Cloudland

Last night Mr Not-So-Handy and I joined the beautiful people at Cloudland for a charity event. For readers outside of Brisbane, Cloudland is a club in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. Usually I love to people watch but at Cloudland the interiors are so entrancing that you just sort of ooh and aaah over the chairs and tables. As you can see from the photos, no expense has been spared. But its not Versace opulence. It's quirky and interesting as opposed to overblown and boring.

The whole place has a magical, theatrical vibe. But there's surprising bits too like the real plants and vines which are everywhere. A great idea in a nightclub.

We were in the Rainbow Room (photo above) for a trivia night hosted by Freehills with proceeds going to Youngcare. A highlight of the event was the off-the-cuff speech by the Queensland Treasurer, Mr Andrew Fraser. Readers, next time you're in Brisbane, this is the place for a glam night out.

(Photos from cloudlandtv.com)

Christmas Shopping - Part 1

When my sister and I were growing up, Mum used to buy our Christmas presents in July - yes July. Due to the mid-year sales. She'd then put them away until Christmas Eve. (A bit too Colin Powell - n'est pas?) Anyway, now I know why we received beanies and ugg boots on Christmas morning, even though we were holidaying at the beach. In light of this, I refuse to start my Christmas shopping until October. Now that we're at the tail end of October, I thought I'd share a couple of the things I've bought the little ones for Christmas. The first present is a cookie cutter in the shape of a West Highland Terrier, it will make a great stocking filler. Find them at Wheel & Barrow. The second present is a cubby tent. This is great as no assembly is required, just throw over the dining table (after the plates are cleared of course) and there you have a cubby house. Genius! It's from Lily-G.

Peacock Chairs Are Back!

Peacock chairs are back! And they're multiplying! Fleur Wood's lovely entertaining book had lots of pastel peacock chairs, my wisteria peacock chair is now at home, Sienna Miller recently posed on one for GQ (so racy!) and today Anna Spiro has placed a vibrant yellow peacock chair in her shop window:

absolutely beautiful things: A New Window

Lamp Makeover

Makeovers are so much fun. Whether it's a lamp, a couch or an entire house, I always enjoy doing a makeover and especially seeing the before and after photos. So today I am posting the before and after photos of my 'new' lamp. The lamp was actually in pretty good condition but the lampshade was, well, let's just call it original. Actually it was tin. The photo above is the "before" shot and was taken in my workroom. And now for the new look...drum roll please...........

Voila! The "after" shot. You can see that all I've done is added a new shade. It's a cream silk. I chose it to complement the chinoiserie effect of the wallpaper and the desk. You may notice that the paint is a bit chipped on the pineapple part. I'm not going to fix it up as I think it adds to the character of the lamp. The details of where I bought this lamp are on my website.

(Photos by AJ Hawkins for spotsandstripes.com.au)

The Society Inc

I love finding shops that sell one-of-a-kind pieces. Maybe that's why I like fossicking through antique stores and markets so much. One store which feels like a whimsical market is The Society Inc in Paddington (Sydney), owned by stylist Sibella Court. It's got an Alice-in-Wonderland at a flea market vibe. When I was there recently I wanted to buy some coral, some glassware and some fabric. Instead I settled for stripy canvas ribbon. See the photo here.

(Photo by AJ Hawkins for spotsandstripes.com.au)

Diane von Furstenberg

I love reading about entrepreneurial women and Diane von Furstenberg is one of my favourites. As well as designing clothes she recently turned her hand to interiors and designed this suite (pictured) at Claridges in London. Read more about her in this month's Elle Decor.

absolutely beautiful things: News

So exciting! Congratulations! absolutely beautiful things: News

Beach Umbrella

Going to the beach with kids is as glamorous as Don Burke in the garden. It's just not glam at all. The amount of stuff you need to lug to the beach - the tent, the stroller, the balls, frisbees, floaties, sunscreen, cool drinks and hats. And then waiting for Mr Not-So-Handy to work out how to put the tent up. It's a recipe for frayed tempers and sunburn (or is that just us?). Anyway, my prayers have been answered with this totally glam beach umbrella. It's featured in this month's Vogue Living and is available from Top 3 by Design. Whilst we're talking about this month'sVogue Living, there's a great article on Brisbane interior designer, Anna Spiro and her blog: http://absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com/

Guest Bedroom

This is a photo from one of the guest bedrooms at the beach house (project no. 2). I wanted to show you the bamboo picture frame above the desk. I bought it not knowing exactly where I was going to put it. But I like it here. The desk is from Ikea - one of those flat pack jobs. Mr-Not-So-Handy was not so happy with its purchase, as he is much more adept with a mouse than a screwdriver! Read about where I bought the bamboo frame here.

(Photo by AJ Hawkins for spotsandstripes.com.au)

Let's Mini

What do Steve McQueen, Twiggy and Kristen Stewart have in common? Goodlooking. Famous. Yes. But they all own (or owned) a Mini Cooper. This mini cooper (pictured) is from 1970 and is for sale at for around $50k. Read about where to buy this Mini here.

(Photo from the classic throttle shop)

Chinoiserie Wallpaper in the Office

Now that the wallpaper in the office at Peregian Beach (project No. 2) has been put up, I wanted to show you how it looks. Before it was put up I wondered whether it would be too girlie, on account of all those butterflies. But I've decided it's actually quite perfect. I have to admit I do love chinoiserie! Read more about this chinoiserie wallpaper on my website.

(Photo by AJ Hawkins for spotsandstripes.com.au)

Door Handles & the Jia Shanghai

A distinctive door handle has the power to set the scene for the event which is about to unfold. As soon as I opened the front door of boutique hotel, Jia, in Shanghai - I knew I was in for a treat. The door handle itself was amazing - a copper branch with birds. Then when I was shown to my suite, the door handle was a large silver disc (pictured above). This was the introduction to the jewel box of a suite behind the door. Read more about my fabulous stay at Jia Shanghai.

(Photo from Jia Shanghai)

Peacock Chair

All the wet weather (and the strong Aussie dollar) has meant that I've been hitting the on-line shopping very hard! Ebay, Amazon, net-a-porter, the outnet just to name a few. One of my favourite purchases was this gorgeous Peacock chair which I found on ebay. Next purchase - a round cushion for the seat.

(Photo by AJ Hawkins for Spots and Stripes)

Grand Houses - Vaucluse House

Houses which are owned by flamboyant individuals always end up having a fascinating history. This is certainly the case with Vaucluse House in Sydney. The owners, W.C. and Sarah Wentworth, were shunned by high society for having two children before they were married (they had ten children in total). However, they were icons of the time. W.C. campaigned for representative government, established the Australian newspaper, formed the University of Sydney and wrote several books on colonial times. See more photos of Vaucluse House here.

(Photo: Historic Houses Trust)

Hound Holder

Coco Rhubarb, our Westhighland terrier, is very much part of our family. So I love stores which accommodate her. The Peregian Select Butchery go above and beyond with their "Hound Holder". The Hound Holder is just two metal handles, where we can tie Coco up, whilst we buy the lamb roast (and a few bones, of course).

(Photos by AJ Hawkins for Spots and Stripes)

Adore Magazine

It's raining again today in Brisbane. Perfect weather for some on-line browsing. So luckily for everyone who is waterlogged, a new on-line interiors magazine has been launched - adore magazine. It's an Australian magazine so its easy to buy what you see. I really like the pom pom cushions on page 53.

Powerful Women

The annual Forbes magazine list of powerful women has come out. Aussie gal, Gail Kelly, who is the CEO of Westpac bank, is number 8 on the list. This is a huge achievement. The top 10 most powerful women in the world are:

1. Michelle Obama, US first lady
2. Irene Rosenfeld, CEO, Kraft
3. Oprah Winfrey, Media mogul
4. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
5. Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State
6. Indra Nooyi, CEO, Pepsi
7. Lady Gaga, Singer
8. Gail Kelly, CEO, Westpac
9. Beyonce Knowles, Singer
10. Ellen DeGeners, Talk show host

Another powerful woman whom I really like is Diane von Furstenberg. Read about her and other powerful women here. (Photo from dvf.com)

Wallpaper at Bistro Ortolan

I dined at Bistro Ortolan in Leichardt (Sydney) on the weekend and the food was superb. But I couldn't take my eyes off this wallpaper. It was strategically placed on the wall where a fireplace was located. You can just see the top of the mantle in this photo. I was mesmerised. So I had to find out where I could buy it. To find out where, read the wallpaper article on my website.

(Photo by AJ Hawkins for spotsandstripes.com.au)

Wallpaper - For Every Room of the House

Wallpaper is an obsession of mine so when I discovered Publisher Textiles, I was very excited. I'm thinking of using their wallpaper in every room in the house (and the shed) just so I can use their entire range. See more photos in the article, Wallpaper - For Every Room of the House.

(Photo from Publisher Textiles)

Wedding Anniversary

Ladies, if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that subtlety gets you nowhere in the present receiving department. So when our fifth wedding anniversary came around recently, I gave Mr Not-So-Handy a hint - please buy this table. Read more about my wedding anniversary gift.

Grand Houses - Eskgrove

Like a bee to a honeypot, I'm drawn to old homes. So you can imagine my excitement to find that one of Brisbane's oldest homes, built in 1853, is now for sale. Called "Eskgrove" it is a colonial residence at 56 Laidlaw Parade, East Brisbane. It sits on 1180 square metres and is made of sandstone with gorgeous wraparound verandahs, fireplaces and city glimpses. If only that orange tree in my back yard was a money tree! Read more about Eskgrove here.

(Photo from domain.com.au)

Colourful Cushions

I love these colourful cushions from Just Plain Gorgeous in Bulimba. We used them in our photo shoot of the beach house (project no. 2) this week. Read more about these colourful cushions here.