going to melbourne houses, vintage skirts, laneways, and cats

Last Saturday, we had a very house-y day. Not in a stay-at-home kind of way, but a visit-and-get-ideas way. It was lovely. I am sprucing our place at the moment and love looking at interiors!

First up, though, a good breakfast was needed. We went to Blue Bird cafe in Collingwood, where John had a delicious (I know because I got a good bite, obviously) chorizo burger, and I had fresh fruit salad and muesli. I'd forgotten how good fruit is here in summer, and can't wait to stock up on more.

Then we had a look at The Cool House, by the Cool Hunter, in Collingwood. Lots of bright colours in an amazing warehouse. I liked the rainbow of flowers on these shelves. And think they went well with the modern pieces. It also reminded me I want to plant something in my teeeeeeny tiny patch of dirt at the front of my house. Maybe blue hydrangeas. I loved all the strong coral. Like this salad bowl and – I'm having a mind blank – tongs? Salad stirry-and-servey-things! The cushions match nicely. I like the colourful paper balls in the high ceiling space. I think some here at home would work well. Collingwood is one of my favourite suburbs in Melbourne, with lots of beautiful old buildings, some of which are pretty run down. I'd love to have a look inside this tower. Now it was time to head down to Prahran – pronounced Pa-rann if you're not familiar! – to have a look at The Design Files Open House. More bright colours... ... and that gorgeous coral shade again... ... I love these. Even the garden was super colourful. And this is the view over Prahran. So classically Melbourne, with corrugated roofs, chimneys and palm trees. And then it was time to prance about in a laneway in St Kilda, which is a very important weekend activity! I was wearing my vintage skirt with rust coloured stripes and blue and black flowers, my Gorman rust suede platforms and an asos black jumper with a white collar. After a few hot days, it was wonderful to have a cooler spell. I saw a photograph of my aunt-in-law, from the late 1950s, where she was wearing a similar skirt with a collar and jumper, and she looked amazing. Direct inspiration for me. I pinned my hair up in a casual up do, and curled the front sections. It was pretty windy and after several hours of driving and walking, it definitely was getting very casual! Pastel peach nails inspired by Marnie, which we watched the night before. I love ivy, and would like to get a full wall of it, like this, growing at home. A cat wanted to know what we were up too. But he wanted to sit alone in the sun even more. I understand. Clever cat. We were ready to go home and sit down, too. After an exhausting few days, it was nice to relax. And that was Saturday!