Front hallway

Way back, ages ago, I showed a moodboard for our front hallway. My wonderful Dad did all the work, as planned, and I have decorated it and redecorated over time, and this morning, I switched a few things around...again! I love this version, as it has a few significant touches.
Just in case you had forgotten - I am still learning to take decent photos. Judging by this photo, I still have a lot to learn!I painted the stripes ages ago...early last year I think, and I just love them. The cabinet is as planned, and stores our CD collection, board games and Molly's leash. The large empty frame has been sitting in the door to our spare room all week, and it adds some dimension here. The gold framed certificate is my husband's graduation certificate (Manufacturing Systems Engineering = nerd burger!), and I love the way the gold warms up the space. The morrocan lantern has been everywhere in this house, but this has been its longest standing location. We light candles in it which are always the last ones we blow out before bed. The light shade is this one and we have a matching one at the other end. I love the casual feel they add to the hallway - I think the chandeliers I originally wanted would have been too fancy for this house. The rug hides everything, and the little trunk with my handbag on it (which just happen to match the whole scene perfectly!) was my Mum's knitting box and sat in the living room of the house I grew up in for years. She just gave it to me recently, and I will love seeing it every time I walk in the front door.
The timber statue (can you see it against the dark stripe) was a wedding gift, and the yellow-y thing in front of it is actually the original light shade from when our house was built. They are too precious to throw away (I have a green one also!), because they are part of our homes history.
I took this photo sitting on our bed ( I am actually loving the unpainted, unstained, untreated timber of the doors we had installed as part of our major renovation recently. I am considering leaving them this way!) and you can see how well the stripes work with our dark charcoal carpet.

Vitaminer at Ikea

Have you seen this gorgeous range of fabrics and accessories at Ikea? I love the colours and the patterns. In fact, I am considering heading there this afternoon to pick up this blanket, to snuggle under in this chilly weather we have been having. Which I am loving, by the way!And the fabrics are only $14.99 for 1.2 x 3m. Very reasonable! Those hearts would make a cute headboard, especially if it was button tufted with a range of colourful buttons! I'm not sure my husband would go for it, but maybe for a child one day! In the mean time, I may have to make do with a cushion in my living room!


And these fun curtains! Not sure where I could hang them, but I think they would bring some cheer to your day!

They are hidden away in the children's fabric department! I would love to use them in my home...and I don't have any children (with the exception of my furchild of course!)

Lights 'n' Chairs

Ok, so I have a whole lotta lights I love, and a whole lotta chairs I love, and I have to say it like that, because I love the song 'Whole Lotta Rosie' by AC/DC.

I think they all work together, but the styles vary quite a lot, and I was trying to figure out how to make them all work in our dining room, study nook and kitchen, without any one area seeming too industrial, too rustic, too cottage-y, too modern or too retro. And incorporating white, metal/stainless steel and dark wood tones!

BUT, it would seem, I have finally come up with a plan...and both Mr Limecello and I LOVE IT!

1. The white drum light (which we already have), and white slip-covered sofa (we have nearly finished paying our slip covers off, and will hopefully have them by the end of January) are the living room. I thought it was important to include them as a reference.

2. The Barbados light from Beacon Lighting is perfect for our study nook, as its a bit of a feature, but will soften all the hard edges and corners in the little area. The Bertoia chair (yes, it will be a replica) will add a little glam in stainless steel, and not dominate too much either...its a pretty small area!

3. The Lucient pendant from Click-On was the final piece of the puzzle, and I only spotted it this morning in the latest Home Beautiful. It will be just right over our dining table (the Liatorp), with the cross chairs (again, we already have these) and our dark wooden bench on the other side. The Tolix A Chair is one we have both loved for a long time, and will sit at the heads of our table (we keep it in its oval format). If we paint the dining area grey (which is pretty likely!) both the light and the end chairs will sit beautifully against the colour.

4. And finally the kitchen. We will hang 2 of these Foto shades over the wood topped island in the kitchen, and the Ghost stools (replicas again!) will bring a bit of 'fab' to the kitchen (stay tuned for an update on that plan too!)

We both love chandeliers too, so fortunately there is room for 2 of them in our hallway!

I am so happy just looking at the plan...I can't wait to make it happen...even if it takes a couple of years!

Guess Where I am Going Tonight?

Hmm, probably not really worth a post, but I am going to Ikea tonight! I haven't been there since just after we moved into our house...9 months ago! That's a long time in my world! No interesting purchases intended (just one kitchen cabinet frame!), but that's not to say we won't come away with a haul of items.

We are going to do some investigations into benches for the (new!) entryway, beds (not sure about buying a bed from Ikea, but will have a look anyway!), sofa-beds, kitchen appliances (namely, their fully intergrated dishwasher!), kitchen door styles, sinks for the laundry...and kitchen and maybe some shelving too!

And have a good look at all the other fun things!

UPDATED POST VISIT: I have to say, I was a little disapointed. I don't know if it's because I see so much of it online, or because my taste is developing (just a little!) but it just wasn't the same. For the first time ever, I noticed some of the poor quality, and the fact that a lot of the whites weren't 'white' enough. Still plenty of good things though (lighting, storage, fabric etc), and we are pretty certain we will be getting an Ikea kitchen (but will go elsewhere for the dishwasher).