A lot of things to love lately around these parts here...

A purple softie bunny I recently whipped up for a precious new baby girl.  She (the baby) is gorgeous... check out my instagram to see for yourself!

The braces are finally gone!  It's not until I compared the before and after pics that I realised what a dramatic transformation this process has made.  So worth it!

Loving this crochet yarn bombed bike outside of The Rusty Tractor Cafe in Kerikeri!  P.S. Delicious food at The Rusty Tractor!!

Loving this piglet I spotted recently on a road trip.  There was a whole heap of pigs who enjoyed some of our cupcakes (hehe) and I loved this little one.  Believe it or not, I was totally obsessed with pet pigs growing up and had a collection of around 80 pig toys and ornaments!  Even as a kid, I had a big piece of dried seaweed attached to a rope that I dragged around as my pet pig.  Yep - slightly strange. Our dog Boo is probably the closest I'll ever get to having my own pet pig.

Loving this awesome and totally legal app/site called Vid Angel!  Hire a movie (even new releases not yet here in NZ) for $1 ($2 HD) and have the option of screening out offensive language and even certain scenes that you don't want to see. We love it as a family and highly recommend it! Check it out here.

Have a fabulous weekend everyone... and for those of us who get the pleasure, enjoy that extra hour sleep in on Sunday when daylight saving ends!!

Here is our latest room renovation - our youngest daughters bedroom!

This room was a tricky one, and for quite a while we've been tossing up different ideas to create more space in this room.  This bedroom was originally the tiny side of an outdoor porch many years ago. When we moved in (and before the repiling process was finished) the side of her room even sloped down like a porch, leaving her bed on a very interesting angle.

Here are some before and after photos of our daughters new space (which she loves!!).

Before...



After...

As soon as we moved in, the dark pink wallpaper had to go, but we let the glow in the dark ceiling stickers and ripped curtains hang around for a bit longer until we were ready to get serious...

Before...



During...

The room is shaped a lot like the letter 'L", and when a normal sized bed is in it, there isn't much space left for anything.  We've thought about building a loft bed with a play space underneath, or a high bed with drawers underneath to save the need for taking up more space with a set of drawers for clothes, but in the end we finally made a decision to shorten the bed (thanks clever husband).  We placed the bed in the small end space of the room, leaving a lot more floor space in the rest of the room.

Before...

After...

Now the bed fits perfectly in the little space in the end of the room, and leaves a lot more space for our daughter to play.

Tiny rooms are hard to work with (let alone take photos in and try to capture the finished product!). We had a few plans up our sleeves to create as much space as we could (apart from the bed situation). 

Firstly choosing a lighter wall colour (details below) and light curtains (recycled from another bedroom) the room instantly felt lighter and larger.

As you entered the room, to the right was a bookshelf that we had fitted into the perfect little space. Although this was great, it closed in the room more, so we eventually decided to remove this, create a bookshelf in the locker cabinet and suddenly we had created a more open feeling as you entered the room.

This bedroom has the classic large wardrobe with a very large space above it.  We had the genius idea of utilising this space as a secret reading nook, and added a climbing wall as well as a mirror in the space where the bookshelf had been.  Our daughter loves this secret space, and it was a great way to create more play area in a small room.

Before...

After...

We utilised storage space under the bed and in the wardrobe (creating little drawers in the wardrobe to remove the need for a set of drawers in her room) and tried to keep the clutter to a minimum by having a place for everything to go.

I love recycling items, and also buying low cost items and adding an individual touch to a room with a few unique special pieces.  In this room an old, brown, wooden desk I grew up writing on has been painted white and looks fresh and new, ready to be used.  We also took an old calendar with woodland creatures on (thanks Typo) and put them in frames as cute pictures as you enter the room.

We absolutely love this room, and most of all, our daughter is thrilled!

Next on the list... the final kids room and then onto a big project, the kitchen and dining area!

To see more/all of our renovations, click here.

Recently Symon and I spotted an old piece of lonely artwork in a thrift shop that no one wanted to buy.  Symon could straight away envision giving it a bit of new life, and with the help of the artistic skills of the amazing Chelsea Mae (who recently painted this gorgeous water colour of our family) we were able to turn this old faded print...

Into this...

A closer view...

We seriously love it - and so do our kids (of course)!  

Now that the repiling on our house has finished (yay!) we are looking forward to renovating, and displaying this awesome piece in one of our rooms.

Thanks Chelsea!!  Check out her amazing creations and blog here.