Interesting Shop Displays

I love visual merchandising and wonderfully creative window displays.  All the shop keepers in our local high street in London would regularly change their window displays with the seasons.  Christmas windows are the best.  Some of them were truly amazing.  Anyway during a recent day out in Brisbane I noticed a couple of interesting displays that I thought I'd share with you and snapped them with my phone.

This is a little clothing alterations place in Tattersals Mall.

The front window is lined with vintage sewing machines.

and vintage advertising signs

I love this old timber counter with the drawers. 

See the vintage irons on the right side by the door.

A dressmakers dummy and a chalkboard sign pointing to the fitting room.

Then I went into Asop to buy my sister some hand cream, and I loved their display of brown bottles.

A mass display of brown bottles.

All the bottles of lotions and creams with a large industrial sink.

This is how they wrapped the hand cream.

And I had to go to The Shingle Inn for a coffee and passionfruit cup cake.

I am always looking to find other shops that have interesting displays. 

Anybody seen some good ones lately?

House Name or Number?

Does your house have a name or just a number?  Some houses have the most pretty names, like Rose Cottage,  Honeysuckle Cottage, or The Old Coach House.  I have always just had a number.

When we first moved into this house 11 years ago, I bought a set of tiles in a wrought iron frame and proudly hung it at the front door.

Sadly, late last year the adhesive tape holding the left tile failed and it smahed to the ground.  My husband glued it back together, but I really felt it was time for a change.

I tried to think of a nice name for our house, I really did, but I just couldn't find one that sounded right.  So in the end, we are just number 2.

To make the sign I just cut a piece of plywood to size, painted it 'Paperbark' and then painted No 2 on it.  I also resprayed the wrought iron holder black just too freshen it up.

We still need to pave the front entrance.  I found the perfect match for our bricks.  See the sample next to the door mat?  They don't make them anymore do they?  I'll have to keep looking.

$20 Handyman Special

One day my daughter and I were out shopping and on our way down the mall we spotted this:

Jewellery Box.  $20 Handyman Special.  Sold as Is. 

Handyman I thought?  What about Handy woman?

Both the rounded side cupboards had come off their hinges, after being hit by people's shopping trolleys and the paint work was looking a little ordinary.  Somebody had pulled the ring holder section apart.

I walked into the shop, quickly paid cash and got them to put a sold sign on it.  The lady told me the jewellery console was originally $149.  Guess which shop?  Homeart!  You know, it used to be called Copperart.  Amazing where you can find things right?

Anyway, my daughter and I were able to restore the jewellery console quickly and easily.  My daughter sanded the whole thing down (good girl!), and I gave it a fresh coat of paint.  We bought some new screws and attached the side cupboards. 

 We decided to ditch the ring holder and just lined that section with some French sheet music.

What more could a 10 year old girl want, than her own armoire to store her bling?

All styling by my daughter.  I think she did a great job!

A Writing Desk

We have a small home office at the front of our house.  It's a real thoroughfare as there is a door to the front entrance hall at one end of the room and a door to the garage at the other end.  I have tried placing a desk in various positions over the years, but the place I prefer best is between the two north facing windows that look out onto our street.

There is only a small amount of wall between the windows and I didn't want to block them with a heavy desk.  I searched eBay and found this desk for $150.  More than I would normally pay but a similar one had sold for $300 so I took it.

I sanded it back, only to find that whilst the legs were solid timber, the top was laminate (yuk).  Originally I had thought I'd keep the top timber and paint the legs, but after discovering the laminate, all white was the way to go.

I changed the brass drawer pulls for these decorative black ones from Recollections.

I was a little nervous about having a white desk top, and my friend Ivana suggested I get a piece of glass cut to sit on top.  So I did.

The glass top protects the desk top and means I can put down cups and glasses without worry.  My computer mouse doesn't like the glass top though.

A gardenia and Autumn Crocus from my garden.

The black framed pictures above the desk are of Castle Howard in Yorkshire.

So this is where I sit and write to you.  I really like it.  Now all I have to do is get a comfortable chair!

Sharing at White Wednesday

Some Friday Pretties

I just needed to see something pretty today.

via Beachcomber

All images credits can be found on the board Pretty Decorating - Pinterest

Have a great weekend

Vanity Sink Makeover

The vanity unit in our powder room is a basic builders unit.  Nothing special.  I can't really justify ripping it out to install a new one, so I thought I'd see if I could pretty it up a bit.

I decided to add some decorative timber moulding and to paint over the pale green laminate doors.

I marked out where I wanted the moulding to go, and cut it to size.  I attached the moulding to the doors with builder's adhesive (liquid nails) and caulked gap filler (no more gaps) around the joins.  I also attached a piece of skirting board (base board) along the bottom.  To paint over the laminate, I used Zissner 123 primer followed by a couple of coats of Dulux aquaenamel in Whisper White.

I think it looks prettier now.  Not so much like a builder's unit.

A few years ago I replaced the standard builder's mirror with this one.

It was about $50 from the discount store.  It was bright gold but I liked the ornate detail in the frame and the bevelled edge on the mirror.  Originally I painted it in a matt white paint and it looked like a plaster frame.  I have since painted it in a gloss paint.  I probably like the matt paint better but it was really hard to keep clean.

This is the sign on the door.  There's no bath in the powder room, so that might confuse guests a little?

Sharing at : French Country Cottage

A Herb Garden and Liquid Sandstone

My husband and I both enjoy good food and decided it was time that we plant a herb garden.  We have a nice sunny spot out the back that was perfect, and a pile of old terracotta pots we could use.

I liked the terracotta pots but they were too orange for the sandstone coloured columns and pavers we have out the back. 

To buy new sandstone pots would cost a small fortune, so I decided to makeover the existing pots with a product called Liquid Sandstone (available from Bunnings/hardware store).

Web Link

The first step is to clean the pots ready for painting.  I used a high pressure water cleaner (gernie) to remove the dirt and moss.

Then I applied 2-3 coats of liquid sandstone with an old brush.  It is very much like painting with with wet sand from the beach.  Once the paint dried I gave the pots a coat of sealer to protect them.  My husband got to work and filled all the pots with drainage gravel, good soil, fertiliser and the herbs.  About a month on, this is how our herb garden looks in our 'sandstone' pots.

 We have basil, sage, thyme, mint, parsley and a bay tree in the charcoal pot. 

Meals definitely taste better with the fresh herbs.

Sharing at:  The Shabby Nest, French Country Cottage