A Little Adeline Cottage...

For the past couple of years I have wondered should we have sold Adeline Cottage, it was the first family home we bought, and I always thought that my girls would grow up in this sweet little cottage,

 

alot of renovations went on in this home to bring it back to life and not to mention the emotional roller coaster ride we where on

in doing so. The front of the house was full of trees and you could bearly see the cottage, so we had them removed, painted the

house in duck egg blue and the trimming in airy cream...

the trees being removed also made way for the heritage fence, and  planted a forest of 7 silver birch trees, but as you can see only one now has survived, the thought behind having 7 silver birch tree's was in summer you had dappled light come through the flickering leaves to reveal a cute cottage behind them and of course shade, through Autumn the leave changed to yellow adding interest to the garden as the leaves fall and danced around in the wind, winter having no leaves allowed the winter sun into the front room adding natural light and warmth to the home...     

beneath the silver birch trees had been planted with a mass of different flowers that bloomed in spring giving a wild cottage garden, but as you can see only the poppies have survived...

even though most of the plants and tree haven't lived, my sweet Adeline is even more beautiful then I can imagine...

my trip down memory lane has brought a tear to my eye, and I wonder dear sweet Adeline will you still look the same for many years to come...

Kirstie

Christmas at Lilies On Brougham

So today I'd like to share a place that is dear to me, a place called Lilies On Brougham set on 4 acres in Eltham, 45 minutes from the Melbourne CBD, I have been visiting here for the past 6 to 7 years, I was introducted to Lilies by a teacher back when I was studying interior decorating and design, one of our projects was to turn (make believe) the little heritage listed mud brick cottage into a bed 'n' breakfast, this was the first visit, and I fell in love...   

form the moment you drive up the drive way you are greeted with french rustic urns, planters, outdoor settings and urban rustic architecture, through Autumn the leaves on the climber turns to the most brilliant deep rich red, it is a site to see...   

beautiful gardens that surrounds the acres, nursery to find that special plant you need or use the landscape service. The little mud brick on your left, that you can view inside, sometimes they set that up as a tea room too and other surrounding rustic buildings and sheds that has very large urns and planters to view and buy... 

you can just see the cottage on the left, I love walking out here with all that lavender, and the wisteria the smell is amazing, you really do feel like your in Europe, not that I've been to Europe, but I imagine that's what it would be like...  

so through the plastic strips, you are greeted with a rustic chippy green church pew that houses many rustic concrete urns and round silver grey baskets with lids, as you open the door the smell of French soaps in the air, as you walk into the gift shop towards the tea house cafe the aroma of coffee and amazing food from the kitchen lingers in the air, tantalizing your taste buds... 

most times I arrive here very early in the morning while its not busy, that way it give Wendy (owner) and I a little chance to chat, you can just see the back of her in image above, this is the tea room, if you plan on visiting you must ring to make a booking, as everyday is booked out, click on link at the top of the post for opening times, address and phone details...

All home ware is hand selected here and imported from France by Wendy and Melissa (sisters) as we move on you will find everything is French inspired and have a warm sense of home...  

oh and did I mention I supply Lilies with my gift tags, below are some of my Christmas line, generally I supply the French theme, which most of them come here and don't make my online boutique...

beautiful glass ware, white jugs, cups and teapot house inside the silver grey shelving... 

beautiful French soaps...

white French soaps and hand creams, with a children section...

The one thing I truly love is Wendy and Melissa's clothing line called Lily & Lulu very simply, relaxing and French inspired, from their many trips to France,

they also run ladies tours to France

one special time of the year, is time I love to visit, all the Christmas decorations...

oh and one Gail's paintings, I have to say Gail your painting works very well with their colorway of the shop...

beautiful glass domes, cake stands and candle urns...

black and silver Christmas ornaments...

now this is my corner, loving aqua, silver and white at the moment, so I have purchased some of these for my Christmas tree this year...

gorgeous!!! don't you think...

Eiffel Tower paper weights...

French grey scripted throw cushions above and below...

does anyone now what those sticks with handles are for...well let me tell you...you need two of them they have a split down the long stick you slide your news paper in, one for each side, and you hold the handles, not only dose it lend to elegance, but also to keep the black ink off your hands...

some rustic coat hangers...

a simple branch Christmas tree...

wooden stars boxes...

Now to these breath taking French doors, one day a set of these will be hanging in my house, I love them don't know how many times I walked back to them to dream... 

to some sweet knitted Christmas dolly's, aren't they sweet...

Thank you so much for visiting Christmas at Lilies on Brougham, all image where taken by me on the the owners approval, if you would like to see more of Lilies On Brougham, Lily & Lulu, ladies tours to France
 or the landscaping service please feel free to click on many link throughout this post.

Please visit this link Lilies Gallery to view some amazing images, on the top right hand corner of the image click on next, these are some images of the cottage, landscape and tea room. 

Have a wonderful week!

Kirstie

It's an Adeline Country Cottage Christmas

I have released my new line of Christmas swing tags in my online boutique, for the last 2mths I have been quite busy creating, selecting images, paperies, embellishments, etc, it has been very hard to select the images as having so many and everyone of them are beautiful in there own right, so instead of remaking ones from the past years I decided on go with some different ones...so I can bring you 20 different designs.

 the one above is a beautiful vintage image of two red robins sitting on a holly branch, I have kept it quite simple, by adding an aged effect, vintage music topper, white ribbons, a green gem and pure silver glitter around the edges.

Don't you just love this image of these children and there dog having a snow ball fight, too cute. These are just a sneak preview, you will find more in my online boutique at Adeline Country Cottage 

I also have been working on a few surprises hopefully they will be ready in time for the Christmas listings, Oh wait here is one of them below.

I also have some very, very exciting news, but cant let that out of the bag just yet, but don't worry I will keep you posted on both soon once I have all the details.

Enjoy your weekend!

XXX

Kirstie