:: A House Update & A Giveaway Winner! ::

A fair bit has been going on in our little cottage since I last time talked about it. The last time I posted photos of our house it was when I was on a huge cleaning mission in an attempt to make this house feel a little prettier. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the colour scheme the previous owners used on our house. The outside colours are a yellow-cream, dark red, and dark green. This is a lovely heritage colour scheme when done properly, but it hasn't worked so well on our house. On the inside we had a lovely mish-mash of colours - yellow, red, blue, dark teal, brown - so pretty!

In the last six months we've slowly made some changes around here - one of those being new paint inside! We've also finished grassing our backyard, our new roof is almost complete, and our bathroom renovation starts in a few weeks! Exciting times in the Lavender household! I suppose it will come as no surprise that the colour we chose for our interior is green. I'm kind of predictable. But, it's a lovely grey-based green and is actually the same colour my parents have in their house. Their house has been that colour since before they bought it back in 1993 and the colour hasn't dated yet which is a great sign that it is a perfect for colour for houses as old as ours (95 years old!).

See the lovely red trims? (The walls in the before photo were actually a yellow-cream colour)

The house feels so much bigger now - cleaner too! I can't wait to show you bathroom before and afters in a few months.

I also have a giveaway winner to announce - congratulations to the lovely Felicia!

PS. The colours we used were Pale Vellum (the green) and Clotted Cream (the trims/doors).

:: The Autumn 'Spring' Clean - Week Two - Kitchen ::

Week Three of the Autumn 'Spring' Clean has come and gone, so I thought I should show you some before and after photos from week two - the kitchen. I admit, I took my kitchen before photos when there was some dishes to be washed and bench clutter, otherwise the before and after photos would be much like my bathroom ones - not much difference to be seen in photos (instead, the difference is something that can be felt).

:: Kitchen - Before ::

We are lucky to have quite a large kitchen (unlike our bathroom!). I'm not a big fan of the 90s cottagey feel, but it's a nice spacious room with high ceilings which I love.

:: Kitchen - After ::

Yay, less clutter!

We don't have a rangehood over our oven, so our kitchen gets greasy quite quickly. I scrubbed those cabinets to within an inch of their life, and as a result the kitchen feels so much cleaner now. Having less cluttered bench tops and cupboards, and no out-of-date food hiding in the back of the pantry is awesome - but it's the lack of grease is what I notice the most.

I have great plans for this kitchen in the future. I'm thinking lots of white and lots of natural lights, with a bit of antiquey vintage flair. Here's my kitchen inspiration board on Pinterest.

:: The Autumn 'Spring' Clean - Week One - Bathroom ::

Well, the Autumn 'Spring' Clean is off and running! Gracie and I have been hard at work for two weeks now. I don't know about you guys, but I love having a clean house. Most of the time my house is tidy and presentable, but it's not clean. You know, the kind of clean where you come home and it feels so nice to see sparkling floors and gleaming windows. We live in a really old house. It's almost 100 years old. And, as such, there are a few things that need a bit of tinkering - one of which is the bathroom.

It's no secret that I hate our bathroom. It's a small space with poor ventilation, the previous owners tiled it themselves and to save money they spaced the tiles a little too far apart (so we have lots of grout!), and they gave it a quick lick of an odd brown colour that doesn't cover the walls properly, and don't get me started on all the wood in a wet room! I tend to neglect our poor little bathroom because it causes me so much grief.

Bathroom - Before

As you can see in the photos, it's not the most attractive of bathrooms. I scrubbed it for over two hours. I scrubbed those tiles so hard that grout started falling off. And to my dismay, when I stood back and surveyed my work, there was no difference! But, I will admit that it feels nicer in there now that's it's been scrubbed to within an inch of it's life.

You can see the original white colour in the top left-hand corner of this photo. Oh how I wish they'd left it that colour!

Bathroom - After

(I promise I cleaned it!)

You can see faded bits of the wall where old cabinets were attached before we decided to take them down. They were made of wood and were warped from all the moisture in the room. We have great plans for this bathroom as soon as we get the money - I'm picturing lots of white and lots of light!

Do you have a dream bathroom? I've started a bathroom inspiration board on Pinterest to keep track of interesting, pretty, functional, and fabulous ideas I find.

:: The Autumn 'Spring' Clean ::

A few weeks ago I half-heartedly participated in A Beach Cottage's de-clutter mission. I did a pretty good job, but I wasn't completely dedicated because some rooms in my house are so messy that I didn't know where to start. You know how sometimes you just have so many things to do that you don't know where to start - so you don't do any of them? Yeah, that.

Gracie and I were speaking about our houses needing a good clean and we came up with the idea to follow on from A Beach Cottage's idea and host an Autumn 'Spring' Clean!

So, starting next weekend we will clean/de-clutter one room each weekend. If you spend a weekend focusing on just one room, it won't seem so daunting ... well, that's the plan anyway! Gracie and I will be posting before and after photos on our blogs, but also on Instagram and Twitter! So, if you choose to join us, use the hashtag #asclean so we can see your progress!

And now, just so you know I'm serious about messy rooms, check out my spare room. This room is supposed to be a second bedroom/craft room. Currently it is a dumping ground for things that don't have a home.

So, who's with us? Are you ready to give your house an Autumn/Spring clean?

:: De-cluttering Mission ::

Last weekend I was on a major de-cluttering mission. I was inspired by the de-cluttering going on over at A Beach Cottage. I was sick of rifling through messy drawers in an attempt find things, so I woke up on Saturday morning and worked like a mad woman on certain aspects of our house. It's still nowhere near finished, but it's nice to see small changes taking shape!

Kitchen pantry: Before

Kitchen Pantry: After

Make Up: Before

Make Up: After

Perfume: Before

Perfume: After

Bathroom Storage: Before and After

I was so on task, I didn't even stop to get my normal camera out. So, iPhone photos are all I have! This is only the beginning. I plan to have an entirely organised house in a few weeks. I think my wardrobe/shoes will be next ... the thought of which scares me! But really, what's the use of having clothes you haven't worn in years (or even at all!) clogging up precious space? Also, you may come across some little lost treasures like I did ...

An amazing Christian Dior eye shadow palette. How I forgot about this is beyond me!

Do you have any tips on cleaning and de-cluttering your house? I've been told to take all items out of my wardrobe to get a good look at what I have. Another tip was to turn all hangers one way and when I wear an item, turn the hanger the opposite way. After a few months reassess the items one the unturned hangers. Pretty smart!

PS. I had a loss at my first weigh in! It wasn't quite the 1kg (2.2lbs) I was hoping for, but it was .7kg (1.5lbs)!!

:: For the Love of Flowers ::

Mr LG and I went to the Brisbane Markets the other weekend. We had a great time looking at all the fresh produce and yummy meats. But my favourite section was the flowers. There was only a small flower section, but there was more than enough to make me happy!

We ended up buying a bunch of bright purple flowers, a bunch of lovely tiny white flowers and a bunch of pale pink flowers. I'm not a flower buff, so I have no idea what they're called! We had enough to fill three vases. 

We put one in our kitchen:

One in our dining room:

And one in our living room:

I love the difference flowers can make to a room. They instantly brighten the place up, not to mention the yummy smells! This Spring/Summer I want to make a conscious effort to purchase more flowers. I think they'll be a good remedy for those days when you just feel meh.

What are you favourite flowers? I love jasmine (haha) and lavender (I know, I know). I also love hydrangeas, and roses. And I love how fun and happy gerbera's are!

:: Lavender ::

Back in May Mr LG and I planted some daisies and some lavender in pots on our front deck. Neither of us are very skilled at anything plant related, except perhaps, on how to accidentally kill them :( True to form, our daisies aren't looking so good. But, our lavender has it's first flower! I am so excited (and kind of amused that my future namesake is growing just fine).

Look, look!

I can't wait 'til it's a full pot plant of amazing smelling lavender. Do any of you grow flowers? What are some fail-safe flowers we could grow?

:: Backyard Demolition - Part Two ::

At the end of last year Mr LG and I bought the cutest little house. It was propped up on stilts and made entirely out of wood. The polished floorboards gleamed with possibilities and everywhere we looked we saw endless potential. After a few weeks the rose-tinted glasses came off and as we looked around we still saw the potential, but also the work we needed to put into the house so we could turn it into our home. We have made some minor changes here and there, but so far the biggest change has been our backyard.

About a month ago I told you all about our jungle. I'm so excited so show you what it looks like now!

Step One:

Step Two:

Step Three:

Step Four:

We finally have a blank canvas to work with! We can't get over how big our backyard actually is. The amount of sun that filters into the house now is incredible. Once again our rose coloured glasses are back on as we stand on our back deck and stare at the potential in front of us.

Obviously the first step is to fill in the holes left by the trees, and to attempt to flatten the yard a little (it slopes up on the sides), and then a fence on the right-hand side to even up the yard. We'd also like to cover the fence at the back because it's a little mismatched (some wood, some corrugated plastic, some big rocks to plug up holes). We also have plans for grass, and lots of it. I'd like a few raised planter boxes so I can start a vegie and herb garden, and we can now put up a clothesline and have the clothes dry without being covered by leaves!

What would your dream backyard have in it? We'd like an old pizza oven one day so we can have friends and family over to eat home-made wood-fired pizza on the back deck.

:: Our Kitchen ::

Despite the fact that our kitchen looks a little '90s country cottage' it is currently my favourite room in our house. Most people will spend a fair portion of their day doing something in their kitchen - whether they're whipping up an amazing meal, or boiling water for a much needed cup of coffee. Mr LG and are lucky enough to have a fairly large kitchen, especially considering the age of our house, as most old houses in our area have small galley-style kitchens.

We are currently using the 'normal' white oven seen in the right-hand side of the picture above. Eventually we will use the beautiful green oven seen on the left. The green oven was given to us by my parents when they redid their kitchen. It is one of the oldest working ovens in my state. Everything takes twice as long to cook in it, but I am absolutely in love with it.

The previous owners has this oven area converted in a cupboard for storage space. We used the cupboard for a few months before we decided to pull it apart and use the space for it's original purpose.

Mmm ... pancakes ... Can you tell I like the colour green?

We have a lot of plans for our kitchen. The entrance to the kitchen is currently the size of a normal doorway. We would like to open the wall up with an arch to create more airflow, light and openness to the room. The walls are in need of a good paint and all the door handles need to be replaced. We would also like to get a nice big island in the middle of the room. I have seen a lot of kitchens that have white cupboards lately and I really like that look. I'm not sure if it will suit our kitchen though. What do you think?

Thank you all for the decor inspiration ideas you gave me in my last post! I now have some great eye candy material.

Have a great weekend!