Why Are White Houses So Enticing?

What is it about white houses that enchants, enthralls and entices us every time? Is it the architectural simplicity? The sentimentality many of us have for a home that shows understatement and pared-back elegance, rather than McMansion-style extravagance? Is it the fact that they remind us of fairytales, with their charm, and their cheekiness? Or could it be the idea that there is something so timeless and classic, so perennially perfect about a white house?

RR and I have been noticing so many pretty white houses on our walks lately that we're beginning to think our next home might be a white cottage by the sea. (Or as close to the sea as we can be while still remaining in the vicinity of a big city.) These are just some of the beautiful styles we've passed on our walks through South Yarra, Toorak and Portsea lately. NB These are all FANTASTIC White House neighbourhoods, so if you're a White House Addict, as I am, grab your dogs and go for a stroll through these areas. The only problem is, it's rather difficult to take photos while the dogs are straining at the leads. Which might explain why some of the photos are slightly wonky. That's Coco's fault. She spotted a particularly sexy golden retriever strolling along ahead of us.


(Top two images also from our Toorak / South Yarra strolls.)

This triptych of architectural splendour is just opposite Como Park in Melbourne's South Yarra neighbourhood. I always love walking past these homes. Look at the clipped topiary and the black shutters! Every one of them is immaculate. They make our house look rather dishevelled.

This next house is, in my (unauthoritative) opinion, one of the most beautiful white houses in Melbourne. Lots of people know about this house, which is tucked behind Hawksburn Village, and many of them (like me) detour past for a sneek peek. It's very difficult to take a decent photo of the front because the owner has cleverly planted a row of pleached limes in the nature stripe. They're so elegant. And they really enhance the architecture of the house. Anyhow, I happened to park here last week and saw the owner getting her groceries out of the car. I politely said hello, told her that her house was lovely, and she was gracious enough to strike up a conversation. Then she kindly allowed me to take a few photos... She's also invited me back for a look inside. I'm almost too shy to take up the lovely offer, but I think curiosity will get the better of me... 

Here's the owner, the stylish woman that she was, elegantly actioning some camel cashmere. (As Faux Fuchsia would say.) I haven't shown her face to protect her privacy, but she's as beautiful as her house!

Blue doors always look beautiful on white houses. (Do you know that if you paint your front door and the eaves under your verandah blue, it keeps the bad spirits away? Or the bees. I can't remember which it is now...) 

The last image shows the fence between this white house and the neighbours. Clever, isn't it? It allows for privacy while still appearing to be neighbourly. Love how the white trellis matches the architecture, and the ivy frames the 'picture'.

There's a fantastic secret walk that meanders along the clifftops of Portsea and takes you past some of the most beautiful white houses on the Victorian coast. You can access it at Point King Road in Portsea (park at Point King Road, walk down to the beach and then keep walking up the sandy path toward the city). Don't let all the white gates fool you. They're just for show. It's a public path. Anyone can stroll along. 

Here are just some of the white architectural jewels you'll see along it. You can walk right past the gardens. It's the best property porn on the peninsula.

Many of these clifftop houses have their own private pier. Most of the piers match the architecture of the houses. This one often has a family in it, enjoying  a summer BBQ.

The bathing boxes on the beach at the end of Point King Road are also white. (You gotta love a neighbourhood that keeps things stylish!) These bathing boxes sell for incredible sums. I think the last one sold for $455,000 in 2010. That's half a million Australian dollars. For a boat shed. That's one lucky dog. Our puppies just get a $20 dog bed to sleep in.

Beautiful Book Covers, Part 3

Can you judge a book by its cover? Well, publishers are certainly hoping so. With the Internet and e-books cutting into sales of hardbacks and paperbacks, many of those in the publishing world are now going that extra length to ensure that the books they print are the kind readers will adore at first sight – and purchase in place of an electronic version. Covers are being given to 'star artists' to illustrate, spines are being refined and even end papers (the pages inside the jacket) are being given intense consideration. It's all part of a new push to make books covetable and utterly un-put-downable. The kind of objects you'd put on your coffee table – next to the other collectables.

At Avenue Bookstore yesterday, I stumbled across the most beautiful book covers I'd seen for a long while. Two were so gorgeous I just had to buy them. I've attached them here, along with some others I noticed. I've always been a girl who loves a good book cover.

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Pan Macmillan imprint Picador is re-issuing 12 of its ‘greatest novels’ in March. These collector's editions, which seem to be inspired by Penguin's success with its re-issed covers, includes such bestselling authors as Cormac McCarthy, Alice Sebold, Helen Fielding, Graham Swift, Alan Hollinghurst and Australia’s Tim Winton. I particularly love The Line of Beauty (top image, with a second version below), and All The Pretty Horses (below). These jackets would make me want to read these books, so if this is what publishers are aiming for, the design ruse is definitely working.

You can read more about Picador's re-issued covers here .

This is the most fabulous cookbook cover I've seen in a long time! A new edition from Murdoch, it's authored by Matt Wilkinson, the extraordinary chef of cult Melbourne restaurant Pope Joan (formerly head chef at the well-known Circa in St Kilda). I remember telling him to do a cookbook when I photographed him several years ago. I put him onto Murdoch and gave him some contacts. I'm so thrilled to see the results! (Not that I had anything to do with it.) The pages inside are just as pretty as the cover. I actually bought this for the cover! (That, and the face that we need to eat more vegetables in our house.)

Meanwhile, Penguin USA continues to reprint their classics in truly gorgeous jackets. The latest to cause readers to do a literary backflip are the Penguin Threads Deluxe Classics series. They come on the heels of the success of Penguin Ink, and are the result of Creative Director Paul Buckley and illustrator Jillian Tamaki. The embroidered cover art for these titles was hand-stitched with colored threads by Tamaki. Just exquisite. There's Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic The Secret Garden, Jane Austen's Emma, and Sewell's Black Beauty.

And the trend for silhouette book covers continues to go from strength to strength. It began several years ago, and now there seems to be a whole new genre of silhouette/vector-art covers in the market!

Decorating on a Dime...Truly The Last Time!

A month ago, as a final post in the 'Decorating on a Dime' series here in The Library, I promised to post some 'before' and 'after' pix of our kitchen, laundry and garden. Well, I stayed up late one night collating all the images, wrote a few funny captions, and pressed the 'Publish' button. In the early hours of the morning, though, I had second thoughts. Then third thoughts. Then so many thoughts running through my worried little head that I had to get up at 6am and delete the post. You see, I was terrified that the more professional designers among you would think our interior design efforts were laughable. I didn't want to be a poster child of The Utterly Dismal Decorating School.

Then a friend pulled me up. She said people WANT to know how to update a room in a weekend! They WANT to know how to tart up a kitchen for $250! Or even $2.50.

So here, dear readers, is the Post That Never Was. I'm publishing it to inspire you; to encourage you to get out the paint brushes and slap up a storm. And to tell you that you, too, can dress up a home with no more than a few dollars (we had a 2% decorating budget) and some creative thinking.

But I'm also publishing it as a little tribute to this house; to the sad little thing it was when we bought it on a rainy day in May 2010, and the happy little thing it's become almost 2 years later. We have now listed it on the market in preparation for our Big Move later this year. So if you feel cramped in the city and hate the traffic, the high density and the neighbours, and you'd like a lovely, rather large, 5-bedroom, 2-study house with libraries and lots of space on half an acre of glorious gardens in one of Australia's prettiest villages (which is only an hour to the city!), it's yours. We'll even leave all the furniture here!  {NB Some of you may have seen a few of these pix. Apologies to those who may be bored out of their senses.}

BEFORE: THE OLD ENTRANCE

I need to warn you. If you're allergic to 1970's panelling, look away NOW.  I'm certain that horrible beige carpet was a health hazard. A few weeks after we moved in I spilt a paint can all over it. Such a terrible shame. The next day I spilt some more. Just like that! I ask you, can a person BE that unlucky? (I would have spilt some more too, but the paint had run out. Shame, that.)

AFTER: THE NEW ENTRANCE

Two lovely Afghanistan tradesmen painted this double-height entrance. It took three coats to cover the pine. Three. I thought it might even take twenty. The green is Kelly green, with a little geranium and a dash of Kate Spade.  I love it. It's like walking into a summer garden.

BEFORE: THE OLD LIBRARY, LIVING ROOM & ENTRANCE HALL

Yes I know. More pine. Close your eyes if you want to. I won't mind.

AFTER: THE NEW LIBRARY, LIVING ROOM & ENTRANCE HALL

This beautiful bookcase is built in so unfortunately we can't take it with us on the move. Pity. An enormous library like this would cost $3000 at Perfect Pieces or Town & Country. I'm still hoping we can somehow cut it out, but I don't think prospective buyers would like that. The carpet is a pretty Dior grey. More on that further down.

MORE PIX OF THE NEW LIVING ROOM

The best decorating trick I've ever learned is that a simple can of paint will immediately freshen a tired space. I like black because it's sophisticated – and a little black always 'anchors' a room, but you don't have to go all high-glam/goth like this. I realise it's too much for some. We only painted one wall  (shown in the photo of the bar) and also the library in black. The rest we left as white. Only the furniture is black.

The 'painting' is a piece of wood painted with chalkboard paint and then scribbled on with white chalk. The best thing about these is you can wipe them off each week and do another one! They're great for filling awkward corners of rooms where you don't want to spend any more money on frames or artwork. (And trust me, we're at that stage!)

Cooper was our Project Manager. As you can see, he was very discerning. But I found he could be bought with a bone.

BEFORE: THE OLD UPSTAIRS BEDROOM

All the furniture you see in these 'original' photos belonged to the old owners. These pix were taken when we inspected it. I'm not going to say anything about the importance of styling a house to sell it. Uh-uh. Not a WORD!

AFTER: THE NEW UPSTAIRS BEDROOM

We couldn't install floorboards as they're simply too cold on the feet in winter. So, to save money, we used McMat's Carpets, which recycles office carpet. It's more durable than domestic carpet and yet still surprisingly soft. And cheap! The lovely Dior grey carpet we used for the entire top floor came from a business premise in the city: one partner had ordered it and the other hated it so McMat's offered to buy it from them. It had only been in the office for two days. Love those cheap decorating tricks. 

BEFORE: THE OLD FRIDGE ALCOVE

The previous owners tore out a cupboard door and installed their massive two-door fridge in the space. Then they moved. This eyesore is what we inherited. Nice. 

AFTER: THE NEW CROCKERY / GLASS CABINET

So I decided to hide our fridges away in the Mud Room (I hate fridges in kitchens – it's like 'TV decorating' in living rooms) and redefine the gaping space as an old-fashioned crockery cabinet instead. All it took were some white Ikea bookshelves, some Laura Ashley wallpaper and some fabric from No Chintz in Sydney.  So easy. If I can do this, anyone can. The best thing is that it's all removable, so if the new owners want to use the space for their fridges, they can.

BEFORE: THE OLD KITCHEN

I'm not a kitchen person, so I didn't care about this room as much as others might. I just hated the pine. 

AFTER: THE NEW KITCHEN

This kitchen cost us less than $2000 to dress up. We were going to rip it out and put in a new one, but I didn't want to spend $10,000 - $30,000 if we weren't staying here. The timber cupboards were simply painted in a grey shade called 'Country Lane'. I'm such a sucker for a cute paint name.

Here are some more pix. As you can see, I love black and white. Even our floor plan tea towels and 'display vegies' are black and white. It's a problem. I think I might need to go to a Black-and-White Anonymous group?

BEFORE: THE OLD LAUNDRY

So much pine! I think they used an entire forest to build this house?

AFTER: THE NEW LAUNDRY

Total cost of laundry makeover: $30. 

Here's my favourite part: the Aesop laundry detergent. (Middle shelf.) This bottle cost more than the total laundry makeover! (No one's allowed to use it. The pegs are for show as well.)

AND FINALLY...

BEFORE: THE OLD GARDEN

This part of the property was so sad. It broke my heart. 

 AFTER: THE NEW POTAGER AND PICKING GARDEN

Don't forget that before I came here, I'd never had a garden. I couldn't even grow a hydrangea! I terraced all of these areas myself over the summer of 2010/2011 by moving the old firewood pile and digging out the soil by hand. After a month, I'd finally levelled all the areas. Then I planted the potager, the picking garden, the box hedge borders, and the espaliered pears around the potager. Okay, so I can't quite GROW vegies just yet, but it's a horticultural learning curve!