Making it work- Family Room

Thought I’d show you something I quickly put together in Photoshop for a friend.

She has a much loved large canvas that is predominantly teal in colour with red and some yellow. She wants to make it work with her existing furniture which consists of an off white modular sofa and grey rug on light coloured floor boards. The walls have been painted also in an off white.

By pulling out these accent colours from the art work and using them as accessories you can create connection and it will unify the all over effect. Using timber for a coffee table warms and softens the look and also links the floorboards. Then by adding more grey and even some black, it will anchor everything together.

Black, grey & yellow cushion     $49.95    Domayne 

Yellow & white cushion            $34.95    Domayne 

Floor lamp                               $129.00  Domayne

Ginger jar                                $59.95   Domayne

Coffee table                            $969.00  Domayne

Black & white cushion               $34.99   Ikea

Teal cushion                             $34.95   Freedom   

Sofa, rug and art work are just a representation.

           

 

Dressed to impress- Staging your home for sale

This is a property that I helped prepare for sale.

The house sold in 4 days. The first open house resulted in 2 offers. The first was what it was expected to achieve and the second at $15,000 more!!! All in a falling market!



Frames from K-Mart cost $12 all up. With letters "HOME" blown up in Photoshop, it's the first thing you see upon entering.

Subliminal messaging anyone???

We all know that when selling property that presentation counts. There are a few golden rules like de-clutter, tidy gardens, fix any small jobs like dripping taps etc and clean, clean, clean. Going one step further by styling your property can reduce the time it is on the market and potentially add $$$ to your sale price.



                                        Before                                            After

The property itself was a cute weatherboard 2 bedroom cottage that has been subdivided and the backyard sold off. This resulted in a lovely picket fenced front garden with a carport to one side and a courtyard beyond it only accessible from either the front or back doors. The other side of the house had 3 small to med garden sheds. There was no land at the back, just a slim corridor from the back door allowing access to the sides of the house.  

The owner was an older lady that had made the decision to move to a retirement home. She had taken her time in selecting a Real Estate Agent after having 5 agents appraise her property and therefor had very good understanding what her house would sell for. Her likely buyer was a young couple/single parent with possibly 1 child.



After

Artwork hanging from silver railing hooks shows off the beautiful picture railing



Before

After

Picture rail painted white, extra sofa removed and as much white added as the owner would let me :)

Before

With little natural light ,dark walls and furniture it didn't make a great first impression.The unusual ox blood colour on the picture rail just looked wrong.

Before

Far too much furniture made it hard to walk around, even though the bed was only a king single.

The owner had previously downsized from a large 4 bedroom home and needed to further downsize for the retirement village. Without being rude, she had a lot of things and hadn’t really downsized the first time around as it all happened in such a rush. With a house crammed with precious memories, many still not unpacked from the first move, it was a daunting proposition. 

The interior desperately needed a fresh coat of paint as the white walls had gone a kind of dirty grey and the picture rail was painted an ox blood red, even in the very, very Royal Blue bedroom! The owner had initially intended to paint but as mentioned previously, the move was a rush and once in, she simply got use to the colours.

The house needed serious de-cluttering, this was something only she could do as each box needed to be thoroughly inspected. To give you an idea, the spare bedroom’s door wouldn’t open fully and you could only walk in 2 steps, so this took weeks and weeks. She had unfortunately given away her double bed and replaced it with a king single for the main bedroom and only had bunks in the spare bedroom. Not ideal as it can leave buyers thinking that a larger bed may not fit. 

I had originally planned to paint the kitchen/Living, hall way and spare bedroom in a colour that would work with Roman blinds that the owner had just purchased. These were beautiful top quality blinds in a contemporary textured neutral tone that had not yet been installed. Perfect for her potential buyers. The blue bedroom would have been fantastic to repaint but would have been a huge job. It was on the “if we get time” list. The owner was also adamant that as she loved the blue colour, she wanted it to stay, despite knowing that it may put off buyers. In the end, time wouldn’t allow most things to happen.

She put a huge effort into de-cluttering and that in itself made a massive difference. We agreed to paint the hallway and also the front door both inside and out. We also painted just the picture rail in the blue bedroom and I added as much white to the room to tone down the blue and brighten this dark room that received little natural light thanks to the  huge back boundary brick wall. With a couple of new purchases (silver picture hooks, white mirror and 4 black photo frames) and the rest borrowed, the hallway looks much brighter, spacious and inviting.The architectural features of the picture rail, cornice, high ceilings and floorboards are now shown to their full potential. When the photos were being shot, the Real Estate Agent said that they normally don’t take pictures of entries or hallways, but would make this the exception.

 Existing floor plan

 Possibilities

To show potentially what a new owner could do to add value, I not only drew up the current floor plan in CAD for the back of the A4 brochure and Internet, but I also drew up another A4 floor plan that showed what possibilities the house had. Many people aren’t able to use their imaginations and I feel that if you hit people over the head with the “obvious stick” then it will create more interest and in turn greater competition.

By providing access to the private but hard to get to courtyard via new French/Bi-fold doors from the kitchen, it would open up a whole new entertaining area and breath life to a wasted outdoor opportunity.  Decking this area would raise the floor height up so that only one step would be needed from the new doors.

Turning a poky Laundry into an almost "European Laundry" makes better use of this space. A front loader washing machine and dryer would now sit next to the laundry sink. Adding a bench on top of the machines will provide a work space perfect for folding washing. Overhead cupboards take care of the cleaning products. Stealing space from the Laundry now means that you could create a separate shower in the small bathroom rather than having it over the bath.

Other little tweaks offer much needed storage in both the bedroom and Kitchen. 

 The existing courtyard has huge access problems and therefore made it hard to use.

The kitchen has only one run of cabinets under the window.

Inspiring Architecture

I have seen this amazing pavilion several times now in various publications, so when I wanted to share with you some amazing architecture, this was at the top of my list.

I hope you find it as inspiring as I do.

E

Alila Villas Uluwatu Bali by WOHA Designs Singapore.

WOHA is led by directors Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell.

The famous hanging pavilion over the main pool.

The Alila Villas Uluwatu in Bali, Indonesia is a resort development encompassing a hotel and 34 modern, luxury villas. It opened in early 2009.

With Alila Villas Uluwatu, the architects wanted to create more than the usual stereotypical ideas of Bali, creating a design that worked with the dry Balinese Savannah vegetation and gently sloping site, not against it. The fact that the aim was to build a resort to Green Globe certification and with Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) standards did not hinder their architectural vision.

Says Hassell, “From the onset, we knew we wanted to work with ESD in mind.” However, obtaining the necessary raw materials, such as sustainable wood for construction, proved to be a challenge. Fortuitously in this instance, lady luck stepped in as the owners managed to acquire a lot of old timbre telegraph poles and wood railway sleepers that were being auctioned off within the country, and had them transported to Bali.

Notable design features include the flat roofs, laid with batu chandi (local volcanic rock). This porous Javanese rock (a product of Mt Merapi’s eruptions) serves a threefold purpose: insulation; as a means of blending in with the local landscape; and for water absorption to support plant life. Even the jigsaw-like exteriors of the pavilion serve more than an aesthetic purpose.

The slats of these exteriors are made from a mixture of recycled wood and bronze, allowing for breeze to circulate yet maintaining privacy in partially shielding its occupants away from prying eyes. Described by Hassell as being “non-tropical”, these modern bales, which are fitted with plush beddings, retain their traditional Hindu-style shape yet are refreshingly contemporary.

Richard Hassell speaks of this eco-friendly project …”We are very pleased that Alila Hotels have embraced the Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) principles, and we are using many ESD measures including local materials, water conservation with soaks and rain gardens and recycling with grey water systems, using local plants from the special Bali Savannah ecosystem on the Bukit, which are being raised in a nursery on site to encourage local bird and animal life, heat pumps for water heating, salt water pools – among many others.

 Set for a Wedding

The design of the interiors is completely integrated with the architecture, as the design flows from inside to outside. All the materials are locally sourced. These beautiful local materials are environmentally sound and support the local communities

Photos and information found at  www.alilahotels.com   www.woha-architects.com  www.besthousedesign.com and  wikipedia

Bathroom renovation

After
This is our Ensuite that we had to renovate due to water issues in the shower. Unfortunately the people who owned the house previously to us, didn’t have enough fall in the shower floor and it resulted in mushrooms growing between the grout and black mould and mushroom on the wall bedside the shower! Yuk!!

We had to demolish the shower wall and floor to see what kind of damage was done…It wasn't good…so we decided to update the bathroom by keeping what was great about the room and changing anything that didn’t work or look right.

First we modified the floor plan by extending the shower to take up the whole wall and relocated the toilet.
We removed the cornice so we could tile to the ceiling. I chose a mid-priced tile in a Limestone look. Gloss for the walls and a honed look for the floor. A very dark charcoal/almost black tile also in a gloss, makes up the feature wall in the shower. The cavity in the shower runs the full length of the wall, and I also used a tile grate so both of these elements virtually disappear. I really wanted to simplify the materials used and keep everything quite minimal as the built in vanity unity and stone top have a lot of presence already.  I made sure there was no chrome edging strips used on the walls where there are right angles and instead mitred the tiles. Its little things like this that you don’t necessarily notice, however if I did use them, it would have been quite noticeable.
We kept the built in vanity with the stone top (Terrazzo marble I think) but painted it black in a semi- gloss finish. However we wanted to change the basin to a more contemporary look that sat better with the cleaner lines of the existing spa bath. This also gave me the opportunity to change the tap to a mixer.
We also kept the stone top around the spa bath but removed the stone that continued up the wall. I also changed the taps for the spa. Keeping the 3 holes in the stone from the original tap set, I end up having to get a mixer manufactured to my specifications at just a small extra cost, then added a pull out hand shower (best thing ever to clean the spa) and a mixer that works it.  
 As there is plenty of storage in the vanity unit, I turned the LHS bottom cupboard into a dirty washing hamper. It’s a pretty easy process. First you change the hinge from the side of the door to the bottom and relocate the knob to the middle. A cupboard stay was added so that when opened, the door won’t drop down and hit your toes.

It’s a very his and hers bathroom. The ceiling rain shower is my husband’s preference and the wall mounted shower rail is mine. The LED lights in the shower are for my husband and the pendant lights that are dimmable are for me. I much prefer the warm, almost candle light quality, rather than the cool LED’s. The waterproof TV with the floating remote…well that’s all my husbands! Not my idea at all, but he loves it and regularly lays back in the spa bath with a beer watching golf, rugby, footy…you get the picture.

I have also included some before shots for you to check out.

Melbourne is enjoying a few days of amazing sunshine at the moment, but only a few days ago I was wearing a scarf and boots! While this is the typical weather pattern for us here and we often get all 4 seasons in one day, you can be sure that now that we are well and truly in Autumn with Winter just around the next bend, we will be looking to snug up our homes with all things cosy and comforting. So pull out the slow cooker, light the fire and think all things felt, wool, fur /faux fur, wood and burnished metal.

Winter woolies

Bedroom = Linen House Aberdeen from Adairs

Cushion = Adairs

Goat skin stool= Loka Décor (UK)

Everything else = Papaya

I first saw this head turning out door fireplace in the brochure for “Haven on the river” a new apartment complex currently being built in Melbourne. The other day I found it in Papaya’s Winter 2012 catalogue so I thought I would share it with you.

I’m loving the rust finish of this metal fire pit. The fact that the built in storage for the fire wood adds to its overall design insuring that it’s both practical and beautiful, gets a big thumbs up from me.

Find it at www.papaya.com.au

What’s in a name.

When brain storming names that I could use as both a blog and business name, I knew that I didn’t want to use my own name like so many others. My parents gave me a name that while I love, most people either miss-spell or miss-pronounce it. (Elissa pronounced like “Elise-a”).

I have always admired simple strong names. Think Fendi, Chanel, Patio, Husk, Habitat etc. I wanted something that wouldn’t pigeon hole me into a look. After all, designing for other people is about reflecting them; and not about imposing your own style.

When I think of the word Sable, I see it as a colour. Take chocolate brown and add some grey to muddy it up. It’s a neutral with some substance and power. It is also a fur (eeek.. sorry to animal lovers. It relates to a time gone by) so think old Hollywood glamour, where to own such a thing would be indulgent, luxurious, and make you feel like a million $$.