Do you stalk Facebook Marketplace every day or are you normal? I can count on two hands the things I’ve actually found, liked, secured and now reside happily in my home from my incessant FB Marketplace scrolling but I love the hunt and when you land a goodie, oh the satisfaction!
This week, I’m covering all things home! Things I’ve bought, work we’ve done to our home, where I like to shop, wishlist bits and pieces etc.
I’d love to hear about treasured pieces in your home, art recommendations, home accounts you love - really anything home related in the comments, or anything else you want to share. Love hearing from you! Or send me a DM :)
OUR HOME:
A little over two years ago my husband, Angus and I bought our first home together. It still feels surreal. We bought a terrace in Sydney’s east. We’ve lived in a bunch of places within the east over the last nearly nine years of living here so this is where we always knew we would try to buy.
Early last year I was featured on Bed Threads ‘The Makers’ home tour. You can check out the cute pics here. As you can see, I am a fan of colour.
Angus is an architect and I’ve named myself the architect’s apprentice because I’m always chiming in with ideas of how we could re-do or update certain parts of the house. Sometimes these ideas are approved but most of the time I learn why they maybe wouldn’t work. But an area I really thrive in and get a lot of control over and enjoyment from is furniture and homewares.
INSPIRATION:
I find my inspiration all over - from endless Pinterest pinning, to saved folders on Instagram, Architectural Digest home tours on YouTube, to my Vogue Living subscription. I love Tamsin Johnson, Lucy Williams (home tour here), Matilda Goad, Flack Studio (Troye Sivan’s architects), YSG Studio, Jenna Lyons home (more from her home here), Laura Jackson’s home to name a few. I follow so many other home accounts - some examples here:
WORK WE’VE DONE/PLAN TO DO:
When we moved in, no urgent work needed to be done but the first thing we did was paint all the walls white, specifically Porter’s Paint Popcorn white. There were two oddly coloured feature walls and the rest were an off white/grey.
Bedroom Before and After:
We also replaced a half wall and replaced it with glass in one of the bedrooms. We needed to make the wall a bit higher than it previously was and using glass looks better and allows more light to come in. It was a simple enough update but it’s made a huge difference. This space is still a WIP.
This month, we’ll be replacing our carpet from a grey/charcoal - to this lovely beige wool carpet from Bremworth - shade name Kaolin. It will lighten up the space and it also feels cosy and luxe.
I also had some lighting custom made. I’d been searching ever since we moved in for new lighting and wasn’t having any luck until I visited Rainbow Studios in Darlinghurst.
I loved the orange glass pendant they had so I worked with the team at Rainbow and the designer Katie Ann Houghton to make my own! Here’s a moodboard I sent to Katie showing the vibe I was after:
I love the final product:
The blue pendant light will replace one that’s currently above our dining table. And the two sconces will likely be installed in our bedroom on either side of the bed. I love a sconce - it’s functional art. Seeing my vision come to light (ooops pun not intended lol) was so rewarding and Katie is so talented! It’s made me want to do more custom pieces for our house.
Beyond that, we’ll eventually renovate our two bathrooms and potentially renovate/upgrade the kitchen (we may paint the current kitchen just for fun before doing anything major). The kitchen currently looks like this:
I’d love to paint it in the meantime. Maybe this type of yellow:
Or this kind of blue:
Or sticking with the green vibe - tweak it to this:
We will also add in banquette seating to our dining area. Here’s how it currently looks:
The vibe for new banquette:
Where I love to shop/drool over home things:
Furniture + homewares:
HAY Shop - have bought many of their cute colourful crates, a chic bin and recently I just bought one of their benches
Jardan - I love to just walk around in their Paddington store for inspiration. They have a great range of furniture, art, trinkets. Curio Practice - love their blankets, Double - great, well-priced, machine washable rugs! Sabine Marcelis - I bought one of her mirrors a few years ago. She recently collaborated with Ikea and most of it sold out instantly. Glassette - co-founded by super chic and stylish Laura Jackson. Rira Objects, Coming Soon NY, Tekla - love their towels and bedding.
Kornelia Paulina - curated unique and vintage glassware, so chic. Maison Balzac, Bed Threads - best linen! In The Roundhouse - fun plates, bowls, napkins, coasters etc! McMullin & Co, Clo Studios, Dennis Did It, Daniel Emma, Vinterior, MCM House, Dowel Jones - love their designs. I bought two of their side tables and am obsessed.
Art/artists:
Narjia Brownlie - In 2020 I came across Narjia’s work on Instagram. I saw her beautiful piece, ‘Softer in Lilac’ and when the print went on sale shortly thereafter, I bought it.
I’ve since bought a smaller painting of hers and we’ve become friends! In a very exciting turn of events, we’ve collaborated on a piece of art that will be available soon. Watch this space!
Doreen Chapman - In 2021, before we moved into our home, my husband and I were window shopping at Jardan in Paddington. I snapped some pictures of art I loved and then promptly forgot about them. Once we’d moved in (during lockdown) and were looking for a piece to sit above our couch I remembered one specific piece I’d loved from Jardan. It was still available so we made it ours and we love it so much. I hope to buy more of Doreen’s work in the future.
Gelbell - Last September, Rainbow Studios were exhibiting artist duo, Gelbell’s latest works. They sent out a catalogue prior to the launch event and I immediately fell in love with this lilac painting. I sent the catalogue to Angus to see what his favourite was, without telling him mine. It’s a small miracle when we both immediately love something and that day, everything aligned - he loved the lilac piece too! So we snapped it up and it now sits above our fireplace.
I also am a huge fan of Gabrielle Penfold, Madeline Jovicic, Christina Zimpel, Tom Polo and Camille Olsen-Ormandy to name a few! Would love to have their pieces in our home.
So that’s our home and my style in a nutshell. I could keep going but I’ll stop here! As we have more home updates I will endeavour to share more if you’d like. Hope you enjoyed. Don’t forget to leave a comment and share home bits you love.
More Smooth Brain Thoughts soon,
Ali xx
My room/the garden suite is looking so good! Can't wait for the big reveal!