And in the storms last week, we had a 24 hour blackout!! I'm with wuff - just how simple is simple. I think there is quite a bit of difference between labour saving devices and technology now. Labour saving devices became more and more essential as our lives got busier, women were freed from the drudgery of housework and given encouragement and the freedom to grow, seek out careers and a life outside the home. In many ways, I feel technology is putting us back in our homes and not encouraging us to explore the outside world. We are letting too much technology take over our lives and we are not interacting with people like we did in the old days. The other disadvantage with technology is its continual need to be updated and upgraded which can not only be expensive but also requires constant learning. Take TVs for example - in the olden days you bought a set plugged it in and that was it, now they have to be specially installed and set up and for the average person to know how to do this and understand it is not easy. Older people are being disadvantaged by all this technology too, they were not raised with it like the young ones today so it is constant learning, even learning a whole new language, and quite frankly there comes a time in life when head space just reaches saturation point.

Clients provide me with magazine images of what they love. These include a huge overlap of architectural styles for one single job. Part of our job is to narrow down those style to create the perfect fit for each individual project, your project. No two projects are the same. That makes our job very interesting and always changing. When you decide to take on your own project, the mountain of information can be daunting. Here are seven steps to help provide you with insight to what will work for you on your home renovation or decorative update: Look at your clothing selection - what stands out? What colours dominate? Sweaters and fabric of the clothing. Do they have lots of patterns or textures? Do you have lots of black clothing? Please follow the link to our blog for the rest of the article.

I love the interior , but personally I find the exterior 'confusing' . Basically the interior with those really interesting windows done in black instead of white , looks not only great , but period and presumably in keeping with the designers wishes , and lifts the rooms and focuses you . But to change the exterior of the windows to quite an insipid brown seems a strange choice to me . Charcoal would have looked great , or a bronzer brown or golder brown would have all suited IMO , but that shade does nothing . Was there a particular reason ? Slightly off subject -- I once did the concrete entranceway to a commercial building in a weird concoction -- a similar brown to your windows , with 3 or 4 different browns and even a golden hued brown applied using sponges while it was all wet , BUT also mixed in must have been 15-20kgs of steel 'swag' ( basically dust off the floor of my mates engineering business , we actually used a magnet to attract only the steel ) . It was rough as ( in several respects of that phrase haha ) but 25 years later , its still there , and has even more character as it has rusted and run over the years . I probably wouldn't do that on what seems quite an important house , or its windows , but the exterior colour reminds me of my 'experiment' .

I love the mix of textures and tones -- beautifully done ! I realise you are referencing the era and style , but personally I would have added just a bit of colour in the lounge and dining -- maybe as simple as cushions or placemats in a stronger 'period correct' colour like apricot or teal or buttery yellow .