27.2.11

A rough little gem gets some shine

In a swish Sydney suburb on a desirable street, stands one luxurious development after another.  Amongst all the new and exclusive 
buildings, a humble bungalow quietly reflects the time before the developers moved in....

When Jules and Rob first inspected this house, Rob took some 
convincing. In Jules' words it was a "bloody dump" and Rob was 
not interested at all. 
But Jules knew that grubby wallpaper, broken cupboards, filthy floors
and nasty smells could be dealt with. 
And it was sunny and spacious and well...the rent was cheap.
Some people just have the knack of working with what they've got.  
Jules had carried a swatch of colour called 'Carmen Miranda' around for ages 
waiting for the right walls, a willing landlord and a bout of braveness to use it.  

Opulent and rich, it's the perfect backdrop for a collection of gold framed art, 
travel mementos and a beautifully weathered sofa.  Jules found the picture
frames at a garage sale in Bellevue Hill and her friend Ruth loved the frames
and felt the need to fill them with her work for Jules. Beautiful!
A collection of op-shop furniture on the verandah creates a whole other living room.
The single seater is covered by fabric from Cloth and is Jules' first (very successful) foray into giving one of her bargain finds 

a makeover by doing her own upholstering. See www.clothfabric.com
for gorgeous handprinted fabrics.

Pretty opp-shop glasses capture the light.

Rob's mum bought this fabulous dinner set from Germany in the 1950s. Jules isn't a believer in keeping the good stuff shut away and uses it all the time.
 A little reflection of Jules' homeland.
The kitchen had blue floral wallpaper when the family moved in. And not in a good 
way!
Jules claims her style is a product of being skint. As most of this family's home is 
furnished via the opp shop and council throw out day, Jules refers to it as "budget bohemian". 

We suspect that even with a big budget, Jules couldn't resist rifling through
those kerbside piles of thrown out goodies!



Houses like these are always in developers sights. Jules and Rob know that one 
day they'll probably get the letter giving them notice. 

And its always sad when a family loses its home and when a house is lost.




12.2.11

Eyecandy in Birchgrove

If you’re anything like us (and we suspect you are), you'd be real estate snoops.
We have noticed in our snooping that so many houses for sale have been styled to appeal to a broad group and that often seems to translate to…beige (and open cookbooks on those cookbook stands).
Justine recently took photos of this new terrace for the architect before it went up for sale and we thought it was lovely.  And the beige-free styling has just the right combination of minimalism and personality.



Wouldn't it be nice to move straight into an architect designed house
with all the trimmings?
This house is shiny and new but has a lovely warmth about it. 
Designer Milenko Mijuskovic of Design+Format in Surry Hills Sydney
has created a really nice space.














Love this staircase balustrading! It's such a gorgeous feature.

If you love what you see and have...ahem...oh around 2,700,000 dollars spare, this house can be yours.
See McGrath estate agents Edgecliff Sydney to do the deal.