Beautiful HB

Receiving my digital copy of the December issue of House Beautiful this morning was like a breath of fresh air.  I loved this house above in particular.  Absolutely beautiful...

xx
Anna

For The Lovers of Blue & White

I emailed this picture of our new Black & Spiro window display to my mother last night.  She wanted every jar in the picture.  I think that's the thing with blue and white, it becomes an obssession. I can't count how many blue and white pieces my mum has in her collection but no matter how many she already has, she continues to collect more and more. 

I think this recent delivery of beautiful blue and white pieces is the most amazing one we've ever had.  You should come in and see the others we have placed throughout the store.  It's hard to pick a favourite!!

xx

Anna

Summer Is That You?

I am usually more of a Winter girl but I must admit I haven't really enjoyed Winter this year.  I have no idea why.  I am so excited about this coming Summer.  Maybe it's because I've been working really hard or maybe it's because our weather here in Brisbane this past week has been a bit warmer.  Whatever it is, I just keep dreaming about long Summer days at the beach.

With all of my thoughts turning towards Summer I couldn't help posting this image today.  It's very Summery.  It is a room I have loved for such a long time.  I love how layered and thrown together it is.  It is a great example of blue and white done well, in my opinion...not too fussy and not too contrived. 

Actually Jennifer over at Peak of Chic wrote a very interesting post this week about decorating with blue and white.  I am in complete agreement with her.  As she says 'I feel as though there is blue and white...and then there is blue and white!'  

Click HERE if you would like to read the post...

I'm taking a few days off from the blog.  Hope to be back mid-next week!
xx
Anna

image via vacation homes book

Patchwork Tiles & Mothers Day

Whilst having a flick through one of my old decorating books today I stumbled across this image which reminded me how much I really like the idea of these blue and white patchwork tiles for our new kitchen.  Oh and look at those big fabulous blue and white bowls...definitely something else to covet!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Mine was lovely.  The boys cooked me lunch.  I set the table with succulents and our mismatched old blue and white plates.  It was relaxing and happy and I loved every minute of it....xx

Good Old Blue & White

I have posted this bedroom before but I thought I would post it again today as I still love it and it reminded me that blue and white can look so beautiful in a bedroom.  I also love the black iron bed and the mix of furniture styles in this room.   {image - country living magazine}

Here are a couple of new blue and white fabrics which hit our fabric library this week.  I'm sure the die hard blue and white fans will be excited to know that we have had a very big influx of beautiful blue and white fabrics over the last few months into our library.  

PS.  It seems that the fresh flower post I wrote yesterday has created a bit of stir amongst readers from areas where it is hard to grow and buy fresh flowers/produce.  I am very lucky to live in a sub-tropical climate where flowers/foliage/fruit & vegetables are accessible and easy to grow.  I apologise if I have offended anybody with my post.  That certainly wasn't my intention.  I was purely stating my own personal preference and in my haste I didn't consider the circumstances of readers in remote/barren areas.

Natural Cane

We spent lots of time with my family on the weekend as it was my brother's birthday and birthdays in our family tend to be celebrated over a few days. 

Whilst at my parent's house this afternoon, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful the Stuart Membery cane chairs look with the older pieces of cane on their deck.  This is one of the chairs from Stuart's Home Collection above which we sell at Black & Spiro and when you look at it mixed with mum's old cane chairs as below, it looks like it has been part of her furniture collection for years.

I have been collecting a few of these old cane chairs {like mum's above} for our house which I have also mixed with Stuart's chairs on our verandahs.  I really love the look of this natural cane and I think it looks particularly nice mixed with Antique furniture and blue and white fabrics and china.

photos by me at mum & dad's house

Room Scheming

I would love to be asked by a client to prepare a room scheme around these two beautiful pieces above. They are simply breathtaking, in my opinion.

I could imagine an {almost} all-white colour palette with recycled European parquetry timber flooring and beautiful blue and white patterned fabrics on cushions and possibly on a couple of accent chairs here and there. I think I would use white slip covered sofas with frilled skirts {like the ones Joni posts}. Oh, and of course I would fill the room with blue and white ginger jars.

What would you do if you were given these two beautiful pieces to work with?

Woodblock painting by celebrated Australian artist Cressida Campbell and beautiful French antique mirror from Baran de Bordeaux in Auckland.