Black glamour

Don't you just love "aha" moments!
I just had one when I saw this glamorous painted-black stairwell. I've been mulling over what to do with mine for so long...
It is super expensive to have them polished, and I think it would be a waste of time and money; the traffic up and down them would soon wear the polish off, but paint, paint is a different matter, especially glossy black paint. Paired with one of these wallpapers and a '70s-style light fitting, like the one below. Glamourama!

Image courtesy of Nueveo Estilo, via The Glamourai.

Image courtesy of this site.

Manhattan about town

In addition to posting about his apartment, design and various vintage finds, Daniel, the young New Yorker behind Manhattan Nest, writes exceptionally funny copy (read Frack hack for example).
He shares my love of Ikea's Frack mirror, but he's done something ultra clever with it here.
He's also swayed my thoughts on the Eames lounge chair and ottoman. I've never really been a fan (black leather and stripey wood veneer - ugh!), and never understood all the fawning, that is until I saw the ivory version below.

While we're looking at lovely images, here are some more, and some early inspiration for my imminent stairwell revamp. At this stage I'm firrmly in the '70s with feature pendant lights and wallpaper the most outstanding contenders for the space.

Frack light and Eames lounge chair and ottoman photos from Manhattan Nest, the rest are courtesy of Emmas Design Blogg.

Bathing beauty

It's been a long time coming, but I have a new bathroom.
It's almost complete, but to an unsuspecting eye, it looks done!
It seems like that peculiar mix of "only yesterday and ages ago" when I was at this stage of the renovation.

I'm so glad I asked for the little recess/shelf in the wall. Tiling it was hard, but worth it.

The gorgeous '50s green ceramic pedestal basin has been kicking around for about two and a half years. I picked it up for a bargain with this renovation in mind; it's the perfect "one accent colour" I was after for my all-white bathroom. It's elegant and has a large, wide surround for sitting bits and pieces on and most importantly, because it's not boxed in and built in it's easy to clean all the way around.

The little vintage mirror above the handbasin and the large mirror on the opposite wall "mirror" each others curvaceous shape. It's the little things.

The oval ceiling-mounted chrome shower-curtain rail, from Period Details , was the most expensive element in my renovation! Seriously. It was even more expensive than the bath, the tiles and the chrome trombone shower/bath set. Unbelievable.

Colour my world

I've started to create, in between doing bits and pieces around the house, such as re-puttying a leaking window (and just before the next few days' rain!).

Looks like this multi-colour feather neckpiece will be first cab off the rank.

A work in progress...not sure about the clear polyurethane plastic tubing?

A meritorious highschool piece of art by my sister. Talented!

I picked up these wooden blocks from a garage sale last week (along with the cute footstool below), the blocks are for jewellery.

I'll reupholster this one...in good time. I'm thinking a pale yellow velvet or maybe even pale sea green or jade?

Stu, stu, studio...

I had plans for a drive today, but the wind has kept me inside.
I'm working on the studio and thinking about some more tiling.
The bathroom tiling is just not grabbing me yet, so I'll follow my instincts and head into the Triple Cee studio and decorate/set it up.
My head's in style mode, not practicalities as these two photos attest.

A model inside London's famed Biba store.

Anita Pallenberg, photographed by Michael Cooper, during a jaunt into the Joshua Tree national park with Keith Richards and Gram Parsons.

Come on, come in...

Not surprisingly, one of my favourite bloggers - SF Girl By Bay - being a fellow Taurus, is on the same wavelength as moi today.
She's talking foyers. I'm thinking entry ways (foyers sounds a bit...town hall or function centre to me).
Anyhoo...as she says, they are weird little spaces, but, according to feng shui rules, they are important spaces to get right.
So, I reckon my entry way's freshly polished boards (done yesterday, and finished today) that will now greet me when I go home each day, is a pretty good place to start all the good Qi.
In the meantime, I am loving the simplicity and clean lines of this entry way, courtesy of SF Girl by Bay.

Looking up from the entry way to my stairs.
The floorboard polisher man said it costs $80 per stair to have them polished (he hates doing it and said he charges accordingly). Sheesh...maybe I'll paint them?

Polished good looks

The floorboard polishers arrived this morning.
They are sanding back the raw and paint-splattered floorboards of the Triple Cee studio and my home's entrance way.
As The Beaufort 8 Group said: "Schweet".

Loving this studio from the fabulously inspirational emmas designblogg

This old post shows how my studio used to look. After the polishers are done, I'll post new photos, then, after I've moved in and made it conducive to creativity(!), I'll post yet more photos.
Then, once I've started creating again, I'll post those photos.
Everything will be available to buy.
Yay!

Calm above, mess below

A barren Hang It All, is a rare vision of cleanliness and calm among the renovation mess.

Mosaics going on in the bathroom.

Tiling with Tocci.

So long beautiful Rexy, so long crappy bathroom

There's been no posts since Saturday because the bathroom renovation has been in full swing.
Plus, I lost my darling little Rexy during the week when he was hit by a car.
I miss him so much, but I soldier on with the bathroom.

Piles of bathroom tiles

After ending my search for a small, glossy, white, wavy-finish brick-shaped tile at a large square version, I had a mini freak-out after handing over my hard-earned and seeing them en masse.
But, I settled with liking them, after all, I think the effect (which looks like a dimpled golf ball to me as opposed to a gently undulating surface), will look good matched with the small white penny-round mosaics that are going on the floor (when they arrive, in all their $$$ glory on Monday).

Wall tiles in practice mode

My floor tiles, not my bathroom, photo from here

Boxes of tiles in the newly painted room

Smashin' fashion

It's New York fashion week, so, while painting, cleaning, culling and a bathroom renovation are front of my mind, sartorial splendour is edging its way to the centre. Yikes.
Not such a bad thing though, for at the end of this recent bout of renovating/painting will be one freshly painted and polished studio for yours truly to make jewellery in; what Triple Cee was created for in the first place...my, how we get distracted.
Photo, of Paris Vogue's style mavens, courtesy of Tommy Ton's site Jak & Jil.

Painted love

One room almost complete - yay!
What a difference a more agreeable paint shade makes.
Picture rails and skirting boards next.

Orange crush

Good morning (windows need a wash).

Nice wheels and a nice price, but bathroom renovation comes first (pics to come soon - YAY!).