Today

I can't believe it's almost October again?!  Where did the year go?  I have no idea.  We seem to be smack bang in the middle of preparing schemes and quotes for clients for pre-Christmas work.  Before we know it we'll be racing against the clock to get everyone's sofas, cushions, curtains etc. installed before the 25th December.  We've also been working hard finalising our Christmas window displays and our Summer/Christmas online vignette which will go live early November.  Gosh I have no idea how we seem to get it all done!  Crazy is one word you could probably use to describe life at Black & Spiro.

I thought it would be fun to post a few photos of things I worked on today.  The pretty vintage yellow lamp is one I found for a client.  We were playing around with a few fabric options today for the shade.  The fantastic zebra print wallpaper is one I am using in a sun room for a client {I have been wanting to use this paper for so long}.  The pretty blue and white cushion is one we are having made for the shop along with lots more. 

I can't forget my last vase of ranunculus for the season which I picked from our garden over the weekend.  Good-bye pretty flowers.  I can't wait for you to flower again next year!!

That's all from me this week.  Short but sweet. 

Hope you have a great weekend!
xx
Anna

Hello Again

Hello!  I'm back again.  I thought you might like to see some photos of a beautiful family home I've been working on for the past year or two.  As I say to my clients - homes decorated over time always end up being the most beautiful.  This house is one of those houses which we have added layer upon layer and to be honest, I could work for these clients for the rest of my life.  They are always so happy and kind and thrilled with the things I do for them.  It really is an honour to have helped them turn their house into a home which is filled with very special things they love and cherish.

This is their sitting room.

This is their family room and dining area. 

And below is a snapshot of the main bedroom. 

Next stage is redecorating their son's bedroom and the upstairs sitting room and study nook which we will take our time to work through.  Slowly but surely is definitely the way!!

xx

Anna

H & M Time

Having our children 7 years apart has worked perfectly for us.  I couldn't have done it any other way.  However, the big gap does provide some variety...

1 1/2 year old Max loves his visits to Black & Spiro on a Saturday morning so much so that we have to put him on the pink step ladder because otherwise the entire shop would be redecorated {Max style}. He really gets excited about being at the shop.

8 year old Harry on the other hand immensley dislikes our Saturday morning visits to the shop.  He says it's boring which it most probably is for him considering I've been taking him in on a Saturday morning since he was little.  Notice how slumped he is in the chair at Black & Spiro.  He really loathes going to the shop.

I love the contrasts the age gap provides and no doubt by the time Max is Harry's age he too will be completely over our Saturday morning shop visits.

Talking about the kids, I really, really need to spend some time with them.  I have been working really hard lately and I need to take a very short break from the blog to have some fun with them. 

I'll be back towards the end of next week...not long!!
xx
Anna

Kate Lewis

I have talked about my love of Kate Lewis' paintings before.  Her work has that very beautiful painterly look which seems almost effortless.  I was so thrilled when she emailed me earlier today some images of her latest works which she said might look familiar.  Look at the way she has painted the flowers on the chair....so, so beautiful and so, so clever!!

Click HERE to see her latest works...
xx
Anna

Beautiful Weekend

Did you embrace the wonderful weather here in Brisbane today?  Wasn't it a beautiful day?  We had a very lazy day at home.  The sort of day that starts with the Sunday papers spread all over the bed and it didn't get much busier than a bit of weeding and watering in the garden.  Max spent alot of time running through the sprinkler and we spent alot of time just sitting and enjoying the spectacular day.  What did you get up to today?

PS.  I love that bedroom above with the amazing bookcase...so beautiful!!

Owl See You Next Week

I haven't posted much this week!  I am sorry!!  I have been playing catch up with my work and trying to stay OFF the Internet.

We seem to have had lots of enquiry about our very special hand-made and hand-painted owl jugs and I thought I would let you all know that they will be making a big appearance in our next online Vignette.  The ones in our next vignette will be much larger than the little ones we had in the Spring Vignette and they will be available in Blue and White and Green and White so if you want one make sure you keep watching the blog for updates about when our next Vignette will go live!  I think they will make an excellent Christmas present.

Hope you have a great weekend and Owl see you next week!!
xx
Anna

Black & Spiro Today

This morning we spent a few hours re-arranging the shop.  Gosh it always makes me feel so much better when we've moved a few things around even though it is alway such a big job!!  One of my favourite pieces in the shop at the moment is the antique side table in the photo above.  It is such an amazing piece with so much detail!!

We filled our gorgeous Stuart Membery cane sofa with lots of new colourful cushions!  I love the yellow and white upholstery on this sofa.  It's so South of France in the Summertime don't you think!!

Hope everyone is having a great week.  My posts may be a bit sporadic this week.  Lots to do!!
xx

Anna

Behind The Scenes

I thought it might be fun to share some behind the scenes shots of our Spring Vignette.  It all started with this pile of fabrics, lamps, pictures etc. on my work table at Black & Spiro.  Some might consider this to be just a pile of mess but my schemes usually start off in this manner.  There's nothing like a big pile of ideas, fabrics, colours, snippets of things I like to get the creative juices flowing...

Photo shoot day always starts with lots of coffee for everyone involved.  It's a full day of arranging flowers and placing and moving things around so as to get the perfect shot.  I am usually completely over it by the end of the day.

The photo shoot for our Spring Vignette actually went into the evening.  As you can see above it was getting quite dark by the end of the shoot.

Here's the room from a different angle.  I took this photo the night before Elouise came and photographed the Vignette. I usually get the room set up the day before so that I am all prepared for her when she arrives the next morning to start taking the photos.

Here's a close-up of the coffee table.  I actually preferred it arranged this way but it didn't photograph very well so I had to change things around slightly as you can see when you compare this photo with the actual vignette over at the store.

And here's a little close up of some of the cushions on the sofa.  You might notice that I used the same sofa in the Spring Vignette as the Winter Vignette.  I did this on purpose because I wanted to show how interchangeable our looks are.  It's all just a matter of changing the accessories to achieve a new look!!

Without a doubt, my favourite piece in our Spring Vignette was the vintage flamingo.  I think it was one of the first items to sell and rightly so.  It is so gorgeous!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few behind the scenes photos of our Spring Vignette.  We are working on some more very exciting additions to the online store so make sure you keep watching here for updates!!

xx

Anna

Tidbits

Gosh, I really like this kitchen.  I love how it's all just a bit of a mismatch.  Nothing new and perfect about this kitchen which makes it so interesting and unique.

I also like this pretty bedroom which I found over at Decor8 by Lisa Stickley.  Talking about Decor8, I was so excited to see the post Holly did last week about our online store and the concept behind it.  Thank you Holly.  You are always so generous with your support!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Mine was lovely. Thank you also to everyone for your support and kind notes about our Spring Vignette. 
xx
Anna

image 1 - via inspire bohemia

Our Spring Vignette Is Now Live



I hope you enjoy our Spring Vignette.  It is now live.  Click HERE to be directed to the store.

xx

Anna

Spring Vignette Live Tomorrow

Just thought you might like to know that our Spring Vignette will be going live tomorrow sometime.  You will notice tomorrow that we have already upgraded our site so that we can have 2 vignette pages for Spring and we've also made the images larger so that you can see the items more clearly.  There's lots of wonderful vintage items so make sure you are quick to click. 

http://www.absolutelybeautifulthings.com.au/

Oh and this bunch of flowers was picked from my garden yesterday.  I really cannot believe that all of these flowers grew in our garden.  They are an obvious sign that Spring is here!!

xx
Anna

New Things at Black & Spiro

I thought you might like to see our current front window display at Black & Spiro and also a fabulous new ikat armchair which arrived last week.  The chest of drawers in the window is a little antique French chest and the lamp is a fabulous old lamp I found.  The new shade has certainly given it a wonderful, new and uplifting look. 

xx

Anna

Only a Few Days Away...

I am thrilled to advise that our fresh and exciting Spring Vignette over at our online store - http://www.absolutelybeautifulthings.com.au/ will be up in just a few more days. 

Keep checking back for updates...

xx
Anna

image via pretty stuff tumblr

Happy Days

Throughout life there are many happy days which come and go.  Some we forget and some we treasure as a memory.  For me I think today was one of those days I will long remember as a very happy day with my family. 

I set up our dining table in our garden and we celebrated Fathers Day with lunch on the lawn with my parents, my brother and the boys.  I picked the flowers from our garden this morning and arranged them in a pretty crystal vase which was given to us as a Wedding gift.

Actually talking about Wedding gift, Brad & I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary last week.  I can't believe we have been married for 10 years.  Where did all that time go?  Harry left us a little reminder on the table in our lounge room.  He actually went out into the garden and picked the flowers himself and put them in the vase.  I am sure that boy will make for a wonderful husband one day...might need to do some work on his spelling though!!

Mum did all the cooking today as usual except for the Strawberries.  Some were from our garden and some were from the fruit shop.  I just cut them up and dusted them with a very small amount of icing sugar and voila they were delish!

Harry & Max played on the swing, they kicked the football, they drove Max's car around and around the garden...

They even managed to get Grandad onto the swing...

Our day ended with a messy table which is always a good sign of a fun time had by all...

And a couple of take home alfoil wrapped bunches of flowers from our garden...

Other than having my other brother, who is away working in Western Australia, here with us today I don't think I could have had a nicer day.  It was perfect in every way...

xx
Anna