Hello chic friends!
This is sweet Nina cat sitting sentry at the front door. Alongside my favourite red-orange geraniums! I love the look of them against the brick colour, although... we are going to have the brick painted.
I know, it goes against all advice to 'never paint brick', but we decided we want to, so that's what we'll do. We are either going to go very dark - sooty matte black, or off-white. Dark is quite fashionable, off-white is more classic.
I am leaning towards dark! I know it will be quite dramatic and wow-factor. There is a long-ish wait time for our painter so it will give us plenty of time to save up, but we should have it done by the end of the year.
Initially we were planning to repaint all the dark parts, plus under the eaves, just for maintenance. Then we expanded our plan - it happens doesn't it!
Anyway, until then, Nina will keep guard outside, enjoying the autumn sun here at the moment :)
And I'll be inside, finishing my book 'How to be Chic in the Summer'. It's almost there and I hope to have it in your hands this month!
I know, it goes against all advice to 'never paint brick', but we decided we want to, so that's what we'll do. We are either going to go very dark - sooty matte black, or off-white. Dark is quite fashionable, off-white is more classic.
I am leaning towards dark! I know it will be quite dramatic and wow-factor. There is a long-ish wait time for our painter so it will give us plenty of time to save up, but we should have it done by the end of the year.
Initially we were planning to repaint all the dark parts, plus under the eaves, just for maintenance. Then we expanded our plan - it happens doesn't it!
Anyway, until then, Nina will keep guard outside, enjoying the autumn sun here at the moment :)
And I'll be inside, finishing my book 'How to be Chic in the Summer'. It's almost there and I hope to have it in your hands this month!
~~
Below is our living room… I love this room so much. The inspiration is
Ralph Lauren English country style meets French chateau.
The
chandeliers are from the original owners, made from farming equipment
from the husband’s family in Holland. One is a yoke and the other a
wagon wheel.
I love that this room has wow-factor; it feels really special to be in here, even on an ordinary day.
And, on a fun note, it was nineteen years ago this week that I met my husband Paul at a pub in Auckland. What a fortuitous evening that was.
I love that this room has wow-factor; it feels really special to be in here, even on an ordinary day.
And, on a fun note, it was nineteen years ago this week that I met my husband Paul at a pub in Auckland. What a fortuitous evening that was.
I have gone from someone who wore wore mostly neutrals and a few soft pastels, to a lover of colour and pattern as you can see!
The first photo is of my blouses and tops, and the second my wool jerseys for when it's cooler.
The first photo is of my blouses and tops, and the second my wool jerseys for when it's cooler.
I still like neutral bottoms though, mostly skinny or fitted jeans in white, light-wash, dark-wash, army green, charcoal and black.
I had a fun few hours on the weekend reorganising my closet for autumn/winter and packed away my summer gear.
I like to merchandise my clothes so they look like an appealing boutique. This means hanging everything up, even items that others would usually fold such as heavy jerseys, or tee-shirts in the summer.
In my book 'The Chic Closet' I talk more about this technique in 'Chapter 5: Inject excitement with a capsule du mois'.
Hanging everything up means you can see everything you have, and more easily picture how different items go together, much like in a retail store.
I started doing this quite a few years ago and it's made a huge difference to how easy it is to get ready in the morning, and it's more enjoyable too.
You can find 'The Chic Closet' here on Amazon as a paperback book, or on Kindle too.
Happy mid-week everyone!
xx Fiona
We recently made a decision that the yellow-orange brick on our home had to change, but paint was not desirable (maintenance). We discovered a lime based product that chemically bonds to the brick, rather than just clinging to it like paint. There are surely other vendors, and some DIY recipes out there, but we choose Romabio--it is tint-able, but not to any really strong colors due to the lime content. We are quite happy with our decision, but would advise if you choose one of their tints, be sure ALL of it is on hand before beginning. There is some color variation if you order more of a tint later--at least that was our experience. A good "green" choice too.
ReplyDelete