Little Darlings

I have just ordered some prints online for our baby's nursery. I'm not into cutesy themes or pastels at all, particularly for nurseries, so have been searching for something appropriate to spice up the room in a modern way.

Enter the Little Darlings range of prints. I can't remember where I first saw these, but they're from US photographer Sharon Montrose, who specialises in modern animal photography. I love her clean, crisp style and I'm sure the prints will work nicely as our child grows. I can't decide which little face I love the most! After much umming and aahing, I finally settled on six: the lamb, giraffe, duckling, kangaroo, lion and bear.

And I really love how it weaves in links to both our native countries: a kangaroo for my Australian roots and a lion for my husband's South African birthplace. If only she had a baby panda to represent China!

Now, I just hope they arrive in time and don't get held up at Chinese customs...

My Shanghai: home sweet home

Home is my sanctuary. This apartment has a different feel to anywhere we've ever lived - and I loved it the second I saw it. Apparently the block is only a decade old, but it's been built to look "grand" and "Parisian" with art deco light fixtures, polished floors and detailed mouldings. Unlike a lot of expats, we don't like furnished apartments and prefer to move with a shipping container of everything we own. Having your own things around you makes a rental property feel like a home instantly, particularly when you're living overseas. I love the juxtaposition of the art deco feel of the apartment and our retro, modern furniture.

Our Banksy artwork leads the way to our Eames rocker (from Living Edge Sydney)...

We have one huge living/dining room where I spend most days. It overlooks a beautiful tree-lined street and the floor-to-ceiling windows let in a lot of light. I particularly love the polished floors, although I popped a wool rug in the living room part of the room to make it more cosy. We had the dining table made to order here in Shanghai through Elm Workshop. It's solid walnut and I am totally in love with it. The white side table is a huge piece of lego that I bought in Singapore at Trolley for my husband's birthday last year. He LOVES Lego and when I saw it, I had to have it. 

The artwork is called "Assault Lolly" and is a limited edition print from Jamie Hewlett (best known for Gorillaz and Tank Girl) that we picked up at Outre Gallery in Sydney. We bought the 1950s sideboard from Penny Arcade in Sydney's Surry Hills and our sofa from King Furniture in Sydney. 

We bought these book cases in Shanghai at Casa Casa on Anfu Lu. They're from a designer called Sean Yoo and are actually made from polypropolene, so they're light as a feather. I can pick them up with one hand (when they're empty!). I had seen them in the shop and fell in love with them. A few days later I took my husband to the same shop to see what he liked. He picked them out instantly. Sold! Because they're a modular design, we'll be able to repurpose them easily in any of our future homes as room dividers or separate shelves. 

I've popped a few of our favourite things on top: (from left to right) our pet pig from Casa Pagoda on Taikang Lu (I'm obsessed with pig ornaments lately and this is the first of my collection); a Kozyndan "Uprising" print (from Outre Gallery in Sydney); a bakelite phone that I tracked down years ago on eBay as a present for my husband's 30th birthday; a watercolour original painting of my old neighbourhood Woollahra in Sydney by my beautiful friend, the talented Erin O'Connor, Kozyndan "Taka on Acid" print (again, from Outre Gallery), a red wooden doll we picked up on travels in Takayama, Japan; a red vase I bought for $5 from the Bondi markets about eight years ago; and my bone china high top sneakers from Have You Met Miss Jones, owned by my fabulous friend JJ.

Another collection of much-loved items: a wedding present from my Pop - it's his father's (my great-grandfather's) railway light from when he was the station master at Corinda Railway Station in Brisbane in the early 1900s; an original Kozyndan etching (from Outre Gallery) ; a globe/paperweight we picked up in Tokyo last year (at Barneys New York); and some art books from various travels.

 I absolutely love our bedroom, particularly the two windows which let in such gorgeous light. We splashed out on a new king-size bed (a long-held dream!!) when we moved to Shanghai and I bought a mattress from Slumbermaxx which is soooo comfy to sleep on. My husband has been wanting a dark brown leather armchair for years and years. Finally, he spotted what he wanted this year and after about ten trips back and forth, he finally bought it. It's from Little Dragon on Changle Lu. And it's mega comfortable. The perfect reading chair.

Our guest bedroom has seen lots of visitors this year. I'm sure they're not just visiting us but really coming to see this beautiful bed runner that my Mum made for me about seven or so years ago. She knew I loved Japanese fabrics, so she hunted down this gorgeous vintage kimono silk. She was a wonderful quilter and this is just one of the few that she made for me. Although she said this one gave her grey hairs! Apparently the silk was very temperamental. It's something I will treasure always.

And this is a pic of what it looked like BEFORE we moved in (with the landlord's furniture). It's a bit too formal, right?!

My favourite things of the week

I finally finished unpacking some of our books onto our new Sean Yoo book cases. Don't you just love them. We bought them from a furniture store on Anfu Lu called Casa Casa. They almost turn the books themselves into pieces of art. I haven't hung our Kozyndan art just yet and we still need to buy a comfy reading chair, but this is the start of our "reading nook". And I love my Have You Met Miss Jones bone china converse sneakers (thanks JJ!). 

And yes, more pics of the apartment soon. We're waiting on our new walnut dining table to arrive...

Now that the weather is getting warmer and warmer each day, there's nothing like a cheeky Hoegarden with a slice of lemon on a Sunday afternoon...

We also finally got around to watching Banksy's documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.  It's an interesting commentary on the old chestnut "what is art?" and where do art and commerce meet. And you've gotta love the protagonist, Thiery Guetta, aka "Mr Brainwash".  Is he for real or an elaborate prank?

Loved the quote from Banksy: "it was at that point that I realized that maybe Thierry wasn't actually a filmmaker, and he was maybe just someone with mental problems who happened to have a camera."

We've also been enjoying watching the first season of HBO's drama Boardwalk Empire. I'm not sure if I'm loving it, but I'm warming up to it more and more with each episode.

Michael Pitt is the standout for me as Jimmy Darmody.

And I love seeing The Wire's Michael Kenneth Williams back on my screens. This time as Chalky White. But it really does make me miss Omar!

And finally, my beloved Queensland Reds pulled off a victory against the NSW Waratahs. As a fan, it was a pretty stressful match to watch, particularly all those scrums (and Ben Daley's broken nose!).  It's always a much anticipated clash and more often than not is an ugly game to watch.  But I enjoyed this one. Mainly because we won!! Although I was very sad to see Drew Mitchell get injured and get ruled out of action for the World Cup. He's one of my favourite players to watch, so it's a big blow for the Wallabies.

And talking of the Wallabies. Here's my favourite supporter in all his rugby gear. Go Oscar!