does a house need a style or a theme or a mood or an era??

Greetings all,

As i have the exciting task of planning a homestead for my family . . . what i do know after 15 years of marriage & living in Army housing - is what i don't want!!  Seeing we've lived all over Australia & gathered 4 children along the way + left the concept of building a house for ourselves for so long . . . we're now planning/ building a homestead for where we will be in a few years time . . . regional Canberra with almost 4 teenagers, a retired soldier & my sewing will become a hobby again!!

Oh we've had some weird aspects to our Army houses - a cyclone shelter in the bathroom, orange/ brown shower screens & the first 4 houses all had the same lino??  Add to that some bizarre colour combinations - like butter yellow walls with red carpet & sky blue doors with grey walls.  In true rental property style, they all have vertical blinds, crappy gardens & zero storage.  

We want to build on 100 acres/ 40 ha - not to farm it, but for the space & privacy, with animals, a barn, swimming pool & running track.  We need 5 bedrooms, an open study, an adult-sized bath in our ensuite & serious walk in pantry. 
We don't necessarily have a style, theme, mood or an era in mind . . . does it matter??  I think it would work in an established home or neighbourhood but we're building from scratch in the middle of a paddock, so plan a classic style, a modest theme, a welcoming mood & uncomplicated era.  I like plain & neutral, allowing art & furniture to do the talking, or as the television experts would say "the hero of the room" by way of colour/ interest/ feature.  I think if you're planning an Early Settler unadorned style homestead for a large family, swanky period features can look a bit . . . wanky.      

 Last night i was kicking myself that my husband was on a plane & not watching Grand Designs with me, as i think they featuered my favourite house EVER!!  The simple elegance of it all, attention to detail = clean lines & a sheer joy of a home!!

 It wasn't a challenging castle restoration, or a whacky cliff side renovation; it was a mix of new millenium eco cleverness, Scandinavian lightness & mid century perfection.  The interior designer/ owner Kathryn Tyler has an amazing eye for classic styling - putting years of thrifted finds into storage while she dreamed up the most fabulous home for them. 

 Many fixtures were from hardware stores or DIY, then built over by the carpenter, making them look a million dollars & custom made.  Kathryn designed the most incredible shelves in line with the stairs & clever storage/ seating/ table concepts!!  You could see the television show host & architect Kevin McCloud was extremely impressed (Series 7, Episode 29).

 My inspiration is blue, grey & white throughout with art on the walls & fabric on the soft furnishings providing the colour.  Soaking up building tips from friends who are in the midst of creating their homes . . . grab supplies from hardware stores or on line, if you're flexible & can stomach the fact an internal door is merely a-rectangle-piece-of-wood & you need 20 of them, then $40 doors will do instead of purchasing 20 x $200 doors.  Ditto for taps.  I'm not after the latest award winning Italian tap - so long as water comes out of it, i'll be happy.  Ok i'm not that easy, i want recessed sinks & taps fixed to the walls not the benches (kitchen, bathroom, laundry) as i loathe water pooling around tap bases or sink edge.  I married the son of a plumber who embraces my passion for simple plumbing design. 

So while my husband is busy soldiering & i plan the next Lego giveaway on this blog . . . i am flicking through homey magazines sourcing ideas & starting debates . . . like curtains versus shutters.  I can absolutely see us living in the house in my mind, i could quite easily fill our garage with ornaments & reconditioned furniture as pieces of the future homestead puzzle.
Do you have a style, theme, mood or an era for your home/ dreams??  Love Posie

i'm grateful for 'sticks, stones & fly fishing - a self imposed long weekend'

Greetings all,

Oh boy, what a gorgeous long weekend our family just enjoyed.  My husband & i dropped the children at school on Friday (we slowed the car down to 40km/h & pushed them lovingly) then a spot of shopping for fishing lures & high tailing it down this gorgeous tree lined driveway to Poacher's Pantry for lunch, the famous smoked meat goods shop & restaurant.

We dined inside next to the fire & alongside the pantry, we shopped from our seats, brilliant!! 

 Remembering we had children, we headed back into the city to pick them all up from school & then headed straight down the Barton Highway to Gundagai.

 Spending time with my husband's best mate & his lovely family is one of my favourite things in the world.  After a delicious lamb curry dinner, the children baked scones.

 The best behaved child gets to lick the beaters, that's the rule!!

 Time to explore the 100 year old house where they live part time in Gundagai.  The children are wearing gloves because a) they are weird & b) husband's best mate is a butcher & has standards when preparing food for other people. 

 Our nerdy high schooler brought her parachute experiment to test in the grand old stairwell.  We deprive her of any great heights at home as we live in a single level home.

 The house has 2 levels they don't use - check out this pantry on the middle level!!  Now that is my kind of pantry, room for a lounge??

Our boy found the gym, pumping those muscles before a day of fishing.

 Then i spied this old school table & seat in the hallway, i want it - perhaps without the brick, but i could upcycle that lamp, channelling Thea&Sami??

 Before we went fishing, the men took the children for a walk down the old railway lines & found this tea pot tree, native to Gundagai.

Rounding up the children we headed for the Tumut River.

 Do you think this ended well??

 My husband's best mate teaching our eldest daughter to fly fish.

 It was about this time i realised this little girl had her top on backwards, she had flipped the necklace over & didn't have a care in the world.

 Handsome soldier hunting wild beasts for our lunch.

 Behold the lucky rainbow trout catch-of-the-day who was quickly returned to the river, after everyone had a pat of him.  I'm surprised with all the stones the children were throwing & skimming on the river, there were any fish hanging around at all.

 "Look mum, i can still go deeper!!"  I'm just thrilled he realised if he tucked the faux socks at the top of his gum boots inside, they wouldn't get wet.  One minute later, his boots were filled with water anyway & drying by the fire, along with his jeans & socks!!

 I love watching how our children play together, then one by one, branch off to do their own thing.  This one was a tad Lord of the Rings, building her own fire.

 We provided much entertainment for these Angus cows.

 Running with sticks & towards fire no less!!

 Much excitement when we found some wild bush melons & check that cow pattie!!

 Little bit thrilled my beloved scissors brand Fiskars also make axes!!

 Why did a bother with jeans & gum boots, everyone left in knickers!!?? 

 I spent a wee while lying on the picnic rug, under a gum tree, looking up to this beautiful sky.

So it was a weekend of gourmet food, home baking, children running free, country air & only confirms our family desire to move out of the city to stake our claim on some land outside of Canberra, so every weekend is like this.  Tomorrow my husband leaves us again, he's back in Brisbane & on course (minimal phone contact) & we won't see him until the July school holidays, sigh.  It was a nice little holiday with him home this past week, now back to reality.  Only 19 months to go in our 3 years of living apart, i think we should have a little party in July when we're over half way!!

To see what everyone else is Grateful For this weekend, check out Maxabella Loves.  Have gorgeous weeks everyone, love Posie
Oh & don't forget this great Lego giveaway i have running for just one more week!!