Doug Up In Sydney

As I mentioned in my last post, my favourite store on my Sydney trip was Doug Up On Bourke. For those of you who are not familiar with the store it is a treasure trove of antiques and collectables, and is one of the largest single stores of its kind in Sydney. One of the best parts is that all of their stock is sourced in Australia and they specialise in mid 1800's to late 1950's! I could have stayed in this store for hours looking at all the interesting objects .... well we were in there an hour and a half!

Thought I would share with you what I managed to dig up on Bourke along with some of the fantastic things they stock.

Love it all ....

Wish I had room for this one ...

How cool are globes at the moment?!

They stock lots of shoe lasts - along with cute little child size ones ....

One of my girlfriends bought an old green iron just like this one ....

They have a great selection of stools of all kinds ...

Speaking of stools, I am on the lookout for an old stool for my main bathroom. Maybe an old milking stool or something. If anyone has seen an old low stool for sale in Brisbane I'd love to check it out.

...... and now to what I managed to dig up ....

All images except for this one from Doug Up On Bourke

A really cute old recipe box for $10 which is perfect for holding all of my unframed artwork. A bobbin which I just had to have as I adore them $35, and an old ceramic electricity cover for $10 - not sure what I will do with this one yet! I was certainly happy with my little haul, but next time I need to allow a lot more room in my suitcase!!!

Doug Up On Bourke will not disappoint those looking for something different. They are located at 901 Bourke Street, Waterloo in Sydney.

Renovation Update: I am still in the thick of a renovation zone and have no decent pictures to show you all yet. I can report that I have gone over budget though (boo hoo). My initial budget was $15,000 as advised by my real estate mate, however, after setting myself a more realistic budget of $20,000 (we are talking two bathrooms here people) I am still struggling to stay under! More on that next week.

By the way, if you get a chance over the weekend, pop over to Natural Modern Interiors and take Lisa's Interior Design Workshop Poll - I know she would appreciate the feedback.

Have a great weekend everyone. Michelle

Before & After

The transformation of various pieces of furniture and accessories for my youngest daughters 'big girl room' is finally underway. I spent some of last weekend sanding, priming, and painting the dresser that I bought a couple of weeks ago from Lifeline. It's been a while since I painted a piece of furniture, but I don't think it turned out too badly.

Dresser After:

Sorry about the quality of the image but it's raining in Brisbane today!

The image above shows the dresser 'after' with a few of my daughters 'big girl things'. The gorgeous girlie tins are from Mamma's Home in Windsor, the letter 'T' was a gift but I know they are available from Kim & Judi in Coorparoo, and the paperweight butterfly was from a gift store. I'm sure, when the dresser is in her room, she will pile it high with a lot more 'stuff'!

Do you remember the before image:-


And again, After:

I just love the detailing in this dresser:

Thank you for all the advice, especially to Anna from Cornflake who suggested I keep the original handles rather than replacing them with crystal. I'm so glad I did as it keeps a bit of that old world charm intact. Now, it's on to the side tables etc. etc. I think it is going to take a few more weekends!!!

Completed any projects of your own lately? Michelle

Questions & Meetings

Lately my four year old has been asking a lot of questions, she is very inquisitive (just like any 4 year old). She is very interested in the human body, and every night before bed we don't read a fairy tale (which would be my choice) but one of her many books on the human body - these books and the many questions that arise from them I can handle....

She has told me that when she grows up she wants to be a Doctor on Monday, a Hairdresser on Tuesdays (she loves her hairdresser), a Clown on Wednesdays (she thinks it would be fun to juggle all day), and a Scientist on Thursdays (she loves doing experiments) - I think Friday is the day she wants to play!!! Anyway this is getting off the track ....

The questions some days seem relentless - and I don't mind questions like
"Why is the sky blue" ...

vivre sa vie nat

Or, "How is honey made" ....

pop gadget

Those are questions I can handle.

But lately every night she has also been asking these confronting questions - (sorry I don't mean to offend anyone, and I forgive you if you stop reading now) - "What happens when we die", "Where will I wake up", "Will I wake up", "When will I die" ....

benliles

Now, next year she is booked into the local Catholic school so I guess I thought that they would handle any of these sticky questions - and that they wouldn't be asked until then. We are looking forward to her going to this school, but we are not terribly religious ourselves - we don't attend church regularly and I am not well equipped to answer her questions.

When I tell her she will go to heaven, she cries and says she doesn't want to go there - she wants to stay in Brisbane. So as my four year old cries because she is afraid of dying ..... I sit with her and don't really know what to say - your advice would really be helpful here as I find after these conversations - when she is drifting off to sleep I let my tears flow silently for the big scary world that I can't control for her.

Have any of you found yourselves in a similar situation? How did you handle it?

oooo0000oooo

Sorry to go all serious on you - to a happier topic now - remember these?

The bedsides have now gone to a new home with Jenny from The Five Year Project - she bought them for her sister who is planning on giving them a French look. Jenny is just lovely in person, and if you haven't had a chance to visit her blog then please knock on her door here. It was so nice to meet her after following her blog for so long. How wonderful to know that those bedsides have gone to a good home - and that we may get a sneak peek when they are finished!

Hope you are all having a great week - we have been having the most wonderful Spring days here in Brisbane. Michelle

My Thrifty Dilemma

Hi everyone, sorry I did not have a post for you all yesterday. I have a great excuse as I spent the day eating out and catching up with family and friends for my birthday! Although it wasn't a significant milestone, today I must admit I am feeling very old.

As part of my day long celebrations, I had morning tea at the WAC and afterward (as I was so close) decided to pay a visit to Lifeline which is only a short distance up the road (can't help myself). You wouldn't believe it, but as I pulled up to park my heart actually skipped a beat, there in the window was a beautiful dressing table - perfect for my babies 'big girl room makeover'! I have been on the lookout for some time for a perfect dresser - not too big as the room is small - and with the perfect girlie lines - so this dresser absolutely fitted the bill.

How gorgeous will this look painted?!

My dilemma - I had to buy the entire three piece suite as they would not separate them - ahh!!!

Now, of coarse I was not going to pass up this dresser as I knew It would be a long time before I saw one again, so for $175 I am now the proud owner of an entire Queen Anne style suite!

You may recall from an earlier post that I already purchased some divine bedside tables (below) from Vinnies. So I now have to decide which set of bedsides to keep! Both sets have great lines and will look fantastic painted white ....... which set to choose.

I am going to start sanding and priming one set this weekend so I need to channel Sandy from Paint Me White - any hints you have would be great. Oh and if you are in Brisbane and know of anyone who would like to buy two bedside tables ripe for a repaint, please ask them to email me and make an offer. Otherwise, I will be loading one of the pairs on to ebay next week.

Paint Me White

Above is an image from Paint Me White showing how they could potentially look when painted - how inspiring is Sandy!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Michelle

My Find!

Hope everyone has had a fantastic week! I can't believe it's Friday already!

classicly amber

Recently I discovered a gorgeous little store called 'Fairies at Work' which is packed to the brim with wonderful little goodies. Imagine a really, really, really, compact version of the W.A.C. along with every fantastic garage sale you have every been to - mix it all together - and .... voila you have 'Fairies at Work'! The owner is a sweet lady who sells vintage linens, kitchenware, china, jewellery, furniture .... and the list goes on.

I had no idea which way to look in this store, and admit I have to go back when I have more time for a closer look! But I did find a wonderful Glass Dome - yay - and only $20!!! I have been looking for a second hand one of these for what seems like forever, and finally found it in this magical little store. I guess fairies really were at work!

Below is my wonderful little glass dome (or cloche) sitting next to some very old plumbers lasts that I found in an antique store many years ago. Okay my dome didn't come with a fancy silver stand like the one in the image above ... but I think it is beautiful anyway!

I know I'm not the only one who likes to display items under glass....

Very pretty ...

camel and yak

The modern look ....

gardenelia antiques

This one brought a smile to my face ....

rockett st george

My purchase got me thinking ...... what's under your dome? Would love it if you shared.

Wishing everyone a great weekend. Michelle

Travel & A Second Hand Find

I don't know about you but everyone around me lately seems to be either traveling to an exotic destination, planning to travel to an exotic destination, or just come back from one! In honour of those well-heeled friends and acquaintances, I have made a small series of 'travel tags' from an American tourist road map dated 1977. Hand stamped with fun travel motifs, I thought they would make cute additions to bon voyage gifts. They are selling through my madeit store for $5.50/pack of 3.

Also this week I have made a set of round gift tags featuring a series of feathered friends and their hideouts. These come in a set of 5 for $4.50/pack and are also available from my madeit store.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you this little treasure I picked up a couple of weeks ago (that I had totally forgotten about until today). I bought this large vintage reel from the Woolloongabba Antique Centre for only $12! I adore all of these old reels, not only do they look fantastic but they are practical too. This one will hold my twine when I have used all the gorgeos red thread on it.

Don't you just love the patina on it? Okay, I know it's only an old cotton reel but sometimes it's the little things that make a space what it is - right? Anyway, it now sits in my office as part of my ever growing collection of 'bits n bobs'. What 'bits n bobs' do you like to surround yourself with?

Thought I'd leave you with this cute image of an up-cycled reel- right up my alley!!

image from here
Hope everyone has a great weekend ... whatever your planning. Take care. Michelle

Ebay Win!!

Hi everyone, hope you have all had a great week. I took some rare time out today and had lunch with a friend for her birthday at a little local called 'Jetty', if you live in Brisbane and haven't been put it on your list as it is divine - especially on a beautiful winters day like today!

Anyway, just wanted to firstly thank you all for you wonderful comments re my lovely bedside tables! You are all so kind, and I always love your advice!

Secondly, just wanted to quickly share an ebay win with you all. I'm so excited as today my lovely rubber stamp set arrived! I was lucky enough to win this set a couple of weeks ago and have been waiting, somewhat nervously as I didn't know what to expect, for its arrival. It is a set of over 100 original stamps from the 1960's - it was a set given to 3 sisters by their father as a gift!!! Let me tell you it didn't disappoint - the stamps are of animals, flowers, plants, christmas, children, cars, buildings, maps, people .... and the list goes on!! They are all delightfully representative of the 60's and I can't wait to include them in my range.


Sorry about the image but I was in such a rush to show you all! They are in the original box and each set of stamps are in their original pressed metal containers ..... divine I know!!!!

Anyway, I will now stop basking in my own delight and let you know that the winner of my giveaway - the lovely Kym from Kyandra Rose has chosen a set of tags and an artwork, so hopefully she will share this with you all when she receives them!

Hope everyone has a great weekend - we are off to Noosa for a few days! Hope to get around to visit you all before I leave. Michelle

Cottage Garden & the WAC

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I was fortunate enough to get some time to have a little look around the Cottage Garden in Stanley St East, Brisbane. I must confess I hadn't been in a while .... and .... I was really impressed with the lovely collection of antiques and bric-a-brac on offer, along with their wonderful little cafe! I was even happier when I found this gorgeous little wooden tray in Katherine's store ..... so thank you Katherine for having a great eye! If you don't already know, Katherine has a beautiful blog and business The Old Boat House. Her store in the Cottage Garden is filled with wonderful finds, so if you love anything old or antique, and you haven't visited her Blog may I suggest you do.

The image below shows my delightful little find along with some lovely canisters I picked up from the Woolloongabba Antique Centre. The WAC is celebrating its first birthday with a buy-one-get one free coffee every Monday for the month of July, so pop along if you have time and say hi to the girls who are always friendly and helpful. As usual it is filled with delicious antiques and collectibles from every era, and is now open 7 days.

Not sure what I will do with the canisters yet .... but I just had to have them for their old-world charm and wonderful patina! Oh, couldn't resist popping my other feathered friends into the picture - I adore china birds, and have these sitting in my office!

Hope you all had time for some time to indulge in your favourite past-time over the weekend. Michelle

P.S. Stay tuned for a giveaway later in the week!!
More details later!