Have yourself an ethical Christmas …

November 23, 2016 by Hayley Leave a Comment

This Christmas wouldn’t it feel good to know that your spending is helping shape the world in a positive way?
Wouldn’t it be nice to know that your hard-earned dollars are in someway helping others, fighting poverty and saving lives?

If one in four Australians made just one ethical purchase this Christmas, we’d raise more than $2.2 billion for people living in poverty.
Be one of those Australians ….

There are so many ways you can make a difference!
This year Oxfam have made it easy with four ways to make your Christmas an ethical one.
They include gifting an ethical card with their Unwrapped gift cards or buying an Oxfam Christmas tree.
They have also compiled a ‘Naughty or Nice‘ list, naming and shaming the clothing companies who use ethical practises and who don’t.

Lastly, you can buy an ethical gift from the Oxfam Shop.

Hello … did somebody say shopping?
I can help the world by shopping?
Then let’s go!

I scoped out the Oxfam shop and found my favourite things this Christmas.
My selection of table ware and decor look beautiful set together for your Christmas table, or each piece is a stunning gift on its own.

For all my blue and white lovers I picked 2 of my favourite pieces from the Peony range.
The Peony range is a blue and white lovers dream, everything from cake stands to coffee mugs hand painted in our favourite blue floral designs.
I chose the serving bowl and the dip dishes to add to my collection.

The serving bowl is big enough for a family salad but not so big that you feel like you have to use 3 lettuces to fill it. It has a beautiful pattern inside and out and it’s definitely going to be a regular guest at our dinner table.

The dip dishes consist of five separate dishes that come in a sweet rattan basket with a lid. I know they are called dip dishes and they would be perfect for just that, but I’m also thinking of taco night, antipasto, yum cha and sweets. Or in this case, for a summer breakfast of fresh fruit with a greek yogurt dip, yum!

I fell in love with this sweet little reindeer and just knew he would fit right in at my house.
He is made from coco fibre and wicker and looks perfect watching over our dinner table.

My favourite piece is this stunning Copper Matka, or water jug.
It isn’t just beautiful, it is also highly valuable for its properties of purification and keeping water cool. Copper is bang on trend right now, but drinking from copper water vessels has been popular for many years, and considered by the Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) as the ‘water of immortality’ due to its multiple health benefits.
I’m looking forward to trying it out, and if I don’t notice a change in my health … I still have a gorgeous water jug!

I also love the matching copper pyala or water tumbler. It has all the same qualities as the water jug, crafted from pure, food grade copper. I have used it on my table as a little vase, I’m wondering whether it’s anti-microbial properties will help my flowers stay alive for longer, I hope so!

What do you think?
Are you tempted by any of these gorgeous items, for yourself or for a gift?

If you’d like to shop ethically this Christmas you can find more details at Oxfam here.

Happy (feel good) Shopping!

Hayley x

Getting your outdoors summer ready.

November 14, 2016 by Hayley Leave a Comment

Summer in Australia means entertaining outdoors.
I like to think of my outdoor areas as another room of the house. Currently we just have an alfresco dining area, I’m working on an outdoor living area on the balcony for later in the renovation.

I have an outdoor dining suite. It is synthetic white wicker and even though it is about 6 years old it is still in pretty good shape, except for the cushions. The cushions were stained, discoloured and the foam had gone all flat, not very stylish, or comfortable!

Can you believe I actually considered getting an entire new outdoor setting just because the cushions were shabby?
Don’t get me wrong, I had considered new cushions, but mine are a funny shape so I couldn’t just buy new ones ‘off the rack’. I also thought about having new ones made, but the thought of going to one place to have new foam cut, then another place to find a fabric, then taking it all to an upholsterer to have it made not only sounded like an absolute mission, but it also sounded rather expensive.

That’s until I heard of a local business, Century Foam and Rubber, who were advertising that they are ‘your one stop covering shop’. They supply the foam, cut it to size, supply a fabulous range of good quality fabrics, and have an upholsterer on site to complete your new cushion/s for you. I thought it was worth checking out …

So, you take in your old cushions, choose your new foam (if required, you can re-use your existing foam) … yes there are different levels of comfort and density to choose from, choose your fabric (or you can take your own) and they look after everything!
They stock Warwick fabrics and the outdoor SUNDEC range is really beautiful. It is made to withstand sunlight exposure, mould, mildew, chlorine and everything the Aussie outdoors throw at it. If by some miracle you can’t find a Warwick fabric you like, they are located in the Spotlight centre, the friendly staff at Century Foam and Rubber will tell you how much fabric you need and you can pop down to Spotlight and buy something else.

My eyes immediately went to the blue fabrics, surprise surprise, and I chose this gorgeous design …

Have a look at my outdoor dining chairs before, stained, grubby, flat and decidedly U-G-L-Y!

And after!

I cannot tell you how chuffed I am with the make over!

This is why I am so obsessed with cushions, they make such a dramatic difference to every living space. They add colour, pattern, personality and most importantly … comfort.
I just need to add a great big outdoor rug and this will feel like an another room in my home.

Oh, and just so you know, they don’t just do outdoor cushions, they do so much more.
They also do indoor cushions and have an equally beautiful range of fabrics for inside use.
They can do cushions for your day beds and bench seats with matching bolsters and scatter cushions.
What about some box floor cushions? A floor mat for the kids to play on?
They can even make you a fancy dog bed!

You can check them out here and tell them I sent you!

It’s easy peasy, and surprisingly affordable!

I’m thrilled with my new ‘custom’ look and I got brownie points from hubby for the budget = winning!

I have to go now, I’m going to hunt down a fabulous second hand cane lounge suite to have revamped for my balcony.

Happy cushioning!

Hayley x

Christmas gifts for our overseas friends.

November 4, 2016 by Hayley 1 Comment

So many of us have special friends and family who live overseas, and just because they live so far away they shouldn’t miss out on Christmas gifts from us!
I also understand that postage prices are crazy expensive so it’s important to find gifts that are not too heavy, relatively small and not breakable.

I’ve put this list together with lot’s of time for you to order online and post overseas.
Here’s what I’ve come up with …

Tea Towels are a necessity in most of our lives, and while they might not sound super exciting I think the range available from KE Designs is gorgeous.
They are made from super absorbent microfibre and printed in such fun designs. They have a fabulous range of iconic Australian designs such as Vegemite, Fairy Bread and Lamingtons.
I think this is the perfect gift to send to your family and friends overseas, they come packaged in a matching box and are lightweight and easy to post.

Who doesn’t like receiving a beautiful piece of jewellery?
The range available from Coastalstyle Australia conveys Australia with seashells and shapes from the ocean that remind us of our beautiful beaches and stunning coastline. My personal favourite from the range is the Silver Droplets bracelet with an interchangeable clasp which allows you to choose and change your charms. I do like how you can personalise it to your own style or to suit the lucky recipient.

Silver droplets bracelet | Coastalstyle Australia

Australia does have such fun native animals and I find people from other countries go crazy for a kangaroo, koala or platypus.
These bamboo trays from Cockatoo Collections are fun, lightweight and they come in a sturdy box perfect for posting. Pair it with one of their cute canvas bags.

This gift guide wouldn’t be complete without a koala, am I right?
I adore these oversized Australian postage stamp wall decals form Quercus & Co Print Shop. Super fun and easy to post for your house proud friends and family. They are self-adhesive and removable/repositionable so they are perfect for homesick Aussie who are renting overseas too.

And lastly, one for the bubbas and kidlets. This is one of my go-to gifts and I have sent them to many of my friends babies born overseas. They are made from Australian sheepskin and are super soft and snugly. They are available in a range of colours from FLATOUT Australia.

I hope you found something unique and Australian for your overseas friends and family!

Happy Shopping!

The best renovating advice I can give!

October 31, 2016 by Hayley Leave a Comment

Those of you who have been following me for a while will know my husband and I are long time renovators.
Terry, my husband, is a qualified MBA builder and I am, well … I am a qualified optical dispenser, which means I didn’t know anything about the building industry before meeting my husband. We are currently renovating our 6th house together, and my husband did a couple more before I came into his life. I have learnt so much during the last 20 years and I often get asked for advise about renovating.

Renovating and building so many houses together has taught us some useful lessons. Some of them we had to learn the hard way, and trust me, you don’t want to learn the hard way!

The cabinetry at our last house ended up costing us nearly double our initial quote due to mistakes made by the ‘tradesman’ who never returned to fix them and stopped answering his phone after he realised the huge mistake he had made. We had to get another cabinetmaker in to repair and finish the work. It was a time and budget blow out.

I wish I’d done my homework and researched the tradesman before hiring him.

So, for all of you that have asked, here’s the best bit of advise I can give to you or anyone renovating or taking on any household maintenance, no matter how big or small.:

GET THE RIGHT TRADESPEOPLE!

Seriously, if you find a good tradesperson your building work will run so much smoother and from our experience, end up being more cost efficient also.

I know you’re all thinking that’s easy for us, Terry is a builder, he must know heaps of people in the industry, but the truth is, he works in an office 5 days a week as a Commercial Project Manager and barely sees anyone on a jobsite anymore. He does all the building work, but we still require qualified professionals for our cabinetry, plumbing, electrical and a few other trades.

After the disaster with the cabinetmaker at our last house I was determined to find good, reliable, respectful tradespeople who would get the job done right for our latest renovation.

I started doing some research and asking around, every corner I turned brought me to an online business directory called True Local. If you’ve never heard of it, True Local is a rating and reviews service for local businesses, including tradies (www.truelocal.com.au).

It is super easy to use – I was able to look for a tradie in my local area (enter the details of what trade you are after and what suburb you live in, and a list of tradespeople in your area appears), read reviews and ratings from their previous customers, and take a look at photographs showing their previous work. All of this information was important to me, given my cabinet disaster – before using the site, I had no idea where to start when it came to knowing that my next tradie would have a proven track record of great work. It turns out I’m not alone – two thirds of Aussies find it really difficult to choose a Tradie, and don’t know what kind of questions they should ask or research they should do in order to separate the good from the bad. So the reviews, videos and photos help clear up this confusion.

I find the reviews particularly helpful. I am a Mum of 3 children, I am often home alone or with the kids when I need a tradesperson to be in the house with me, I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels a little apprehensive about letting a complete stranger into their house. I want to know from real people if they are trustworthy, not only that, I want to know whether they are reliable, whether they will actually turn up when they say they will and that they will do a decent job. The reviews I read from others definitely helped put my mind at ease that I was making a good decision when I employed a tradesperson.

Some tradespeople also have these cool ‘get to know your trade’ videos so you can Some tradespeople also have these cool ‘get to know your trade’ videos so you can hear about their business and get a feel for the type of person/tradie they are before you decide whether or not to employ them- such as the one below.

Now, because this blog post is all about personal recommendations, I better give you my first hand review of using True Local.

As some of you know, we recently renovated our dining room, bar area and TV room. We needed an electrician, as Terry would be at work and I would be home by myself when the tradie needed to be here I wanted to make sure I was employing somebody who was reliable, respectful and honest. I also had a large glass pendant light to be installed and was a little nervous about it being broken during installation so I needed to be sure they could handle it correctly.

I used True Local and I took my time and had a look through the contenders, I checked out their reviews, pictures of their work and their trading times. We found a fabulous electrician who not only completed our jobs without any hassle, but also gave us great advice about changing out our existing lighting to LED bulbs to save on our electricity bill. We were thrilled with him and will most definitely use him for all future work.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — The large glass pendant I had expertly installed.

Importantly, I also left a review for him on his business’s True Local website listing so other will also benefit from the information of my experience.

What’s next on the renovation?

The kitchen, and I’m so excited! Kitchens are fiddly rooms; we’ll need carpenters, cabinetmakers, plumbers, electricians, stonemasons and tilers. I’ll tell you what though, I’m feeling much more confident about this kitchen because with the help of the internet and new ways to connect with businesses, I know I can find tradies easily on sites like True Local and make a decision that I feel confident with, rather than having no idea what I’m going to end up with.

Happy renovating!

Hayley x

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