Wood if I could...

This is it... a room I spotted recently in Australian Home Beautiful. It's a Federation place in Kew in Melbourne. 

I love it and when flicking back through my ideas file (which pre-blog is in a plastic folder) I realised why. I am drawn time and again to the white walls, clean lines and polished floors combined with rustic, one of a kind timber pieces. 

We have an eight seater pine table - antique and my most prized possession... I have joked that I love it more than my children... I was joking until it was suggested it might be more practical to sell it than lug it around the world.

It's moved four times and has been squeeeeeezed into a couple of Sydney homes. We bought it in an antique shop in Melbourne and houses in Melbourne are a little larger than your average Paddington terrace. Having dined elbow to elbow in our London flat (as I told you here) I got very excited about being able to seat 8. I'll show you one day when I've polished it.

And speaking of polish - Kristine at The Painted Hive is a relatively new blogger too but one with talent!  I so envy her knack with old furniture. 

She has posted a fabulous list of the best stains and finishes for wooden pieces. Find it here and store it away for all those projects sitting in your garage. 

Now this is saved in my new virtual folder and I'll work on making my living room look like this on a slightly smaller scale. And I'll also try to keep in mind that this room probably doesn't look like this that much either - the owners have five sons!

(Images from Home Beautiful Australia, photographer  Rhiannon Slatter)