Welcome to a new sponsor Thea & Sami

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums out there!

I just wanted to give a shout-out to our brand new sponsor Thea & Sami who design and hand screen-print fabrics and linen locally in Brisbane. We are so proud to be associated with such a fine innovative business with an environmental conscience.

Using only water-based and non-toxic inks, Thea & Sami's creations are 100 per cent eco-friendly - their ethos is all about surrounding oneself with natural style. When you purchase Thea & Sami products, you can be confident that it is hand-made and not mass-produced.

Thea & Sami also make limited edition natural linen homewares such as ottomans, cushions and napery which you can purchase through their online ecostore or, if you live locally, you can pop into the Thea & Sami studio shop on Fridays (unit 1/6 Jones Road, Capalaba).

Custom made lampshades in the Fretwork pattern which is inspired by the Queenslander gable.  

If you want to find out more about Thea & Sami and the beautiful linens they produce, visit the website here.

Please help us to support the small businesses who so generously support us. 

Another M.A.D June weekend for your diaries

Well it's nearly that time of the year again when all design addicts can soak up a whole weekend of great architecture and culture in the middle of Brisbane suburbia. That's right Modernist Architecture and Design (M.A.D) is on again!

The people behind Australian Modern are putting on a weekend of events culminating with the ever popular Sunday self-drive interiors house tour of Brisbane.

Keep the weekend of Friday 28 June to Sunday 30 June free, if you want a design fix! And make sure you book early, as spaces are strictly limited.

Jacobi House

Here is a taste of what the program entails...

SESSION 1: TWENTY-20 VISION
FRIDAY 28 JUNE  VENUE : 9 BURCHELL ST, CARINA 

7:00 PM:  MEET & GREET

7:30 PM:  TWENTY-20 VISION

8:00 PM:  LIGHT SUPPER

8:30 PM:  SCOTT MACARTHUR - BRISBANE CITY HALL RESTORATION

                RUSSELL HALL - ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN

9:30 PM:  FILM - FARNSWORTH HOUSE (USA)

10:00 PM FINISH

SESSION 2: COOL CARAVANS & COCKTAILS

SATURDAY 29 JUNE VENUE : 9 BURCHELL ST, CARINA 

5:30 PM:  START

6:30 PM:  DINNER

7:30 PM:  ANDREW WILSON - GOLD COAST MID CENTURY HOUSES

                BUD BRANNIGAN ARCHITECT - TOPIC TBA   

8:30 PM:  DESSERT & COFFEE

9:00 PM:  FILM - PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES, EICHLER HOUSES

10:00 PM FINISH

SESSION 3: INTERIOR HOUSE TOURS 1890-2010 (SELF DRIVING TOUR)

SUNDAY 30 JUNE

9:00 AM:   START AT  LOUDON ST, SANDGATE (MORNING TEA)

12:30 PM:  BASKET LUNCH PROVIDED

  

1:00 PM:    FINISH

Contact Chris and Susan to get more information including the price for each event and remember bookings are essential for all events. Chris+Susan (07) 3395 4571  E: chris@brisbanemodern.com.au

I'm liking the sound of the Cool Caravans and Cocktails night. Apparently a fleet (?) of vintage caravans from around Australia will make an appearance on the night...which makes me curious...

Hope you guys will be able to make it and see you then. 

Little window

There is a dodgy little window in our bathroom that we are going to replace.

The said dodgy window is just thin bits of mismatched glass slotted into a frame and held in place with wood nailed around the frame; similar to louvered windows...However, you can't open or close the window; it's permanently semi-open.

Small bathroom window

Small window. It's so filthy. But I'm not about to clean it either with its days numbered...
Domestic goddess I am not!

Jason's given me the measurements and has delegated the task to me to get this thing made, as it's not a standard size. He told me to get a single pane with arctic glass casement.

I wish Jason would just go out an order it himself...

So where do I go to get this thing made?  What should it be made of, if that's even an option? And I want to get coloured glass too, but choosing the colour is the big question? Amber, green, rose, or just clear arctic?

All these questions! Can anyone help?

Amateur food stylist

Ambitions of a career in food styling and photography are probably not high on my list...Although I did answer the call for assistance when the boys' school asked for some retro 'food of the decades' photographs to include in a commemorative recipe book.

I enlisted the help of my hard-core modernist mates (because they own all the cool stuff) to help me style a couple of the decades. It was such a fun afternoon pretending to be Donna Hay...she doesn't have to worry about her empire...or maybe she should...!!

Here are a few shots to symbolise the 40s, 50s and 60s, Queensland style.

This is a 1950s cocktails by the pool photo.
The drinks are just food colouring and we  had to use oregano because we didn't have mint. Shh! Don't tell anyone...

This is a 1960s fondue shot. We used real fondue made by the lovely Yvette, who had all the fondue accoutrements at the ready.

This is the recipe for the master fondue. It was delicious.
I'm going to raid my parent's house to get their fondue set!

1940s style mixing  cake batter.
We were mixing up Kentish cake, which is Nana comfort food

Photographing all that food has renewed my interest in cooking...Anyone hungry?

Chalk paint makeover of a milking stool

The good people from Annie Sloan sent me paint and wax* to sample as part of their launch of chalk paint into the Australian market. I had heard about the new paint...however I had only ever seen it used in that distressed antique-style finish...

And as regular readers would know, that's not the sort of finish I normally favour. I wanted to use the paint in a clean, mod-style and had the perfect piece of furniture to rejuvenate.

In 1993, as a young unemployed graduate, I committed crimes against furniture when I decoupaged a perfectly innocent milking stool. Yes, the horror!

DIY decoupaged stool.
Believe it or not, I was so proud of my efforts...clearly as I 've kept it intact since 1993!

But it was the 90s and I had a perm...Decoupaging seemed like a good DIY hobby while trekking between dead-end job interviews and the dole office...

This poor old milking stool is so handy - it's used as a ladder, spare chair, side table and play surface. I set about rectifying the sins of the past and sanded the stool back to its vintage goodness. It deserved another chance at life.

Think belt sander with a very coarse grit to remove the Victorian-era inspired decoupage and then hand-sanding the hard to reach areas around the legs.

The milking stool sanded right back 

I painted the milking stool in graphite chalk paint. I didn't want to paint it entirely in one colour and decided to try my hand at that paint-dipped look which is so fashionable.

J Crew ad with fluoro (neon) paint dipped stools 

All you need is good painter's tape and a ruler to get everything level and at the right height. I didn't primer the stool and just painted straight onto the wood. This particular stool needed three coats of chalk paint.

Going for that paint-dipped look with chalk paint

The Annie Sloan chalk paint dries to a matte finish, which you can then lightly sand with fine sandpaper.  After it is dusted clean, apply a couple of coats of clear wax to make the finish more durable - it has a lovely satin sheen. I applied the wax onto the unpainted legs too.

Chalk paint dipped stool.
It almost has that minimalist designer look 

black dipped stool

It turned out much better than I had expected...but I think anything was going to be an improvement. Ha!

I just hope I won't be recoiling in horror in 20 years time, wondering what possessed me to paint dip the milking stool...Anyway, I like it now, so that just will have to do.

*disclaimer I was given a tin of graphite paint and wax to sample by Annie Sloan