Dream Home - Dreamin' of Down Under

Today's Dream Home hails from Down Under - in Camberwell, Victoria to be exact. To find the entire listing, you can visit here - but for now, let's jump into this gorgeous home and check out all of it's beautiful details. I must say... the Australians sure do it right!

This 5 Bedroom, 2 Bath home is absolutely stunning, and I'm sure you will agree...

Are you in love yet? I loved it from that first photo - then I saw this pool with that glass fence, and immediately knew it would be my next dream home... even without seeing this stunning interior!

I assume the above is the front entrance. Everything about it is just gorgeous. The contrast of the dark and light wood is perfect and how charming is that stained glass? It's carried throughout the home! Exactly the type of details I love about purchasing an older home. I don't think B and I will ever be the type of couple that buys a new build (Unless we build our own home one day).

This living space is so dreamy with all of those big beautiful windows, and that moulding on the ceiling. How lovely to be able to retreat to this space for a little relaxation!

I would love to cook (or most likely in my case, bake) up something delicious in this traditional looking kitchen... and then serve it up in one of the gorgeous dining spaces below...

My favorite part of this whole house, however, had to be this cozy little nook...

Those windows! Need I say more? This would be the perfect place to start my day, with breakfast and a tea... and a little, or a lot, of blog reading.

What do you love most about this beautiful Australian home? Maybe it's not quite your style... what kind of home do you dream of, and where? I'm always looking for new places to search out beautiful homes to share with my readers. Leave me a comment or shoot me an email and I'd be happy to pull up what you're looking for!

Dressing It Up

Progress has been a little slow on the nursery with all of the other things we've had going on recently. However, over the last week we got back down to business and made a few more additions to the space.

One thing I was so excited to finally get into the space were the curtains. I knew that by getting those up, it would instantly make the room feel that much more finished. Isn't it great that the right window treatment can do that?

In the spirit of trying to work on a budget, we decided to work with what we had. When we moved into the home we were left with a few simple white curtain panels. They did the trick, but we knew we'd eventually have to do something with them to spruce them up a little (at least I did).

In the upstairs rooms they were far too long, and downstairs far too short. One pair was also tabbed which made it hang and swag along the top in an extremely unattractive manner on our living room window. I decided that those tabbed curtains would be the ones we'd wash and move into the nursery... but first they were to undergo a bit of a makeover using the fabric I had purchased quite a while back.

I wish I had a more detailed "how-to" for you, but my fabulous Mom is the brains behind this operation. My basic knowledge is that she removed the original tabs and then used my fabric to cut four panels for the curtains, and used that fabric to make pockets on the top of both panels. We also had to shorten the curtains to fit the height of this tiny room, and well... here's our nursery now (much more full than it was in my previous post)...

If you look closely, you'll also see that we added a white roller blind to help darken the room for baby naps. Below the window is our new diaper bag (a gift from one of my friends), which we've already started to pack for the hospital trip.

Bedding is on, and bumper will come off soon, but we're currently hiding some tiny clothes and receiving blankets in there until we have the room organization all sorted out. There is also a crib skirt in the works to hide the playpen that is stored under the crib (a gift from my parents at Saturday's baby shower).

She's already spoiled with lots of stuffed animals. The giant teddy bear was a gift from B's parents on Saturday, and those polka dot stuffed animals in the basket were made by B's Mom, using the receiving blankets that match our Dwell Studio bedding. 

... And, just a little look at the stuff we've been collecting for baby's gallery wall. The B was also made by B's Mom for "baby". 

We're getting there, and at least feel confident at this point that if she were to arrive tomorrow, we'd have a comfy little room to bring her home too. I'm determined to get the room organized by the end of this week, but this will probably be your last look until the final reveal... which of course may come after the baby comes.

Now my question to you, as we continue to fill our nursery - what did you find the most useful thing to have on hand in your nursery and what wasn't so useful? Or maybe you have some advice for our overnight bags for the hospital? What did you find best to have on hand for you and for baby in that first day together in the hospital?

The Peanut's Day...

This past Saturday was my baby shower - hosted by my wonderful mother and contributed to by my wonderful family and friends! Even more exciting, was B and my parents were able to surprise me with B's wonderful parents and sister, who drove up from Massachusetts to be a part of the special day! It meant so much to me and B to have them all there.

Everyone was beyond generous, and B and I feel so spoiled and so loved. It was more than we expected and we couldn't thank everyone enough for what they did for us and our little peanut! 


It may have been my own shower but that didn't stop me from snapping a few photos (and having my best friend Taylor snap a few of me opening gifts as well) - so let me share...

My talented cousin made all of the tasty baked goods, including the elephant cake that matched the invites my Mom created! It was delicious! Lemon cake (my favorite) with a butter icing (I'm excited to have another piece when I get home tonight! YUM!). She's so good at what she does, and has just started her very own blog! She also made these tasty treats...

Delicious chocolate cupcakes and lemon cake pops! Both were huge hits with all of the guests!

Her little man Parker (who is only 2) was also a big help when it came to me opening a few of my gifts. Definitely a lot easier to have him bending over to pull things from bags than me doing it!

This little girl has a better shoe collection than I do! (Adorable ballet looking shoes from Taylor and her wonderful Mom who drove all the way from Sarnia to celebrate our little girl!)

... and my Aunt brought some tears to my eyes when she gave me a box with a photo of my Nana on it, and inside were nestled a pair of my father's leather baby shoes from when he was a baby. It was so sweet.

Another Aunt (one of my Mom's sisters) bought our little girl her first diamond earrings! (She also bought me my first diamond earrings when I was a baby!)

{L-R Shawna, Elisa, Me, Ashley, Emily}

I was so happy to have a bunch of my favourite girls there to celebrate as well! I've been friends with these ladies for almost 12 years now! I love them!

And even I got a little something from my B! He surprised me with the Kate Spade Date Night Ring that I fell in love with so long ago! I love how bright and fun it is. Isn't he the best?

Not a great photo - but just a little glimpse of PART of what we received! B and I brought home what we could fit into our car on Saturday night. Sunday morning our parents and B's sister came for breakfast and brought over the rest of the gifts that couldn't fit into our car the night before. It took a very long time for the two of us to sort through all of this... and a lot of it is still scattered on our coffee table.

It was such a wonderful day and I can't thank everyone enough for coming and celebrating this little girl that is only a little over 6 weeks away from her due date (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?). B and I feel SO incredibly blessed to be so loved (remember, this is technically our second baby shower! To see what B's wonderful family put together for us, you can check it out here).

There aren't a ton of other details to share - no games, just a lot of time for people to mix and mingle and chat which was so great! I loved seeing friends and family all meeting and chatting and getting along so wonderfully. I wish I'd had more time to visit with everyone... but opening gifts took up a large portion of the shower.

Speaking of baby - there has been some nursery progress as of late! Come back tomorrow to see where we are with the wee one's room... even if it does look a little messy with new purchases tucked into places until we find their proper home.

Fancy Friday Love

It's the last Friday of May, and a long weekend for all of our American friends! I'm wishing for some glorious sunshine and lots and lots of fun for all of you! Let's kick it off with all of the fun and fancy things I stumbled across over the last 7 days...

With summer approaching, and our backyard in desparate need of a little TLC, I keep getting drawn in by perfect patios and back decks. Loved this simple little space from 79 ideas last Friday...

I hope you all saw the fabulous birdhouse that Jen put together, and then liked it on the LePage Products facebook page! That girl is so talented. Make sure you head over here to get on the details on how it came to be!

As I continue along on my mission to read 100 new books this year, my library is growing quite quickly! I wish that my display of books would look this pretty (image from hello lovely inc)...

On Tuesday, desire to inspire shared some work from the portfolio of interior designer Marco Meneguzzi. I absolutely loved everything about every single one of these rooms... as I am a women who loves neutrals done well. They all feel so welcoming and laid back. A great place to kick back with friends and family! Make sure you check out more his work here...

This suite of wedding invites that was featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper is absolutely gorgeous! I love the colours and the details... and of course the fact that it incorporates the London Skyline!

Loved Joi's transformation of an ugly old Rams trashcan into this gorgeous umbrella stand...

That girl is such a smart cookie... but we all already knew that, didn't we? :)

Yesterday on Marcus Design, Nancy shared these incredible cast stone tufted ottomans from Coleen and Company. How great would one of these be in your outdoor space?

Well, I'm hoping that the weekend is kind and brings lots of beautiful weather our way (as I'm sure we all are). My Mother is hosting my baby shower at my parents home tomorrow, and we've both been hoping it will be nice enough to host it in their gorgeous back yard. Keep your fingers crossed for us. I'll be sure to share some pictures on Monday... as well as share some updated nursery photos next week!

What exciting things do you have planned for this weekend? Anyone heading to the Christie Antique Show?

Lending A Hand

My parents have officially been empty nesters for quite a while now. It seems that every time we go to visit they have a new project on the go, and I'm excited to be a part of this next project with my Mom. 


They've already spent some time turning my childhood bedroom into a guest room. Unfortunately, the last bed frame they bought had some issues so it will be a while before they are able to get it together. In the mean time, my mother and I have discussed working together on a very small budget to pull together a welcoming guest room. A lot of what we will use they will already have in their home, with very minimal purchases being made.

For now they will use one twin bed frame (which was once my brothers) and the mattress that was once on the day bed in our basement. Here is the space that we have to work with...

Yup! There's that retro looking mattress again!

I am in love with the mirror she has hanging over that dresser. She mentioned to me that she wasn't sure she wanted it black anymore but I've been working on convincing her that it is perfect just the way it is... don't you agree?

It's hard to tell in these photos (because of my poorly set white balance), but the room is a very pale purple. The plan is to use some nice neutral bedding and add some darker shades of purple in accents. Our main goal is to make this a welcoming and relaxing space for any guest that comes into my parents home.

I always love a project that is a bit of a challenge, and what's more of a challenge than pulling together a room with mostly just the pieces you already own? Keep an eye out - we should be pulling this all together really quickly!

Our Long Weekend Getaway...

This past weekend was a long weekend here in Canada. As I previously hinted at, B and I had a little us time planned. However, before we got to that part of our weekend, we were just able to enjoy the gorgeous weather that we were finally blessed with here in Toronto. 


On Friday evening after dinner we enjoyed a walk, just the two of us, down by the lake, followed by a trip to our favorite ice cream place. They make all of their own ice cream, using no preservatives. I went for the Lemon Sour Cream and B the Maple Walnut... both delicious and a great treat. Then, on Saturday morning, we were out of bed just after 8 and headed to a great breakfast place we also recently discovered in our neighbourhood. Thanks to the warm temps and gorgeous sunshine, we were able to enjoy breakfast out on their patio...

We could've stayed there all day soaking up the sun, but we had some other things we needed to accomplish - so off we went to bring the dogs over to my parents house. After leaving them both there and spending some time with both my parents (including a small shopping trip with my Mom for a project we're working on at her house - details to follow), we headed back home where I did a bit of cleaning and B did a bit of this...

Yup - back garden started to get ripped apart. It's going to look worse before it looks any better. There's a lot to get done out there but we're both pleased with any small progress. We'll share more as we continue to go...


Sunday morning we were up bright and early and on the road. Yup - we took a road trip and headed down to Cleveland to take in the few sights, as well as a Red Sox and Indians game. Rather than typing everything out, I'll just share a few photos...

Our lunch stop on day 1... Grilled Cheese Heaven!

Stop #2 - A Christmas Story House

A drive by of Progressive Field on our way to our hotel...

Taking a stroll on a warm sunny, Sunday afternoon...

Dinner on Sunday night on the patio at Momocho - seriously fantastic meals and service!

A massive and delicious mexican fried ice cream! SO GOOD! Note, B using the spoon as an indication of scale haha (not bad for $6 either!)

Monday we headed to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

Followed by an afternoon visit to the West Side Market - so much delicious stuff on offer!

And we rounded out the trip with a night of this...

There was of course also some shopping and lots of eating of delicious food (my favorite stop of the trip was breakfast at Lucky's Cafe). It was the perfect little getaway for the two of us before two become three!

This question may be coming a little late... but what fun things did all of you get up to this past weekend?

Dream Home - French Riviera Villa

My Dream Home posts seem to be rather sporadic recently... I'm trying to work on it. This past weekend B and I took a few days to get out of the city for a bit. It was by no means a "romantic escape", and not the most ideal place to visit... but we'd never been and thought it would be nice to get away for a bit (plus it was really a baseball game that sold us on going). Since we're just returning today, thought I'd share with you somewhere we would have rather been.

Last week I stumbled across this great site, Unique Living that caters specifically to homes in certain areas of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and The Balearics. I decided to check out what was available in France, and loved this 5 bedroom villa located in Beaulieu Sur Mer in the French Riviera. There weren't a ton of pictures, but it was enough to convince me it would be a great place to escape to. Listed at  €19,000,000, it's definitely a dream home, but isn't that what this fun series is all about?

The first image I saw of this villa was the exterior - looks like the perfect place to be lounging on a glorious sunny day....

What a fantastic yard! I don't think I would ever be indoors if our yard looked like this. Of course, there is also some great space for outdoor entertaining...

The space and those views are just to die for!

If you're not up for entertaining outdoors, the indoor dining space is not only beautiful, but also offers from great views as well...

I'm a huge fan of all of the lighting in this home. The ones over the dining table are beautiful, but check out those pieces hanging over the stairs! Aren't they stunning?

The kitchen looks large and updated, and offers a ton of natural light. Not a bad place to prepare a meal whether you plan on dining indoors or out...

The living area is bright and open, and looks like the perfect place to kick back and relax after a long day of lounging in the sun.

Seems that you just cannot escape those views... but who would complain?

I only wish our past weekend getaway could have been as luxurious as this! Nope, instead we decided on a driving destination based on where B's favorite MLB team was playing - those are the only hints you're getting until I give you a little recap of our weekend escape.

Did you get away to anywhere exciting this past weekend (Canadians) or have plans to get away this coming weekend (for my American friends)? Or maybe you're just sticking it close to home dreaming of an escape? If you could escape to anywhere now... where would you choose?