i'm a winner!

Proof I'm a winner. And lovely! hehe. Hmm, never noticed how horribly off-centre the middle of my banner is! Oops.

Whoo hoo! After stumbling upon a lovely little competition at the La La Lovely Things blog, I gave my two-cents worth of advice and was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the top three AND drawn out as the winner! My prize? Aside from the satisfaction in helping someone, talking decor and meeting a nice new blogger - Trina McNeilly - I also scored a Made By Girl poster. Yippee! I think I'll go with the LOVE for my lovely Layla. Then my kids will have his "n" her Made By Girl posters in their room (Zak has the personlised ABC). Sweet!

Thanks a bunch to Trina for the competition - she was after ideas for revamping her family room. Here were a few of my suggestions and picture inspiration. To see what she ends up doing to her space, keep checking her blog. She's also promised more giveaways so keep your interior decorator hat nearby!

Trina's fireplace

Inspiration & suggestions: paint the whole wall the same colour as the brick - mantle top included. Balance out the imbalanced placing of the fireplace with a rustic bucket of chopped firewood on the right in that little corner with a few pics propped up against the brick behind it - you don’t need to buy anything; get your kids to draw something and frame that (and they’ll get a kick out of it too!) On top of the mantle, group a whole heap of samey objects - again like in the picture - on the left-hand side. I love these white things and it could easily be achieved by grabbing a heap of cool-shaped cups, vases, objects from a thrift store (or around your house) and spray painting them the same colour. I’m going to do this in white in my own place for my new recessed shelves. One day… I’d prop something large - a canvas or big frame just off centre to the right with a few framed pictures in front and to the end. Mix up your frames with your “Ms” and add to the collection like in the pic below or grab some cheapie plywood ones and customise them yourself. On the left-hand side a few pics just stuck on the wall casually - maybe a group of three (odd always looks better than even) different sized pictures; they don’t even have to be framed. Picture from Domino (this was one of my fave houses from Domino!)

A cute collection of "E"s. Image from Urban Grace Interiors

Trina's shelves

Inspiration & suggestions: go nuts mixing books with fave objects. I’d personally paint them white too because that way the objects would take centre stage, but as they've just been painted, maybe incorporate that greeny colour in the room with some cushions on the couch to lighten it up and a nice white throw. Pic from renovate + decorate

Trina's couch


Inspiration & suggestions: place the mirror over the couch or do the wall collage there instead with a mix of letters and picture frames. Pic from VT Wonen

My prize! LOVE poster by Made By Girl

By the way, I'm not for a moment suggesting I'm an expert on this, but if you ever want some advice or ideas for any aspect of decorating or renovation, I'm more than happy to help. It's good fun!