Art Murals for Large Spaces

We think the large murals that you see in Starbuck or Barnes and Nobles are really cool.  We always wish we can get something like that at home.  It will work great if you have a large loft with tall, tall ceilings, don't you think?  So much cooler than wallpapers.

We found a source today for it that we thought you might want to check out.  They do mostly commercial installations but you can buy them for residential as well.

Here are some samplings:

To see more portfolios and get product information, visit the vendor's web site here.

Post 99...one year today

It is exactly a year since we moved in. I am feeling rather sentimental about reaching this milestone as the house took over my life for at least the last 3 years. I still feel very proud of what we did and the hours and hours of endless research and planning that went into designing and building the house has definitely been worth it. There would be nothing more depressing if we built and wanted to move a year later. This seems to happen all the time and we have watched so many beautiful homes in the estate with a for sale sign within months of the new owners moving in. Why do people go through all the pain of building just to sell it? Money/profit or is it something else? Anyhoo...thought I would shoe a few exterior shots today as this is our house first birthday.

backyard view

front of house

back view



View from our balcony

Next post will be my 100th post for my blog. Another huge milestone! I will be writing about what I have learnt about blogging...I know this topic has been done so many times but I haven't done a post on it. Hope you come back to share with me my 100th post.

ps...You may have noticed I have been experimenting with different 'subtle' looks for my blog. Still working out what suits my personality the most.

Happy Easter to everybody!

Mrs B

So who wants to rent a beach house....

A beach view from our front window

Life changes.

After many sleepless nights, it has come time to acknowledge that we have to do something about my parent's beloved beachfront 'shack' (shack sounds soooooo much more romantic than house) so we have decided to rent it out for the first time ever. As you will see from just a few photos I dared to put on my blog for now that nothing has changed since it was built in the 60's. It will not be a holiday rental but a permanent rental for somebody who wants to live on the beachfront...no roads, just walk to the beach outside the front door.

What would I love to do....

via...house of turquoise

This is what I would love to do haha! Just imagine sitting in this room, surrounded by all these beautiful colours right on the beach front. Sadly, not for this little house as it is purely a rental property that needs to bring in income and be rented asap. We met with the agents a few days ago and they told us what needed to be done on the inside and out. Their advise was not to do any thing that wasn't urgent as it will not bring us any more rent. I find this concept really difficult as I want to 'pretty the interior' and put in new things that will make the renters happy. This is not how to approach a rental property apparently. Oh well....at least I am allowed to paint it in a colour I like.

Our little beach shack

Open living...most houses along the beach don't have front fences. The original concept was for all the kids to play together. We do however need to put up a side fence just to have some privacy from the neighbour. I wonder how they are going to react when they get the fencing notice as the do love to 'spread out' when they come up.

Oh! see those 2 trees in the background...they are in our property and have to come down. The root systems have not only got into the sewage but has made our driveway almost impossible to drive on. Problems, problems, problems. Thank goodness Mr B has taken over as property supervisor and meeting with all the tree cutters, plumbers, painters etc etc All too much for me and to think I watch all the reno shows. I will stay home and watch the kids I think. My idea of renovating is picking pretty colours and going on shopping expeditions LOL

One scary picture coming up.......

The 1964 interior!

This is a before shot....of course you knew that. the agents said not to change a thing, just a good scrub and to change the stove to a new one. A bit of paint, new appliance , nice roman blind and a floating shelf on the left hand wall (we already have one...bonus!) and hopefully this kitchen will look sweet for a beach shack. By the way...have a look at what Michelle has done with her kitchen on a shoestring budget.

Before Shot...image via De Novo Concepts

After Shot...via De Novo Concepts

This is what I am going to do!....A bit of paint can transform a Kitchen immediately.

Hope you enjoyed my rambling beach shack post...updates in the next few weeks as this project needs to be completed immediately.

Mrs B

Loft Room Divider

We're in the process of downsizing from a 4000 sq ft home to a 1200-sq ft loft.  Do you know,  loft living sounds more romantic than it actually is? We find that we really miss the traditional division of space. We miss having rooms.  We miss the privacy!

We've been looking into options of dividing the space.  Drapery is one, but do you have any idea how expensive a piece of fabric with four stitching is?  It's quite a mystery actually, how much drapery can cost.  The other option is to go with a company like the Sliding Door, but they are really pricey too.

We found this company, Loft Wall, today and we thought it might be a good option.  They make portable dividers that you can customize the sizing and the panels.  They are not cheap but they are not too expensive either.  You can visit the web site to download the price list.  Keep in mind that the published prices are retail, and no one pays retail!

Here are some samples:

To see more product specifications and pricing info, visit the Loft Wall web site.

Modern Planters

When we go to a really cool restaurant in Miami or Los Angeles we are always envious of the huge, modern planters that they have.  It's really hard to find them.  Most of the pottery places that we have in our local area sell the traditional planters.  If you have a modern home you are kinda out luck.

Anyway, we just found a great source today for huge, commercial modern planters that we thought we'd share with you.  They are so cool!  We have no idea how much they cost, sorry. But if you are interested drop us a line and we'll get pricing info for you.

Here are some samples:

These are made by Green Form. To see more see their web site.