sneak peek

On the subject of beautiful things from Scandinavia ... we have finished the 'collecting' part of getting together our next shipment.  As we speak, a warehouse in southern Sweden is bulging under the strain of some amazing and high-quality furniture.  The spring thaw up there means that the time has come to pack it all up and ship it down to sunny Melbourne!

Time to make some space in our (also bulging, and shamefully well-stocked) shed at the farm -

Eeeek ...

anyone for basketball?

A few years ago we picked up a couple of panels of reclaimed/salvaged basketball court flooring ... it was back in the days of newspaper classifieds (pre-ebay), so guess that dates them to the '90's?  Back then I was driving a 1971 Kombi van, so the limited carrying capacity meant we could only buy 2 panels (that and the fact thet they weigh nearly 100kg each, so they're not super-easy to cart around.

At the time it seemed like a good idea - over the ensuing years they have acted like they were just symptoms of a bad hoarding habit, hiding under a tarpaulin, waiting.  They look a little scruffy now, but with a little love they will be very nice, for sure.

Finally steeled ourselves and carted them up to the farm this week.  After the strain of lifting them in and out of the van, we decided to put wheels onto the undersides ...

So our mission over the next few weeks is to give them a light sanding and a bit of a varnish - get them looking as good as they should.  Won't remove the coloured lines, of course.  You have to have boundaries, yeah?

Once they're done we'll have a nice surface to photograph some of our gorgeous new Scandinavian furniture on ... stay tuned.

readers digest again ...

November 1964 ... great articles, quotable quotes, unbeatable advertizing ...

new chairs ...

So our farmhouse decor is decidedly stuck on a theme - pretty much everything in the lounge and dining areas is woody and/or forest-green.  It's a scheme that gives the room a calm sort of cave-ish feel, and it definitely links nicely to the eucalypts that grace the view from every window.
It sort of just worked out that way, started with our super-amazing dining chairs, who have reigned for a few years now ...

... and we have let fate keep it rolling - the right piece, with it's original upholstery in the right green.

So we felt pretty lucky to come into possession of a set of dining chairs this week fitting the criteria.  They're a style we have always admired - Model #26 by Parker, made in 1963 - and of the set of 4, there are 2 needing serious restoring.  In the interim, of course, the other 2 were looking for a home (guess it will be temporary - once the damaged pair are back to full health they may have to join a matching table we have in the shop).

We have seen these chairs a few times over the years, and always thought they were enormous ... almost too big for a regular room.  Just last week we brought in a new dining table however, and the table's pretty much big enough to bring any chair down to scale.
So there you go - another bit of 60's green fabric that means we need to make space in the house.  Thanks universe!

no accounting for taste ...

For some reason we have come to love these woven wall-hanging things. 

We have collected a few over the years - always pretty large-scale, and in nice mixes of natural tones.  We now have 5 or 6 of them around the farm - all different, but definitely tied together thematically.

The thing is ... we have tried them out in the shop a few times - thinking that they are great pieces of mid-century decor, perfect for a 70's den - and folks just don't seem to like them ...

... maybe it's just us - hopefully folks will get it one day!

Very excitingly, we found a fantastic new one last week - super fantastic, don't bother denying it!  it came straight into the house, and found it's perfect spot immediately.

Craft ... art ... science?

skram-azing

Our old (2005) laptop kind of clapped out about 12 months ago (crippling!), but after a couple of weeks at the doctor's it's back up and running with some fresh ram and we're all happy again.
One fun thing about reviving an old computer is revisiting forgotten folders of images and folders ... found a photo of a crazy-looking chair by a company called Skram ...

It's a pretty irresistible shape - like a cartoon of a 50's danish design?  Went off googling to see what they have been up to - plenty more kooky stuff out there.  They're based in North Carolina, USA, so we are far enough away not to be tempted to blow the rent on a mad chair (again), but would love to see some of their pieces in the flesh.

Wow.

readers digest ... social barometer

We have been collecting vintage Readers Digest mags for a few years now ... great and dated articles, and those invaluable opportunities to Enrich Your Wordpower being great motivators.  But the advertising is a major highlight ...

All of these are from the same issue - June '61 - but seriously, every month is just as good, even the '80's ones.

Seriously.

a special mention goes out to the marvelous Caterpillar corporation for telling it like it was - the headline says it all - "Today's bush - tomorrow's farm" - helping us tame this once overgrown land of ours.

As the saying goes ... read 'em and weep.

sounds good

In a world of add-on accessories for the accessories we all feel we need, ipod extras are everywhere ... so many variations on docks and speakers and electronic amplification out there.

A canadian company called Science&Sons have made about the coolest - and it doesn't need a power source.  They are on to their third incarnation of the 'Phonophone' - a ceramic horn which increases your pod/phone's volume to a pretty respectable 60dB, using old-school gramophone technology.

Surely as elegant and clever a solution as anyone has come up with ... below are pics of the 'Phonophone I' and 'Phonophone II' - both also amazing looking pieces.

So clever.

We have admit, though, we are pretty satsified with the results we get from sitting the ipod in a glass vase or fishbowl (no fish or water) - it can pretty much fill a room off it's own steam ...

new brood

In other news, this great rainy spring has really motivated Mr and Mrs Swallow up at the farm ... 5 new chicks - just as ugly as the last clutch!

refreshment

After a couple of years of talking about how the shop needed a freshen up, we took the plunge last week and did it.  Took us a few days (and many van-loads shifted into temporary storage), but we emptied it out and gave the store a re-paint. 

Walls, floors, ceilings, all white ...

So nice and clean we were tempted to just keep it that way ... maybe just pop the mac on a desk hooked up to our website so visitors could pick what they liked and we could deliver direct from storage.

We spent the weekend re-stocking, though.  Pretty pleased with the outcome.

Now we just need to keep it tidy.  Love a challenge!