This is the kind of space I wish I could pull off, its so retrained and has such great impact.  I would never be to edit to this pared back level.  But perhaps I can take some notes from the styling of the altar table against the black wall which I think is just perfection.

See the full house which is from Real Living here, and more of photographer Sharyn Cairns work here.

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.

I just discovered a new blog, Plateful of Love, and I am slightly obsessed with this image of their lounge.  Love the little knitted pillow!!  And the chairs too.

You know I can't resist skulls and horns, and I like the way this table is positioned in the center of the room and used for display.  Would love to see the rest of the space.

Plateful of Love |  Horn vignette | Table display by Steven Gambrel

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

I stopped at a house on the school run and asked if I could cut some of the aloes tumbling onto the pavement for my garden.  The owner was happy to say yes.  I feel I should take him something back from my garden to say thank you - a gift of basil, rainbow chard and chillies perhaps.

Love the succulents shapes and forms with the cheap glass vases from the $2 shop.

Our local $2 shop is really fabulous for simple vases, candles and lanterns.  You can buy similar things at Country Road for four times the price - got to love bargain shopping!!

Cast bronze bracelets from Benin - bought many years ago at Greenmarket Square in Cape Town.

...

The best thing is since I created this vignette nobody dumps anything on the table anymore.  I plan to keep it full from now on!!

All images by Eva of Build House Home

My vignette practice continues.  I have scoured the web, books & magazines for ideas, I am determined to do this better.  A good friend who is a fabulous stylist tells me its about looking at the textures of the objects and creating a textural story.  She believes in me.  I believe I need practice. 

I realise I need:
- several decorative trays in different sizes
- a flat silver bowl that can hold several candles
- some small low bowls 
- many many more vases
- flowers, flowers and more flowers
What worked no. 1 - my little horse
I recently put the little horse netsuke on this little wooden plinth, part of my 2013 drive to display what I have better.  He looks great, you are sure to see him popping up all over the house.
What worked no. 2 - matching the book covers to the painting
For this vignette I matched the book covers to the colours in the painting.  Yes I know its rather obsessive but its what the experts say to do and I like the harmonious look it gives.

The painting in the background is by my mum.  Lucky lucky to have an artist in the family.

All photographs by Eva of BuildHouseHome.

I also realise how you can edit the vignette with photography.  All these images are of the same space, some are zoomed in, or cropped, or taken at different times of day.  Even the colour looks totally different.   Cropping is excellent for removing noise, if I had swung the camera around you would have see the Voice of Reason's very untidy desk.

What do you think?  Constructive criticism welcome.

I just had to include these pretties somewhere.  Not that romance has to be so pink, I like a dark masculine romantic style too.  These will keep me inspired as I tackle my mirror project this weekend.  

I love pink and green together, nature just does it best, so fresh and pretty.  A gorgeous photo of my favourite flower via A Rosy Note, on right a detail by Phoebe Howard. 

Isn't this the prettiest shoe storage you have ever seen?  Would be so pretty in a dressing room, of course you would need to have lots of pretty shoes and somewhere to hide the not so lovely ones.  Detail from Style Me Pretty.

A fabulous centrepiece with simple flowers and spray painted tins in bronzes and copper tones.  I am collecting tins for my own experiment. (This was via Shelterness but the link appears to have disappeared.)

This eclectic gallery (left) was pinned by my sister, it probably reminds us both of our mom who makes wonderful crazy arrangements like this all over her home.  Loving the mix of distressed mirror and that incredible geometric dresser (via Home Polish on right).  If you know where that dresser is from let me know, its incredible and I would love to know more about it.

Have a lovely weekend.

A favourite light filled spot in our bedroom.  You can just see the balcony at the right, and my granny's old oak chair that I had reupholstered.

A little space for quiet when we have a moment.

Postscript: my mom reminded me that 12 March was my granny's birthday.  A real coincidence that I posted her chair the day before...

Synchronicity has Jen of Design Addict hosting her third vignette challenge this week, just when I am obsessed with them too.  I would love to join in but not sure I have the time.  Some more vignette inspiration to get me in the mood.  Flowers, flowers and more flowers seems to be the trick.

Detail of yellow posy, autumn table via Dear Lillie

Table detail via A Rosy Note which is a must visit for gorgeous photos, detail of white bouquet.

I decided that short of having a super stylist come and play in my home I should try and learn the secrets of styling myself.  This does not mean I will be able to do it, but I will be better prepared to give it a try.  Here is what I learned from these pretty pictures.

Ideas to copy

1 - fresh flowers make a room or photo sing, even just a few stems in a jam jar 

2 - neat piles of pretty books

3 - antlers     I wasn't expecting antlers in the mix but they turned up in a few photos (not just 

these ones).  Not sure where I am going to find antlers in Australia, a lovely piece of driftwood would be a good substitute, will have to go for a walk on the beach.

4 - Candles in a flat bottomed bowl
I love the candles in the flat bottomed silver bowl (above left).  Makes the candles even more of a feature than they would be, easy to move and will catch melted wax.  

5 - Great editing
This is the hard one to live.  My family are forever dropping crayons, paper, socks and toys on the surfaces I am trying to keep clear and pretty.  In these photos all the admin of life is hidden, they are so tranquil, they make us believe that life in these home is just about reading and candles.  

Love the animals in the vignettes above.  I have lots of little creatures around the house.

Images from left to right: top via Gild and Grace, horns via By Gabrielle;  Mint Six & Pretty Stuff; My Design Chic & Phoebe Howard

2013 is going to be about finishing touches at our house.  Its time to edit, time to let go of those pieces of furniture that just aren't working, and time to make what we have work really well.  
We have lovely special things collected over the years, I just wish I had the knack of displaying them.  
These images below are master classes in styling.  Wouldn't that be a great way to start the year, have a stylist come to your home and refresh the decor with your own things.

Love this eclectic collection from a Cape Town home via House & Leisure (on of my favourite home magazines).  Copper, wood, glass, clay with a few floral elements - so lovely.  

My perfect country dining area (above via Greige), huge storage that doubles as display, space for books, and a huge rustic table for feasts with friends and family.
Monochrome with bone via Blood & Champagne.  I love skulls, the way this one has been framed with an empty frame is very clever.  Hmmmm I have some frames I like with nothing in them, need to think about that.

Monochrome with lots of textures via Number-Nineteen (left).  Home of Yvonne Kone via Emma's Design Blog (right).  Part of the problem is that I like very edited spaces, but I am a bit of a magpie in my own home.
from left: Acquired Objects, Rue Mag
Having a toddler on the loose does make it difficult.  These table height vignettes would not look like this for long with Miss J around.
If you have any tips, let me know, I would love to refresh our look for 2013.

Plates and hats and hats and plates, and plates with cups, and hats with hats, and ...
This all feels rather Dr Seuss but I love these displays.  I would love a stylist to come to my home and show me how to arrange my stuff, because I have lots of stuff and it never looks like this.

A gorgeous dark wall display via Greige.  The straw hat on the far right looks like a hat I had from Lesotho, makes me wonder where all the other were collected.
I love this hat collection from Marainne Brandi's home in St Barts.  Pretty and practical for a beach home.

And who doesn't wish their crockery looked like this every day.  I don't have enough collections to get this look!  Love how the crockery pops off the wall with this dark grey backing from This is Glamorous, and who doesn't love white on white.

Left to right: More white on white via Etxekodeco, and a sliver of Martha Stewart's Bedford kitchen coffee station.  I wonder how many dinner and tea sets Martha has!

To follow on from the last post, this is how I would like my breakfast tray to look.  Just add a latte.

via Dreamy Whites
I am on holiday with my lovely family next week, so posts may be sporadic.  I hope the holiday includes a breakfast tray like this one.  With latte ofcourse, and cuddles from Miss E and Miss J too.

This is what the spaces in the moody masculine post would look like with flowers.

The Voice of Reason can't deny that they make the spaces sing.
From top left: Elle Decor, Mia Widlake's home (right) and bottom both via Number-Nineteen.

I am slightly obsessed with this image via Elle Decor.  I recently moved the lounge furniture around again.  The Voice of Reason looked at me pointedly and asked if I was sure the tv (and wiring) was not going to move again.  "Yes dear" but I didn't mention the art or the furniture.  Its much better but I am thinking of dropping the art lower on the wall like in this picture.

Of course I also would like a new sectional sofa (to watch said tv more comfortably) and I dream of finding the right lamp.  Where do all the good lamps hide?  If you know please share.

This is the only time I have ever liked an Ikat print, yes I know that makes me a trend heathen but I just don't like it, except for this one time.  What I like even more is the bedside tables and lights being different, the rumpled bed, the bedside objet.  Usually I feel I need to edit my rooms, this makes me feel I need to add more.Both images via Number NineteenI have just discovered Number Nineteen and I am in love with Mia's aesthetic.  I love the contrast, the tones of light and shade, the way plants pop up everywhere.  I can see that most of the weekend is going to be spent browsing through the archives.

Leibowitz and Mclachlan design have been featured before, but I am never tired of these images.  

I love the effortless mood they create.  Beautiful pieces, worn & antique, new and found, groupings of lovely objects.  Neither to much or to little.

I think I could live here and it would always look this good, not just when the stylist has been.

That's what I want to create, a real space that lives as beautifully and effortlessly as it looks.