Media Room Makeover

We have always had a media room....even before media rooms were the trend! Unfortunately, it has been neglected as it has suffered all of the side effects of having small children. In simple terms, it was 'child trashed'!

Now that our kids are growing older, however, I decided to give it a 'joojsh' albeit a reasonably inexpensive one!

Firstly, I rearranged the furniture and gave the whole room a good clean. By moving the two single lounge chairs side-by-side, adjacent to the sofa, it made a huge difference in the feel of the room. Thankfully, the tv and cabinet were only a few years old, so they stayed!

Being the avid shopper that I am, I obviously had to force myself to go bargain hunting to add to the decorations. We bought a cabinet and cane basket inserts from Ikea some weeks earlier (great idea but don't get me started on how I asked DH to pick up one colour and he came home with another!). Then I picked up a mega bargain mirror and black rug.

One of the best hints that I can give is to reuse furniture to save money. Remember the make-over that I did in Miss Ten's room? I took her old bedside drawers and put them under the mirror. They make the perfect place to store remote controls. Then I placed the cheap and rather old Big W (or was it Target???) lamp on the top. It makes a wonderful feature in the room. I also dug out an old print that was in storage and got it reframed for $50. It goes perfectly in the room but I only picked it up today so didn't get a photo...sorry!

Finally, I decided that the whole look needed black cushions (hello Target!) and a black throw rug. Voile! Room complete!

The whole look cost less than $500. Ok, one day I will need a new lounge suite (I am thinking red!) but in the meantime, this room which started out as one I avoided has now become a place where I want to spend time!

It's a Dog's Life!

I so wish that I could do this all day!!! And no, she is not supposed to be there! I found this picture on my camera when I was downloading others that I'd taken. I wonder who took it??? Hmmmmmmm!

Faves and Fun Stuff at the Moment!

It's been ages since I've done a run-down on my favourite things at the moment, so here goes......

Favourite Book

This is hard cause I haven't been doing as much reading as I should be lately! I have completed the final book in the Riley Jensen series though and loved the ending! I am also currently reading a book called 'Haunted Brisbane' by Jack Sim. It's a great little read about supposed haunted parts of the city. The family historian in me loves how the author has been able to maintain anecdotal history which would otherwise run the risk of being lost through generations. And it's a great read for the locals amongst you readers who are interested in that type of thing!

Favourite Television Show

I have many of these at the moment. Still love Packed to the Rafters and am soooooo loving Nathan at the moment. The actor who plays this character is improving before our eyes!

My other all time favourite at the moment is Offspring, the Channel Ten series about a doctor and her neurotic ways in dealing with her life. I love Asher Keddy and have been a huge fan for ages so it seems natural, I suppose that I would love this show. And I must say that the romance between Nena and Dr Chris on this show is hot, hot, hot!!!

For those of you with cable tv, I can also recommend Spirited starring Claudia Karvan. Although the final episode of series one aired last night, they are having repeats this weekend on Channel W, I think. I love this show and I love the character of Henry Mallett. My only complaint is that the final episode left me itching for season 2 to begin. What a pity, it won't start again until next year!

Favourite Movie

I don't know if I have a favourite at the moment but I did see Eat, Pray, Love yesterday. I had read the book and heard all sorts of negatives about the movie, so I went in with little expectation. The reality is that I really, really liked it! I thought that Julie Roberts was excellent as Elizabeth Gilbert and the scenes in Italy made me want to go back there! Definitely worth the effort to see it, however, don't expect big whopping emotional roller coasters during the film. Like the book, it just really bubbles along the pathway of the author's life.

Favourite Music

I started off revisiting my youth and all the songs that reflected it, after some conversations with my teenage son. What has followed is a love of the new music of Mark Seymour (aka, ex-Hunters and Collectors lead singer). He really is fabulous at singing those melodic, soulful tunes. I cannot believe that there isn't a greater commercial market for the amazing music that he is making today. I am now a huge fan!!!

I Feel Like Noah!

.....Noah of the flood variety, that is! All that is missing is my ark! Lol!

Yesterday, we in Brisbane experience a massive dumping of rain! They say that in one night we had our monthly average of rain. Although it rained non stop all night, at around 7am, it decided to come down in bucketloads!



At that time, I was getting ready for work and sleepily headed out to the kitchen to start breakfast. A quick look out the kitchen window and I discovered that my back pergola had turned into a lake. As I ventured out, lifting pyjama legs as I went so that they didn't hit the water, I turned the corner of my house where my clothesline is and discovered more lake....only this time getting dangerously close to entering the house!


Now, I am not a photographer and don't profess to be one, but you can get an idea from my photos exactly how much water there was and how dark and heavy the clouds were! At this point, DH decided to take the day off work and spent his morning standing out in the pouring rain, digging a channel to open up a gravel-covered drain and help water escape. I left him to it, of course and went to work but thankfully, the rain did ease off enough to prevent any further disaster!

Ikea Loving!

About a month ago, I spotted a gorgeous butterfly lamp in a Pillow Talk advertisement. It was lime green and looked so nice that I decided to buy it for Miss Ten's room. What followed was a month long decorating frenzy that saw, not only her room revamped, but a few extra odds and ends bought for other places in the house as well.

Miss Ten has always had the small room! A lot of the decor was mish-mash and left over from other places in the house. Her old bedside table was a hand-me-down and her 'desk' was an old table that I used as a baby's change table at one stage! Her drawers were bought for $10 at a garage sale and were falling apart and her curtains were cheap Big W ones that were bought before she was born. My BIL, at one stage, gave us a set of wall shelves for her Beanie Kid collection (which is brilliant), but apart from that, the whole room had a 'thrown together' feel!

So, on the day that I went to Pillow Talk to buy the new lamp, I came out with....new curtains, a new doona cover and a new bobble bed cushion.....all in lime green! I then went to the local shopping centre and bought a bobble lime green mat, a hanging thing for more soft toys (I really really dislike the oversupply of soft toys, btw!) and lime green bucket-style containers!

.....And then I discovered Ikea!

Ikea is a long drive from my house and involves going over the Gateway bridge toll road! Regardless, we made the venture in search of a new desk that would fit Miss Ten's little room! We found the perfect one, of course with an additional hutch! Two trips back to Ikea later and we also have a new bedside chest, a new chest of drawers for her cupboard, a lime green wall mirror and a great lime green throw rug! I think I love Ikea now!

So I have included photos of bits and pieces of the new room! What do you think?


Butterfly lamp above from Pillow Talk. I love this colour!

Green throw rug only $5 from Ikea. Doona cover and curtains from Pillow Talk.

Aneboda bedside cabinet from Ikea.

Aneboda chest of drawers fit perfectly inside the wardrobe!

Micke desk and hutch and Snille chair all from Ikea.
Miss Ten loves the Micke hutch as the backboard is a magnetic white board...perfect for holding old Littlest Pet Shop toys (don't know why that $5 was there though!).

Green hangy thing from Target...although I noticed that Ikea has them, too! I also bought a green mat from Target but didn't take a pic for some reason!

The Delight Of Holidays and Other Such Stuff!

Ten things I'm thinking about right now:

1. These days, I have to fight a couple of children to get on my own computer! Go figure! The joys of motherhood and kids getting older and more computer savvy!

2. We are on holidays now and are loving the sleep-ins! While the kids usually complain about being bored on holidays, it hasn't been so bad this time....perhaps because the last holidays were so full on!

3. I love, love, love the new Australian drama, Offspring! I have always loved Asher Keddie. She plays the slightly neurotic, nervy type so well......maybe I relate!

4. I spent a mini fortune at Ikea over the last week. It is a good 45 minute drive to the nearest Ikea for me but it has been worth it. Miss Ten now has a brand new desk and hutch! Hooray! Her room is looking neater and I have overhauled it with lime green trimmings! Pictures would be on the way, except that a certain Superteen decided to 'borrow' the batteries from my camera without asking! :(

5. Speaking of 'Superteen', he has just celebrated another birthday making me feel decidedly older but still proud of him, despite his total teenage attitude! (Ok, the teenage attitude is driving me round the twist but they tell me that I only have a few more years for him to grow out of it! Greeeeeattttt!)

6. The dogs are doing fine! I am currently looking for a good kennel to board them in over the Christmas/new year period so if anyone knows a good one in the greater Brisbane area, please let me know!

7. I really should not have eaten those last two chocolate koala biscuits!

8. Speaking of food....we are having visitors for tea tomorrow night. What to cook? Bbq sounds like a good idea and perhaps chocolate coated strawberries (chocolate done in slow cooker, of course!)

9. I am currently listening to fabulous music by Mark Seymour. I think he sounds better than his Hunters & Collectors days! Check him out here!

10. I have just clocked over 20 000 visitors to my blog! Hooray! Thanks for visiting!

Farewell To The Finger!

Most Australians have heard of Powderfinger! And if you have lasted with me over the coarse of my blogging years, you will know that I love them! You will also know that my dear son was in their video clip some years ago and you will know that they recently called it a day and are currently on the very final Australian tour....ever!!!

So last Saturday night, we treated ourselves and our son to a ticket to one of their final Brisbane concerts. Us and thousands and thousands of other people braved the gray skies to stand on a hill next to the Brisbane River to hear our favourite band play one last time!

On arrival, we were treated to the poppy sounds of Operator Please - a young Australian band who are currently most famous for a song about ping pong than anything else. I liked them! I predict more hits for them if they stay together!

After that, we were witness to the amazing spectacle that is Brisbane Riverfire! Twenty full minutes of massive fireworks filled the night sky, along with the awesome sight of three F1-11 fly overs (the final ever, too as the government is retiring this particular aircraft), dumping fuel as they went to form a massive fire-ball tail on their aircraft! Amazing!

Following the fireworks, The Vines took to the stage. Now, I am not a young, hip teenager but am not completely mega-conservative in my music tastes, I don't think. The Vines, however, made me feel about a hundred years old as apparently, screaming into the microphone is far better than actually hearing lyrics! Ok, there were some songs that were alright but I think I'll leave their music for the young 'uns in future!

Finally, Powderfinger began. They offered, as usual, a full night of entertainment....performing songs that we all knew, had grown up with and could sing along to! To see these guys in full stage flight is really a treat! Their heavy guitar-based sound brought back memories of smoke-filled concert venues of years gone by! At one stage, they left the stage, only to arrive on a second stage at the top of the hill a few minutes later (much to the delight of the crowd at the back, I'm sure!). We were thrilled, actually, when they ran right past us to return to the main stage. No super-special pathways for these normal blokes....just a quick dash with a couple of security back to where they began the concert! And to top it all off, Bernard Fanning played one of my all-time favourite songs when he arrived back on-stage....a little number called 'Whatever Makes You Happy'!

The Superteen, at his first ever concert was impressed. Although he did not want to rage in the mosh pit, he enjoyed the music and came away more of a Powderfinger fan than he was previously. He was disappointed, however, that they didn't play 'I Don't Remember', the song that he played a younger version of one of the band members in the video clip!

At the end of the night, and after two encores, they sang their swan song....These Days.....one of my all-time favourite PF songs! I admit that it was here when I started to get a little emotional. They say that all good things must come to an end, but this song signalled, not just the end of the concert but the end of seeing Powderfinger in concert again! (They do have a return trip in November but we don't have tickets!).

So, from this little Aussie fan, I'd like to say thanks Powderfinger....for the songs, the experiences and the memories! I will miss you!


(Apologies for poor photo quality. I forgot to bring my camera so ended up trying to take a few snaps on my mobile phone. Seriously waiting for my phone plan to end so I can get an iphone!)