French Chic!

I just wanted to share with you a recent job I have been working on with a delightful client who absolutely loves everything French!

Dawn and I have been working for quite some time and it has been worth all the work!  The tufted sofa is gorgeous and it is so rich and luxurious.  I had it custom made in Melbourne and covered in a beautiful silver/grey Belgian linen.  

I used pops of cerise pink and upholstered the custom made Louis 15th salon chair in the Designer's Guild silk "Maddalena".  The stripe black silk on the sides of the Louis 16th style bergere makes it very smart.

I commisioned the wonderful Kerri Ship of www.driftwoodinteriors.blogspot.com

 to do this beautiful painting ...

Kerri also did these paintings reflecting the Marie D'age china we used on the coffee table ...

a close up of the Louis chair and Designer's Guild wallpaper ...

The chandelier is reflected in the gilt French mirror and the pom poms on the lampshade add a little detail ....

Pops of pink ..... we left the dining chairs in their neutral linen .... maybe upholstering them at a later date ....

Dawn was so kind and a wonderful client and she gave me these beautiful peonies for helping her!  Thank-you so much!

New York Part Two!

The Tiffany window displays were incredible .....

Just what I would love ..... a Tiffany blue painted front door!  This was another of their Christmas window displays!

whilst Andrew and Alex took Georgie ice-skating in Central Park ... Dom and I went walking and discovered all of the treasures along Madison Avenue .....

Ralph Lauren was fabulous!

The elegant Ralph window displays ... 

enticing tray at the Plaza ......

beautiful buildings with stunning architectural detailing ... my favourite the black iron Romeo and Juliet balconies ..

This gorgeous panda was to be found at FAO Schwartz along with mega sized chupa chups and nerds boxes which Georgie desperately wanted to bring home!

Tiffany staircase at the 5th Avenue store..

I found my lovely Laduree .... 

at The Plaza we met some lovely girls from Georgia and we had a wonderful time getting to know each other ... Amy, Chris and Trish .... we loved meeting you!!!! 

Christmas lights everywhere ....

Now this is a bear !!!!!

 xxx M.A. the 2nd

b

New York Part One!

Happy New Year everyone and I am so sorry that I have been away for a long while ..... it was like I needed time with my family and to regroup and refresh over the Christmas break after such a busy year ... we went to New York in early December for one week as Andrew had a conference to attend (yes he did attend everyday!) but he wanted the whole family to go as we had not seen each other in such a long time ... so "Party of Five" set off to New York with much excitement!  We all went and it was so special! This is Georgiana in front of the Rockefeller tree...

New York is so incredibly beautiful at this time of year and we were lucky enough to see all of the holiday spirit and grandeur!  Times Square was incredible and we went to see "Annie" on Broadway which was brilliant .... Australia's own Anthony Warlow was debuting as Mr Warbucks.  We were so proud!

My beautiful children ... a little cold but having fun!  Best of all were the hotdogs on the streets!  The boys lived on them!  

This display of giant Christmas decorations just overwhelmed me .... it looked amazing with the water spilling over ....

Georgie and I in front of the Christmas tree at our first hotel in the Marriott Times Square .... the revolving restaurant was so fun ....

Whilst staying at the Marriott we met, purely by chance, the lovely Laura who is the creator of "My Family" series that we see on the back of everyone's car .... she was so gorgeous and wanted to draw Georgiana as she thought she was cute and of course, heard our Aussie accents! She was on a trip to New York with her friends and was such a delightful person.

A trip to New York is not complete without a visit to the iconic "Plaza Hotel" and to meet Eloise!  We were lucky to have four nights there and it was exquisite!  Everything was so perfect that I had to keep pinching myself to realize that we were there and soaking up the atmosphere and the lovely hospitality!

The interiors were stunning!!!!!!!  Parquet flooring, panelled walls and oversized bedhead ....

Quick sneak peek at the Chanel window at Bloomingdale's .... drooling!!!!!

Another sneek peek at a Bloomies window .... I couldn't believe it!

This is what was awaiting us in our hotel room at The Plaza!  Alex and Georgie ate them all.....

This is the powder room .... so beautiful and the calaclutta marble mosaics add such elegant detail .... more to come .....

I hope your Christmas and New Year were special too and I wish everyone a very special 2013!  The page is not written until we write it!!!!!

love M.A. the 2nd

xxxxx

I am Loving Turquoise and Aqua and Seafoam and.....

I have just bought this white Christmas tree from Target.  We have a big 9 foot green tree which is wonderful but I have always wanted a white tree!  It was $95.00 and I thought perfect for our family room.  However the real reason is that I am loving turquoise and aqua and thought how beautiful they look in decorations on the tree!

I have also just finished upholstering this Louis chair on the right in Designer's Guild ...  I was absolutely inspired by Ana Antunes from www.home-styling.blogspot.com

I have just finished wallpapering this study for a lovely client and we had the shutters installed as well.... I will post more once it is finished with artwork etc...... I love the aqua Imperial Trellis as it is always so fresh....

I have also been cleaning out cupboards in readiness for Christmas and found this 2007 copy of Gourmet Traveller with this fabulous Cassata in it .... look at the colour .... perfect!

more of the new Christmas tree ...... I have to get more decorations though ....

this is some of the fabric I am using in my client's office .... the gorgeous Christopher Farr cloth I am using for upholstering two antique chairs and will use the apple green Designer's Guild for piping .....

a quick photo of my office just for fun .....

 

but most importantly of all this week-end we will celebrate our little princess' 10th birthday!  How special and precious she is!!!!!  Happy Birthday Georgiana!

I will post about the party as I have ordered some mega balloons!!!!!

have a wonderful week-end dear friends....

This is the first gardenia from my garden and it is so beautiful ....

My Vogue Living arrived today and the cover is absolutely delicious ...... I love the wall colour and the artwork!

I love the mercerised vase and silver pear together ..... just random but beautiful!

I found this waste paper bin for a client of mine at Magnolia ... it is for a home office renovation and it is fantastic .... love the chevron stripe!

spring has sprung here in Australia and actually I think summer has as well!  We are so looking forward to our summer break and the festivities of Christmas!  Have a great Thursday and a wonderful weekend!

best wishes always

M.A. the 2nd

I am so excited as my Imperial Trellis wallpaper in aqua has arrived!  I am actually using it also for a lovely client in  a home study and I have always wanted to use it in my studio .... it hasn't been hung yet just taped up .... I am too impatient to wait!

so I am going to use it on another wall in my office close to the Marie Antoinette framed poster ... I love the way it picks up the blue in the poster ....

this is the artwork I will use on the wallpaper ... they are antique lithographs and I am going to glass float frame them so that the wallpaper comes through ....

I always love seeing my pink chest in a picture as it is so vibrant and elegant ... I am in Brisbane at the moment and will have lots more to share ......

best wishes always

M.A. the 2nd

Dancing Queen and Delphiniums!

I am so excited with the onset of spring and in fact it nearly feels like summer here .... the delphiniums I bought recently were just gorgeous!

we have been so busy with the dance festival for Georgiana and having both the boys home ... it has been wonderful!

One of her dances was a Russian national dance and it was fantastic .... the whole group looked amazing!

Then this afternoon I was shopping and found this absolutely divine bottle of Pink lemon flavoured vodka!  Now I don't drink vodka except if it is in a French Martini but I just couldn't resist the bottle as it is so pretty!  Crazy I know but when I next have guests that like vodka then I will have it ready.  It has been a crazy but wonderful week and I  can't believe that Christmas decorations are all now out in the stores!

Have a great week!