ME.... A DECORATOR ?!

Well,  I wish I was one..  If I could turn back the clock,  I would have studied  interior design as it's been a life-long passion.  For most of my life I have been pretending to be one,   while my poor family have been dragged from pillar to post, one project to another,  allowing me the opportunity of expressing myself through property development/renovations countless times!  The strange thing is that it has  definitely rubbed off on my husband and he has got to love the process almost as much as I do.  

When I was a teenager, I had very particular ideas about interiors.    I loathed my parent's taste ..  My father was a modernist.. yes and even a minimalist back then,  and I was a traditionalist and although living in South Africa,  an Anglophile !!  

As soon as I moved into my own apartment, and had a job and a little money,  I began acquiring old things.  Little silver boxes,  wooden boxes,  a little antique chair here and there.  I loved colour and I loved chintz and I loved anything floral !


When I got married,  we moved into a gorgeous little Victorian cottage, in Johannesburg South Africa.  Even then,  I was an avid reader of magazines and I remember so well, falling in love with a bedroom with red walls!  I carefully went about re-decorating our bedroom and will always remember how thrilled I was with the result.  So it started,  my absolute love and passion for beautifying my home... taking something very ordinary and creating something beautiful... to me anyway.  


Now,  many years later and living in Australia, I am constantly being stimulated by everything around me.  "Moving house"  here in NSW is almost a national pass time !!.   Beautiful magazines,  featured properties in the media and a plethora of awesome interiors stores are constant sources of inspiration. 


So, if I can't be a proper decorator,  at least here, I can express my passions and love for the entire world of interiors.

I have always had a thing about entry halls.     This is, after all,  the first and the last place the visitor spends time in. Even if a home too small to accommodate an entry hall,  a simple table and a lamp, umbrella stand  and a bowl for keys can do the trick !.   The entry is often  the room we ignore as we are mostly rushing through it!  It should be a place of welcome, also setting the tone for the rest of the house and giving us a hint of what lies beyond.    Below are some entry halls that I love.

My own entrance hall at South Acres Farm

This entry hall is probably my favourite.  I adore the twin chests as well as the portraits and the black door.

This hall is more rustic.  I love the clock, the fishing baskets and the dark green front door as well as the black banisters.

I love the elegance of this entry hall and the side views into the formal living room

Casual, fun and full of holiday spirit... love all the hats and the red banisters

Entry hall of a beach house in Australia

I really love this entry hall.. Love the deep orange and the dark framed prints.