Morton House

It's always so rewarding once you have finished a job and the clients are happy with what you have done for them.  I think being invited into a person's home to help them create a beautiful place to live is so special and I always feel very priveleged to work with my clients.  Afterall there is a choice when it comes to Decorators and Designers and for a client to narrow it down to me is certainly something I am always very thankful for.

Last year I finished a project which I had been working on for approximately 12-18 months with my clients Paul & Hayley Morton.  Their house has been featured in a wonderful 10 page spread in this month's Home Beautiful magazine.  I have posted a couple of the pages here.

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Paul and Hayley.  They wanted a very classic look and we achieved this by selecting beautiful antique furniture, beautiful fabrics and lots of layers.  The other thing which I think was wonderful about this job is that they didn't stop when the sofas and chairs and cushions went in.  They continued and added all the finishing bits and pieces in a beautiful refined way which I feel certainly makes the overall look so appealing. 

Thank you Paul & Hayley for asking me to help you create a lovely home filled with all the things that you love and cherish. 

xx

Anna

Story - Catherine Sheilds, Photography - Simon Kenny

A Happy Ending

From one happy ending to the next....

Earlier this year I was contacted by Jo & Brenden Conolly after their beautiful inner-city cottage, which they had just finished renovating late last year, was completely inundated with water during the horrendous Summer floods.

As I drove away from the house after our very first appointment I just couldn't believe what they had been through.  It was just so incredibly heart-breaking.  I had never met the Conolly's before that first meeting with them at the house that hot, muggy Summer day however, upon meeting them I instantly knew that they were very special people and I wanted to put all my effort into making their house beautiful again. 

The job only took a few months to complete and it was the most rewarding job I have ever worked on.  I don't think I will ever forget this house.  It certainly has a special place in my heart along with it's beautiful owners who are now expecting their first child.  Things are definitely going to be sunny for Jo & Bren from here-on-in, I just know it!!

I wanted to share this inspiring story of Brenden & Jo's house so I contacted Loni from Adore magazine a few months ago as I knew she would love it for her beautiful online magazine.  She did love it and so it is featured in the fabulous December/January issue of Adore magazine which hit the virtual newstands earlier this week.

If you would like to read the story and all the other wonderful stories in this month's issue then click on over to Adore Magazine HERE.

xx
Anna

Ormiston House in Veranda Magazine

Well, it's turning out to be a big week for us.  We just found out that the Ormiston house has made the front cover of Veranda Magazine in Poland.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with Paul and Hayley on their beautiful home and am overjoyed by this wonderful article.  The morning of the photo shoot I gathered lots of flowers and foliage from my garden at home and arranged them at the house.  My favourite arrangement was the one I did on their dining table in a collection of Hayley's mismatched antique jugs and vases.

Thanks again must go to Catherine Shields and Simon Kenny for their continued interest in my work and their beautiful coverage of these lovely family homes I have had the pleasure of working in.

If you would like to see more images of Paul & Hayley's house head over to Content's website HERE...

Gumdale House in AWW

Back in 2007, I was very excited when Sharnel & Perry Dollar asked me to help them with the interior of their new family home.  The latest issue of Australian Womans Weekly magazine features their alluring home.  It was lovely to look at the images and remember all the work which went into making it the special place that it is today.

Sharnel was a wonderful client to work with as she was very open to everything I suggested and recommended.  Catherine Shields & Simon Kenny's story certainly captures the ambience of the Dollar's beautiful family home.

In Fashion

A couple of weeks ago we played host to a Spring fashion shoot at Black & Spiro for Q Weekend as above which was featured in the Saturday morning paper here in Brisbane last weekend. Thanks Elizabeth for wanting to use our new store.

House & Garden

We are thrilled to be in House & Garden this month displaying our beautiful Stuart Membery furniture in our sun room. This room is actually about to become a dining room as all of the lovely bits and pieces we had in it have now sold. I can't wait to share with you what we have planned for the new dining room display...it's certainly going to be very vibrant!!

Thank you Canadian House & Home

I was so thrilled to be included in the just-released May issue of Canadian House & Home magazine and so taken back by the size of the article. Thank you House & Home for the lovely story. You captured my aesthetic perfectly.

PS. No doubt you would all be completely over seeing images of my home here on ABT {huge apologies!!} however, I just wanted to share my excitement about the article and, in particular, I really wanted to thank House & Home for the lovely story and their interest in my work.

images - simon kenny, story - catherine sheilds

It Happened!!!

When I was a young girl I would obsess over my mother’s magazine collection. I loved the fashion magazines but I loved the interiors magazines more. I must admit that my all-time favourite magazine was and always will be Australian Vogue Living. I would admire the beautiful homes and clever creative people featured in Vogue Living every month and I would dream {like many young girls} of the possibility one day, of my own appearance in my much-adored magazine.

This month my long withstanding dream has come true and I am beside myself with excitement and pride. I never really thought my work would be good enough to make the VL cut but someone down there thought it was.

I would like to extend a very big thank you to stylist and writer Catherine Shields and photographer Simon Kenny and of course, thank you Vogue Living for saying yes.

Xx
Anna

PS. Today I created the tablescape in the top 3 images {this is part of our new display at Black & Spiro} using the VL cover as inspiration. I hope you like it.

Madison Feature

I am thrilled to be featured in Madison magazine this month. I was asked to list some of my favourite blogs and unfortunately they had to edit my list as it was way too long. Therefore, not all of my favourites were listed.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Click on image to supersize!

Well, this is it....this is where I say goodbye to you all for the holidays! It's been the most amazing year for me, Absolutely Beautiful Things and Black & Spiro and for that I have to thank you all as you are my supporters, my friends and my clients. Your continued interest, support and enthusiasm for me and my work has certainly overwhelmed me this year and I am truly humbled by each and every comment you leave me or email you send me.

Over the holidays make sure you watch out for the January issue of Australian Country Style magazine in which our beach house at Stradbroke Island will be featured {sneak peek above}. Back in October I was very lucky to work with talented stylist Shannon Fricke, amazing photographer Jared Fowler, intelligent and super interesting writer Barbara Sweeney.....and the very lovely Victoria Carey {deputy editor of Country Style}. What a lovely group of people they are and I would just like to thank them so much for including our Stradbroke beach house in the January issue.

Well my friends, I truly hope that you all have an amazing Christmas and that the New Year brings you all that you dream for. I will be taking a few weeks away from the blog to spend with my family at the beach and I will be back here sometime around the 19th January 2009 with lots of 'Absolutely Beautiful Things' to share!

Take care, Merry Christmas & bye for now....

xx
Anna

Thanks Martha!!

I was so thrilled to come back from Straddie to find that I had been included in Martha's Best of Blogs: Editor's Picks by Rebecca Robertson, Deputy Decorating Editor at Martha Stewart! How exciting! Thank you so much Rebecca for including ABT!! Also a big congrats to fellow bloggers This is Glamorous, Coco+Kelley and Design*Sponge for also making the list.....these three blogs are among my favourites too!!

Thanks Canadian House & Home

I was just over at Chelsea's blog, {Frolic} doing my daily check in when I saw that she was mentioned in Canadian House & Home's Best of the Blogs. Then I read on Chelsea's post that I had been included too. How lovely! Thank you for including me Canadian House & Home and thanks for posting the article Chelsea!! Congrats to you and to all of the other lovely blogs mentioned!

A Big Thankyou to Suzy!!

A huge surprise and a huge THANK YOU to Suzy who is the writer of Studio Annetta Blog for including me as one of her favourite design blogs in her letter to the Editor which was published in this month's American Elle Decor.

I continue to be surprised by the number of people reading Absolutely Beautiful Things which originally started as a place to record my personal design obsessions and images of my work. I didn't think at the time I started ABT that it would be of interest to anyone other than myself however, I was completely wrong. I have thousands and thousands of people visiting everyday from all over the world and I receive many, many emails which are so encouraging. ABT has also brought me so many new wonderful clients and enquiries for me to do work for people are starting to come from not only within Australia however, yesterday I had my first International enquiry which is a very exciting prospect.

I would just like to take this opportunity to not only thank Suzy but also to thank everyone else who has sent me kind comments and emails and to all of the lovely blogging friends I have from all over the world. Thank you everyone for your keen interest and support!!

xo

Anna