Tag Archives: RENO

Kitchen Sneak Peek | Giveaway CLOSED

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Industrial lights from Kiwi Living | Tea Towels from Mavis & Osborn | Cleaners and brush by Ecostore | Ring dish made by yours truly | Coffee machine by Espresso Unplugged | Leather for pulls from Lapco

Renovating on a budget is hard at the best of times, let alone when you are living in it too. But the perks are seeing the finishing touches.  Once again we painted every surface white with Resene, this time opting for Double Alabaster. We also chose to make our own handles again and sourced leather from Lapco. The raw industrial lights came from Kiwi Living, the linen tea towels from beautiful Mavis and Osborn, and I finally got my mits on a a Presso from Espresso Unplugged ( delish and silent, perfect )

 So finally it’s done,  and with a bit of elbow grease (and the help of our friends at Ecostore) the grime, dust, tile adhesive and paint that gets EVERYWHERE in renovations was gone and we were able to cook our first meal in our new kitchen.

Also, we have a giveaway! A set of napkins from the delightful Mavis & Osbourn and a few goodies from our pals at Ecostore!

To Enter comment below what you would like most from Mavis & Osbourn and what your favourite Ecostore product is!

Giveaway CLOSED

 Full reveal in Homestyle magazine in the new year!

Good Luck!

Until next time,BlackbirdBLOG signature

One year on // GIVEAWAY CLOSED


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( To see the full article you can request back orders here )

 A year ago Homestyle featured our little house in Hillsborough. At the time we were renting a little open plan garage, I was dreaming of being a stylist and just beginning the blog. A year on, I am a regular contributor with Homestyle, we are renovating our first home and I am working as a stylist. Pretty happy about that!

So to celebrate the year and my new renovation segment in the magazine I have a giveaway for you!

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GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED, check out our Facebook for the winner

This bangin’ Jamie Kay cushion was featured in our master bedroom peek in the latest Homestyle!

Feather and down inner, tweedy lambswool, what more could you want! Annnnd, she has opened it WORLDWIDE. What a champ!

So here is what you have to do!

1 : Visit the Jamie Kay website

2: Have a gander and pick you favourite item

3: Tell me about it! Comment on this post!

You can score extra entries by commenting on Instagram and Facebook too!

Giveaway ends Wednesday the 2nd October !

Good Luck!

 

Until next time,BlackbirdBLOG signature

MAKE IT // brass curtain tie back

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The master bedroom is getting there, and one of the last things I wanted to do was to make some sheer curtains, to add privacy and to give it all an extra lux feel. Who doesn’t love a little glamour in the bedroom ah girls?

First job was finding the perfect fabric. Something that fell beautifully, was sheer, but opaque enough and colour perfection. Of course my dear friends at  The Fabric Store were beyond helpful and amazing and found perfection amongst their rolls of fabric.

Next, I needed to make the tie back.

Here is how I created mine.

ONE

 

YOU WILL NEED //

A brass swivel eye snap hook, Available at your local hardware store.

Cream cotton cord, I got mine from my local Emporium.

Scissors.

Needle and thread.

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METHOD //

Measure loosely around your bunched curtain, double that measurement and this is the length of your cord.

Next, pull the cord in half, with your two loose ends in the middle, loop the cord through the eye of the snap hook, using a cow hitch knot.

Finally, Take your two loose ends, overlap and stitch the needle through both. Loop around, stitch again, repeating until the ends are secure and won’t pull apart. At this point, if you don’t want thready ends, use a long length of clear tape and wrap it around the join.

 

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And you’re done! Simple, cost effective and looks bloody grand, Tick, tick, tick.

Until next time,BlackbirdBLOG signature

RENO LIFE // Master Bedroom Progress

We are nearing the end of week three here. Seriously! I do not know where the time has gone! But with the prep work out of the way, this week was painting and floor week. Most of you know by now that I swear by Resene Black White as a base colour. ( Yes, I believe white is a colour. ) It is pure brilliance. A dear friend told me about it once and I have never turned back. So with a rather large bucket of it in hand we took to the Master Bedroom.

I don’t know if the ‘before’ pictures really do it justice. It was HIDEOUS. Because of the move, the ceiling was rippled, and there were gaping holes at top of the architrave’s. The carpet had tinges of green throughout where someone had had a disaster trying to clean. The textured yellow wallpaper was billowing and torn in parts. So getting it to a slightly nice finish was a mission. Paint was scraped, Holes where filled, Wallpaper was torn down, Walls were skimmed, New backing paper was hung and those hideous blue glass light fixtures were taken far away ( thanks for that 1990’s decor )

Finally a lick of paint, re-position of the lights, a built in wardrobe and ripping up of the old carpet ( hello delicious Matai floor boards ) and now we are on to the fun stuff. So watch this space.

Until next time.

BlackbirdBLOG signature