The House - The Green Room

Drum roll please, and all the necessary fanfare for the unveiling of our recently renovated bedroom on my here blog...

A photo of Luke and I when we finally finished, 9:00PM on Sunday night (before heading back to work the next day... ughhh!)

The BEFORE photos

and now... the AFTER

 

 So what do you think? Are you green with envy? FYI, that is a petticoat hanging up, not a tutu. A bedroom worthy of a decor magazine spread, don't you think?

Now for a close-up of some of my awesome knick-knacks. Most of which are courtesy of my classy mother :)

 My Christmas present this year was a 1930s dressing table set. Isn't it divine? It reminds me of the Emerald City, which also makes me happy.

 Perfume collection. I love pretty bottles. My favourite perfume for 2 years running is My Insolence. Also adore The One - Rose by Dolce and Gabbana, which is what I wore at our wedding and keep for special occasions.

Also from my mother: doilies which help me not to forget where I come from. (Although I also get reminded by my colleagues daily)

 

 What better thing to do in our new room then curl up with a good book?

Until next time :)

The House - There's No Place Like Home

I’m here!!! I haven’t fallen off the edge of the interweb, although my absence may appear that way. There's so much to tell you, I honestly don’t know where to start! By the way, didn’t Luke do an awesome job while I was away? I can’t believe he did a fashion post - it shows he really does listen when I rant about my clothes.

So what’s been happening? A month's holiday travelling around the world: London, Paris, Frankston… (Sorry, that was an in joke for Australians who read this blog - my hometown in Australia has somewhat of a “reputation”). Anyhow, where was I? Oh yes, a month’s holiday, going from 2 degrees in Paris to 40 in Melbourne. Talk about climate change!

I'm now back in Wellington, and Luke and I have finally moved into our new house. So exciting! We moved on Saturday 12 January. We said goodbye to our old flat, and passed on our thanks for being the backdrop to so many lovely memories.

So although we moved in 6 weeks ago, I wanted to wait till the place started to look homey before sharing some photos with you. I think you'll agree it's the cutest house ever. And it’s ours, all ours (well technically, I think the bank owns most of it... but still, with each mortgage payment it’s a little more ours and a little less the bank's). It’s a 1940s cottage, and I’m hoping to restore some of that feel through our redecorating. Plans, so many plans! Actually, some of our neighbours refer to it as "The Cottage House" - pretty sure I should put that on a plaque and stick it on the fence.

We now also have a car! Yes, up to now we have been wheel-less, but now it’s time to hit the road! Our car is called Monty... because you know you have to name cars, like you have to name musical instruments and vacuum cleaners (or maybe that's just my family...)

So yes, a new chapter in the life of Hannah and Luke. And I promise to keep the blog updates a little more regular from now on, since I missed you all so much. But for now, please enjoy some house eye candy.

Luke and I out the front. Please note that the garden did not look like this when we moved in.

Actually it looked more like this...

Something I have learned. Gardening = hard work.

 Kitchen. Look at that bench space. I mean look at it!

Yes, that is a Tardis-shaped tea pot. That's how we travel to work every morning.

Dining Room. 

I'm hoping to do some kind of vintage Asian theme in here eventually. This would save me having to repaint the feature wall, and I think it would be really neat.

 I think the lounge is my favourite room of the house. It gets lots of afternoon sun. By the way, all the furniture you see was bought from TradeMe. The couch + arm chairs + rocking chair + TV unit cost us less than $500. Pretty neat, huh? I've actually decided to furnish the entire house with second-hand furniture, just to prove you don't have to spend ridiculous amounts of money in order to have a nice home. 

 Look, a display cabinet for pretty things... Makes me happy. We can finally display the beautiful teapot we got from friends in Taiwan at our wedding.

 Study (Third Bedroom). This needs some TLC. But it's handy if you need a quick reference for the alphabet.

Second bedroom. I'd also like to do something more with this room, but I need to be patient. At least we have a bed for guests. No more sleeping on the couch in the lounge/kitchen = luxury. 

 Our bedroom. Yes, that is my soft toy on the bed. What of it? Those are Art Deco bedside tables I found on TradeMe - aren't they pretty?

 Also from TradeMe, a 1950s dressing table. Isn't it lovely? Hoping to restore it... at some stage.

 Bathroom

 Laundry. :)

And that concludes your grand tour of the Tysoes' house. Thanks for stopping by. We also have a back yard and a garage, but I'll leave them till next time. Oh and yes, I did get a big haircut recently. It was time for a change.

Until next time :)

(Which hopefully won't be too far away!)

The House - Our First Home

It's official. Luke and I have bought our first house. It's hard to believe that the gorgeous little 1940s cottage below is ours. God has blessed us so much. Thank you for all your prayers and positive thoughts. 

Also, thank you for all your kind words on Facebook. For those of you who have requested additional information and pictures, I hope this blog post will be satisfactory. 

Obviously all the furniture in the pictures belongs to the previous tenants, but you get the idea. I can't wait to add personal touches and make it our own. I might have already borrowed a stack of interior design books from the library and am definitely going to make use of my sister-in-law's interior design degree.

Yes, that's right: it even has a porch swing. I'm not willing to admit just how big a selling point that was for me.

Before you ask, the swing set and cubbyhouse are not included. :(

 I know, I know, that's one nice cubbyhouse. 

 The garage for the 2 cars we currently do not have. 

 A cute little back porch. All in all, we have a good outdoor living space.

 No, the trampoline doesn't come with the property either. But look at all that flat grass. You know what that means, right? Croquet! :)

 Master bedroom

 Not only did we get Luke's longed-for bath, but we've also upgraded to a spa bath - fancy schmancy!

 Yes, that is a shower. You'll appreciate how much this means if you've had the pleasure of trying to get wet under our current shower, which consists of a hose attachment hooked up to our bath taps.

 Second bedroom.

 Third bedroom... with all these extra rooms, Luke and I will have to be careful not to get lost!

 This is the lounge room. I love the light fitting. There's a nice amount of space too. 

 The doorway ahead leads straight on to the dining room.

 Dining room.

 Look at that bench space! It's about a mile longer than our current kitchen.

So that's our new place. It'll be humble beginnings at first, as Luke and I don't own much furniture or whiteware. But I'm looking forward to scouring antique shops, Salvation army stores, Trademe (a New Zealand trading website) et cetera, and finding some really nice pieces.
Only 40 days left until this becomes our home. 

Until next time :)