Fresh is Best

The other day we had a lady in the store ask us for some fake flowers.  I had to bite my lip and very kindly advise her that we only use fresh flowers.  I don't go for anything fake.  I'm a real or nothing girl in all aspects of my life.  If I can't have real flowers then I would prefer to go without.  Today I brought into the shop some of the succulent pots I have been potting up at home which I placed onto a tray on one of the coffee tables.  They look great mixed with the fresh lemons in the clam shell.  It just goes to show that fresh really is best.

Flowers, Vases, Baskets, Fabric, Plates & Pots

I've had a busy few days fossicking around the garden, the markets and local Antique shops. 

In my travels I stumbled across these vintage vases which I couldn't resist.  They now sit on our chest of drawers in our entry hallway.  The vibrant orange of the larger vase makes me happy every time I see it and I just love the quirky bird clinging to the other vase/jug....it certainly is something you either love or hate.

I fell in-love with these little yellow flowers at the markets but I can't remember the name of them so please do tell if you know.  

I also picked up one of these baskets which I have been coveting along with this piece of fabric which I am thinking of making into table napkins for an upcoming event I have planned.



On Saturday I potted up 12 little pots with Succulents for my brother as he was having a lunch at his house over the weekend and needed something wonderful to place down the centre of his dining table. I kept a few for myself to add to my growing collection of pot plants.  {Correction to my post last week the little pots sell for approx. $1.20 at Bunnings and the succulents came from there too}.

It seems I wasn't the only one playing with flowers on the weekend. Mum just sent me this picture of the fresh Banksias she collected from the trees on their property at the beach.  I am hoping she might deliver some over to me this week.



And finally I added 18 mismatched vintage dinner plates to my blue and white collection.  We never have enough plates when we have the family here for lunch or dinner so now we will. NB. Mismatched vintage is so much less expensive than heading out to buy a complete set and so much more interesting I think and the best thing is that I can keep on adding to them as I see them.

Another Windmill

A week or so ago I posted an amazing windmill one of my clients found and had hung on her verandah wall. I was looking for a piece of furniture today for another client on Miguel Meirelles website and stumbled across this gorgeous windmill which I thought would look wonderful in a table vignette. It's available for sale on Miguel's website if anyone is interested...

Happenings

Life as I know it just doesn't seem to be getting any slower or less hectic. Sometimes I crave a more subdued life but I suppose that's just not me. I am one who loves things happening and if I wasn't complaining about how hectic everything is then I would be complaining about how boring and uninteresting everything is.

You see, I am juggling a few large balls in the air at the moment along with being pregnant with our second child, due to arrive early May {thought it was about time to disclose this information as clients have been looking at me in a strange way too scared to say "have you put on weight or are you pregnant?"}, we are renovating the shop which is very, very exciting. After being there for 10 years now, it is time for a freshen up and as the business has grown we are desperate for more space.

We have taken over more floor space in the upstairs section of our building which will accommodate a large client meeting room, my new office which I will share with Kelly who project manages all our work, and a large fabric sample room. This will enable the shop downstairs to extend through to the back of the building where my office and client meeting room is currently. With the arrival of our beautiful Stuart Membery pieces of furniture due late April/early May this extra shop space is going to be wonderful!

Here's a sneak peek above of upstairs. I took this photo on Friday. The painters are almost finished. The floors are still to be sanded and painted {white gloss} and lighting installed. We should be up-and-running upstairs sometime within the next month. I can't wait to have a special room to meet clients in. Downstairs has become so crazy and jam packed...an obvious sign that it was time to expand upstairs.

Not only are we renovating the shop, with the arrival of a newborn on the horizon, we have bought a new house which is larger than our current cottage with more land as well. Although I will be so sad to say good-bye to our little house {and the fact that I didn't really get to finish it off the way I wanted to} it just won't accommodate our needs with our growing family. The new house, which is actually a very old house and was built in 1887, is going to be a wonderful project which I will keep you all updated on as we move forward.

So, with all that is going on it was nice to spend some time pottering around the cottage this weekend. I was inspired by the vignette I posted on Friday to move a few of my things around. I purchased some orchids and clustered them on our entry table on a silver tray my mother gave me. Whilst I pottered around, Ned just couldn't help but bring lots of mud into the house on the white floors. So many people ask me how I feel about our white floors. I must say they are so hard to keep clean with a big Golden Retriever bouncing in and out of the house but I do love them and continue to put up with having to have them cleaned 3-4 times per week.

Anyway, that's it from me for now. There are a few more very exciting things in the pipeline but those things are for another day. I just thought I would bring you up-to-speed with what's been happening in my world lately.

xx

Anna

all images - anna spiro

Pretty Table Vignette

I love a good table vignette and this one by Kim Ficaro certainly ticks all the boxes for me. So pretty! Have a great weekend. See you next week.

Image - Kim Ficaro Stylist via Aubrey Road

Today I Love...

I adore the photos Julie posted of her home today. I have posted a couple of photos above but you must visit Julie's blog, Shelter to see more!! It is stunning!

Friday Flowers

Here are some beautiful fresh pink peonies which I just arranged and placed on our entrance table at Black & Spiro along with a collection of other lovely things. Have a great weekend!

xo
Anna

Displaying Collections

I often talk about collections and how to display them. Here a few images to inspire...

All images via skona hem

Bright & Colourful

I love these two bright and colourful vignettes....perfect inspiration for Spring!

Top image from British Homes & Gardens and bottom image from Notebook magazine.

Also, I would like to send a huge thanks to Vera Klein for her mention of Absolutely Beautiful Things in this month's Notebook Magazine!! xx Anna

It was meant to be...

Well, it goes like this....

Yesterday I posted an image in my 'Muted Coastal Palette' post which unbeknown to me at the time belongs to Nanette over at Rummage blog. I found the image on a tumblr site and didn't have the correct source on the image back to Nanette. Nanette actually left me a lovely note in my comments section of that post letting me know that it was her hallway. I have since fixed this up and all is fine however, I think in this mishap I have found a blog I am very much going to enjoy following.

After obsessively going back through Nanette's archives last night I must say I am very impressed. Her photos of her home, flowers, fruit, children, vignettes are all so very inspiring and in a way I feel they very much represent true Australian style. I was only thinking about Australian style yesterday and then to fall upon Nanette's blog last night was almost serendipitous.

Her images make me feel at home. I feel like I have seen them before. I look at her flowers and I think they look just like the bush natives my mother used to arrange at our family holiday house. I even look at that last image and it reminds me of my grandmother's house. Is this the same for any of my Australian readers? Do these images of Nanette's evoke a sense of Australian style?

I found it very hard to select only a few of Nanette's beautiful images to share here in this post so I have gone a bit wild and posted my favourites from her blog and her flickr.

I asked Nanette to share a little bit about herself and this is what she had to say....

"I am a crafter and keen amateur stylist and photographer living in our nation's capital with an odd frenchman, two Highly Excitable young daughters and an ADD whippet called Kipper. We like to live a slow life with an emphasis on creativity. I'm currently designing a small range of homewares and children's clothes between reading my youngest 'Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus' twenty times a day and wrestling Kipper for my favourite boots."

I hope you enjoy Nanette's photos as much as I did.

A Beautiful Vignette

I am in-love with this beautiful vignette in the home of Melbourne based artist John Young which was featured in the July/August 2009 issue of Inside Out Magazine. I think the composition of the simple, natural tones of the objects with the divine, earthy coloured portrait is very beautiful.

Friday Flowers

I was very lucky to be given these pretty mottled roses from a friend today. I arranged them in a pretty yellow vase we have at Black & Spiro. I placed them next to our beautiful vintage lamp and shade {note the beautiful embroidery on the shade} on a table in the shop and then a very lucky young lady came into the shop with her mum and her sister and they took the lamp home for her bedroom. I am sad to see this beautiful one-off vintage lamp go but I know it will be loved and cherished by it's next owner...

Happy Weekend. See you next time.

xx

Anna

Deborah's Vignette

I love receiving emails from readers. This photo which Deborah emailed me a while ago really grabbed me. I love the colours and the combination of her beautiful things...so pretty!

Pretty Yellow Roses

Nothing like some fresh bright yellow roses to start the week!! I just picked them up at the supermarket on the way home. Gosh they make me happy!!

Friday Flowers

I just arranged these pretty flowers in a little blue and white delftware vase which was recently given to me by a lovely reader who came to Brisbane to visit Black & Spiro. What a lovely surprise it was to have received such a beautiful gift! Happy Weekend Everyone!!

xx
Anna

Gage d'amour

Image - Anna Spiro

Here's a little Valentines tablescape I created today. Gage d'amour {meaning pledge of love}.

Updating ABT

Image - Anna Spiro

Over the next couple of weeks you will notice a few little changes and updates to ABT. As you may have already noticed I removed my very outdated and disorganised blogroll this week which I am in the process of updating. Please bear with me whilst I do a little house keeping on the blog!

On another note, I thought I would show you one of my most recent finds {the vintage Cockatoo above} which I have placed into my bookshelving at home. I am having so much fun adding new and interesting bits and pieces to my shelving. It's like an ever changing gallery of things which I continue to move around!!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend!!