Modern House Minimalist Design

    Welcome to the Open House party.   I am so happy you are here and I can't wait to see what you have to share.  You will find the link to join the party at the bottom of this page.         Thanks to those of you that linked to last week's party.  If you are featured this week feel free to grab my party button.        Doreen at Hymns & Verses  created this pretty Valentine vignette.  Just look at the cute cow! Freddy and Petunia  took a vintage globe and made two unique and AMAZING sconces.  Okay,  these brownies could become my favorite guilty pleasure.  Barbara @ 21 Rosemary Lane shared this delicious recipe for Red Velvet Cheesecake swirl brownies...yum! This beautiful collection of brown transferware belongs to Sarah at Hyacinths For The Soul .  In this post she shares many of her fabulous containers. I hope you enjoyed the features this week and now on to the party...... ...

I've been looking for an interior to share this week that is a little out of the ordinary and when I stumbled upon this home at JJ locations, I just had to share it with you.  The house is an 8 bedroom Victorian villa set in 2 acres of gardens. Clever use colour, patchwork fabrics and wallpaper, along with an eclectic mix of furnishing has created a comfortable vintage feel to this unusual interior.  This vibrant home in Somerset, UK is available for film/photo shoots, see more images of this unique interior at JJ locations.

I am not one for solely following tradition and those 1 metre rolls of shiny paper scattered with trees and snowmen and candy bars are definitely past their "sell by date". Myself, I keep a stock of embellishments on hand which are really great for last minute wrapping. Collect vintage beads or jewelry, broken vintage pieces and old buckles can be put to use. Buckles can be threaded onto wide or narrow ribbon and secured around your parcel. Pieces of jewelry can be hot glued onto the ribbon or parcel itself. There are endless ways to wrap.   I have been browsing the Internet and found some "non traditional" but fabulous ways to wrap your gifts.  lots more inspiration can be seen on my Pinterest board, I have added a link at the end of this post.   You can find many more gift wrap ideas on my Pinterest board "Gift Wrapped " Happy wrapping! Sharing with: I Did Tell You 1| Image via  Style Me Pretty   2| Collage created by Lee Caroline - Via Style Me Pre...

On a dull, wet, Auckland Spring day I tried to get some photos of my Christmas mantelpiece.  I'm not so happy with the image results, still waiting for that elusive upgrade camera, "I know, ya..ya.. you have heard this before". However, yet another Christmas I have had to make do with my point and shoot, so please excuse the fact that I don't have a wide angle lens, and I had to work in poor light.  I am a perfectionist at heart and would rather wait until I have that perfect camera, but I realise, if I wait for perfection, my readers would too. I am thankful for photo enhancement to add some light to the images, although I may have over done it slightly. I wanted this years mantel to reflect nature and elegance, and to include items of mine and my mothers. For nature, I chose Orchids, I adore them and they flower for such a long time, I knew they would see Christmas and New Year too. My pair of porcelain Cheetahs complimented the white orchids and the...

The other day I was reading a post from fellow blogger 'Vicki Archer of French Essence',   "Paris and the truth about girlfriends" , which in turn led me to Sande Chase's blog, 'A Gift Wrapped Life' and her post on "All the girls are crazy for Paris." These two lovely ladies from different parts of the world who met through blogging, recently met up in Paris and spent a girly week together. I couldn't think of anything more wonderful than spending a week in Paris, but doubly fabulous when spending it with a girlfriend.... just imagine copious amounts of shopping, chatting and coffees, smack, bang!, in the fashion capital of the world. Both these stylish women spoke about their new Oxfords (brogues) they bought in Paris, when I saw a photo of them on A Gift Wrapped Life , I was really excited, as I'd found a vintage pair at my mothers house last week. If you're a follower of my blog you'll know I've been caring for my mother f...

Lots of inspiration this week starting with a tour writer/artist/blogger/entrepreneur Jen Ramos fabulous Las Vegas home at her blog "Made by Girl" ... A rug can subtly blend in with its surroundings making it more cosy under foot, or make an artists statement such as the one above. Interior designer Lisa Ferguson of Decor Mentor  has put together a fab post on tips for buying the perfect rug, room size, shape, colour etc, check it out at   Layla Grayce. A delicious Fall recipe.... A lovely, rustic desert from Jenny Steffens Hobick -  Raspberry and Blackberry Crostata  using store bought crust/pastry. And for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere with warmer days on the horizon.... . A thirst quenching lavender lemonade from a delightful blog discovery,   "With a Grateful Prayer".   Please visit Lorraine's blog for her recipe  to make this refreshing twist on home-made lemonade. And now for a little "vintage" up...

Just a short post today, sadly my mum passed away on Monday 6th August after a long battle with cancer. I am thankful, however,  that I could be there for her until the end holding her hand, and that she is no longer suffering.  I will be back posting regularly next week. My mum loved her porcelain and silver so today I'm  sharing some vintage images of items I know she would love... Collages designed by Lee Caroline, photographs from Style Me Pretty . My mother had many beautiful possessions similar to the ones above, never locked away but always brought out and used as they should be.  Thank you to all my lovely subscribers who left touching comments on my last post. I'll be back with more interior design, great recipes and inspiration from the blogasphere in a weeks time.