Second-Hand Clothing Store Score!

Vintage is a catchier phrase than "second-hand clothing", I'm sure you'd agree, but there is not much vintage about the amazing finds I had at our local vintage/retro/second-hand clothing store during the week.

I have a kid swap with one of my sisters that gives each of us a few hours smalls-free once a fortnight. It's awesome. Just a few hours to ourselves, to go for a walk, have a coffee, read the paper, browse the shops - whatever.

Anyway, I found three great tops and one brand new dress for $40. Colour me stoked! Check it out:

mustard blouse = $9

cliche, yes, but i really, truly love stripes. sucker for stripes. plus this tee was only $6.

brand new dress = $17. looks frumpy off but cute on.

apple print top from wesc (one of my favourite labels) = $8. so chuffed.

I also found a couple of glass jars at the local Vinnies for the princely sum of $2.50. These are going straight to the laundry to hold my washing soda and bicarb soda.

'Cause I'm rock and roll like that.

Crafty: Pom Poms!

Part of the Lavender Experiment, for me, is to decorate our home with handmade things, things that have a little piece of us in them, things that mean something.

I'm certain I could go and buy loads of pretty knick knacks all at once and have the decorating finished in a matter of days, but A) there's no fun in that, B) there's too much money in that and C) that doesn't express a great deal about us as a family.

I'm a big fan of quirky garlands at the moment and have been working on a woolen pom pom garland for the past couple of days. I forgot how long it takes to make pom poms the old-fashioned way, but I do find the repetitiveness therapeutic so I don't mind.

The progress on my own garland will be slow, I'm sure, but these gorgeous examples keep me inspired:

From Honestly...WTF

From Small Bird

From Millalove

From Honestly...WTF

K.I.S.S: The New 'Do

Yes, it's a bad photo.
No, I'm not wearing make-up.
Yes, I am tired, thank you very much.
Yes, I do appear to be sitting in a store room.

But I did cut my hair clean off. And it is much simpler. 

A few nervous moments, but I am super happy with the result. Particularly when I take the time to, you know, style it.

I did make one (silly) mistake though. I got carried away by the hairdressers' product spiel and ended up leaving with a chunk of money's worth of salon product under my arm (shampoo, conditioner, treatment, styling paste). Of course, after spending a year trying to find natural body and hair products, this was a complete waste of money. Not only did the rich, synthetic, fragranced products make my eyes itch like crazy, they didn't do anything my previous shampoo and conditioner couldn't do (namely, clean my hair). So it's directly back on the Burt's Bees bandwagon for me, until I can find a better, more natural* alternative. I don't have a reaction to their products and they do a good job, so the search for a GOOD, 100% natural hair care range continues.

*Burt's Bees markets itself as being 98.7% natural. Some of their ingredients, as I understand it, are questionable.

Keeping It Simple, Stupid

In the quest to live a lavender life, or a simpler life, I'm looking for ways to cut the clutter and get rid of the unnecessary complexities in life. It might be doing things like cleaning out the junk drawer in the kitchen or having a garage sale (in March we are having a garage sale - it will be huge and there will be cupcakes and a sausage sizzle).

But to kickstart this semi-regular series, I'm going to simplify part of myself: my hair. It's a bit dramatic, but this weekend I'm going from this:

Taken a few months ago in Fiji. My hair is much longer now. And much tanglier.

To this:

The lovely Michelle Williams.

It will no doubt simplify my morning routine, it'll cut down the amount of shampoo I use, it'll mean less brushing, less drying, less straightening, less product! I'm quite nervous about it but need to do it. Otherwise I'll always wonder. 

Plus, then I get to wear pretty hair accessories like this:

Gorgeousness from ban.do 

I'll be sure to post my own (slightly less glamorous) after shots next week.

The Painting. Oh, the Painting...

As I mentioned in the last Renovation Nation update, we have millions of square metres of painting to do now that we're back in the house. Which is wonderful because I (seriously) love painting. I find it therapeutic, satisfying and fulfilling. I even enjoy cutting in (I had no idea what this phrase meant until we started renovating - the things you learn in the University of Life)

One problem. I quite often have a very small human being attached to my breast for stretches of time and he is none too pleased if I try to do something other than this whenever it is that he feels like lunch.

So while I help where possible, painting is currently Sparky's domain. And he's doing a damn fine job.

Where I come in is in colour choice and researching paint products. Which is awesome as it combines two interests of mine - interior design and green products. So I thought I'd share what we're up to.

For the majority of the living areas and hallways we're going for a white ceiling (natch) with mid-grey walls, white trim and timber floors. Some inspiration can be found:

Source: bigboyalready.com

Source: Mustard and Sage

Source: Furnnish

So we've decided on the colour we want, and I've done a lot of research into paint brands and products, trying to find the greenest, healthiest product option that is still durable and washable.

Sparky and I painted our bedroom in 100% natural paint not long after we moved in, and I have to say it really is a terrible paint. It marks if you look at it sideways, is entirely unwashable, is incredibly streaky and has a horrible feel to it. So while I applaud those who do use it successfully, we weren't prepared to spend the next 5 years looking at walls that were a filthly, streaky, scratchy finish.

So I kept researching and finally came to choose Wattyl ID for all our interiors. Many professional painters use it, because it has a good finish and excellent coverage, but I was keen on it also because it is a genuine low-VOC paint. It's low-odour and had less than 1g of volatile organic compounds per litre, where the up to 65g is still considered 'good' in environmental terms.

I understand that there are greener options out there, but for us they've never held up when compared to more commercial options. And I'm all about making practical changes where you can, and would rather use a very good low-VOC paint once every five years, rather than a very-good-for-the-environment-but-terrible-for-actual-painting paint every six months.

We've used it to paint the kids' rooms so far and have been really pleased with it. Plus it really doesn't stink.

Now, all we have to do is actually do the painting!