Monday, December 17, 2012

more inspiration

I love this tropical looking number. Not sure what it is. Also like the fern-like palm popping out behind the tree. Not so keen on the roo - a step too far in the kitsch direction!

Protea (pincushion) looks like an Aussie Native but is a South African native. I like the bold graphic balls of colour.

I am keen to create a slightly kitsch Miami/Florida 1950's tropical holiday feel for the front of my new 1950's house. Bougainvillaea, hibiscus, succulents, tropical foliage, and palm trees. I also want to add in some Australian natives because they can also provide a retro, kitsch vibe too and seem appropriate to add considering we are so close to the creek(teeming with gum trees and bird life etc). I have been busy snapping photos locally of Palms I like that would suit the Melbourne climate.

Bye Bye

Last weekend the caravan departed off to storage. It was bought last night on Ebay and will be going to a new family (6 kids and 2 adults will sleep in it at their holiday block!).

We all felt fond of this van and what it represented. It was central to our ambitious house building dreams and served us well despite the hardships involved. Living with no facilities through Winter on top of each other was one of the hardest things our gang has done but it was memorable and a big achievement. If we hadn't been living on the block we wouldn't have found our new nest across the road (we bought it before it went on the market). We reckon we now deserve plenty of gypo street cred and can imaging how adverse living conditions can affect physical and mental health, making normal people dysfunctional. Thank god it was temporary!

Bye bye awesome big tree and awesome big swing

We did the same sparkler farewell that we did at our house in July - what a year!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Tropical succulent mixup

I love the image above. Hibiscus, boganvillea and argaves are all high on my wish list for the garden I'm dreaming up.

I'm planning to add some bold splashes of colour to the new garden. The overall theme could be loosely described as a 50's Florida-Aloha oasis. I want some palm trees and tropical foliage with a mixture of formal and wild arrangements.

Here is where we will be living in less than a week!

the end is nigh

making a cubby

Oh godness it has been a long, cold, windy, difficult, memorable Winter. Spring has finally turned up and I'm now ready to re-visit this blog and fess-up. Thing have been changing and we are hitting the final stretch of life in the van.

cute

The big sweeping swing continues to be a huge hit with the kids.

Not so much with the dog although she tolerates it sometimes!

Caravan life is ACE!

Good things about living in the caravan

cold

The weather has been horrendous with relentless wild winds and rain. We feel really in touch with the elements with only the thin van walls separating us. The rain at night bangs heavily on the roof and we can often hear the tents flapping away then give in and collapse. I have found myself prepared to go without any drinks after about 6 in the evening for fear of needing to hit the port-a-loo during the night!

the new gang

here are our new chickens free-styling in the lego!

week 2

Two weeks completed living onto of each other in the middle of Winter with no running water, shower, washing machine, an outdoor portaloo, one oil heater and an outdoor BBQ. Where is my medal?!

getting carried away

Yesterday I bought this

Vanland

Here are some snaps from the weekend. As you can see above the boys seem to enjoy pottering around in the little carpeted living section of the van. Its a perfect kid sized space to hang out and do some lego. When we lived in a much larger space the boys tended to play under my feet and that hasn't changed. So far living in a small space hasn't been much of a challenge. The main problems have come from lack of facilities ie running water. I think I'll dedicate a whole post to this issue! Not being able to wash your hands or face or anything without first collecting water (from our neighbours tap), boiling a kettle (btw we have to turn off the heater to do this so we don't short out the power) then putting it in a bowl makes many normally instantaneous tasks a much longer & tedious exercise.

Arrival

Whilst we were living in the motel with no home we were feeling quite uneasy because we had no idea if we could actually manoeuvre this beast onto our block. If it hadn't have worked we would have been homeless until we had found a rental house. It would also be a big financial set-back to have to pay rent. Luckily as you can see above we did squeeze it in but it was a nail-biting experience inching it into place.

Sad farewell

Here are some photos from the moving house marathon. It has been a huge month or so for our family. Packing up was a massive never-ending ordeal that dragged on and on and on. It was hindered by having all the gang at home on school holidays. Above is the front room full of boxes.

Camping

We are in the caravan!

chaos

This is as far as we have got with the packing

trailer park

We have just returned from our first outing in our caravan staying at Big 4 Holiday park in Ballarat.

Gypsies & Stormtroopers

We now own a big caravan! I guess its an 80% chance or crazy plan will come to fruition and we will be gypos this winter, although I'm not sure if you can be technically a gypsy if your caravan doesn't move and has split system air-con and WiFi! There are still some issues about geting the beast on and off the block that we have to resolve then its full steam ahead with our adventure in mid July.

Caravan

Could this be our new home? It would only be for 3 or 4 months.... Here are the positives as we see it

colourful

Decorating my kid's bedroom has never been high on the priority list. Recently however, in preparation for the photoshoot and OFInspections I made an effort to put some colourful things on display.

We have sold our house! The auction was due to be held this Sat but we accepted an early offer. The new owner has a public profile so we know she (obviously!) has great taste. Its lovely to know the house's quirky charm will be appreciated.

Here are some snaps from the last inspection. The front room has finally been finished and presented as a 'grown-ups retreat'

concrete exterior

Oh I love this! Millard House by Frank Lloyd Wright. Breeze blocks & concrete working beautifully together. I think the colour & tone of the concrete creates a soft, natural appearance. It is probably an impractical render for our new house as its not a typical cladding option but we seem to keep thinking about it.

Lots of concrete to be found at the Barbican London, Rich & I have fond memories of hanging out here.

Indoor/outdoor concrete wall weathering nicely here

I love a polka dot!

concrete interior

Setagaya Flat by Naruse Inokuma Architects I like the raw unfinished effect of cement smeared over concrete & plywood created here. I think the concrete partners nicely with the ply.

Living with plywood wall has unique challenges however and we may not use it again. Rich & I loved the warm, natural look of the ply-clad walls however the drawbacks were; acoustically unfriendly, faded in patches when artwork or furniture is placed in front of it over a period of time, the ply gets damaged when artwork is hung up and can't be patched seamlessly.

We are both drawn to concrete as a finish indoors & out. Its a strange compulsion as it seems so cold & uninviting in many ways. It has its practical attractions, low maintenance, forgiving of dirt, thermally clever. I guess using it requires balance with plenty of contrasting cosy comfy finishes.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Garden Ideas

Lots of garden inspiration running through my head. In my mind it is a mix of opposites - wild tropical & landscaped minimal. With some desert-ty cactus, medditerrainian bits. A tad over the top? Ecclectic maybe? I've only been to NY but I imagine this style is influenced by late 50's LA, Miami, Florida garden design. Must do more research, please send me any ideas!