you may recall that we spent a few long, tear-filled weeks in july trying to find an apartment in canberra. why the lamest city in australia has such an outrageously expensive rental market is still a bit of a mystery to me (though i'm guessing we have the transient civil servant population and their living subventions to thank), especially given that canberra is sorely wanting for pleasant accommodations.
but then we found our little hidden garden castle, which we now agree is our most favorite apartment ever. seriously. if only this place opened on to the 14th arrondissement in paris - we'd be in heaven! the best thing about our place - aside from the fact that it is surrounded on all four sides by other people's overgrown gardens (and a chicken coop - love!!), is the patio. we've never had outdoor space before, so we were eager to furnish it and start enjoying our shrimps on the barbie. as it turns out, however, i'm not a huge fan of cheap outdoor furniture (bleh! no style), and we weren't about to drop $1000+ on some swanky teak stuff, so we decided to see what we could find at the salvage warehouse. the big score came when some neighbors gave us a pine breakfast table, but it turns out i'm also not a huge fan of glossed pine...
a few hours, a few bags of saw dust, and a few coats of paint later, we were ready to go. add some ikea chairs, a couple of salvaged dining chairs from the 60s, and a fully recycled plastic rug (in "miami vice" colors, per kp's request), and voilà!
here's kp, working up a sweat with the table sander we rented - that thing had torque!
the *almost* final outdoor room. just days after taking this shot i found a funky old wooden/brass chandelier on the side of the road. with a coat or two of spray paint and a few candles, i think it'll make for some pretty groovy lighting!
bonus shot: since we still don't let him outside, bob has found his own special leisure suite on our winter blankets.
