Pretty Rugs from Safavieh

Spring is in the air! Can you just smell it? In Los Angeles where we live, it was the perfect 75 -degree, clear blue sky, sunny day. The hills are green and the wild flowers are blooming. It's so pretty we can hardly stand it. Despite what people say about LA, parts of it are quite stunning.Spring also makes us want to clean up the house, wash the windows and spiff things up a bit. We find the best way to spiff things up is to add some colors to the house. Switch out the lamp shades (yes, you can buy different lamp shades and voila, it's like a brand new lamp), get some fresh flowers, and buy a couple of new rugs.We like the Soho collection of rug from Safavieh quite a bit. It's totally fresh, modern and fun. It's also not too expensive either...

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Contemporary Exterior of Villa

Villa is elegant design and modern, equipped with a beautiful swimming pool, the villa looks luxuri...

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Five Good Things About A Bad Economy

Can you not open a newspaper or turn on the TV without hearing more bad news? You'd think the world is coming to an end or something. We just see it all over now, don't we? In our conversations with friends and family, not one passed without comments on the economy and how terrible things are.But you know what, comes with every hardship there are things to be learned and treasured. Our lives are changing, but it is changing for the better.Here are five reasons why:1) We waste less. Seriously, we've been spending too much, wasting too much, eating too much. Cutting back is not a bad thing.2) We learn to buy less and buy better. It's so much better to buy one good thing than ten junky things anyway.3) We value more important things than money. This is the time when we appreciate our health,...

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Great Source for Home Decorating Pictures

We have to confess, we are a home decorating magazine addict. We subscribe to every single one there is, but the truth is, we never read the text. We just look at the pictures. What's the point of reading if the pictures are enough, no?If you are looking for inspirational home decorating pictures, we have a great source for you. Check out RedCover.com. This site is actually a seller of images, much like Corbis or Getty Images, but they specialize in interior, garden and food images only. What we love best is that it has the best of European home design ideas, which we don't have easy access to here in the US. It's a lot of fun to browse through the beautiful pictures on the site.Here are some sample pictures. There are thousands more...Notes:...

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Z-Gallerie to close 25 stores

Z Gallerie announced it will close 25 stores across the country today, citing deteriorating business conditions. The company will still have 52 stores and its web site.We love Z Gallerie. It has affordable, stylish merchandise at very reasonable prices. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this tough economy will pass and all of our favorite stores will survi...

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Exterior Old Buiding

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Love This Loft!

The New York Times recently featured a wonderful loft in New York City that we just love. Loft decorating is tough. It is usually just a blank, open space and most people find it a challenge to make it cozy, warm and inviting at the same time. There is also the issue of spacing--you have to divide and conquer creatively.Here are some pictures from the article which shows how it can be done. To see the rest of of the pictures and read the full article, click he...

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Building On the River

Building On the Ri...

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Gate on the River

Gate on the Ri...

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Bar, Laundry and Wardrobes...

The bar area This is now the bar! I feel it has all come together and now complete. The top cabinets just make it look so much better and once again, I was seeing things half completed. The bar is upstairs as originally it was going to be like a second kitchen. I suppose it is in a way as there is a small oven going in, a round sink and a bar fridge. The back splash will be glass in Antique White USA (same colour as our walls) I am having a green couch in this area with gold and purple cushions! Don't worry everybody, the colours work really well together or they did in the shop LOLI am also going to buy a big red vase of some description to tie in the red in the lounge area.RED....GREEN....PURPLE....YELLOWThese are all the colours that need...

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Exterior Building With Fountain

Exterior Building With Fount...

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Kitchen and Wardrobes

Here are the pictures of my half completed wardrobes. It is unbelievable how much cabinetry there is just for these 4 robes. The pictures are my kids robes, ours are put together but not in yet, really big job for the installer. Our builder was there with us and he couldn't get over how nice they looked in the house. It is going to take a while to get use to this as we have never had anything like this before.The next few pictures are of my kitchen. Thank goodness John (my builder...I told him about my blog today but not the name and he reckons he will find it so lets see if he does LOL) quickly put my fears to rest about that draw, all it needs is to be adjusted and he told me just to wait until its all done! This is my colour splash back,...

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Steel features

Steel features on the outside of my houseVictoria from Design Ties asked me for a picture of the steel fins that we have used on the outside of the house. Here is just a small sample of how it looks at the moment. Not all the house has its final render so I will wait to take a really good shot when the outside is completed. I absolutely love this design as it wraps right around the house and gives what could of been a boring wall, some interest and definition.Guess what everybody, the wardrobes are being installed...this time I took pictures, in a much better mood today hahaMrs...

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Comfortable Chairs & Lounges from Jessica Charles

We like furniture that is made in the US. We just do. There are two reasons for it: 1) we are patriotic and 2)they are just made better.Jessica Charles, a division of Hancock and Moore, is one of those. They specialize in only one thing, chairs (which include dining chairs, lounge chairs and occasional chairs) and oh they do it so well...Here are some pretty things from Jessica Charles:As always, email us if you need help with any of these ite...

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Dining Chairs We Love-Jessica Charles

We love these chairs from Jessica Charles. They are so well-made! We have chairs that are 15 years old and they are still in super good shape.Here are some new styles that are totally adorable. The chairs are expensive (ranging $600-800 per chair depending on fabrics), but we think they are worth it.You can see the rest of the collection at the Jessica Charles web site. In addition to chairs, they make fabulous chaise lounges and occasional chairs as well.If you need help with any of the products shown, drop us a line...

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Reflection time again...

Our inside door handlesWarning to all my readers, this is a long, completely sooky whinge....but this is a house build blog therefore us long suffering owners are entitled to a little whinge every now and then LOLIt happened again. I went to the house for a quick brief visit with the sole purpose of taking a picture for Victoria but when we got there, our kitchen guy had been...so how excited was I! The builder opened the house for us so I went in to look at my 'dream kitchen'.I don't know how to say this but I was disappointed so much so that I didn't take any pictures at all. Once again, the kitchen is still only 3/4 finished with bits of panels missing here and there. that's OK, work in progress but what I noticed was that one of the cupboard...

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Exterior of Twin Building

Exterior of Twin Build...

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House Pictures...

BalconyThe picture above shows the view we get from our balcony. The last panel on the right cuts out our view line of the park. I am not really sure why the council made us put up screening on that particular corner. Just a slight irritation as it doesn't look right but I will get use to it. At least it will protect us from the winds that come through around winter time.Children's BathroomI love this picture! my kids bathroom with their new carrara marble top. The whole room just feels right, I can't wait to see the basins, shower and taps installed. The basins are a beautiful round shape that will sit on top. Door HandlesThese are the door handles I have chosen...you can hardly see them. I didn't want the handles to be a feature and wanted...

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