Tall dark and handsome

I've had a tall dark and handsome man in my life, but that didn't work out too well (except for producing one fabulous child)...so I think I'll just stick to tall dark and handsome houses from now on.

I've always loved white houses, and will forever, but these dark beauties are just so tempting.

Lush life home garden

This home is located in beautiful Palm Beach in New South Wales and is available for rent.

Rockridge

Here is the Dutch Colonial home of Henk and Saskia Teunissen who run the successful interiors company, Rivièra Maison. The inside of this house is just as fabulous, and has been featured on many blogs.

Homes and Gardens

This one below is covered in shingles, and says 'very east coast of USA' to me. Think Hamptons or somewhere similar.

Real Living

This is an Aussie one, featuring a lovely large verandah...heaven!

Australian Country Style


A delightful European house, with lots of french doors and colonial style windows. I imagine this as being on the edge of a little forest!

Bolig



A dark house with dormer windows, what more could I want?

Beach Studios

Besides their dark colour, you've probably noticed that the common theme with all these pictures is that all the trims are painted white, making them contrast nicely with the rest of the house. Love it!

Now it is going to be a stinking hot 43C (109.4F) here in Adelaide tomorrow, so I don't think that I'll be painting my house this dark anytime soon, it's way too impractical given our extreme heat, but I can dream can't I?

Best wishes,

Charming transformations

It's the time of the year when we are full of enthusiasm, with a fresh page before us just waiting to be written on. Its a time to tackle new projects and turn our visions into reality. So I thought it fitting to show you two fabulous renovations, two of my absolute favourites that really inspire me.

First up we have a 1914 Federation house, in a beautiful heritage listed suburb of Melbourne. This house had been lived in by an elderly couple for more than 50 years, and as you can see, the house's needs obviously got too much for them. It was so painfully in need of some tender loving care. Such a sad state of affairs. The house leaned to one side, all the timber fretwork on the porch was rotted and the corrugated iron roof badly needed replacing.





Take a look at this baby now! Lovingly brought back to its former glory, painted a gorgeous clotted cream colour with white trim. Beautiful classic landscaping was added.

The back of the house was extended to add a new open plan kitchen and living area, with three sets of french doors opening on to a newly landscaped courtyard.

Here's another tired, sad little home. The owners, in their inexplicable wisdom, had covered up the charming weatherboards of this single fronted cottage with horrid brick cladding and a dreaded aluminium window, stripping this heritage home of all its charm. Sad, sad, sad. I bet many potential buyers ran away screaming....

.....But not Tina Buchanan. Tina (who had tackled 15 previous renovations) had the vision to see what this house could become. Take a look at this beauty now...

I am in love! This home deservedly won Australian Home Beautiful's home of the year competition in 2001.

I feel totally inspired by people who have the vision to see the potential in the old and unloved, and the bravery and tenacity to make it happen.

The lovely thing about Australia is that all the cities and older towns have many charming, single fronted cottages like this. They are usually in old, leafy suburbs oh-so-close to the city, so they are right by great shops and cafes. If I win the lottery any time soon, I'd being buying a lovely little single fronted cottage like either of the above homes for me and my son. I'd even be prepared to buy the ugliest and see what I could do with it! Time to buy a lottery ticket....

All images Australian Home Beautiful

Dormer windows

I love houses with dormer windows (aka attic windows). These are the little windows in the rooftops of some houses, and I've always wanted a house of my own with these windows. I think two things in particular made me a fan of these windows. Firstly, watching too many American movies or tv series where someone went up to the attic and found some wonderful treasures in some long forgotten trunk. And secondly, dolls houses. As a little girl I was lucky enough to have my very own dollshouse with dormer windows. Until it got crushed by removalists when we moved house one time!

So the appeal of dormer windows is all wrapped up in some sort of romantic fantasy about dusty attics, discoveries and a childhood long gone.

Here's a few I'm sharing with you.

The first is from US Elle Decor, and is owned by two incredibly talented men who not only own this country estate (as well as a New York pad) and a beautiful antique store, but also run a luxury handbag company called Lambertson Truex. These guys have style. Couldn't you just imagine sweeping up to this place in your convertible?

Next up is a former plantation mansion on the tropical island of Mauritius, a former French Colony. It is called Maison Eureka. I have a better picture of this which I will post another day. Not only do I love its adorable row of dormer windows, but the wrap around verandah is fabulous. This place is a museum now, but I think it would make a fabulous five star hotel. Meet you for cocktails on the verandah at 5.

This picture below first appeared on the lovely Miss Millie's blog, http://www.thelaurelhedge.blogspot.com/ This house is the work of Tom Scheerer and is a holiday home in the Bahamas no less. Millie has more pics of this fabulous little house on her blog.

Next up a bed and breakfast in Tasmania called "Mulberry Cottage". Love the combination of the stone with the white wooden cladding. Cute as a button.

This adorable house is from Atalanta homes magazine.

And finally, a house from Beach Studios. Loving the smart dark navy colour with the white accents. In fact, I just about fall in love with every navy house with white trims - I'm collecting photos of those for another post on another day. (So if you have any, please feel free to send them my way!) This photo proves that houses with dormer windows can be beachy too.