more storage - display ideas

The top one is my favourite - very doable; if you have access to those sort of boxes. Which are very very hard to find in my city....

Found {meetmeatmikes}, which linked to {rugged storage options(morning's light)}, which linked back to {Hindsvik}, which has original sources. Oh - the joys of blog hopping.......

*all images used with thanks from all these, and the original, sources!

more wooden architecture

Bamboo ceilings are something super special to see. There's so many good reasons for using it - which I'm sure you can easily imagine (cheap, grows quickly, easy to transport, breaks down and goes back into the earth fairly easily, I would think).

One of my dad's verarandahs has bamboo as the ceiling. There's a lot growing on his land, so he put it to good use (among other things he's makes with it). It was fresh and green when he put it there, and now - many many years later - it's 'seasoned' all brown and dried. It's good watching it change and settle into its spot there. 

One thing - dad tells me - that wouldn't be good about having an exposed bamboo ceiling is that it wouldn't be very insulated (against either the temperature or the animals; many of which do live in the bush and like living in a roof!). Having it for a verandah is a good compromise.

 A good bit of working with timber. Hmmmm - I'm a builder's daughter.......

These rounds are made from bamboo. Check out the whole house on the site. Built for the architect's mum, so she could live simply and watch the moon rise. I like that.

* All images used with kind thanks from architect and designer Benjamin Garcia Saxe - I like his words about 'modern' design and architecture.

{found on Map Magazine issue #122}

{{PS - we're going to look at the land again tomorrow. And talk things through. Perhaps perhaps perhaps..........}

{moment}

Happiness does not depend on outward things, 

but on the way we see them.
Leo Tolstoy

Just a few photos I took on my dad's land yesterday. This place means home to me, in ways that I cannot even properly voice. The place where I grew up - the tiny bunk beds dad built up, the place we had our cubby house and jumped on our trampoline. The creeks we spent many many countless hours/days/years playing in.

*quote found on Sandrine's blog, perfect for me this.exact.moment.

little house

I've just recently finished reading this quite excellent book. 

In fact, very excellent. You should go and borrow it from your local library, and read it. If you're inclined that way. 

It's Little House on a Small Planet. And, it's about exactly what it sounds like it's about. About the small house movement, co-housing, community living.....

In reality, people have been living in small houses since house began. In caves and under ferns or bamboo or leaves to keep off the weather and protect from the animals. And on this small planet of ours, many many people still do live in little houses. People share one room with extended families - living, cooking, sleeping altogether.

I imagine that these people are happier and more content than anyone who lives in a big house can ever be. Can a mansion bring you happiness?

There are endless reasons why small houses are ideal living. Let's start at one that makes a difference to your daily routines - less rooms means less cleaning; who wants to clean 3+ bathrooms, 5 bedrooms, a formal living / dining room, and a family room every week. Think about all the extra time you'd have if there was only one bathroom, 2-3 smallish bedrooms, and one beautiful living / dining space. IN my experience, with kids, it doesn't matter how much space they have - they keep on making it messy; they'll fill one room, then move to the next. And, they also will not stay in their own rooms, but will hover around you, under your feet, on top of you. 

Yes, okay - my kids are still young, and you may be right in thinking that as they get older they'll want the space of their own. But I didn't; as teenagers my siblings and I did our homework in the lounge room {we didn't have a dining table to sit at - being floor livers}, around the family. Part of family life.

Other reasons, which are more thoughtfully environment and financial are the heating and cooling costs associated with a larger or smaller home. To air condition a big house costs a lot - a lot to your pocket, but more importantly, a lot to the environment. Mostly you're cooling rooms that you don't actually spend much time in. {But the workings of A/C mean that you need to keep it on to regulate the temperature, in case you want to walk into the room for a few minutes}.

Heating costs are the same. It's so easy to turn on your gas or electric heater and crank it up to warm the whole house, isn't it. And the electricity/gas bill comes and you get a bit of a shock - but pay it anyway, and forget come next Winter. {Again, I think I barely need to mention the environmental costs, and I don't figures to quote to you anyway. Common sense tells me that it's too much}.

Then there's the cost of actually building your home - regardless of if you build it yourself, pay someone to build it, or buy an old home already built a long time ago {you'll want to renovate that one, won't you}. The materials that go into building large houses can be expensive and costly to the environment, not to mention your mortgage. {Do you know what mortgage means - it's from old French & English, and means 'death pledge'. Lovely, hey!}. And then there's the extra furnishings you need to make all those rooms look like a proper home. 

Also, bigger houses means you have less land around you. Less earth and soil under your toes. Less space to plant trees or veges, or sit in the sun, or run around exploring with your children. 

Little House on a Small Planet is a book that shares stories with people who live in some of the smallest homes (in the USA). It's not a design book, or an architecture book, rather a viewpoint into how you can live, how you can change your life (your current home or your future home) to learn to live and love a small home.
{The one disappointing thing about the book is that all the zoning and planning rules are for USA, and don't apply to Australia - so other research material is necessary; my dad, I'm suspecting!!}.

It's not all touchy feely; it also has many interesting and eye-opening facts and figures and information. But it's the families and the stories that I loved the most. The ideas and ideals; but the ease with which it is a natural way of living - no heroics, just life.

Yesterday we looked at some land {and I left my camera in the car, so no photos or the beautiful trees and moss and fairy homes}. Perhaps it's our land. We are still talking and thinking and deciding and planning. So, of course, I am back to the drawing and planning of our home. Thinking of the spaces we need - what we really need, not what we might want. How do we use our space, can we use the same space for different things. 

We are lucky to live in a part of this Earth where the Winters are fairly mild, and outdoor living happens for most of the year. So vast open verandahs, and easy constant access to outside is essential, practical, expected. A fireplace for those few cold Winter months, where everyone settles in one room to keep warm, and huddles under the blankets and jumpers instead of "turning up the heat".

I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings on the small house. How big is your home, how do you use your space, does your home have any exciting design features, how do you feel your family would go living in a small house (less than 100metres square, I think).

Just a few other small house reading ::
Small Home Style
Cohousing, Small Home Movement
Tiny House Blog
House of Fallen Timbers

*images are, from top - bottom: realestate.com.au; little house on a small planet (middle two b/w images); revelations architect EDGE house (bottom two).

tree change :: dreams

I'm looking at real estate. Again!
I think it's something us women do - based on my 'research', it's a woman thing!
Needless to say that these are pretty much mostly out of our budget.

 

This one is as close to my dream house as I can ever imagine finding already built. Of course I'm going to have to design and build my dream house, as it's so specific. But this one really does come quite close. Sam agrees too. I mean imagine having a bath in that bathroom. Or lying on that large lovely cane lounge and dreaming away a beautiful afternoon. Or sharing tea on the verandah with your dearest friends and family - who would visit you often in a house as comfortable and inviting as this one. This is what I'd buy tomorrow if I won the lotto, or found a few spare bits of cash lying in the gutter!

This one isn't so much my dream home, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't want to spend the money (if I had it!) on living here. But I do really like some aspects of it. And I'm good at ignoring the bits I don't like, and focusing on the parts I do. Like that view. Or the library reading room. And the fact it looks like a timber castle, full of Persian rugs.

And this one, well, this one is so totally out of the budget it's just simply silly to even bother looking at it. Imagine coming home to that view and the swimming pool - is this a resort or a home. You'd never get rid of your friends living in a place like this, would you? I wonder if you could bill them at $1000 a night!

I'd love to see what your dream home looks like.

this afternoon

 

this afternoon
the kids were out
at my sisters.
after my meeting
in a tidy house
{visitors are always a good
excuse
to tidy
my house}.
a quiet house
work to be done
doing it
slowly
slowly
and thinking
and planning
and writing.

i take a moment
to sit
on the back
verandah

******************************

i wrote more than a week ago - a life time ago.
the house is quiet. kids at their grandparents (sam's parents) for the day. while i do paperwork and tax and boring things like that.
i eat polenta for lunch, with some things thrown in
exactly the way i like to cook when i'm at home on my own
experimental
no-one to fuss or turn their nose up
one pot
for ease of cleaning.

***************************

have a look over here, at these fantastic doorstops. she may even be making some, or something similar at least, for our December markets.

*these are a random assortment of photos, taken a while ago (Sept) at a friend's beautiful house in the forest. they are making me happy right now, a quietness.
still-life.

enjoy your weekend my friends. xxx

just.......

only a few days ago it was my nephews birthday. and i realise that i've forgotten to call him, again. or send a card or present. so, here i am - hoping he or his dear mama may be reading this.

Happiest Birthday T.

here are some photos we took at their house last month. have i shown these before - i think not.
this was a beautiful weekend, spent with the treasures of family, in a magical location. lots of laughing and games and talking, and happily not too much bickering.

T - please let me know if there's something special i can make for you, that you'd like.

so - if we forget to ring you, remember we love you and think about you, and talk about you in our daily life.

A + P's home

These are some photos from around my aunt + uncle's home. In Melbourne. Where we stayed while on our recent working holiday.
Practically everything in this house is from op-shops, second hand shops, found in the street during council throw-out weeks, given by friends.
Everything sits in perfect harmony, shapes and colours and glazes and mediums.
A home of heart and warmth and entertainment.
Thank you for sharing your home with us, and chatting into the night, and playing and laughing with the children, and making bread for us.
(And putting up with our mess).

PS - I haven't edited or cropped or fixed the lighting, etc on any of these photos - sorry, too tired + late.

still life :: tea party

These are a few little still lives of our tea party. With the obligatory Lego, of course!
Beautifully styled by my sister, Sylve. She should be a stylish, don't you think. I love her home (when it's tidy!). The little pieces that she has, the collections, the displays. I think one day I need to show you around her house, so you can see what I mean.

*************************

I want to say thank you so so so much to all of you who have been reading and commenting. I enjoy receiving your sweet comments, and your encouragement. I am sorry that I have been replying to comments lately; it seems that my days keep running away from me. I am trying to spend less time on the computer, yet still am scurrying to get everything done. I think we are all feeling the same at this time of year.
I hope you all enjoy and relax and rest and remember that Christmas is about family, and love and friendship and warmth and laughter. Lots of laughter and memory making. And not at all about the best wrapped present or best set table, or tastiest food. It's about the people who give the present to, the people you share the meal with, the people you clink your glasses with. (Though having pretty presents sure is fun isn't it!).
Take care. xxx