I found this useful 1950/1960s clothes rack on the side of the road last week. Sorry, but I forgot to take a 'before' photo prior to cleaning it... but basically it was showing signs of rust, probably from sitting outside for some time, and was pretty filthy too!

I just couldn't let this one go to landfill, so with a bit of elbow grease and sandpaper I was determined to bring a sparkle back to this beauty.


I simply covered the coloured plastic coated bars with paper to protect them from any over spray. Traditionally the frames were painted in a dark green, but I had a can of black paint lying around so thought that would do.


I am thrilled with the result. Almost as good as new. Quite a handy little fellow that folds down neatly. Looks like I will also be using it as a prop for a fabric / homewares photo shoot next month too! YAY!

Toodle-pip!

We are gearing up for another crazy day of house reno tomorrow. This time the hallway. Time to give it a facelift by removing the wallpaper and freshening it up with a lick of paint. I'm in the process of designing a new balustrade as well, but that will come later! Also weighing up if we do a feature wall of some sort on the stairwell side. Maybe a dark colour to help hide the door to the cloak cupboard under the stairs and the doors on the linen cupboard... Any ideas?

Carrying on from "The Den" post...


Well our "Den" has finally come together in true Kyrie & Denis style. In total, it took us 2 full weekends of work, at a cost of approx $1000 including paint, shelving and cabinets.

Wallpaper removed, walls ready to paint.

Denis Loves Painting - TRUE!

Weekend 1 (May 2012)
Two solid days of removing the old tired wallpaper, prepping the walls (very time consuming) and then the fun bit painting!

A couple modifications to the IKEA 'Besta'" cabinets!

Get out the level and tape measure please!

Weekend 2 (August 2012)

Time to assemble the cupboards from IKEA. Denis did a stellar job of modifying a cabinet so we have them running the full width of the room. The room is not quite 3m wide, so he had to shear off about 40mm on one side of the cabinet to make it all work.

Hanging the shelves was actually a dream. Having solid block walls makes it so easy. No need to find wooden studs in this place! However one dead drill later and the job is complete.

Very happy with how it looks!

The Result - We are so happy with the transformation of this room and it has turned out exactly how I designed it in my head with no hiccups along the way!  (except broken drill, but Denis was thrilled to stumble across "Ryobi Day" at Bunnings when he went to get a replacement!)

I love the fact that we can now keep our books all in one tidy place... I have extra space to display my retro delights, and the room is a cosy space for us to curl up on the couch to read, crochet or watch the box. It is really refreshing to have the TV away from the main living area so it isn't the main focus.

Retro Delights in 'The Den..."

Vintage Camera from "Meet Me at Mike's" Melbourne.

The retro light pendant is an e-bay purchase for $18!

Original Lip Chair and Bus Blind purchased from TradeMe NZ.

A small collection of vintage globes from e-bay.

Of course I have many more photos documenting this reno. Check them out here > 

Toodle-pip!

The weather was pretty wild and wooly today, so I spent the day pottering around the Messagemark studio boxing up greeting cards, sorting out bills and moving furniture around!

I finally found a spot to hang my shadow box (Ebay purchase) to display my mini designer chairs! Retro shadow boxes are the ideal solution for showing off your collection so I recommend you set up a search on Ebay and nab one if you have a chair fetish like me!

Toodle-pip!

This week I discovered a new cafe called Rockefeller Cafe + Kitchen that recently opened in my neighbourhood. To my delight it is full of the most amazing collection of 1950s kitchen tables and chairs.

So today I thought I would go down and test out my new camera, and as predicted absolutely no shortage of cool photo opportunities! As a "welcome to the neighbourhood gift" I gave the owners Georgia and Maria a set of my Good Health retro posters, so we may see some Retro Delights love adorning the walls very soon!

I went a bit crazy with the camera so check out the full set of photos on my flicker page here > and don't forget to visit Georgia and Maria and their amazing collection next time you are in Largs Bay.

Rockefeller Cafe + Kitchen
Shop 5/ 245 Fletcher Road, Largs Bay
Open: Wed - Sun 7:30 am - 4:00pm


Toodle-pip!