I love the concept of pop up parties, but in reality can be a bit hard to do.  Especially with a toddler in tow.
So I thought how cool would it be to create a pop up space at home -  a little extraordinary in the ordinary, a little bit of fantasy for just one evening.

I wanted to set the table up in the garden surrounded by fairy lights, but some heavy rain storms meant it had to be plan B, our wide hallway.  I threw down a rug and moved our outdoor table and pillows indoors for the evening.  Then I strung the glass doors with fairy lights and lit candles to create a romantic glow of light.

Watermelon and lime agua fresca kicked off the evening, followed by a delicious Mexican inspired menu made by my amazing hubby.  Wraps with lamb, pomegranates and honey coriander yoghurt, or deconstructed chorizo with jalapeno green sauce, chunks of pineapple dusted with salt and chilli powder, and a grapefruit granita with a mojito sauce to finish.   Delicious!

I found gorgeous bunches of natives in yellows and oranges at the flower seller this morning. 

Wax flowers, pin cushions and kangaroo paw form a zesty base that could be Christmas or fiesta.  I made a low arrangement for the table centre with a few candles, finished with white plates and white napkins.  Fresh, fun and simple.

Sitting on cushions on the floor with the glow of candlelight and fairy lights, what fun.

The space was transformed, it didn't look like our house at all.  All the fantasy of a pop up party, with all the comforts of home and a fully equipped kitchen close at hand.  I didn't use anything I didn't already own, I just moved things into unexpected places.
I hope you are inspired!  Go on, string up some lanterns or fairy lights, and throw a pop up party of your own at home too.  Make sure to tell me what you created!

All images by Eva Burgess of Build House Home, except 5th image by Graeme Myburgh.

Its not every day I get an email from my favourite magazine asking to share some of my home with their readers.  But that is just what happened in the run up to the Blogster Awards a few weeks ago.  An email from Inside Out popped into my inbox and there was a request to share something from my home with their readers.  Huge excitement!  Ofcourse it all had to happen on one rushed afternoon when the light was right, but these are the moments I decided to share from my home.
 A moment in the living room.  I have put this chair on its own with the bamileke table, a comfy spot to read but still be close when Mr B is cooking in the kitchen.   My Quick Flowers have gone a lovely dusty pink and look lovely inside at the moment.

Morning light in our bathroom, yes I know you have seen it before but I love this room.  Onbe day I will manage to take photos of the walk in robe to show you too, lighting is an issue!

Thanks to the team at Inside Out - you made my day.

Spotted this desk and children's work space layout in the hot off the press 2014 Ikea catalogue.
Looks a little familiar, me thinks Ikea stylists might be looking in the pages of this little blog for inspiration.  This is Ikea's directly below, scroll down to see mine or check out the original post Where Miss J & I work which I posted in March 2013. 

The workspace Miss E, Miss J and I share in the family room.  How is that for a similarity! 

Don't worry Ikea, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.  It is possible that I saw a similar layout in a previous catalogue, but I am notching this score up to me.

There is nothing I love more than fresh flowers, they just add life to any room, but they can be expensive.  Real luxury is being able to pick your own flowers, on our farm I filled the whole house with roses from spring through summer.   Every few days I went into the garden with a basket and came back with bunches to fill every vase in the house.  Hopefully I will be able to do that again one day, but for now I will share a little trick to getting fresh flowers that last and last and take just minutes to arrange.  That's my quick and easy solution in the photo below.  Sound good? 

Do your own quick long lasting flowers:
Flat bottomed basket + drip tray + 5 flower pots

Start with a flat bottomed basket or bowl that is about 15cm deep.  
This basket comes from Pond but keep an eye out at second hand stores for large silver bowls. I saw this lovely basket at Freedom the other day which would work well too.

Then pop out to your local garden centre and buy however many kalanchoe pots you need to fill your basket.   
You don't want to see the pots.  The basket needs to be deep enough that the sides cover the pots from the side, and you need enough plants packed in so that the leaves cover the pots from the top.  It should look like the basket is full of flowers.  Take yours to the garden centre so you can test out just how many you need to get this effect.

You will also need a plastic drip tray to stand in the basket and protect the base when you water the flowers. 
Kalanchoe are perfect for this outdoor basket or a sunny indoor spot.  They are succulents with long lasting flowers that gradually change colour as they get older.  Mine have been looking gorgeous for a few weeks now and have turned a pretty soft pink which I love against our black exterior walls.  If you have your basket in a shaded spot they will need to be placed in the sun for a few days every few weeks to keep healthy and keep flowering.  

Orchids are lovely too, use one larger pot in a deep vase.  They can be expensive to buy but flower for ages and you can enjoy them again next year.  My orchids love the shady spot at our front steps and have sent up a gorgeous spray of flowers which are just about to open.  I may just leave them there and not bring them inside this year.

There you have it!  Quick, easy to get a lovely look, and your flowers will last for weeks.  

During the holidays we put up an outdoor blackboard in a lovely sunny spot at the end of the verandah.  Miss J and I have had fun drawing under sea creatures and sailing boats.  Her favourite is the rainbow fish.  The best thing is every time it rains the board is wiped clean, ready for more art.

Make your own!
You will need: a sheet of marine ply, undercoat, and Rust-Oleum Chalk Board paint.  
I got the hardware store to cut the marine ply sheet for me.  Top tip: measure your car before getting the board cut to make sure it will fit.
Once you have your marine ply to size it is as simple as prime, paint and hang outdoors.  We attached ours to two metal garden posts which were hammered into the ground.

The Chalk Board paint goes on smoothly.  After a few coats let the paint dry for a week and then season the board by covering entirely in chalk and leaving for a few days.    Ta daa!!  You are ready to start drawing.

I put our board in a spot that gets afternoon sun in winter but is lovely and shaded in summer, now the chalk dust and the children are all outside.  Perfect.  

Rust-Oleum supplied the product for this road test but all opinions, as usual, are entirely my own.

Have been enjoying moving things around, having a bit of a tidy and declutter as I go along.  Its amazing how bits and pieces start collecting around the home.  I resorted into colour and packed quite a few things away for a while.  Its made me think of so many projects I want to do, a little hard with a busy 2 year old at your feet, but we will get there bit by bit.  

Moved the candles from inside to outside for a while.  They melt in the summer heat so winter is a good time to enjoy them outside for a while.  I am really enjoying how this area looks at the moment with the new black covers and mix of cushions.  These couches get a lot of winter sun so we use them a lot.

It is the perfect place to enjoy a cup of coffee on a sunny winters morning, and fabulous for midday snoozes.

Now the cushions are all fixed I am planning a low hanging solar powered lantern for the corner between the day beds.  Its in my head but we will have to see if it works out.  So many projects I want to try!  Watch this space.

Our hallway storage was a mess.  Hats and coats jostled for peg space, a  messy jumble of shoes and a basket stuffed full of school and sports bags  - not a good look at the front door.  Time to make a change.  What do you think of our solution?

The brief:
- narrow space 140cm wide by 40cm deep
- must store: shoes, coats, hats, school bags, handbag, sports bags, hats and keys

The solution
After an intensive few evenings studying the Ikea catalogue (a favourite pastime) I discovered that the PAX cupboard system comes in a narrow 37cm deep version - perfect depth.  It is available in 50cm or 100cm widths.  Our space is 140cm wide so using a 100cm cabinet left us 40cm over.
I consulted the Voice of Reason who agreed we could make floating shelves for the left over space.I decided to put two 50cm cabinets on either side with floating shelves in the middle.  Having the shelves in the center gives the design a more bespoke feel. 
Inside you can see lots and lots of space for shoes, bags, hats and coats.  Outside it would be minimal with baskets for texture and storage, and a display niche for art or flowers.

Installing the cabinets
So far so good.  Off to Ikea to buy the cabinets.  Have you ever noticed that diy's never show how many trips you make to get supplies?  I got all the cabinets but the shoe rack and coat hooks were out of stock.  Another trip will have to be made soon.
The hardest part of shopping for large items at Ikea is getting them onto your trolley and into the car.  Thank you to the kind people who took pity on my feebleness and helped out.

Back home it took a day to assemble the cupboards.  I removed the skirting boards and cut them down to size so that they could be fitted back in once the cabinets were installed.  We attached the cabinets to the walls at the top for extra strength.

Attaching battens for the floating shelves
Here is where the Voice of Reason came up with a very clever trip.  
The problem with Ikea cabinets is they are made of cheap board, often as you screw into them the cabinets rip up a little, not good for build strength or looks.  VOR decided not to screw the battens to the cabinet, but to bolt them to the side using a snap off screw.  Snap off screws are used to attach door knobs to cabinets, available at and good hardware store.

This has several advantages:
- drilling through the cabinet instead of screwing through it is less likely to split the cabinet board
- threading the snap off screw from inside the cabinet leaves the flat head inside, smooth & neat
- tightening the batten to the cabinet with a nut, creates a firm strong base for the shelf
- no pointy bits left over as you snap off the excess screw whatever the thickness of your wood

Note that the battens are shorter than the cabinet width.  They have been measured so that when the shelves are attached the front lip butts up to the cabinet front for a really built in look.  To measure: width of cabinet - width of wood used for lip = length of batten.Making the floating shelves
The Voice of Reason made shelves to fit the space with a lip to create the floating effect.  
There are several ways you could do this but he joined the lip to the shelf with dowels and then filled and sanded the joints for a perfect finish.  With paint the joins are totally invisible.  I could have done this with pocket screws if I had had the Kreg jig (watch this space Kreg jig coming soon).
Finally we attached the shelves to the battens with small wood screws, stood back and admired our handiwork.  I am so delighted with it, it looks custom and expensive and we did it ourselves!

Most satisfying job we have done yet and certainly turned $600 of Ikea cabinetry into an expensive looking bespoke item that totally fills the brief.  Once the interior fittings are back in stock I will be able to show you the soon to be amazingly organised interior, but even without them this project has made a huge difference.  The hall is easy to keep tidy, I can always find my keys, and I spend far less time shouting at the family to tidy up.  

A little obsessed again, it started with this gorgeous grey cabinet and succulents and then moved to moody dark spaces with lots of contrast.  Makes me realise I want more of these colours in my home, layers of greys and greens.

A glimpse into an eclectic family home via a favourite blog of mine - The Pretty Blog.  I love the lime succulents and the subtle shades of gray.
| Photography by Yolande Marx for The Pretty Blog |
A dramatic dark bedroom full of textures I love: the rustic wood wall, black walls and ceiling and my favourite mud chandelier.  Succulents again, this one in a mini cork pot which is also a fridge magnet.  Cute idea but not sure the succulents would be happy for long.
| Bedroom source unknown |Alissa Rose om Etsy |

I love all these succulent tones and textures.  Silver, jade, quartz and gold in a wrap bracelet.
Echeveria wedding favours in turned spalted ivy pots.  I would love to take one of these home.  And a frosted glass door which mutes the colours of crockery and reminds me of sea glass.  
| Lovocracy | Tricia Newell on Etsy | House & Leisure |

A snippet of aloe peeks out of the vintage cutlery box on my kitchen counter.

| Eva of Build House Home|

Hmmm... think it might be time for things to move around a bit at my house...

In honour of my Auntie Bar, who lost her battle with cancer a few years ago, I am hosting a Big Morning Tea this year.  Its been a big day of baking, and not much blogging, as I prepare cupcakes and a pink ombre layer cake for tomorrow morning.

I will share the layer cake, and a truly amazing cake a dear friend is making later this week.
For now, remember to hold those dear to you tight today, and our thoughts go to all the people and their families who are fighting this battle right now.  

Please feel free to copy and use my "share the love" cupcake topper if you want to make your own cupcakes to help support this event.

This tea is part of the Cancer Councils Biggest Morning Tea series for 2013 and we will be donating all funds from the morning to the Cancer Council.

Two of the design features I like most in my own home are the internal courtyard and the generous gallery entrance.  These were elements we knew we wanted and our architects Saville Isaacs incorporated them into the space better than I could have imagined.  The whole area is flooded with natural light all day long, and the courtyard is a cool retreat from summer's heat.

The house was very tidy when these photos were taken (by the lovely Maite Robin for Prebuilt), and I have to say I felt it looked a little empty.  There is still so much detail and texture I want to add.  Like grass cloth wall paper for the wall behind the dining room table, and cabinetry for the wall behind the couch - both on my dream list for right now.
Do you remember the West Elm chandelier that was on my dream list last year?  I couldn't resist it in the end, and I love it above the dining table.  

The oak floors are my favourite finish, neither too rustic nor too polished, they make every thing else sing.
The light filled gallery, our paintings are on an east facing wall, out of the worst of the sun.  Most of the art you can see is my mom's, lucky me to have such a talented artist in the family.

You can just see the kitchen counter peeking out above left, but I will save those photos for another day.

Thank you to Prebuilt (our builders) and Maite Robin for these lovely light filled images (top & bottom two).

We recently built our own home, something I always dreamed of doing.  We didn't just build, no "surprise!" we had a baby too.  It was a HUGE year.  We learned a lot, we cried a lot, we didn't sleep a lot, but in the end I love my new home and expanded family - a lot!
So when Stocklands asked me to share my top ten building tips I thought it was the perfect opportunity to share my experience with other home builders.  Stocklands are in the business of making your dream of building your own home a reality, so its a perfect combination of their goals and my personal experience.    

1.  Make an inspiration board & study the details
With Pinterest inspiration boards have never been so easy, but go old school with a paper file if that works better for you.  Make a different board for each area of the house: kitchen, bathroom, living room, laundry, playroom, whatever you are building.

Once you have pinned all your favourites take a step back and study them all together.  You will start to see a theme running through your selections.  Spot the similarities and study the details and make sure you include these key elements in your final design.  This is a sample of my kitchen board - no surprises that I have a black kitchen island, marble top, wood floors and white walls.

2.  Work with an interior designer or architect in the concept stage
Consult an expert to get your spaces and flow working well before the build starts.  This is an investment well worth making if you want to get it right first time and you want a polished look!  Make your inspiration boards first, they will make it much easier to explain the look and feel you are aiming for.
This is the time to talk about storage and where it should be, light sources, types of lighting, even the position of the light switches.  Be specific about how you plan to use spaces, the flow from indoors to outdoors, and where your north light comes from.
3.  Create a sample pack and take it everywhere
Try decide on all major finishes in the concept stage: floors, bathroom tiles, kitchen joinery colours and countertops.  Collect samples of all items and put them in a box in the back of your car.  As you select other finishes make sure they tie in with the elements you have already decided on.  A limited palette of complimentary materials will give your design good continuity and stronger visual impact.

4.  Make a non-negotiable list
Unless you have a bottomless wallet you are going to have to make budget choices somewhere.  Decide on your non-negotiable list upfront, for me it was my bathroom tiles and wooden floors.  When you need to cut costs make them elsewhere first, this way you end up with the items you really want.

5.  Use the same fittings throughout 
Choose the same taps for all your bathrooms, use the same floor finishes throughout the house,  apply a consistent colour palette in all your finishes.  Continuity will make your house feel well designed, and buying in bulk is a good opportunity to negotiate a good price.

6.  Make your cash work harder
- Shop around for the best prices, locally and online.
- Never get less than three quotes for any job or item.
- Ask for discounts when you buy, tell the retailer you are building and could be coming back for more supplies.  
- Shop at auctions for really good deals, we bought solar panels with installation for a great price on Grays Online. 

7.  Ask for recommendations
All our best trades, our builder, and many of our suppliers were recommended by people who had also built or rennovated.  There is no substitute for a personal reference.
This also applies to the many professionals you will need certificates from like engineers, certifiers, garden designers & traffic authorities.

8.  Plan, plan and plan some more
Graph paper just became your best friend.  Draw out your rooms, measure the furniture and draw them onto your floor plan.  Do elevations of the kitchen and built in joinery.  Its not hard, you just need a ruler, graph paper and your measurements.  Your builder will think you are crazy but you will get a preview of what the space will look like, and it will help you to be very specific about what you want. 

With a detailed plan there is no room for error, you know what you are getting and the builder knows exactly what to do.  You want to get it right the first time, undoing building work costs time and money and is the fastest way to go over budget and over schedule.
When I designed the bathrooms I specified everything from the exact position of the taps to the starting point in the tile pattern, the end result was just as I planned it.

9.  Stick to your guns
If I had a dollar for every time a trade or supplier told me "it can't be done that way" I would be a millionaire.  Trades like to do what is easiest and what they know best.  This often does not tie up with the image you saw in a glossy magazine.
A friend gave me sage advice, "if you make the choice you can live with it being your mistake, if you were talked into something you didn't want the end result will frustrate you for ever".

10.  Read your contract in detail before you sign it
Make sure your building contract is very detailed, it needs to include specifics of every fitting and finish choice, the electrics and plumbing plans down to the position of every light switch and plug point, and labour for every aspect of the job.  You want to be sure the quote includes everything you want.  This is your final opportunity to check that your budget is on target.  If you have planned well there shouldn't be to many surprises.

Take your time and make sure each line item is right before you sign.  Once you have signed every change is called a variation, and you are charged an adminstration cost for every variation made.  This is a very preventable cost you can keep to a minimum.

Building is a huge investment in capital, time and emotional energy and it is absolutely worth taking the time to get things right the first time.
It really doesn't matter how big or small your build is, what matters is that you are happy with the end result.

This post is 100% me but was brought to you in partnership with Stockland.  If you are looking for inspiration for your dream home, take a look at Stockland’s land packages or browse around for land sales in NSW, Victoria, Queensland or Western Australia.

The trick to auctions is patience, and a little luck ofcourse, but mostly patience.  I have been waiting for a year for the right verandah table to pop up and finally it did.  I ended up paying a little more than I planned but it is solid oak and a perfect fit, and I love the greyed off colour of the wood.  It looks all kinds of gorgeous against the black shadowclad walls.

I bought the seagrass basket as a gift for a friend but I couldn't resist having it on the table for an afternoon.  These lovely baskets are from Pond, I may have to pop back and get one for just me.

All images by Eva of Build House Home
I love auctions, something I inherited from my grandfather apparently, and I love a bargain.  I am still bemoaning the ice glass chandelier that got away last year, but this time luck was in my corner.  Now all we need is for the right benches to come up too.  

I have finally finished one of the day bed loose covers for our outdoor seating area.  I am very pleased with the sharp tailored black, and very happy with the piping and fit.  Much easier to do than I thought it would be.  We use this corner daily because it catches lovely winter sunlight, and we are having a gloriously sunny winter.
The black makes the cushions pop, especially the kelim ones, and it looks lovely with the black exterior walls.  More photo's of that when the second cushion is done too.

Not so happy with the way the cushion closes thought, I will write a full tutorial once I have found a better solution for the second cushion.  But I thought I should take a picture on day one, before the sticky hands of Miss E & Miss J get to it.




Coffee anybody?

My favourite thing in our bedroom is our cow hide headboard.  I bought it as a rug but it was far to small so it has ended up on the headboard.  I was a little worried it would be scratchy to lean on but it isn't.  Its still a work in progress, I want to finish it with a nail head trim, and I need a better solution for the edges, but I haven't quite figured out how to do it.

The little horse has migrated from the spare room to the bedroom, he does roam around the house but has to be kept away from Miss J's curious fingers. 

In this room I am aiming for a collection of textures in neutral shades and tones - soothing but not boring.  The linen curtains are every bit as lovely as I hoped, elegant, light and classic, but still polished.  The rest is a bit of a collectors hodge podge: bedside tables off ebay, lamp bases posted back from a Cape Town holiday, art bought online from KwaZulu Natal, aloes from the neighbourhood.

One day we will get or make a new bed, but its far far down the need to have list.  I also would like a console table for the far wall that I can put a pair of mirrors above, but sadly those too are far down my list.

The photo above was taken by the lovely Maite Robin for Prebuilt.  Our lovely home is fabulous prefab, preFAB to those who know it, and the builders, Prebuilt, asked if they could take some photos.  Enter Maite who took some amazing images which I will share with you in the next few weeks.  I want to pair her work with more intimate images of my own to give you a real sense of our home. 

All other photo's by Eva of BuildHouseHome