The Jo Who Cried Wolf

Lately I've been fantasising about our home back in Australia and how I would decorate it when we move back (as you do :P).  Its a new build open planed home with a gallery style living room where the ceiling goes all the way up to the second floor, it also has a cute 3rd floor loft which could make an awesome space for my eldest boy to chill with his mates. Its got plenty of big glass doors and panels which allows loads of light to flood in. Lots of clean lines and white walls throughout which gives it a real minimalist, modern feel. We only got to live in it for 2 years before we moved to the UK and it's now being rented out by tenants who I hope are loving it as much as we did. 

Vicente Wolf in his New York Apartment

Now I'm not a huge fan of ultra modern, minimalist homes so I've been inspired and enamoured by the ways Interior Designer/Stylist/Photographer Vicente Wolf has treated similar style spaces as my home in Oz with his use of a mix of rustic, ethnic, chunky wooden furniture, stone and glass. His love for travel shows in his 'eclectic chic' decorating style which I find so timeless and am extremely taken by. I'm looking forward to applying my own interpretation of this beautiful style back home with some of the vintage/period pieces and artwork I've picked up in my travels so far.

For original source of these images and more, check click here and here.

xx Jo

Out with the new, in with the old.

This Fusion dining set from Ikea is what we used to have as our breakfast table in our dine in kitchen...

...enter G Plan 5 piece teak dining. Old is the new new! 

Anyone who knows me well enough, knows that I am a sucker for a well priced vintage piece of furniture (in this case 5). Even more so when its FREE! I found this baby online and although it's not top of the range G Plan, the design and size of this mid century classic suits my growing family of 7 to a tea. Just add a few chairs from the formal dining and voila!

No, I'm not preggers! Ever since moving to the UK, we've had my brother in law and cousin in law join us on work/travel visas, and whilst being the only female living with 6 other burly males doesn't bother me, not being able to all sit together for a meal does. Called me old fashioned, but that's just the way I like things ;). As much as I loved the compact design of the Fusion set, it just couldn't keep up with dining several 6" plus males! 

Did I mention the extendable table? 

Beautiful bent wood detail on the back.

The chairs covers are still the original ones and the bases of two of the drop-in seats need replacing. Luckily they aren't webbed and only require some pre-cut MDF, and thin, firm foam!

Fabric of choice? Well Orla Kiely have a fabulous range of minimalist, modern retro fabric and oil cloth prints which would go perfectly with the chair's retro design. They can only be found through specialised fabric houses and trade e-tailers such as Tinsmiths and Designers Guild. Otherwise, for a more cost effective alternative option Ikea have a great range of upholstery grade designer folk print fabrics. Here are a few I'd like to check out in store.

IKEA STOCKHOLM BLAD

SARALISA

MAJKEN

CECILIA

Looking forward to seeing the finishing result! I'll make sure to share this little project with you very soon.

xx Jo

Click on image for their original source.

Reclaimed Style At It's Best: Uber Funky LA Loft

I've kind of made a private vow to myself, to never re-blog articles, but I just couldn't help but share these images from Apartment Therapy's write up on this super sexy loft in LA. It's everything we at Lola Lovely adore about a space; pre-adored, reclaimed materials, full of vintage furniture, unpretentious and stylish. Owned by multi talented creative duo, Phillip Sumner and Leona Laurie, this place makes my urge to one day own an open living loft even stronger.  

Ummm did somebody say 'rooftop party'?? 

For more about this apartment read the original article here. You'll also find more images from the original source,  here.

xx Jo

Celebration of the humble sideboard

So I finally managed to pick up our vintage antique Art Nouveau sideboard. It's so puuuurttttyyyy! I would have posted something about it earlier, but along with study and other things, I've been busy shooting our very first release of UK vintage garments. There are quite a few items and 3 hours in the studio only got me through half of them! I will be putting them on our Ebay store for auction which will hopefully be available at the end of next week.  I'll be upping the anti with marketing leading up to it so I'm sure you'll hear all about it :D! 

Apart from that I'm trying to make the effort to blog more often but as you know I have several other things going on which makes it difficult. So as part of my efforts, I'm going to introduce regular segments, with the first one being, Show Us Your Sideboards... Where I will be inviting guest bloggers to share styled vignettes of their sideboards. I consider my self a bit of a voyeur when it comes to peoples homes and find how they style them fascinating. I know...weird, but that's just me ;). 

So to kick things off, I'm sharing my very first sideboard vignette with my newly purchased OLD sideboard as the feature. 

How would you describe your sideboard? 

Just like my husband, a bit rough around the edges, dark and the perfect build. Just the way I like it ;D.

Styling sideboards for the sake of design or necessity?

Well in this case, definitely design. I quickly whipped this vignette together using bits and pieces from around the casa. After taking a few snaps, its going into the garage to be restored. Normally I like to apply a bit of both. All my sideboards have books on them. I have a large collection of books that need to be stored somewhere. Luckily they make great styling and decorative tools, and apparently you can learn a thing or two from them too :P.

Do you every have sideboard envy? Who's and why?

I get sideboard envy whenever I go into great furniture, vintage or thrift stores. I also really admire Dabito's ever changing sideboards which he regularly features in his blog, Old Brand New. 

Give us 3 sideboard styling tips:

1. A nice mix of old and new items to add a bit of character. 

2. Balance. Don't have all your large items piled up on one side, spread them out to even out the 'air space'.

3. Keep it personal. Display items that have meaning to you such as a special photograph or ornament that will make you stop you in your tracks every time you walk past it. 

Well I hope you enjoyed that, next week I'll be sharing another Show Us Your Sideboard... moment with you featuring a guest blogger. 

Happy weekending!

xx Jo

Lovely Lady Lamps

My office is kind of in a shambles but, there is some sort of method to my madness ;D! I've been busy trying to put the finishing touches on the vintage range I've forever been working on and had a quite eventful trip into my local town centre today getting a few bits and bobs for the shoot coming up. 

I had finished picking up what I needed and tried my best to steer away from the op shops and vintage stores, but the temptation was too strong in a particular one I frequent. One thing lead to another and to cut a long story short, I ended up walking out with 4 vintage lamps and 1 absolutely stunning genuine Art Nouveau rosewood sideboard that I managed to haggle down to a ridiculous price... I'm shocking!

You may recall on on of my previous blogs, Well hello there... I had purchased that darling tassled lamp shade? Well I managed to also score this beautiful vintage marble and brass floor lamp that despite being quite heavy, teamed up perfectly with it! FYI scored it for a bargain too! ;)

What can I say, I love vintage! I don't favour any particular era but being a major part of my studies, I can appreciate all styles. I don't have any snaps of the sideboard I bought as I'm having it delivered this week but will make sure to show it off perhaps in a little vignette feature or something.


In the meanwhile keep your eye's peeled, LLPA's first vintage garment release will be out soon! There are some great pieces that I'm sure you'll love as much as I do.


xx Jo

Sipping Tea...

Sorry its been a while between blogs. Its been quite busy for me lately, as you probably know, this blog only takes up a small fraction of my time. I really wish it could take up more, eventually I'll find a way ;). I've kinda been bombarded with other jobs, studies, family commitments etc this past week. But with all the craziness out of the way, I've finally managed to book a space to shoot the little vintage clothing range I've been re-working and will spend the bulk of this next week, measuring, planning and getting these babies ready. 


The last day or so have been spent re grouping and planning several other things coming up, as well this I managed to spend some QT with my man who spent part of the last week in France for work. We don't often get time alone so we spent a rare day to ourselves lunching and and cafe-ing at the wonderful, Leaf on Bold Street in Liverpool. It's such an amazing space I just had to share it with you. Its a bit of a photopalooza but I had my trusty camera in hand and this space was making me feel particularly trigger happy.

Formerly Leaf on Baltic on Parliment House Road in Liverpool, in 2007 Leaf was born out of the love for tea and music. Simple as that! Its a versatile day and night tea house/wine and dine venue for basically anyone and everyone! Serving a huge array of exotic and traditional herbal teas as well as coffee, cakes and light meals. 26 year old proprietor Natalie Haywood heads a young team of fresh talent who work tirelessly to make it the success it is so far. I love this place and wish them much success!

Beautiful combination of reclaimed and new furniture...oh and me also looking rather reclaimed :P.

My spunky husband makes his LLPA blog debut!

Some of the intimate little nooks in Leaf styled just like nanna's place makes for a very relaxed, chilled environment. Ultimate place to hang out.

Did somebody say 'Gallery'? Yes, not only is it a fabulous tea house, there's also an exhibition/function/gallery space upstairs on the first floor. They hold monthly vintage markets here and the space is available for hire for businesses or individuals wanting to hold events or exhibitions. I literally stopped in my tracks, mouth wide open, gobsmacked as soon as set foot on this floor. The photos don't do it justice but the amount of light that pours in is amazing! 

I'm secretly hoping they keep the old panelled wall behind the bar as is. It's a perfect contrast to the stainless steel on the bar...I could go on and on but at the end of the day it's just beautiful.

The man was just as amazed in the space upstairs as I was. In all it's New York City penthouse lofty like charm, it would honestly be our ultimate dream space for a home (minus the workers of course ;D)....aaaahhh one day. ;)

xx Jo