A few months ago I told you how The Man knocked my socks off with a scavenger hunt for our first anniversary.

One of the elements was this awesome giant letter ‘a’ that he’d made by the woodwork teacher from the school where he worked. I’d been umming and aahing about where to put it – it would look so cool as a wall feature but, well, we’re running out of walls!

Normally when I talk about giving something a quick coat of paint, I really mean painstaking preparation and several coats of paint. Happily, in this case I was able to just slap on a single coat of paint as I liked being able to still see the grain.

My cheerful oversized typography now adds a playful touch to the back of my office door (sorry for the dodgy photo, the room is so small it’s hard to get a wider shot that still captures the whole letter). It makes me smile every time I look up at it from my desk.

I’ve wanted a shaggy white rug for the lounge for ages but, well, there was always something else that we needed to pay for (isn’t that always the way?). But when The Man spotted this baby online at an irresistable price (do I have him trained well or what?) we jumped at the chance.

Of course, you always worry whether online purchases will look as good in person but in this case we didn’t need to be concerned. It looks great and is sooo lovely when you’re sitting at the couch in bare feet. It really ties the room together as a nice cosy space and as an unexpected bonus it also works to make the coffee table stand out as a feature.

For some reason I don’t have a photo of the kitchen with the old light (oh yeah, could be because I didn’t like it so I always cropped it out).

But I do have a photo of the same fixture elsewhere in the house. Because when we moved in every. single. fitting. in the house was the same boring builder’s special that you see above.

Ah, I love how pendant lights work to define a space so much more than the ceiling-mounted variety. The industrial brushed metal finish of the Ikea light we chose ties in perfectly with the cabinet handles, and at just fifteen bucks it was a very cheap tweak to the room.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also thank The Man for installing it for me. x

Painting’s not so bad, it’s the clean-up that’s annoying, right? Well, not any more if you use this nifty trick of lining your paint roller tray with alfoil.

See this and other clever painting hacks at Martha Stewart.

My latest guest post is up on Houzz and it’s all about lanterns. Take a look!

Can you believe it’s only three days until Christmas?! Sheesh.

The fact that I have no idea where this entire year went is my excuse for not having given you an update on this project since, um, April. Oops.

So, at long last, here is the famous blue buffet in situ in my office. (Sorry for the odd cropping, it was impossible to get the whole thing in without the filing cabinet creeping in the foreground. Note to self: get wide-angle lens.)

For the first few months it was looking great (so much decorating potential!)… until my printer died. Yes, the one that was hidden oh-so-neatly inside the desk cupboard had to be replaced by this absolute monster. It’s an awesome printer, but see how it’s so enormous it hangs over the edges? And that’s not even fully extended. Here is the beast in all its glory:

Ack! Anyway, ugly techno-stuff aside, let’s talk decorating. I decided to reuse the clipboards that held our wedding menus to display new designs while I mull them over. Thing is, I haven’t really been using them in that way so now they just look boring. I could easily find some cute pieces to pin up, but this is a very hardworking room and I can’t justify a whole wall of impractical prettiness!

The type drawer is another piece reused from our wedding (kindly ignore the awkwardly high hanging – I just used the existing hooks). This time last year I used it as an advent calendar but apart from that I’ve been struggling to find a use for it.

I’m still in love with the awesome colour pop and much-needed storage and workspace that the sideboard offers, but I’m not loving the overall look of that area. I have a few ideas in mind that I need to consider and I’ll let you know how I go!

This framed art came free with my issue of Real Living a couple of months ago, but I was immediately told in no uncertain terms that such a girly item would never see the light of day in our home. I figured the frame and the print would pass The Man’s test if used invidually but it was the combination of both that was unacceptable.

I removed the sweet print and gave the wooden backing a few coats of blackboard paint that I already had on hand. Now I have a cute mini message board that cost me a grand total of zero dollars.

Does anyone else have to pass the man test when bringing home new decor?

We recently ticked off a project that’s been on our to-do list for the last four years. Namely, the closet in the study.

From looking at this photo, you could be forgiven for thinking that the problem was with the interior fit-out but that the doors could be kept, but it was actually the other way around. Those doors look innocent enough: neutral and perhaps even nice and modern. In reality, it had a huge pelmet meaning the top 40cm was unusable, the temporary paint job that we applied during the office makeover to cover up the shoddy doors was easily chipped, each door was two-thirds of the width of the closet making the centre third inaccessible and the doors had dropped so that every attempt to open them required a fair amount of upper body strength and was accompanied by a high-pitched ‘SCCRRRRRWWWWWWOOOOOOAAAAAAR’ noise.

Time to get rid of the chipboard shelving, contact paper and scuffed walls.

Tip of the day: Demolition is always a good way to get your fella interested in helping you with a home renovation project.

Here you can see the cream paint that originally featured in the rest of this room, as well as the same light blue that was in the kitchen and laundry when we moved in.

The back of the pelmet was a tad overengineered…

…or perhaps not.

The new robe didn’t require the panels of wood either side so out they came. Unfortunately half the wall came with it and it was right back to the brick so that, plus all the holes and removing the corner round, meant we went through a serious amount of putty.

Ah, what a difference a bit of a tidy up and a fresh coat of paint can do.

The new interior fit-out and doors are done, but I have done zero organising so far, so I’ll be back with part 2 next time!

You guys! I’m so excited about my first ever market which is happening this weekend! Called Mathilda’s Market, it’ll be chock full of the funkiest kids’ gear around, just in time for Christmas shopping for your own little ones or perhaps some lucky nieces and nephews.

It has free entry and parking, so no excuses – I’ll see you there!

I’m pretty damn excited to watch the list of Akimbo stockists keep growing.

The latest is a real life bricks and mortar store in Hawthorn, Victoria. Kids Style Hub is the Melbourne destintation for stylish kids’ fashion and lifestyle accessories, all by independent Australian and New Zealand designers. It’s more than just shopping though, there’s also a cafe, gallery and party room.

Pop in and say hello to Nicole and the team and get some help with your Christmas shopping. But if you’re not in Melbourne, never fear! The online shop is launching soon.