Here is a little wander around my new abode. I'm still on the look out for a little dining table and chairs and a nice rug and some other bits and bobs, but otherwise I have really enjoyed decorating and making myself feel at home. It is a cosy, sweet place and I feel very lucky that is it affordable, homely and well located (10 minutes bike ride into the city, 5 mins to work).

I got my couch a week or two ago on Gumtree, cheap as chips (and they delivered it!) and I'm a bit in love with it. Thankfully it is as comfortable as it is pretty.

I got my bed (on sale!) and mattress online a few weeks ago too from Deals Direct. The mattress came rolled up in a box and despite reading dozens of positive reviews about its comfiness, I was still quite skeptical when it arrived and I pulled it out of its box, rolled it out, cut open the layers of plastic and watched as it came to life. It made a loud hissing noise and sure enough, it eventually became a very comfy and fairly firm, pillow-top mattress.

My office area is still a bit of a mess at the moment, but I thought I'd include a photo of it anyway. I haven't brought over all of my mess from my old studio yet, but I'm getting there. I bought the cube shelving out of sheer storage necessity - I need to keep all of my supplies, stationery, tools and overabundance of papery items tucked away. Fabric cubes to put inside the shelves are stupidly expensive, so I think I'm going to find a way to fashion some myself. Also, there is a door behind that floral sheet into my lovely upstairs neighbours stairwell! I think I'll share some more photos of my office when it is properly set up.

My kitchen is little and neat and has a dishwasher I haven't even touched yet and I am still a bit dumbfounded by the controls on the oven, so I've been eating a lot of salads!

The little succulent above was a house warming gift from my friend Isis. I think I've inherited quite a lot of her succulents!

It has been nice to separate my books from C's (much larger collection) and see what I actually own and haven't even read.

The apartment was listed as having only one bedroom, however there are two large living spaces, so I use one as my office/bedroom and the little bedroom (not pictured) will serve as Theo's room when he comes to stay, though it is currently empty. I have a cute single bed for him similar to mine, but I don't have a mattress for him yet. The bedroom also has a walk in wardrobe, which I have already filled to the brim! 

I've had a handful of friends over to visit since I moved in and one friend said he thought it looked a bit like I was sleeping in my lounge room, haha. I don't mind - I'm treating it a bit like a studio apartment.

I've been meaning to share photos of Theo's space for some time, but each time I kept telling myself it wasn't right yet (I still really want a felt ball rug, haha). But I know if I wait any longer, I'll never do it, so here are some pictures of his little room - prepare to be overwhelmed with photographs!




Not surprisingly, Theo's room was the first room I set up after we moved in. He spends most of his time in here sleeping and we hang out in the lounge room with him a lot, but I have been meaning to take him in there to play more often. Theo is quite content to explore the contents of the room while I sit with a book or my phone on the couch but it is fun to get down and play too.




The room is quite dark usually and with the blinds lowered is almost completely blacked out which is excellent for helping him to get to sleep during the day. It doesn't make great light for taking photos though, so I apologise for the graininess. One of the books I read when I was pregnant said that a black-out curtain was their number 1 essential item for a baby - it does help!





Just about everything in this room has been bought secondhand. It was important to me to buy most things second hand, firstly because it suits my pocket, secondly because I like the items better than items I see new, and thirdly, if you can get baby items second hand instead of new, why not? The hyper-consumerist nature of baby items makes me cringe - it must be a very lucrative industry (a basic 'nappy bin' - essentially a bucket with a lid - costs $25, but a regular bucket, without a lid costs $1?). When I can remember, I'll try to mention what I paid for each item - I hope this might show that you don't have to spend a lot of money to create a fun, practical space for your child.




One of my favourite parts of the room would have to be the lockers, which I store bedding in. I bought them when I was about 20 weeks pregnant, repainted them and built shelves in them. They were pretty beaten up when I bought them (from a second hand store in my current suburb) - the bottom of them is a bit rusty and I keep them sitting on a rug to make sure they don't hurt the floorboards. They're also missing one side because somebody had replaced the original side with chipboard and then they sat outside at the second hand shop in the rain and of course, it got all water-logged and horrible. I enjoyed ripping off that chipboard very much! I have been meaning to fix the side and attach a piece of painted ply, but I'm not entirely sure how yet. I think I bartered the guy at the shop down to $60 but then had to pay $25 to get them delivered - I have seen them go for a lot more, so I guess I did okay. They're a bit impractical really because the doors don't open easily or without a great deal of noise and they store a relatively small amount. Thankfully this room has a built in wardrobe for practicality - there's a lot of junk in there! The cute cat embroidery hoop is by my friend Ella. The typewriter print is by Lola's Room and was a gift from Allana. The tiny food prints are by Pugly Pixel.




I saw this little purple number and its two matching arm chairs at a second hand store in my suburb and went home and spent several hours trying to justify buying them. Eventually I gave in - they set me back $100 and the guy delivered them for free which was great. One of the armchairs is in our bedroom (for, you know, throwing clothes on) and the other is in my studio nook at uni (for sitting drinking tea and playing on my phone). The gorgeous ice cream truck cushion was a gift from McKean Studio - love those guys! The sweet yellow coat was a gift from Marguerite.




Most of the prints on the walls were thrifted. Theo's favourites are the ones with the cats on them - he shrieks at them loudly. I think I probably paid a max of ten dollars for each print.




I bought the sideboard for $10 and it looked hideous - peeling faux-wood laminate. I primed it and gave it several coats of paint and it came up pretty well. The Dr Seuss themed bunting was a gift from my sister.





Holly gave me this cute hanging dog that she got when we went on our opshopping trip. I made the felt ball garland (remember when I wanted to make a felt ball rug?).




The tiny wooden houses in this photo are from my childhood home. I can remember playing with them when I was very small. The weasel drawing is by Megan McKean and was a gift (Weasel is an affectionate nickname I have for my husband).

I am a little obsessed with Gumtree (if you're not in Australia, it's a bit like Craig's List). I found Theo's cot on it and we picked it up from Hobart. The lady who we bought it from said that it had been in her family for some time and that the eldest person to use it was now in their fifties. She painted it and designed and applied the decals (based on Tasmanian flora). It comes with a change table that we sit on top of the cot which works really well. C's parents paid for the cot and I think it was about $150.



I love anything with tiny compartments. I found this little shelf at an opshop and spray painted it black and then collected tiny animals to go in it. I think I paid a dollar for it and probably a total of $5 on the animals.




A lady I work with gave me her children's huge collection of Dr Seuss books. I am so grateful - they're some of my favourite books and Dr Seuss' first name was Theo!

I am quite interested in aspects of the Montessori education approach and one recommendation is that things be down on the child's level, so that they can access them easily. Theo like to pull the books and toys off his bookshelf and play with them. When he is older might get him a bed that is closer to the ground that he can get in and out of by himself.

Our house has three bedrooms but one we use as an office, so when the time comes that we have another baby, we'll probably have he/she in our room with us for the first few months and then probably have the two children share a room. I hope that while they're small this will work okay, but later (pending that we're still in this house) one of them can use our studio (detached from the house) as a bedroom - I know when I was a teenager I would have loved it.

As he gets older I hope he'll start adding his own touches to his room. I can't wait to start giving him painting and drawing tools - then I'll add some of his artworks. At the moment he just loves to be in there playing with all the things!

Today I spent the whole day cleaning my house. It felt good. I love this house so much and it feels good to be good to it.

I have one week before I go back to university and I know that it is going to be a huge year, so I want to spend the next week sorting out my office, unpacking the last lingering boxes, watching some new shows with C (The Bridge & Rectify) and on the floor playing with Theo. Here are some pictures from my (not so) lazy Sunday afternoon.


I finally found a kitchen table I liked for our tiny dining space and made a 2 hour round trip yesterday in the rain by myself to pick it up. I had been scouring opshops and Gumtree for an old laminex table but I thought this one suited the house more, even if it doesn't go with my bright orange vinyl swivel chairs. I am a bit addicted to Gumtree.


I really like spending time in Theo's room. Today I hung up some more pictures (with help from my tall husband).


We have an enormous lavender bush in our backyard and despite the bees' protests, it was time to harvest it. Sadly everything in the garden is dying down, ready for a cold Tasmanian Winter. I'm going to give some friends bunches of the lavender for their homes.


Rigby is a lot happier at this house. In our previous house, the two young boy cats weren't allowed outside and would relentlessly bully Rigby to the point where she would pick a space in a room and stay there for days. She's actually a little bit affectionate now and doesn't mind being around us or the other cats.


Mesca is good at glaring.


Earlier in the week we made a quick trip to Hobart to see DJ Shadow. International acts rarely come to Tasmania, especially ones we love, so I jumped at the chance. I bought the tickets in secret and organised for our lovely friend Mel to mind Theo and surprised C with the tickets as an anniversary present (5 years together!) - before the show we went to a fantastic burger place and I picked this Lucky Beer for C to have with his burger and made him keep the bottle for a vase. Unfortunately neither of us enjoyed the show (a combination of a bad venue for the type of music, patrons who danced violently and stomped on my feet, the sound being ear-drum-burstingly-loud and the act not really living up to our expectations). That was a long story to tell you where I got a bottle!


I always thought bathrooms were ugly places never to be photographed, but our new bathroom is pretty cute. I love prints of mountainous landscapes with rivers and I think this one works really well in this space, like a little portal into another world.


You know how there are those days when you hate every item of clothing that you own and feel like you have nothing to wear? Thankfully I don't seem to have those days any more - I have so many dresses I love.


Tintin and C in the kitchen.


A bit chipped, but I still love the colours.


Getting ready to roast some cherry tomatoes (given to us by our neighbour) and rosemary from our garden.


My boy and his toys. Today while I was cleaning he went through my shoe collection and became totally fixated on a pair of red t-strap high heels. He just sat there holding them and turning them around in his hands. I thought I'd put them on and show him what they were for and he followed me around trying to grab them!


Another spot Rigby enjoys.

Today I got up earlier than usual (finding it harder and harder to sleep in) and started getting some things done that I was looking forward to. I finished painting a sideboard, rearranged furniture, bought some new supplies, made my own toasted muesli, potted some herbs, bought a pram online, watched the Australian Open mens final and the Newcastle Jets soccer game on tv, chatted to my mum on the phone and cooked cheese and Vegemite scrolls. That's a ridiculously productive day for me and they don't happen often. I wish every day was like that.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I bought a set of old school lockers and started sprucing them up. I borrowed C's dad's cordless drill and bought some new drillbits, screws and some mdf and added shelves, painted the interior and touched up the paint on the exterior (C was my lovely assistant -holding things and measuring things and finishing the painting). Doing this little project a few weeks ago has made me feel really excited about taking on more little DIY projects.




This week C and I were looking for secondhand baby items at our favourite opshop and saw a battered old sideboard/buffet (similar to the one in our kitchen) for $10. The laminate was peeling off and it looked pretty scrappy but we bought it anyway and last night after work I glued the laminate back on, sanded it, primed it and painted it and today we moved it into the baby's room. I thought it would be a good height to put a change mat on. Unfortunately I'm incredibly impatient and didn't take any 'before' photos for the lockers or the sideboard.

These little furniture DIYs have been really fun and I feel like they're something I'd really enjoy doing in the future, possibly for reselling. Later in the week we're picking up a cute cot we found on Gumtree. I'm sure I won't be able to help myself but share as the baby's room takes shape. I've been feeling undeniably nesty lately. My mum says it's good because you end up really appreciating the effort you put in before the baby was born, when you've got no time for doing anything after the baby is born. This is a space I'm probably going to spend a lot of time in, so I figure it is as much for me as it is for baby boy.





I'll eventually replace the posters blu-tacked on the wall with some framed paintings and drawings.




I found the tiered stand below for $5 at the same opshop trip mentioned above and decided it would make a nice display for some herbs at our front door. The brightly coloured containers don't have drainage holes, but I'm going to add some when I borrow C's dad's drill again. There are chives at the top, parsley in the middle and basil at the bottom. I was thinking it would be nice if my guests could take a handful of herbs when they go home after visiting.




Here are some pictures of my culinary efforts today. I eat a lot of muesli and thought I'd see if I could make my own toasted muesli with dried fruit (the picture was before I'd added the fruit). It was really easy and tastes as good (if not better) than the bought stuff - I might share my made-up recipe. I made a pretty enormous batch, so hopefully it's been economical (buying lots of nuts and dried fruit is always kind of pricey).




 I am also a huge cheese and Vegemite scroll fan but unfortunately the supermarket I work at has stopped selling them. I wimped out a bit and just used puff pastry for my attempt today but they were very delicious.



Before I sign off I wanted to show you a new little friend of mine. This little black cat is called Atticus (a name we did consider as a baby name!). I'll properly introduce you to him in a later post. He's the best cat ever.