What type of boudoir are you?

the Beach Studios

It's been a lovely lovely rainy weekend (we need it). And as always, my thoughts turn inward: who am I? And on my head is the topic of dressing tables/boudoirs.

We all need a spot to place our beauty jars, perfumes, pretty hair things, brooches, rings, earrings, nail polish.

Daron Chatz

And depending on our lifestyle and personality, we all need different "boudoirs"... (i.e. dressing tables).

Some of us need a pretty with capital P (and capital P for price)

Now defunct Domino

Mi Casa Revista

others need a simple furniture piece

Lucyina Moodie

Lucyina Moodie

others yet demand for drawers and drawers
some of those need their stuff spilling out those drawers and drawers

James Tse

others like their drawers but like their surfaces clear.




Some of us who can afford it like a dedicated dressing alcove...

Madeline Stuart

Some of us who choose to splurge on a luxurious dressing table and place it next to the bed...


Some of us like it in the bathroom!


I'm not talking presentation (i.e. colour, finish) but the style or type of boudoir-ing one needs to put on one's face in the morning.

Flickr: rockymountainroz

While I would LOVE to be the sit-down-and-pretty-up-in-a-nice-dedicated-table-on-a-yellow-and-white-stool-type... I realise I'm not that type.

I'm more the simple type. The hoarder type. hehe
The stand up at my boudoir and throw stuff on and rush out the door type.

But I still like a pretty space.

So I repurposed a pretty white cabinet I got off eBay 2 years ago that used to be my craft cabinet and then bookcase.

A white cabinet much like the one in this gorgeous bedroom...





One day I might become a sit down one... like at Miss Pettigrew... but for now... this cupboard will do me just fine. (Pardon the super bright blue... t'will become a lovely watermelon soon.)

Reading corners

Alongside the need to get an alphabet poster for Hannah now, it's also time to set into motion a plan I've had from the day she was born...

A Reading Corner!

I blogged about the above reading nook space way back and the image has been seared into my brain... but no corners behind our doors to create a private, magical world for her escapes up the Faraway Tree. And she's too young to want to read on her own for hours like I remember doing when I was about 7.

So I Flickr-ed for inspiration....

Flickr sewinsight

Flickr moline

Flickr Vintage Pleasures

Flickr Two Straight Lines

Flickr cawalla1

Flickr RoegersSofierik

Flickr Veronica TM

Or you can go all out and create a special (expensive project) for your precious ones, like what Flickr: frecklesreggie did:



But with a budget of $0.00, I wanted to create a special place for her in our study. Previously her Step 2 table just kinda sat nowhere. After sleeping on the idea for 2 days, working out placements and trying out one other arrangement, I hit on an idea which I put into place last night and am reasonably happy with it. I dragged out her bookcase from her bedroom (she only ventures in there to sleep) and stole her foam sofa from the living/TV area (gotta replace it with something else)...

Before: (quite an old shot)


After:


She's outgrowing that table, so I'd really like to get her a desk... but the table's nice for when her friends come, although that's not frequent... Anyone got a secondhand/used Step 2 Master Activity Desk to sell? (I'm in Melbourne, Australia...)

Update since writing this: The next morning, the first thing Hannah did was drag that foam sofa out back to the TV area... which was okay since I'd just scored an Ikea Egg chair... and I like the look of it now :) Also dragged out an Ikea lamp from the recesses of our storage...



What about a bright round rug huh?

Easter present to us: the Garden!

My in laws came down for a much-awaited visit during the Easter break last week. After doing the sightseeing thing for 2 days we got down to business. One of the sore-thumbs of the house is my garden courtyard right outside the living room, which means blinds are always drawn. I never liked it even when we bought the place. The previous owner really chose stupid plants which had sharp and cutting leaves and trunk. Not children-friendly in the slightest.

We spent 2-3 days on this and the result is mind-blowing and quite emotional for me.

When we bought:


Just before we took our mattocks to the garden:
(keep in mind I always wanted to just clear this area so nothing was purposely watered when we have this drought. I'd rather water my roses out the front!)


See how deep the overgrowth and rubbish is?


We decided to prune back the dying blossom tree and give it new lease of life in the front.

The remains of an overgrowing birds-or-paradise, two dead palm trees, 1 overgrown lemon myrtle, 40000000 overgrown dietes grandiflora...



Lunch break:


And then finally... after 8 bags of cow manure, clay breaker, top soil, Seasol....



And the cherry blossom, pruned and replanted out the front...


Waiting for the weed-seeds to sprout and then pluck out... need to wait 2 weeks. Then I'll sow the grass seeds (turf was too expensive)... And plant to star jasmine climbers up the lattice (getting more).

Flickr user: jacquiscloset

I'd love to put a wrought iron swing like the one my mum had while we were growing up...

Flickr: nat choo

Or a fountain/water feature...

Update: there's one on eBay I'm watching!! OOOH! :)

A dollhouse and a Rose

Don't you just love the fun clothes Rose (played by actress Melanie Lynskey) of Two and a Half Men? I do. She's one of two people on screen who've inspired me to redo my look (or lack thereof!)

Anyway, I was watching Two and a Half Men (reruns) on TV last night while completing the ensemble for Hannah's 3rd birthday gift from me.



Months ago I bought an age-appropriate dollhouse (sans furniture) from Salvos and finally received the furniture I got off eBay via my in-laws.



I'm quite happy with the furniture pieces. They LOOK like the thing: a chair, table, lamp, sink etc... even got a cute shower stall! And they open and close... even the cute washing machine! (And they're PINK!)



The back of the dollhouse already had pre-pasted pictures of sink, fireplace etc... And clashed with the furniture pieces I got. So I replaced the back of the dollhouse with some scrapbooking paper from my vast collection with spray glue. I chose patterns that would allow the newly bought pieces to stand out... and tried to match the wallpaper with the rooms.



Will get to the front of the house when I can be real bothered!

But there's no food, no cutlery, no pretty extras... that are everything to a little girl. (And her mum.) So that was not good.

So I had to raid my craft cupboard for the extras... you know, beads, buttons, scrap cloths and a glue gun.

Plates from green buttons and platter from a large black one! Glued some beads onto the buttons to simulate rice, sushi, egg roe. Still thinking how to craft cups... Any ideas?



Also stuck on some of the new lace-tape on the lamp for embellishment. I also glued on a pink floral button for a clock and drew on some hands. Left some green button-plates on the sink (need to maintain reality, don't we!).

The material the came with the shower stall for shower curtains were flimsy, cheap sheer stuff... so I replaced it with some extra wide vintage ribbon.



Love my crystal pomander in the bathroom area? I got some more in the bedroom area. I made a few similarly simple boudoir pieces... again from buttons and a glue gun.



I put together the house and furniture placing...













I am well pleased. And Hannah is too :) Her plates look like real Japanese platters! :)