our master bedroom and entrance.

This week I assembled my new "bedside table". It's the sweetest bedside table that you ever did see. It meant that my room required some rearranging and photoshoot – obviously!

I am constantly doing things around the home: rearranging, doing up old furniture, changing things... so things don't stay the same for too long and things aren't always in their place. We are currently sanding back and potentially reupholstering the chair in our room (it was swapped out for the chair in our baby's room) so that isn't included.

I realised that I haven't shown you photos of my home, so now is a good opportunity. Who knows what it will look like when you come to visit...

And because our room is just by the front door, I've included some parts of our entrance. Because I'd love to show you around my home.

This is my new bedside table. My mum thinks it will be good for holding lots of books but mightn't be stable enough for a cup of tea. Luckily I have a cloth (aka muslin wrap) to wipe up any spills!

Pillowcase by Gorman x Walala, Doona by Kip & Co, Organic Muslin Wrap by Pure Baby, Cradle by Seed Organic, Flower Crown by Floristik.

Our entrance has a few features: 

As you walk in the front door you can see an original artwork I painted at the Belinda Marshall workshop. Keep your eyes peeled for a review on the workshop soon, but if you want to see some of her work and learn about the artist, check out this post.

We also have our very scary guard deer, which I made from a flat pack, given to me as a housewarming gift. I love him.

Opposite these is an old writing desk, full of character, and topped with an Australian made wooden bowl (used to store our keys), an ampersand, and a bit of greenery – because I NEED greenery throughout my home!

Pot by Jones & Co.

If you then peek into our room, this is what you'll see.

Yes, a beautiful screen printed artwork. This amazing Rachel Castle Tree tea towel (intended as art) was a combined housewarming and birthday gift from a very special friend. I love it in my room – it's often the first thing I see when I wake up. It has such beautiful colours.

It is now surrounded by my old and way-too-practical bedside table and lamp (not within arms reach of my bed) with beautiful cards, a photo of me and my husband and a natural candle on it.

Artwork by Castle and Things, Heart Card by Blacklist, Bunny Card by Maud n Lil, Candle by Natural Tranquility, Pewter Frame by Via Rustica.

Here are the sides of our beds.

We have matching frames above our used to be matching bedside tables: mine filled with dried flowers from my wedding bouquet backed with linen, and Rod's with an artwork we bought on our honeymoon in Hawaii.

Our Gorman pillowcases are beautiful and complement our reversible Kip and Co bedspread perfectly (when it's on its plain side!). I love the character, shapes and colours of the pillowcases, whereas Rod prefers the simplicity of the blue lines. Thankfully they're also reversible so they work well for us.

After the ultrasound of our baby, there were two stand out pictures of her. This one on Rod's bedside table was his favourite so I got it printed and framed for him. You can see just how beautiful she is! I love seeing her next to his bed and how much he loves her already!

Can't wait to have our baby girl in her bassinet, right next to our bed, wrapped up safe and with her mum and dad.

Looking forward to showing you more of our home as it comes together. It's always felt like home but it's slowly becoming more ours and I'm enjoying that!

before and after: kitchen stools.

There are many things I love:

I love my home.

I love a bargain.

I love DIY.

I love repurposing.

So when I picked up these stools from either the side of the road (or was it a garage sale) – either way, a bargain – I saw great bones and new life... and had much excitement.

We have had them for a number of years despite not having a breakfast bar. We used them as plant stands and side tables and step ladders. Trying to do up furniture in a fourth storey apartment with no garage on the Pacific Highway in Sydney is quite difficult. Moving to a house in suburban Melbourne was a good move for DIY projects, especially ones that involve sanding. And nothing gets you ticking off jobs from your to do list like having a baby.

BEFORE: 

Here are the stools. In pretty good nick (we have been using them for a few years in this condition and they were someone else's pre-loved beauties before us). We like what they're vibing, but they're in need of a little TLC.

DURING:

Sanded back. Such a beautiful colour timber.

AFTER:

All finished!

The during and after photos look quite similar. We decided to coat them in a natural wax – to use less chemicals and to keep the natural colour. 

We think they're stunning!

Some of the marks didn't sand out of the tops, but that's ok. We like the stories they tell and their personality. We also decided to leave the legs as they were because their sanding and painting is much harder work... and we like the green. And we like things with a bit of a story... Aren't they great!?

We have also been working on two armchairs: one for our bedroom and one for the baby's room.

Stay tuned for the before and afters of them. Coming soon.

ready. and waiting... and some pregnancy shots.

I'm very pregnant. And I'm very happy.

I've had weeks of constant crying. I've had weeks of overwhelm. I've had weeks of guilt (for so many different reasons). I've had weeks of doubt. I've had weeks of fear.

But I've also had weeks of joy. I've had weeks of excitement. I've had weeks of happy tears. I've had weeks of thankfulness. I've had weeks of expectation.

I've had all different types of weeks.

I'm currently in those weeks where my baby is considered full term. I think these are the best weeks.

I'm about to have a baby. She is fully grown (but will keep growing!). My life is about to change. It's really happening. It could be any day now.

I'm usually quite self-aware: of my mind and my body... I'm currently very aware of everything that's happening in me and around me.

And it's good.

Recently, many well-meaning people have asked me when she'll be here and how I'm feeling. I think they want me to say I'm just bursting for her to come out and I'm super impatient and to ensure they can prepare themselves for when she'll be here. I love people guessing when she'll be here, but I can't tell you if you'll be correct or not, because that's all it is: a guess.

EDD stands for Estimated Due Date, but most people seem to interpret it as Exact Due Date. I'm not telling you when she'll be born, because I don't know. If they had worked out an exact formula for when each baby would arrive, pregnancy would be very different. But they haven't. They have worked out that it's safe for a baby to arrive from 37 to 42 weeks after the first day of your last menstrual period.

My due date is a five week time period. And I love the mystery.

The thing about pregnancy is that it's a miracle. And it's beautiful. And it's incredible. And it's crazy.

What I can tell you is that there is a real life human being inside of me. She knows what is happening, she knows what she wants and she knows how to do it. It might look slightly different when she's on the outside, but I can tell that she's exactly where she's meant to be and doing what she's meant to be doing for now. It's an incredible thing.

So I completely trust that she'll come just when she's ready. And just when my body is ready. And as long as it's in a five week period of 37 to 42 weeks, then she's "on time." Stop asking if people's babies are "late" or "early," trust that they'll be here at just the right time.

I've been doing whatever I can to prepare my body for this amazing thing, and to ensure I don't prevent her coming when she's ready, but I'm certain she'll come at just the right time. For her, for me and ready to meet everyone else. Did you know that statistically most first babies come at 41 weeks?

I can't wait to introduce Baby Girl Thearle to you! I'm ready to meet her, but in the mean time, I'm happy, I'm loving spending quality time alone, and embracing this season and each moment I've got.



It's all about embracing the season, not constantly looking ahead to another one.

There's a blog post simmering, ready for me to write on this at another blog my husband and I write at. Check out Put Out Into Deep Water:
Blog: putoutintodeepwater.blogspot.com
Instagram: @putoutintodeepwater 
Facebook: facebook.com/putoutintodeepwater

meet the maker: belinda marshall.

The other week, I was fortunate enough to attend a painting workshop with the very lovely Belinda Marshall. Belinda is a Melbourne-based artist and surface designer – painting with acrylics on wood and linen (two of my FAVOURITE things!) and her works are beautiful! 

I have long been admiring her work and I stare lovingly at her calendar hanging in my kitchen on a daily basis. When I found out she was running workshops, I was excited, yet not convinced because I didn't want to spend that money on myself and I've never really painted before. My apprehensions were oh so wrong – check out my review of her workshop in a post coming soon.

I wanted to share Belinda's work with you and to get to know her and a bit about her work, so I had a chat with her.

When did you start painting and what initiated this love for acrylics and colour?

I started painting in high school and fell in love with it then. I took a massive break, which I guess was due to being an adult (earning money, etc) and I reconnected with painting properly when I was pregnant with my first son. I started with oils and moved to acrylics after my second son was born so that I could paint in short bursts.

Who/where do you look to for inspiration in your work?

I don't really look for inspiration anymore. I feel a bit spoiled for it having so much to look at on Instagram. I find that painting in itself gives me inspiration.

We're all creative (in different ways), what would you say to someone wanting to start or reignite a creative passion but isn't sure what to do or who to start?

I would say, start trying things out! If you're loving what you're doing, seek out other people doing the thing and give yourself time to pursue creativity regularly. I think doing creative workshops are great as they are a way to try things without committing time or resources outside the workshop which is a bit liberating. If you had a good time there and want to keep up with what you learnt, you have a group of people who you can follow up with to keep learning.

More and more people are working from home or for themselves; what makes for a productive days work for you? What do you need around you or in your workspace?

Having 15 minutes to myself in the morning with a coffee  and a book before my kids wake is really important for getting into a groove for work. I like to be in the studio to work where there are people around but not always right next to me. I just need music on to help with tuning into what's happening with my work.

Image from @ceciliafox on Instagram

MEET THE MAKER:

Favourite:

• flower: ranunculus (like the picture)

• breakfast: avocado on toast

• colour scheme: pastels (pink and blue!)

• location: Sweden

• thing in your home: a collection of paintings by my sons

• outfit: big dress with leggings

• day of the week: not fussy

To view (and be tempted by) more of her beautiful artworks, check out her website. She sells her work as prints, on cushions, beautiful wall hangings (did you see the one above, it's amazing!), eco-friendly greeting cards (one set shown below) and even has her 2017 calendar out (I've already purchased mine!). Click here.

Or even better, check out her exhibition on at Lumiere Art + Co in Sorrento on Melbourne's beautiful Mornington Peninsula. From October 9, 2016.

Follow her on social media for some beautiful images and to stay up-to-date with what's happening:

facebook.com/belindamarshallstudio

instagram.com/belindajmarshall

All images from Belinda's website or Instagram page.

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