New mouldings in the front entry

We have new bull nose and scotia moulding for around the entry windows.

I probably wouldn't have bothered myself, but Jason is one for finishing things off. A details man, if you like. The fact that the entry was decorated with D mould rather than with something more substantial bothered Jason greatly.

Here's what the entry windows look like now. 

Ha! It's very subtle, isn't it? But it gives us great comfort that it matches the rest of the Sow's Ear.

And below is a picture of the entry with it's old D mould border.

It's the small things people!

Front entry windows

For a renovating blog there's not a lot of renovating happening around here at the moment. Jason's been tackling a few smaller projects this winter. They're not major things but the cumulative effect of these jobs finish off the Sow's Ear nicely.

Although we renovated the front entry when we first bought the Sow's Ear, there was one small job that Jason had put on his wish list when the opportunity arose.

That opportunity presented itself when I asked him one lazy morning,"When are you going to get your gear off and do some work around here?"

He got up and put on his King Gees and nail belt. He's totally embraced the work wear look, so the shirtless shots are becoming a rare sight.

The job involved removing some old D mould around the front entry latticed windows and fitting a decorative bull nose and scotia mould. Architectural bling. Jason can't get enough of it.

removing the old D mould from the window

the new mouldings are at Jason's feet.

I 'll show you what it looks like after it is all painted.

The Front Entry - before and after

The photo above is from when we first obtained the keys to the house exactly a year ago today. It doesn't seem possible that we've been here nearly a year. However, there is oh so much more to do to the Sow's Ear.

The front entry was one of the first projects Jason tackled when we moved in mid May last year. It is one of my most favourite rooms in the house. It has an open, airy, uncluttered feel which I adore.

The entry gets the lovely warm winter sun in the morning and cool afternoon breezes on a summer's afternoon - a really good place to hang out with a book and drink.

In the above picture there used to be VJs (vertical join) boards nailed over the green painted area. It was a very crude effort and looked out of place. We suspect it was done to hide the electrical wires which snake their way along the walls. It was probably VJ-less originally, but we're not sure.




We thought it best to line it with VJs again but add cornice and a frame to give it a more finished look. As you can see from the above picture, this room was orignially a deep sea green.

This is the door to the study and that's a glimpse of Jason (fully clothed? It was winter) filling the gaps between the VJs before painting the entire room. The study door was also frameless.

This is what the entry looks like today.

It took about two weeks for the entire project with work done on weekends and week nights. White paint magically transformed this formerly bland entry. It cost approximately $500 to refresh this room - for new timber, VJs, paint and other building materials.

I like that this room makes a statement about what to expect when you enter our home - it is certainly a departure from what is traditionally expected in a Queenslander home in the burbs.

The Marimekko fabric hanging, I made myself. I bought a good quality large stretched canvas from Eckersley's in Milton (best and friendliest art store in Brisbane) and simply stapled the Marimekko Mini-Unikko fabric onto it. A very effective way to obtain instant, happy colour.

The Butterfly Chair was purchased from Katherine at theoldboathouse a number of years ago. I have another adult sized chair under the house which needs a cover. I was thinking of getting orange with white piping, so I can have the Holy Trinity of citrus colours....in the name of the lemon and the lime and the blood-red orange...

The large white Chinese lantern was about $8 from an Asian homewares store and replaced the green plastic shade that offended me so much.

The new VJs above the front lattice door. Neater and seamless.

In this picture you can see the frame Jason made for the VJs, above the lattice.

The yellow child's butterfly chair was a gift from friends when our first child was born. A very funky present.

Another friend gave us the swirly black cast iron table when she was de-cluttering for her move to North Queensland. The retro style planter was bought from Katherine at theoldboathouse - she has some great finds. The mothers-in-law tongue plant was from our backyard.

In this photograph you can see the door frame Jason made. It definitely presents a more finished look.

The vintage anodised bullet planter was an ebay purchase and it cost $17 including postage from Bundaberg. An absolute bargain. The spider plant was from my Mum's backyard.

The Jack and Jill coat hooks, which are made in South Australia, were from Great Dane. They were $25 each.

The bus roll we have had for years. Our mate Chris used to collect vintage Brisbane vinyl bus rolls and had this one framed decades ago before they were ever fashionable. When he moved house to a different suburb, he gave it to us because he knew we like a bit of Brisbane history and we also live in one of the suburbs listed.

(Also for Ange from Signed by Ange,  my fabric handbag was bought at the BrisStyle Indie Designer's Market last December from acreaturestrange who also operates an Etsy store.)

So, there you have the story of our front entry.

Jack and Jill sat on a wall

or was that Humpty Dumpty? I get an F for Mother Goose 101.

Here they are hard at work. And a mighty fine job they're doing too!

They look like they are looking for a big hug.

Jack and Jill Coat Hooks

Deciding which coat hooks to use in our front entry was easy after completing a Google search on the products we liked best.

Black Jill and Red Jack

The Jack and Jill coat hooks are designed by two industrial design graduates from Adelaide who formed a company called Two Halves.

The hooks are also made in South Australia. Australian designed and made and they are also affordable. Three very important ticks.

If you are interested, you can read more about it here.

Although they are marketed for little ones, I think they are too sleek and funky to hide in a bedroom or playroom (the boys are already in my ear about getting some for their rooms).

image courtesy of Living Edge

These hooks remind me, in essence, of the Eames "Hang it all" which was orginally designed in 1953 for children. The brightly-coloured wooden spheres were aimed at encouraging children to hang up "all" their things.  

Anyway, our new coat hooks will encourage me to hang up my bag properly.

As an aside, we chose a black Jill and red Jack because that's what colour Jason and I become after a stint in the sun. I'll show you some after photos when we mount them on the wall.

Jack and Jill playing outside

Spider plant and coat hooks

Taking Susan's advice regarding what to plant in my new old anodised bullet saucer planter, I went looking for a Spider plant.

I had a feeling my Mum had a spider plant lurking somewhere in her overgrown garden. I asked her if I could have it for my planter - Mum's are good for giving you the things they no longer really want.

It looks better at my place anyway.

This is a photograph of the other side of the front entry (I'm sitting on the green butterfly chair).

As you can see, I use the door knob from the study door as a coat/bag rack. (I carry a hand-made cherry-red fabric tote, the other bag is #2 son's library bag which I still haven't packed away.)

Jason can't stand that I use the door knob. What can one do? It is the first protrusion I see when walking through the front door, so I dump my bag there while I bundle the brood into the house.

If I leave my bag on the floor, #3 son does a runner with it. The child shows me no mercy.

Therefore, I need a hook; preferably a funky hook. I didn't realise how many takes there were of the humble coat hook.

Here are a few of my favourites:

 Eames Hang-it-all

 image from living edge

This was originally my first choice but I'm starting to think it has been overdone. I don't know. I shouldn't over-analyse, it is only a coat rack, after all.

cubby coat hook  image courtesy of Materious

This is a very cool idea. It would mean never having to lose keys ever again...

 

jack and jill coat hooks image courtesy Great Dane

This is actually meant for a child's room or the beach house (that's what it says in the spiel). How limiting. If I was their copywriter, I would say it was meant for everywhere or for the whimsical...I shouldn't let their spiel put me off, I shouldn't let their spiel put me off, I shouldn't let their spiel put me off...

Or, should I just keep it simple?

Anodised saucer bullet planter

The anodised saucer shaped planter arrived early this week. I've been looking for an atomic shaped one like this for simply ages. This type is very hard to find in reasonable undinted condition and particularly for the paltry sum of $5.00.

Happiness is an unexpected bargain.

The pot which is a soft under-stated metallic green sits snugly on a black plastic coated metallic tripod stand.

Planters, jarnidieres and bullet planters are like the holy grail in my second-hand shopping endeavours. They are just so expensive, usually, and they are never quite right. My new find is a crowning moment.

image courtesy of mid century modernist

I ideally wanted something like the bullet planter but they don't seem to be available in Australia. These bullet planters are made of a fibre-glass construction and come in a variety of colours. They are very cute but also expensive if you include cartage to the Antipodes.

Now that I've got my anodised version, I think I like it better. It is so quintessentially Australian - just about everyone knew somebody whose groovy parent's had the anodised saucer living on the back patio (my parents weren't groovy).

image courtesy calyx flower

The big question is what should I plant in it? I spoke to my hard-core modernist friend, Susan, and she said a Spider plant (chlorophytum comosum) is the way to go because it would suit the saucer shape of the pot and it's a very hardy indoor plant.

What do you think? Or should I plant something else?

New pot

child and adult butterfly chair with new pot in the front entry

I re-potted my sansevieria (mother-in-law's tongue plant) on the weekend. I bought a glazed pot which has a retro lava feel from Katherine at theoldboathouse (thanks Katherine!). It will now keep company with mother and baby butterfly chair.

Katherine said she didn't think it was vintage, but it certainly has the right mid century look which I was after. It's hard to find this type of planter. Everything is either too darned square or pretty. Where has all the ugly pottery gone?

glazed pottery planter

I also scored a lime green anodised planter on a black metal tripod stand. It is on its way to me from bustling Bundaberg (four hours north of Brisbane). I'm unsure about its condition but my expectations are always kept low and I like the odd surprise...

Rice paper lantern

On the weekend, enough was enough. We bade farewell to the old green comical conical plastic light shade in the front entry.

And then the bare compact fluoro light bulb swayed ever so slowly to greet us as we entered the front door. It really needed a shade.

Rice paper lantern in the front entry

For the total sum of $10.30, I bought two Chinese Rice Paper Lanterns. One for the entry and a smaller sized one for Number One Son's bedroom.

It's a little 1960's Suzie Wong whimsical, but it works and is a great improvement from the previous shade (from my perspective, at least).

L to R: old shade, new shade

Now, it's just a matter of saving some dollars for the real deal.

Simply illuminating

Our eyes are peeled for different light fixtures for both the front entry and lounge room.

Let me refresh your memory and show you what is there now:

 Possibly the original light fixture in the lounge room. Painted orange shell.  I find the light it casts depressing.

 Front entry light: plastic, green and conical. Hmmm or is that comical?

This is what I have been looking at for design inspiration:

Coral light by David Trubridge

I would love this to hang in our front entry. I love the simplicity of the design. The light that it will cast will suit the shadowy nature of our latticed entry.

Jeremy Cole's Aloe Blossom

The concept of a blossoming light is breathtaking as well as sculpturally beautiful.

Interestingly, both contemporary lights are designed by very talented New Zealanders. We are just getting a price for both lights to see if they even remotely fit into our non-existant budget. I'm guessing the Aloe will be out of reach...

I am also partial to a spot of Danish:

Poul Henningsen PH5 Lamp

A contender for the lounge room.

Utzon lamp designed by Jorn Utzon

This is a possibility for the front entry.

I haven't looked at the chain store light fittings just yet. No doubt they will be more affordable. I'm also checking out ebay and the op shops just in case there is something that takes my fancy.

I'll post my selection from the budget friendly range soon.

Salvage or bin

I threw a pair of 70 + year-old steel barrel bolts in the bin last night. They were from the French doors, leading out to the front entry, that we are painting.

Removing old barrel bolts from French doors

We never painted the other side of these doors when we painted the entry

Romantic notions of salvaging them entered my head. I've read in other renovation blogs that you can remove the years of paint on hardware by placing it in a slow cooker overnight - it softens the paint and you are able to peel the paint. Ingenious.

Good-bye little pieces of hardware history

Jason put paid to that and said I have hoarder's disease but I know that he is trying to build up his brass empire.

He is probably right (about hoarding) and one bolt was badly twisted...but I still feel guilty about binning them.

Homemade wreath

Queensland Silver Wattle Christmas wreath on our front door.

I always try to make my own Christmas wreath. Mostly because I am cheap eco-friendly. No, really I am cheap.

Now that we live in a new area, there is different foliage to experiment with. I was toying with the idea of using natives like the grevilleas in our garden, but then I remembered the lovely wattle tree on the street (this was incidentally inspired by a post on wreaths by Anna Spiro on her blog Absolutely Beautiful Things).

Boo Radley's footpath has the most glorious Queensland Silver Wattle tree which I have kindly trimmed back for him. The foliage is an amazing silver grey colour which I think looks good against the white lattice door.

I love that it is simple, wild and rustic. I'm not sure how it will dry but I figure if it starts to look uber ugly or we have guests coming around, I can replace it with Boo's endless supply of fresh wattle branches.

Do you think Boo will mind?

The first few projects

With any condition Queenslander house there is always work. And lots of it when they need TLC.

The first job we did was to sand the deck and oil it to bring it back from the brink. It's a massive covered area, so it was a big job - particularly when it was pouring rain every time Jason was ready to oil it.

The second project was to sand and scrape the front entry ready for a coat of paint. Jason also needed to fix up the VJs which were covering the architraves. It looks a million dollars now.


We used Dulux acrylic low sheen white (wash and wear) for the VJs and a gloss white for the doors etc.

 


We are now living without a kitchen waiting for it to be installed later this week. It was ripped out last Friday, so it has been an experience with my hungry boys.

Anyway, I can't wait for it to be up and running!