Happy Sunday evening everyone!  I hope you have had a wonderful weekend and are fired up for a great week ahead!  Actually, that sounds good but I wouldn't mind another day home with the family!  We have just put Dominic on the plane back to Brisbane and we feel sad, however we know he is going back to a big year full of Shakespeare and Chekhov and wonderful times!  We have just had Dom's friends up from Brisbane who are in his course and it was an absolute pleasure to have them to stay!  This was the table I set for dinner on Friday night after they had been swimming, playing golf and enjoying their last few days of holidays.  Actually, none of them really have holidays as they work part time when they are not attending university, which demands about 50 hours a week ...... 

I love pineapples and this one was fresh and ready to use!!! Beautiful .... it is a smooth leaf pineapple and they are much easier to cut up than their rough leaf cousins!

I love setting up the champagne and wine in the Alfred Gratien ... it always looks so elegant!  

always silver cutlery ... and a Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay ....

I did a version of the Swedish Hasselback potatoes by substituting the bay leaf for rosemary .... It worked really well with the sea salt and olive oil.....

 I also did a fried rice and a rocket salad .... I know I always do the ROCKET salad!  For my American friends it is ARUGULA!  Then I had these fantastic cuts of eye fillet which were medallions about 2 inches thick.  So Andrew cooked them perfectly on the bbq and we had a mustard and chive sauce to go with it!  Good for feeding hungry men!

At the end of the night I didn't take any pictures of anything else but never mind I think they all enjoyed it!!!!

best wishes always

Frances

Antiques from New Orleans!

Hello everyone and hope you have had a lovely weekend!  We are just getting over the wild weather and floods here but there is still a great area which has been inundated!  The mighty Fitzroy River has peaked at 8.7m and is roaring down to the ocean at a ferocious pace.   It is quite amazing to see it's power. Mother Nature is something which inspires awe in me every day.  I wish all the best to everyone trying to battle against such force .... 

I also want to share with you the new antique pieces I have recently received from Karina Gentinetta in New Orleans.  These are very special pieces I have worked with Karina on for my clients and they are absolutely stunning.  Beautiful pieces that transcend time ...... this mirror above I have bought for myself and it is so beautiful and delicate.  The images that have been before it, the stories it could tell ... it has the original aged patina of 19th century France and I love every bit of it... 

Above are the gorgeous Italian murano crystal sconces from Karina .... just stunning!

A close up!

and now the "The Perfect Piece" ...... the Italian settee covered in Belgian linen and tufted with original cream and gilt paintwork ... Karina and I worked on this for my lovely client, Dee, who when she saw it was completely in awe and said to me "I never thought I would own something so beautiful!"  Dee you deserve it ..... Karina organized all of the reupholstering in New Orleans which we discussed at length .... we wanted traditional diamond tufting and pure Belgian linen!  It was so funny as I helped the delivery guy lift it off the truck and he was quite interested and I said that these pieces had come all the way from New Orleans!  He was a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to hold up my end of the sofa but I proved him wrong.... as all you girls out there know "where there is a will there is a way"!  We know how to lift and move furniture as if it is nothing more than fairy dust!   

Another one of the settee .... it was sitting on my verandah for about 5 hours and I said to Dee I think I want this ..... it is so beautiful!  We moved it over to Dee's house, which is just a stone's throw from me, and we went to work!  Look how gorgeous it looks with Dee's artwork in the background.  Dee is an art gallery curator and an artist as well.  We still have rugs and other pieces to procure but as with all design it is ongoing project that evolves with time ...... 

This chair is part of a set that we bought from Miguelle Meirelle in Melbourne and upholstered it in Carolyn Quartermaine Script fabric.... the delicacy of the                            little chair with the elegance of the gold script is a perfect union!

Have a wonderful night and bon nuit

Remember go visit Karina at www.karinagentinetta.1stdibs.com

she will not disappoint!

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....