Pinch me Now

This past week I have been dreaming of a black and white/neutral travelling palette. Last obstacle I wish to experience before heading out the hotel door for a days sight seeing, fun and games is the dilemma of being left with a riff raff of miss matched apparel and bellowing I have nothing to wear!
So..I am gathering a few pieces in my mental check list and allowing myself to feel excited about a special holiday on the near horizon. Alas I can only tease and not divulge the destination because this decision is still in the 'omg pinch me now we are actually planning to do this' phase and there's countless dots to join before I scream my news over the Internet.

A go anywhere jacket, black ballet slippers, black backpack and tiny purse for the bare essentials while partaking of the glorious sights. And because I stick purely to a neutral theme I swish up an outfit with a scarf such as this pretty Italian leopard print.

So once again our luggage will be hauled out and put into service. Believe me I am bursting to share...
all in good time.

A big thank you to the team at The Decorating Forum for featuring my blog this week...it's been fun.

Annie xx

Kitchen Love

Gosh it's been a week since my last post..time does fly.
To kick off this gloomy winter Monday in my neck of the woods I'm sharing photos of my kitchen. Those of you who've been following this blog since the early days (a year this August!) will know my family commenced a major renovation on our little piece of paradise set in the trees. A few of my blog friends have suggested I show more of my home and so here we are, the kitchen was a major exercise and I think it deserves to make an appearance on this little blog.
I was intending to share before pics then realised they're stored on the desktop and if I shut down the laptop to start again etc etc this post will never get up darlinks, so you will just have to use your imaginations.
So imagine an original 1990 kitchen in varying shades of blue with a servery bench top the size of a airport runway. We totally gutted the space in February 2011. The result is a design which Mr red roses and I conjured up. We'd renovated the kitchen in our last house using white cupboards and black bench tops and found that aesthetic suited us brilliantly so it was a no brainer to run with that scheme again. I can't see myself ever getting tired of black and white contrast. Clean, clutter free surfaces in my kitchen make my heart sing..
All in all I am beyond happy with the design and functionality. I hope you enjoy taking a wander through these photos I took on the iPhone soon after we moved in after the renovations.

I am very proud of my house because Mr red roses and I toiled extremely hard and extraordinary effort was poured into transforming this house.
You've surely heard the saying..'Blood Sweat and Tears', well it applied to us!

Entertaining is figuring in our lives once more since the dust has settled (figuratively speaking).
There's still a laundry to build and exciting plans for the outside entertaining area. All the fun and joy of major works (fingers crossed) are to commence in the not too distant future and the testament to our optimism is the cement mixer has been uncovered and hauled out to be press ganged into earning it's keep once again.

Wishing you happy tidings this week and stay safe.

Annie xx

Black and White

Is there a colour that stops your heart? 

I'm a fan of good old black and white. No thinking twice for me when choosing paint for our interior walls and ceilings when we took possession of this house earlier in the year and extensive renovations commenced. It was white all the way. Although silly me thought picking a white would be easy peasy. Not so. Did you know there are tons of different shades of white. 

Black's used here and there for dramatic effect plus a touch of crystal and silver.

 Cushion love

Plus the beauty of black and white allows a dash of colour should you desire to jazz things up.

 Do tell.... which colours stop your heart?
xx