more grown up than that, surely?

Ahem.

What?

Since when do I 'have' to listen to any type of music because it's age appropriate for me?

I know how to behave like a grown-up. I know how to 'be' within the context of my work and with various people.

If he hadn't walked by my corner of the office world he'd never have known I was listening to it.

It wasn't effecting him badly in any way.

Nor was it effecting or changing me in any way, except for the better.

I am who I am.

I like a bit of daft, pop music now and then.

It makes me happy!!!!

So bite me. :)

The moral of the story is, listen to music that makes you feel happy, because that's what music is for. It's not to put you in a box or categorise you.... it's to make you feel good, or motivate you, or to help you vent your feelings, or whatever the heck you want it to do.

I wanted to feel happy.

So I listened to a silly, teenager type song.

At least when I'm at home in my loungeroom no-one questions my cognitive growth because I'm exercising my inner child a bit!

Oh, by the way, this is the song....... and I still love it. Hah.




Linda. xox

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A Path Through The Forest........My Room Fantasy....

Whilst rummaging around my inspiration folders a few days ago, I came across these photographs.

I think they'd look amazing as large canvas prints or photographs on the walls of a single room.

I find them to be intriguing, mysterious, thought provoking, ethereal.... just beautiful!

I can just imagine the space I would use them in if I had the room! I'd have them hanging in my dining room...... the room would have a table in it something like the one in this pic.....

... a wooden, organic, earthy, spontaneous feeling sort of table.

The walls wouldn't be white though.... they'd be a soft grey green, or a medium warm grey, and the colour would wrap around on the ceiling to cocoon the room.

The ceiling may even be a darker colour like a soft charcoal... a little like putting a 'night sky' into the room, adding to the overall 'foresty' effect.

The floor would have beautiful dark wooden boards to ground the whole scene, and also a huge rug with forest tones in it...... greens, golds, muted autumn reds, rusts, light greys.... symbolising the forest floor.

There'd be some lovely organically shaped vases of opaque coloured glass to bring some accent (both colour and textural) to the room, and in them or around them some objects collected from nature displayed in various ways...... twisted wood, pine cones, smooth rocks, beautiful flowers of all colours.

Image from Honey and Jam on Etsy

Maybe some 'touchy-feely' felted bowls like these....very textural and natural...

Image from Papaververt on Etsy

Image from Papaververt on Etsy

And, some curvy, flowing, wooden bowls like these...

Image from Holzfurhaus on Etsy

Image from Holzfurhaus on Etsy

And the light would be some sort of free form 'branch' light with little fairy lights sprinkled through it,

And, I'd use that room as a place for dinner parties or late night get togethers where deep discussion would take place! The photos could prompt us to talk about where our lives are taking us, what's leading us along, the path we're taking, what we're working towards, what we can use to 'light' our way, the goals we can make to illuminate our journey.

The crockery would be delightful, rich hues of green, golden yellow, cherry red, tans, maybe even some aubergine thrown in!

Image from Atelier

There'd be lots of beautiful beeswax candles, votives burning in gorgeous glass holders, and some earthy essential oil like ylang ylang or patchouli with a dash of sweet orange burning in my vapourizer.

My favourite Northern Light Beeswax Candles

A room of warm, soft light; forest colours, beautiful textures, grounding scents.

Sigh.

How nice to be able to have a room like that. It'd really take care of my 'thing for trees' and my love of soft glowing light.

Oh well........ it's nice to dream!

Linda. xox

P.S: I've had the top 6 pics in my inspiration folders for so long I've forgotten where I found them. Apologies to the owners. If anyone recognises them, please let me know and I'll link them up asap.

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Feeling Nostalgic and Re-visiting A Classic...

It's Friday night here, it's cold, and I'm feeling a tad nostalgic.

I just changed the desktop wallpaper on my computer from a lovely lush green forest to a close up of autumn leaves with a beautiful muted red background. All my favourite colours are featured, golds, reds, oranges, rusts, bronze.

And, it reminded me of one of the first ever articles I wrote for this blog talking about one of the reasons I think I like some of these colours so much. It's an important key to the philosophy of my decorating style, so I'm giving the post a new lease of life and rescuing it from my deepest archives.

I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks also to Liv Lane for letting me link up this post with other blissful posts.

What've Two Fields Of Wheat Got To Do With Interior Design?

One of the most distinct memories I have of my youth centres around fields of wheat. I lived in an agricultural area, and spent an awful lot of time riding my bike.

On holidays I'd pack a lunch, disappear for the day, and ride for miles.

Bliss!

Near where I lived were lots of pine tree plantations, orchards, and huge fields of wheat. A real mish mash of plant life! I'd ride down the rutted dirt tracks the tractors used to take, get off my bike and explore.

Wander through the trees and breathe in their scent.

Pick up pine cones.

Hear the twigs crack beneath my feet as I walked.

But some of the moments I loved the most involved two particular fields of wheat.

Either one, if caught at just the right moment, at the right time of year, would reveal the most breathtaking view. They were both massive, and on a day with a warm gentle breeze, at sunset, it was as if the world had stopped and life couldn't get any better.

Magic.

I'd usually be on the way home from my day of adventuring.

I'd ride up, stop my bike, lean on it, and gaze.

The sunset would slowly spread with the most glorious colours, and light would glint, and sparkle, and roll off the slowly nodding heads of wheat.

And across the whole field an undulating ripple affect would happen, and it would look like an ocean of wisely bobbing heads all swaying to some beautiful, orchestrated, symphony of movement.

There would often be insects humming in the air, and the scent of the wheat, the pine trees nearby (planted as an edge along the other side of the road), and the not too far-away orchards would waft around me.

I'd stay for 10 minutes or so.... breathing deeply, just thinking how brilliant and beautiful the world was. And, then I'd ride on home, feeling uplifted, content, and just plain old happy!

And I often wonder.....

...if those fields of wheat, and the glinting gold, the warm pinks, yellows, oranges, and reds of the sunset, are a big part of the reason I love to use all those colours in my personal interiors.

For many years a sort of buttery yellow colour, or a wheaten sort of colour, were my favourites for walls! I craved the warm, cozy, uplifting, alive, happy feeling they brought me. I'd wrap myself in the colours that brought me joy!

Photos from Country Living

Photo from BHG

Walking into a room with those colours on the walls, plus accents of red, pink, orange, and apple green gave me feelings of happiness akin to drinking in those fields of wheat.

Only a simple field of wheat and a sunset...

From Caranxcaranx via Flickr

and over 30 years ago...

but if I shut my eyes I can see, smell, and feel it like it was yesterday.

A memory that matters - to me.

Ask yourself: 'Are there any uplifting, joyous, simple memories from my childhood that remain as vibrant today as they were then?'

Which leads to: Is there anything (colours, scents, textures) you can take from your memories and entwine in your home's interiors?

Because: Memories matter. Including a reminder of things that matter will comfort and uplift you in a way nothing else can.

Cheers,

Linda.

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Linda. xox

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I've Waited and Waited - The Song I Can Finally Share With You...

Since this blog began (quite a few years ago now), there's been one song.... one single song, that I've always wanted to share with you.

For a great long while however, naughty You Tube wouldn't let me embed the clip here... it said the embedding feature was disabled 'at the artist's request'. Gotta respect that.

Every now and again I'd go back and listen to this song, drink in the words, look at all the little 'secret signs' the video seems to have just for me.... and sigh (and sometimes have a sniffle as well).

Today I went for my semi-regular listen, thinking that I was going to bloody well write this post anyway because the song is so freaking important to me, and I'd just post a text link to the actual video. I was going to do my first ever picture-less post.... just words and a link. Whilst I was there, just for the heck of it (I'd given up doing this a while back), I clicked on the 'embed' button.

Oh. My. Goodness..... up popped an embed code.

Eeeeeeeeeek! Are you kidding! I can now embed the original of my favourite Pete Murray song (thanks VEVO and of course Pete), with all its truly significant words (to me), and the pictorial symbolism that triggers so much for me.

If you know me well you know that trees are a very meaningful part of my life. See the tree in the video? I almost lived in a tree much like that for a long time. So many cherished memories. That is my perfect tree.

And the butterfly on the lamp and on his wrist (not only is it a butterfly on his wrist... it's the 'right' butterfly), well, you know what I think about them. Their significance is VERY close to my heart.

And, the scene when he pulls down the wall and you can see that tree, across a golden field, in the sunset... well.... this post is connected very closely to the feel that scene gives me. I'm sure that memory is one of the main reasons I decorate using the colours I do in my own home.

Plus he writes on his walls and has quotes around the place (know anyone who does that?). And, he sticks his photos higgledy piggledy around the place (blu-tac is my favourite decorating secret weapon!).

At 2.35 mins you get a good look at the flocked wallpaper.... nice and rich and baroque looking. I've got a bit of a thing for that sort of wallpaper..... notice a 'shout out' to it anywhere around here???

All in all, this song, this video, these words, those images......... they turn me inside out just a little bit.

To most people it's probably just a laid back, pretty simple type of song.

To me... it's a revelation.

Hope you like it.



And so it goes another lonely day

Your savin' time but your miles away
Your fly was drownin' in some bitter tea
For seeing lost opportunity

Find your mirror go and look inside
And see the talent you always hide
Don't go kidd yourself well not today
Satisfaction's not too far away

Hold on now your exit's here
It's waiting just for you
Don't pause too long
It's fading now
It's ending all too soon.... you'll see

Soon, you'll see...

Your coffee's warm but your milk is sour
Life is short but you're here to flower
Dream yourself along another day
Never miss opportunity

Don't be scared of what you cannot see
Your only fear is possibility
Never wonder what the hell went wrong
Your second chance may never come along

Hold on now your exit's here
It's waiting just for you
Don't pause too long
It's fading now
It's ending all too soon.... you'll see

Soon, you'll see

Hold on now your exit's here
It's waiting just for you
Don't pause too long
It's fading now
It's ending all too soon... you'll see

Soon, you'll see [x5]

Linda. xox

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Fearless Fantasy Friday - You Want Storage? I'll Give You Storage....

Okay, I'm a titch late, and I've missed Friday by about  16 minutes or so, so I guess it's actually 'Fearless Fantasy Friday in the wee hours of Saturday morning'.

But, none-the less, here's a photo that might fit the bill of 'fantasy' for many people.

Who doesn't love a good helping of storage!?

I don't think I've ever seen a kitchen with this much storage before.....

Wow!

Image via Greige Design

The contents of my entire kitchen would fit in the benches below the sink - lol!

And, even though it's a massive kitchen (for me), and I don't cook much.... it sort of gives me the urge to chop up a few vegetables or something radical!

Happy weekend everyone! Hope it's a good one. :)

Linda. xox

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Bedroom Beauties.... Or Not?

Our bedrooms are our special places of rest, sanctuary, and hiding away from the ravages our daily life sometimes brings us.

I found this bunch of bedrooms on Home Designing the other day, and thought some of them looked interesting and quite nice.

They all have some aspect in them I love... books, a great rug, gorgeous colour, glowing light, terrific artwork, a quote on the wall (you know how I love quotes everywhere)....

All pics via Home Designing

But, I also know myself well enough to look at them all and admire them from afar.

I can recognise what's good about them, I can see why lots of people would love to be in their spacious, roomy, and light filled surrounds, and at the same time, I can know that none of them are for me.

I like my bedrooms smaller, like a cocoon, and not quite so cavernous. I'm not saying I want to live in a cave, and I'm not saying I like my room to be the size of a matchbox... but I need 'cozy' in my bedroom.

I could almost survive for an extended period of time in the one with the brown wall containing books... nice lamps (although being a 'symmetrical girl' I'd need the lamps to match - but that's just me), great floor, some feel of coziness... but, the bed's too modern for me.

I've learned over time that it's quite normal and ok for me to oooh and aahhh over pictures in magazines that I can tell are beautifully designed and look terrific in almost every way (not talking about these pics here).... and yet just 'know' they wouldn't work for me.

I have to 'feel' it, I have to know I'd connect with it in MY way, not just dig it with my eyes and brain for a  room to be right.

Atmosphere is everything in my book.... and sometimes it's the hardest thing to manufacture.

Linda. xox

P.S. To see more bedrooms similar to these, pop over to Home Designing. I only picked a few!

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A Fantastic Mr. Fox Friday!!

Rather than my normal Fearless Fantasy Friday, I thought I'd feature this gorgeous child's coat today!

It's from the shop Little Goodall on Etsy... and what a brilliant shop it is. Just the most darling and charming outfits that look fabulously well made and sturdy. Gorgeous animals and characters!

Fox fur coat from Little Goodall on Etsy. Image by Bellini Pics.

Here's the description that goes with it:

It's a child in fox clothing! Fox coat of eco-felt, made from 100% post consumer plastic bottles. Looks and feels lovely, beautifully made. This Little Goodall original design features foxy "claws", a fox face hood, two slip pockets for warming foxy paws, and a fuzzy yarn fox tail.

Interior of coat is fully lined with a fun cotton print (print is subject to change from one in last picture due to limited supply, but will remain graphic, brown, and gender neutral), closes down the front with three vintage buttons. Sleeves lined with brown poly lining fabric to slip easily on and off over clothing.

What a glorious thing - I wish I'd had something like this to frolic around in as a kid.... I would have loved it!

As you know I love all sorts of woodsy creatures, and one of my favourite passages from any book ever was about a fox, in the middle of a pine wood, in a book called The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner. (Look it up if your children love to read fantasy in the likes of the Narnian series and Harry Potter etc).

This book was one of the cornerstones of my childhood..... seriously.

It taught me many things.

And, it reminds me of one of my well-loved passages:

Sometimes you read a book so special that you want to carry it around with you for months after you've just finished to stay near it. What's that book for you?  (Markus Zusak).

I still have that book today although it's about 35 years old.

Just looking at this foxy coat takes me back.... oh to be a child again (or else find a grown-up foxy coat to play in!)

Happy Friday everyone. :)

I hope you get to 'play' this weekend!

Visit Little Goodall on Etsy if you're looking for gorgeous coats to stir your own children's playful and imaginative side.

Linda. xox

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