New Years Resolutions part II

Well tonights the night!!
We look optimistically towards 2013 with a hopeful and expectant heart.
A fresh, clean year lays before us just waiting to be moulded into a reflection of our expectations from life.

New Years Resolutions are tricky...
Mainly (I think) because we put too much pressure on ourselves.
I think resolutions should be more like a Mission Statement to ourselves.
A personal dogma of behaviour to try to adhere to and keep us steered in the right direction.
Trying to immediately adhere to a total behavioural about face in the matter of one night is just setting ourselves up for failure and a wee bit of self loathing :)

So I say set some obtainable timeframes for the changes you want to see in yourself (if any at all) have realistic expectations on how long these changes will take and then put one foot in front of the other.
Trying to completely cut out smoking cold turkey is harsh for most smokers.
Becoming a Gym junkie over night; not realistic.  Abstaining immediately from anything you may be thoroughly enjoying (me, lots of G & T's and Vino's) is a harsh road to walk down.
But...cutting back, cutting down, actually going to gym, etc etc are small steps that ease you into the new lifestyle you want to adopt.
So....with that kinder more tolerant Resolution attitude in mind here are mine as follows.

1. Cut down Alcohol consumption
2. Get more (some, any) exercise everyday
3. Spend more time with my boys...listen, play rough (hard for a girly girl craft lover)
4. Never ever compromise my happiness again for someone else
5. Never sell myself short for unworthy recipients
6. Be a better daughter, sister, friend, boss :)
7. Take time out for me (once a week a day off to pick kids up from school have time to smell the daisies)
8. Qualify the people I let into my life etc....You've got to earn the right to be in someones heart.
9. Stop doubting myself and take the next steps needed to get me to where I want to go.
10. Start painting, writing and doing the things I love again.
10.5 Try and be more organised, better time management :)

Well there's mine....these are the changes I want to see in myself and hopefully if I start slowly I can achieve them all.
Have a fabulous and Happy New Year.
Thank You all for  persevering with my erratic blogging I will be making a concerted effort to include my blogging into my daily schedule in the New Year xx

Happy New Year

Melinda xx

New Years Resolutions.....

I write this from my bed, one day before New Years Eve.
I have a sore throat, swollen glands and feeling completely yuck.
Being bed ridden is the only way to slow me down these days and it affords me some much needed time to contemplate and quiet my somewhat frenetic brain.
So as New Years Eve (and the ubiquitous resolutions) loom I typically am looking back on 2012 and all that has occurred in my hectic life.

It has been a very crazy and somewhat painful year for me, at the same time it has been a very educational one.
I have learnt some very hard lessons and I am still contemplating the reasons for some things that have happened in my life and why they happened. Some of my behaviour I have not been proud of and some I have patted myself on the back for.
I have re-evaluated my role in My Own Life and am looking at my failures and my flaws with a more forgiving eye. Sometimes our harshest critic is the voice in our own heads :)

So this year some of the life's lessons (which seem obvious when I now think about them, but when you are in the middle of everything perspective is a tricky thing) are as follows:-

1. I have learnt that no matter how hard you work and how much you achieve professionally that all means diddly squat if you can't make your life balance work. This year I have done too many hours at work and not enough hours at home with my boys.

My Big Angel Harry

My Lovable little Devil Emerson

2. In life and as a Woman there is no having IT ALL!! Something has to Give and usually as a woman that something is usually looking after yourself and your health.
I have a membership at a gym and I'm yet to use it even though I know it is sooo important to look after my body.
I give my boys all the fruit and veggies but can't seem to have time to eat anything nutritious or drink enough water EVER!! :)

3.
I have learnt that no matter how hard you want something if that something is not meant to be it won't be. As a stubborn person that is driven that is a hard pill to swallow.
Learning to accept has been a hard lesson.
There is a peace that comes with acceptance.
Part of acceptance is acknowledging that You can't always get what you want.
Try telling that to most driven people HA!!

4.
 Friends are the family we choose. This is sooo true.
This year has been a hard and tumultuous one.
I have had professional highs that have been fabulous but I have also experienced tremendous lows personally and have compromised a great deal of my emotional happiness for unobtainable goals.
My friends have supported my valiantly through all the myriad of absurd highs and lows that I have
rollercoastered through (especially the last couple of months).
They know I'm mad.
I know they're mad.
We have each other's backs.
This is worth more than all the money in the world.

My wonderful friends

Supporting me through thick and thin and near wardrobe malfunctions oops :)

5.
Never get too serious. Life is a crazy joke and if you are healthy, your family is healthy, you have food in the fridge, money in your wallet and your world is turning without much drama or duress then you should laugh at the small stuff.
Gather your friends around that make you laugh and laugh until you pee yourself (well nearly) :)
A miserable person is a lonely one :)

6.
Sometimes you help others and sometimes you inadvertently harm others.
Just make sure the former out ways the latter :)

7.
Success, Money and "having it all" is not important. It doesn't mean anything when you tally your REAL life's achievements.
Your loved ones, the people you cherish are what is vitally important.
We take our life and happiness for granted and we coast along assuming we will not be hit with hardship or heartache. Hold your kids tight everyday until they know they are the most important beings in your world.

8.
If you are not happy with who you are....You will NEVER be happy with life.

9.
 I have learnt that sometimes people ask too much and if you keep moving your boundaries back further and further soon those boundaries will cease to exist and people will just step all over you.

finally....

10.
 I do love my life, I am very blessed.
I second guess myself, my talents, my mothering, my ability to be a good friend and nearly everything...but I know that I'm not alone and that there are people that are far better at everything than me but we are all trying our hardest and that's what's most important.

So there are 10 self indulgent little expressions on my life lessons for 2012.
The year has been so busy that I think I learnt most of them in hindsight :)

Hope you all have a fabulous and happy New Year.

My resolutions are yet to come...
How are yours going?

I can't wait for this year to be over and am so looking forward to having a happy and amazing 2013!!

We Have Moved!!!

Well finally we're in!!
We've had the cabinetry made by our lovely boys, new signage, have unpacked all our (many) bits and pieces and are settling in like chickens in our comfy new nest.
During our move (which logistically was a massive undertaking) we had an Install and a Magazine Photo Shoot!! Phew!!
Seems at Lily G we only have one speed and that is Full Throttle!!!
We have also come out in QLD Homes with our clients job on The Cover!!

We are loving to death our beautiful new store. It is so bright, white and happy.
We've injected it with lots of colour and texture and it has such a positive vibe.
All the locals have welcomed us so warmly.
The coffee shops are brilliant and am eating like a piggy!!

Our New Address is
5/9 Longland st,
Newstead

Our New stunning light fitting in our dedicated consult space

Our New Space!!

Inside our beautiful new shop

Love our new look

So come and visit us and see our beautiful new store!!
See our latest work on Content agency

http://content-agency.com/search?searchterm=camp%20hill&contributorname=&categoryId=&searchtype=feature&articleId=1609&cmsnoimages=&cmsnofeatures=

We're Moving!!!

So Excited!!
After much too-ing and fro-ing with my ever present Pro's & Con's list, we are Moving!!!!
Norman Park has been very kind to us, but it is time to pack up our bits n pieces and move across the River.
We are heading to The New Gasworks Precinct! It is going to be so lovely being in amongst all the exciting new development.
New Restaurants, new stores, all new infrastructure down that end of Teneriffe.
Feeling very grown up and Mature :)

We have a bigger premises and will have a dedicated Consult space for our every busy Interior Design department.
Front of Store will (of course) still sell the most stunning and desirable Home Inspirational pieces.
The Show room will also have our LILY G range of furniture on display.

It will be a New Building and a New Look.

We are moving in little over 2 Weeks so it's all hands on deck to get in before XMas and have all our stunning stock out and ready for all our loyal customers and our new one's.

We will be having an official opening in the NEW YEAR and will be posting regularly on our Face Book page.
I am also off to The Design Bloggers Conference in March so it's going to be an exciting New Year.

Thank You to all my amazing clients and customers that have made the last two years in Norman Park so lovely for me and my staff.
We are just over the bridge and hope to see you all soon!!!

This is our latest job down at Palm Beach will post more pics soon.

Melinda x

Many a Renovation!!

We are forging ahead on our gorgeous "Old Girl" in Clayfield!!

I have been working on this beautiful home for several months now and the walls and all the details are finally showing through the seemingly chaotic mish mash of framework and trestles.

We have 3 big renovations we are overseeing at present with 2 more in the pipe line. You might not see or hear from me for a while....
Also just got some very exciting news that I have to wait to share!!!

How is this weather? I am so excited it's warming up.

Will post more photo's soon.

Very Excited

I'm am at the moment supposed to be doing lighting plans, whole house specs for TWO homes and lots of other very very pressing jobs!! But!!! Martyn Lawrence Bullard mentioned me and my work on his twitter so I'm too excited to work!! Have now offered to go work for him as an intern for a month for free.....I would die!!! Anyway that made my Wednesday, which is usually a very ordinary day ha ha xx

This was the original image which inspired me:

Better Photo's!!!

We are getting some professional photo's done at the moment. They look so much better. Will post more when we get them....So many people loving our room!! Everyone commenting on how different it is to the same old same old :) Which is what this platform was for me, an opportunity to have some real fun!

The Brisbane HIA Home Show starts tomorrow. It seems in the Design and Decorating industry when it rains it pours. We had the beautiful install on Monday and now 4 days later we have installed our room at the convention centre. I must say it has taken the logistical maneuvering of a army general.

Monday the floors and lighting was installed, Tuesday our lovely cabinet makers worked until midnight doing our wall panelling, Wednesday our painter went in and today we installed the furniture!! We have a few bits to fill in ....a lovely fern for our zebra head, some extra cushions. But to say we are proud of our room is an understatement. 

My inspiration was Carnival meets Up Town New York. I wanted something fun, happy and a little bit Mad Hatters Tea Party. It's the drama Queen in me!! Anyway lots of action shots to enjoy :) HIA is on from tomorrow until Sunday...if you are in Brisbane come on in and say hello and see our room in the flesh. Big thank you to my hard working, amazing staff....Bella & Laura!! I couldn't have done this without you!! 

Also big thankyou to Craig & Brent from Madders Kitchens...they do all our cabinetry and painstakingly did our wall panelling!! Don't even try and steal them they are very loyal :)

Thanks to Dan from Awesome Flooring for providing us with our beautiful flooring.

First concept Board....

Inspiration Board

Bella and Laura unpacking! We're ready to go!

Now Where to start??

We Love our New Lily G cusom sofa!!

Oh coming together!! Look at that Schumacher fabric stunning!!

We're resting before Toni our amazing framer and hanger comes....

Sorry these are a bit grainy we'll have better ones tomorrow!

Finished room!! You like?? We LOVE it!!

Everything else was made exclusively for Lily G and will be on our showroom floor Monday onwards.

Three Rooms Done

Well it was all hands on deck today! We had a big install at the beautiful home of our client.
First off was hanging the curtains, blinds and all the art work, then up with  gorgeous light which came all the way from the States. Then install of furniture, rugs and accessories, styling and plants!! We had a ball. I must say it is my favourite part of my job when I get to transform a house into a home for a beautiful client.
The beauty of this job is the client trusted me 100% and believed in my vision. Sometimes clients don't trust in the process and that is when problems occur.
Tanya's house was stunning to start with and she wanted something that would stand the test of time, not date too quickly and would be user friendly for kids as well as adults. We created different zones with all custom made furniture, rugs and beautiful one off pieces.
Actually Tanya's home is the first home to carry exclusive Lily G range of furniture.
We put the Co Co sofa in and the Claudette Chairs as well as our Montaque Range in the casual room.
Now we are starting on the upper level and that is going to be stunning...very Hollywood Regency!!

Concept

Our Custom made coffee Table...We love it!!

Concept for Formal Living

Concept for Dining Room

Hope you like the pics. Now we have to do the HIA room in 3 days!!! Ahhh Clone me into 3!!