Its been 7 months since I’ve moved into my house, and although the majority of our furnishing has been bought and put in their respective places, I still felt that the house was lacking in something. I’d come to the conclusion that what the house lacks were all the little accents which makes a house a home! The house appears to be too bare and clinical, too minimalistic for my taste. It is in desperate need of slashes of my personality to make it feel more homely. As my finances are currently quite restrictive, I’ve only been able to add small details progressively. I’ve been browsing home decor blogs and have noticed that people constantly have these orchids as ornamental displays in their homes. I love orchids, they are exceptionally pretty yet quite simplistic. I’ve been in the hunt for quite some time now for a nice orchid arrangement that I could use to decorate my house, but they were either too expensive or not quite what I wanted. So I thought I would try my luck at making my own. It was far more easier than I had imagined.

What you'll need:
• Artificial orchid flower $11
• Vase/pot $1.50
• Oasis $1
• Artificial moss $1
• Artificial orchid leaves $8
• Stick (free)
• Superglue (free)
• String (free)



xox
♥ ♥

PT (you can check out his insightful blog here: http://pt-redemption.com/ )suggested that I should follow in his footsteps and fill out a little questionnaire, just to give everyone a little insight into the real kimmysphere. Hence, I thought I should oblige...

1. What is your favourite word? Legendary! I dont really use that word, I just like it. ha ha.

2. What is your lease favourite word? I dont really have one, but I do have a least favourite phrase which is 'just relax'! Especially when that phrase is said to me after a preventable situation has transpired to get me fired up in the first place. Ggrrr

3. What turns you on? An intellectual mind whom likes to challenge/questions things rather than take everything for face value.

4. What turns you off? People who try too hard. Just be yourself and everything else will fall into place.

5. What sound or noise do you love? The sound of music, it soothes my soul

6. What sound or noise do you hate? The sound of my alarm clock every weekday morning

7. What is your favourite curse word? For fuck sake!

8. What profession  other than your own would you like to attempt? Photographer, although I dont really have the knowledge or flair to be one!

9. What profession would you not like to attempt? CSI. I would hate to see dead people or crime scenes day in day out.

10. What would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? 'See! I told you I existed!'

Why don't you all give it a go?! Show us a little of yourself.

xox
♥ ♥

As some of you may already know, back in 2008, Nana and I took the plunge and secured ourselves a little patch of Australian dirt! Fast-track to 2010 and we have finally built and moved into our new home. Sounds simple does it not, buy land, build, move in. And hey presto, instant home! Well, let me just dispel this fairytale myth and plant reality firmly back into its rightful place. Back in March 2008, as we were quite young and practically penniless, our budget wasn’t of a standard to be admired. Therefore, when we were both looking at procuring our first house, we mainly looked into old established homes which were located approximately around our current neighbourhood. Nan was adamant that we should buy in our area as he refused to move out any further.

When searching for that elusive house, we were armed with three very distinct criterias: 1. We wanted a nice house 2. Attached to that a cheap price tag 3. Within our current neighbourhood. Not much to ask for right (lol)?! I know, we wanted the whole world, but weren't willing to pay the price! We never even entertained the very idea of building a house, simply because we thought it was completely and quite utterly out of our budget range. However, after scrutinising briefly through the local real estate ads and the internet, we came to the sad conclusion that an old established home just wouldn’t be sufficient, it just wouldn’t fit in our grand master plan of life.

That moment of defeat however gave me the inspiration to sit down one sunny afternoon and methodically crunch some numbers to devise a new plan of action. What is this new plan? Well, for the amount of money which we would need to buy an established home in our neigbourhood, plus stamp duty and all other associated governmental fees, it would cost just as much to go out 15mins drive further from our current neighbourhood, and purchase a block of land in an up-and-coming neighhourhood littered with new estates. The amount of money saved on stamp duty when purchasing land is in excess of $10K! Added to the mix the government’s willingness to give more to those willing to build a house, it wasn’t hard to distinguish which option was best for us. At least this way, two out of our three criterias were met. It’s all about compromising, and taking opportunities by the horn when it presented itself. With this new found epiphany, I presented Nan with my arguments and calculations as to why it would be more economically viable for us to proceed in this direction. It truly wasn’t difficult to persuade Nan to see things my way. All that was required was for me to fill his head up with pictures of nice new things and a beautiful house, it was like dangling a carrot!

And there, my friends, begins our journey of finding our perfect block of pristine Aussie land, building our first home, and chasing that elusive Australia dream…


xox
♥ ♥