Japanese Flower Holder

We have a wonderful Japanese florist in West End called 'Hanasho'. I have always admired these beautiful 'flower holders', for want of a better description, adorning the shop. I found this one discarded on the footpath around the corner from my house. YES!! One man's rubbish is another man's treasure.

Te Papa

We named our house 'Te Papa' which means 'Our Place' in Maori. I stole the name from the Te Papa Museum in Wellington. Since I was born and bred in Wellington I figured I could steal it. It was called 'Hazlewood' when we moved into it but that sounded way too English for us.

Little Black Boy

I picked up a collection of 'Black Boys' just before I left Sydney about 10 years ago. I had them all over this big old house but I put most into storage for the big 'declutter'. This one missed being packed up. I think he is Japanese from the little label on the bottom. He's kinda cute I think.

Black Lady Vase

On the mantle stands my lovely Black Lady vase. She's a beauty and I have had her for many years.

Photoing on Car

This was the tin toy that started it all. It is battery operated and the car drives around until it hits an object then whilst it's horn is honking it backs up and changes direction. The car stops frequently to allow the girl to take a photo. The flash goes off and the car goes on it's way. This toy I also bought in China. I had fallen in love with this toy a few years earlier but then the car was black and the girl sported a little black 'bob'. Very Chinese. They obviously revamped it for the tourist market and gave her a blonde ponytail instead. I have to admit I preferred the original.

Circus Clown

I bought this wind up tin toy in China about 25 years ago. I remember while all the other Aussie tourists were buying silk and porcelain I was looking for tin toys to buy. When you wind him up the horse rears onto his back legs and the head piece spins around. I still love him!

Spaceman Tin Toy

One of my favourite toys is this Japanese 'Spaceman with Camera' tin toy. I don't know exactly how old this is or how much it would be worth. We loaned all our tin toys out to a TV production company in the mid 1990's for a Toyota Starlet ad. This was a gift for the use of our toys.

Toy Cabinet

I started collecting tin toys about 25 years ago. Tin toys became cool toys in general. I guess I must be a tad OCD! No more collecting for me though. These are all going into storage for awhile. I have a new need to start living minimally! We certainly knew where the kids gravitated to during our 'Open for Inspections' as there were always lots of little hand marks on the glass after.

Elephant Statue

I bought my elephant statue from a garage sale. It was actually part of an elephant collection so I could have brought a lot of elephants home that day. I knew I might have a divorce on my hands so I just picked up this one. It was very hard to photograph because of the strong grain in the wood. He is a beauty though. I'm not sure what type of wood this is but the tusks are made from ivory.

Elephant Head

Not long after I got my elephant lamp I found this elephant head in a St Vinnies. He is made out of ebony and his tusks are real ivory. His ears move as well. Here is another glimpse at the lovely architrave in this room as well.

Elephant Lamp

I found this antique lamp when I first moved to Brisbane about 10 years ago and my family bought it for me for Mother's Day. It is made of ebony and ivory. The lampshade is very old and delicate but it is still hanging in there! I had no intention of collecting anymore elephants after that but they just kept presenting themselves to me! By the way I did learn that it is good luck if the elephant's trunk is turned up and bad luck if the trunk is turned down.

Cajun Side Table

Here is another example of my Cajun furniture. This piece features Guadalupe. Oh by the way I never meant to start collecting elephants but I did and it all started with this beautiful old elephant lamp!

Frida

My coffee table features Frida Kahlo and the ribbon says 'ESTA MESA FUE INSPIRADA POR COLOR I LA CULTURA DE MEXICO' which means 'This table was inspired by the colour and culture of Mexico'. I'm lucky my husband speaks Spanish!

Cajun Coffee Table

This room is where my Cajun furniture is displayed. A few years back my family had a stint in LA where I discovered the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard. The outside of the Blues Club looks like an old rusty barn and inside it is decorated in Cajun style. I had never seen anything like it and was totally inspired when I visited. When we got back home to Sydney I decided to have a go at my own interpretation and worked on a few pieces of furniture. The coffee table is decorated with paint, cut up tin cans, American beer bottle tops and even a little bit of cowhide.

Lounge Room

Across the hallway is the lounge room. This room opens out onto the front verandah with lovely french doors as well. The downstairs of our house have quite low ceilings compared to the upstairs which have soaring ceilings. The reason for this is the downstairs was originally the servant's quarters and the upstairs the main living areas.

Beaded Curtains

Another one of my passions are beaded curtains. I had them everywhere through my house but I was advised to take them down for the Open for Inspections as they would stop the flow through the house. Here are a couple of them pre declutter. Of course they have to have a Mexican theme as I love all things Mexican hence my Guadalupe curtain.

Australian Native Stockman Ashtray

My house was full of my weird and wonderful collectibles pre declutter but I managed to keep a few of my lovely pieces on show. One of them being this great ashtray that I picked up at a garage sale. I think it's quite unique. I just love the little pattern that goes around the edge with boomerangs, kangaroos and an Aboriginal head. By the way the pipe itself is ceramic and is part of the ashtray. That gets people every time!

Balinese Girl

This is my beautiful 'Balinese Girl' by Tretchikoff. I managed to also buy this 'as new' print from the same person on ebay that I bought the 'Lady from Orient'. I do own a couple more Tretchikoffs but I haven't had them framed yet. A project for my next home.

Penny Whistlers

This 'Penny Whistlers' print is quite a rare Tretchikoff print that I found at a garage sale and paid $8 for it. Apparently it's worth about $750.

Lady from Orient

This Tretchikoff print I managed to buy on Ebay. It came from the US where somebody had found the print in an old bookshop totally untouched. I had it framed. I love my 'Lady from Orient'.