Moving to Australia

i'm back from australia, and while i'm no where near 100% set on moving there, of course i've already started planning what our home would look like.  it's super tricky since we wouldn't be able to bring much (especially anything with a plug) so starting from scratch with a limited budget is DAUNTING.  thank goodness, for aussi ikea.

here's what i was thinking for our aussi ikea livingroom:

dog vase from raw space in melbourne

of course, some of my favorite things will need to go in the suitcase

getting my art to australia is going to be tricky.  i don't want the glass to break.  i'm inspired by this park avenue apartment in this month's house beautiful.  with some crayons, newsprint and large ikea frames, i could do something similar.  my recent trip to moorea has inspired me to do huge outlines of octopus drawings.  six to eight closely hung drawings like the image below would be a cheap alternative and still make a big statement.

there are many design stores in melbourne, and i'm excited to post about them soon.  in the meantime, has anyone ever moved abroad? any tips?

should i move to brooklyn?

i'm going through a serious period of indecision... namely, where should we go when the lease is up? brooklyn? riverdale? australia? the north shore?

options are always good, but i love a plan and to be a little wanderlust has been confusing.

below are some more inspirational pics representing new places for me.

australia!

riverdale

brooklyn

okay, this is really only the upper east side, which i don't want to move to- but i love the pic!

north shore

brooklyn again (it's been on my mind this week... i can see myself moving back there)

pretty perfect

i wish my life had this closet/office.

image martha stewart?

dreaming of

check out this simple, chic bathroom via brabourne farm

i love it because it's not over decorated (a trap i fall into...). great curtain, too- right?

abstract funky baby

i enjoy designing nurseries for my friends and family (a ton are having babies right now) so here's one for the abstract baby... perfect for a family who wants to keep the gender a surprise.

i like to start with something big to choose the color palette.

i love that this abstract affordable painting has yellows, burnt umber, bright blue, magenta, lavender and grays to choose from!

these buttonwood curtains from anthropologie continue a bold print and pick up the yellows and were designed by thomas paul.

there's a lot going on with these two bright, patterned sort of strange additions to the nursery, so we need to play a little neutral with some things.

first, i can't get enough of this flokati rug which is available in all sorts of different qualities at most major stores

the marlo crib set is available at serena and lily

bring out the lavender with this pouf and of course all other colors are available if this isn't gender neutral

rock baby with the eames RAR rocker (available in a ton more colors)

from jonathan adler

and to pull the look together, some ugly dolls (who by the way, were incredibly generous and gave each of our students an ugly doll the first year of our school)

chalkboard paint

today was our first day of school back to a whole new year at kipp infinity charter school.  to celebrate on my design blog, here are some chalkboard paint images!

check out: poppies and sunshine

thank you so much to poppies and sunshine for posting about our apartment, and to all of her friends who left such nice comments!

i started checking out her blog (a must see!) and stumbled across pics of my favorite hobby!

all photos available on her blog here

we went on an amazing long bike ride to battery park, and i definitely felt like picture one and five.  have to look good while biking on the river!