A 13TH PARTY FOR MY GIRLS

I am now a parent of teenagers! WOW! I remember finding out I was pregnant (with my identical twin girls) just like it was yesterday, time flies! My girls have grown up to be beautiful, kind, smart, mature, trusting and talented girls, getting taller and more beautiful everyday. This year being their 13th, they deserved a pretty good party, they wanted a theme and lots of girlfriends over. We decided on a pyjama party with grey and yellow decorations and thought they could all hang outside and talk and play games etc... but after finishing a whole interior renovation in the first year of us moving in we hadn't really done much outside, it was definitely not worthy to host a party out there, so in the month leading up to the girls' party, hubby and I painted the outside pergola, planted out the garden beds and laid mulch, put up a shade sail, cleaned, dug, mowed, trimmed... we worked ourselves silly. They did get some use out of all our hard work but it was about 38 degrees so ended up inside most of the time - arghhhhh!

The party was last Friday night and on the day luckily I had my Mum and Dad here to help me, I had worked all week and hadn't done a thing yet to set up, BUT I had the vision and knew exactly what I was doing (I had shared with you earlier on FB) so after attending my son's school mass that morning, we rushed to spotlight and to the supermarket to finish off gathering all the supplies. I had 4 hours to make a cake, decorate it and put up all the deco's before all the girl's arrived at 5. Lucky it was pretty simple and easy. It all worked out great, they had a really nice time, and were so happy with the way it looked (which is pretty important for a teenager lol)... I will really savour the moment they came home from school and had grins from ear to ear to see what I had done for them x

The Birthday girls Bella and Tori in their pj's.

The vision...

and the result....The party table

My mum made all the sweets, thanks Mum x

They had a raspberry and white choc swirl cake under all that yellow icing.

I thought wine glasses were a nice touch now that they are so grown up!

...they still love to be young, we did beanie baby 'sock monkeys' for each girl to take home, to go with the PJ theme.

Victoria x

Isabella x

I just threw over some white fabric to make curtains, I loved this!

Even Franklin had his pj's on!

They received many generous gifts and played some cool games

fun fun fun while we looked on, Flynn was very good and didn't interfere (he had been told!)

To have with the movie...

dessert... raspberry and lime spiders with nerds were a hit!

Have a great weekend everyone I know I will be having a rest!

Carla

I LOVE MY KITCHEN

I have been wanting to write and post pics of my new kitchen for a while, well since the soft reveal and give you a bit more detail on the decisions I made and take some nice shots of my kitchen to show you! 

I have used Polytec brand product for cupboards and benches. I did the cupboards in a sheen finish which is shiny and with normal abs edging, it is hard to tell they are not vinyl wrap! I used Polytec gloss benchtops too with a square edge. Both products are so superior and advanced in technology now you can't go wrong... I think the vinyl wrap is slightly over-rated actually, same said for stone.... If you design your kitchen well you can achieve the same look. Of course I did the whole design myself and I highly recommend getting a designer to assist you, I have designed quite a few kitchens now and hence have averted a lot of bland, beige ones popping up and made some very happy clients! Unfortunately people try to do it themselves and don't know what is available or just play it too safe and don't get the end result they had dreamed of. It's such a small price to pay for a big expensive project and one where you spend most of your time!

I was quite particular on the fixtures like the sink, taps, tiles etc... I spent a bit more on these to really give the kitchen some character and make it look more expensive than it really was. I put a lot of thought into the details of the kitchen to make it look unique and suit any decorating style. One key thing I did was make the edge of the benchtop flush with the front of the drawers to give a more designer look, also there are no handles on the drawers just a recess at the top to pull out all with soft closes. This is quite a modern look that I have teamed up with a more traditional feel in the bevelled tiles and exposed range and eclectic style open shelving. It all works together well though. I deliberately did this so that you could have a modern, retro, industrial or country style kitchen depending on your decorating style and how it may change! I like all styles!

My favourite elements are my stone sink, soft close drawers, tray draw and tiles! It is all white which I love, it's hard to see in the photos but the benchtop has a fine marble effect. I kept it all white because the house is smallish and I wanted it to feel as big as possible. Plus it will go with my ever changing homewares!

It was a big job, and I'm thrilled with the result, a big thanks to my wonderful Dad (the builder) and Jamie from Instyle Kitchens Bendigo.

love cooking in here now

simple and very functional

stone sink... love

eat in dining area

new timber floor to come

pull out bins for rubbish and recycling

Breakast bar

open shelving for things we use EVERYDAY

clean lines

A big double cupboard I use for craft and things i don't use so often

pantry smaller than I wished but still walk in!

I love the induction cooktop, so easy to clean!

a must have tray drawer

bevelled edged tiles to add depth

I think I need some wine in there!!

That's it folks, my next project is the laundry...

I hope everyone has a great weekend

Carla

If you'd like help creating a new kitchen or designing a room you'll love in your home please book in here with me at 'Make Your House A Home'.

BACK TO SCHOOL

All my children go back to school this week after the summer holidays. They did a lot of fun things and overall didn't get too bored! Each had trips to Canberra to see Mema and Papa, did the movies and shopping, play dates, sleepovers, and catch-ups with family and friends. Getting a puppy half way through the holidays also meant there was no time to be bored... it has been a full time job for them looking after him. Over the past week we have been getting ready for school again, the girls have been getting all their books and folders together, and filling new pencil cases is always fun! They are required to have art grade pencils for Visual Communication and Ceramics, you know the ones that come in a long tin. We decided it was going to be too difficult to carry them around school in a tin and I can just imagine them rolling out all over the ground if it got dropped, so I decided I would get a bit creative and make an old fashioned pencil roll each. Took all afternoon and night but that's what Mums do right? Anyway they love them and think they'll get some orders from fellow girlfriends!! (It would cost them way too much! haha)

Victoria's striped fabric choice. 

The tie that wraps around was recycled from wrapping off a gift and actually all the fabric I had as well, no new purchases made!

Isabella chose a floral on the back and complimenting stripe on the inside.

Enjoy your last days with your kids x

Carla

MY CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY

I hope everyone had a nice holiday over Christmas. We had an enjoyable and very quiet Christmas day with my parents (my family got sick with gastro right on Christmas which was not nice). After a quick recovery we were off to Torquay in Victoria for a short beach holiday, it was so relaxing, the kids just swam and swam and we drank and ate - making up for not being able to eat over Christmas! 

One day home then we were off again to the lovely Kangaroo Lake near Swan Hill for new years camping (it was only one night, but I'm sure I could have managed another night in a tent... lol), we had a wonderful time with great company. 

I had plans of cooking and sewing but none of that happened, it has been so hot all you really want to do is lay around which is not hard when you have a new puppy to watch! Yes, to top it all off we got ourselves a new little puppy and it's like having a baby in the house again, we are all taking it in turns to baby sit... he is adorable so it is not hard!

I had a good two weeks off and am back to work tomorrow. That's Ok, because I love my job! 

I have taken lots of pictures on my i-phone over the holidays and thought I'd share with you where we went and what we got up to!

Everyone was very spoilt for Christmas x

Fun at the beach

Relaxing on holiday

I did manage some decorating after the Christmas decs were put away!

Mantle back to normal

This was my extent of cooking! sad...

Our new baby 'Franklin'

Bella with Frank

He does sleep a lot which makes for cute photos!

Ok that's it! (cant help myself sorry)

Thanks to my friends near and far and blogging friends for following me in my first year, I am going to try and blog more this year so wish me luck! 

ALSO... Inside Home Living now has it's own facebook page so please go to

http://www.facebook.com/InsideHomeLiving and 'Like' me to get my blog and posts of other inspiring interior things that I'd like to share.

Carla

MERRY CHRISTMAS

To you and your family, I hope you have a wonderful day however you may be spending it. We will be in our own home this year with my family around us!
As we are spending the festive season at home I have put out all my decorations this year to enjoy. I have quite a few photos of all that I have been setting up. Things are getting really busy in our house leading up to Christmas as in everyone's home's I would say! This weekend hubby and I are going to finish all the painting in the kitchen... not looking forward to that but it has to be done. Once I get that out of the way I will finish off some Christmas present shopping and then start doing some cooking for Christmas week so I can relax! All while I am still working my real job during the day...arghhhhh! I do have 17 full days off though which I am looking forward to!

Fresh greenery this year for the mantle with simple candles

looks very pretty with the lights on

I found these cute little chalkboards to label the kids' stockings

I upcycled these little beauties from the cheap shop with new ribbon!

my table centre

Our big Chrissy tree that the kids decorate (Im getting a new one next year its looking a bit tired)

these decs are over 30 years olds passed down... very kitsch

these are a new addition to my collection

under my kitchen tree!

Flynn's tree (my son)

We have had these little reindeers since I got married 15 years ago!

A bit of Christmas cheer added to the kitchen! lol

I wish you a Merry Christmas and travel safe if your travelling xx

Carla