Wednesday, November 05, 2014

spaces by frankie magazine : a giveaway

Sam and Xanthe's light-filled apartment sits above the family's seafood restaurant / photographs by Luisa Brimble / story by Nicole Thomas / featured in Spaces volume two by frankie magazine (available to purchase on the website with free postage Australia-wide)

In the midst of this moving house palaver, I've found myself flicking through magazines and seeking inspiration online. There's some beautiful houses out there and whilst I tend to bypass the brand new, I keep returning to the worn yet loved abodes of those who aren't afraid of a little chipped paint. There's a lot to be said for homes created with a good dose of foresight and imagination. 

When the team at frankie magazine contacted me about promoting their new book spaces: volume two, I was more than happy to oblige. Whilst I tend to steer clear of interior magazines these days, I was impressed by the real homes chosen by the frankie team, not to mention the fact that quite a few families were featured; families who have decorated with verve and colour. 

Sam and Xanthe's unique living quarters is just around the corner from me (I featured their restaurant in this post). A little excerpt of their story:

Sam and Xanthe haven’t only redone the restaurant, but have also worked their magic on the residence upstairs. Several yearsago, Sam’s sister had lived there with her baby, but it hadn’t been occupied since. About a month before they moved in, Sam had his birthday party in the restaurant and took all his friends upstairs for a look. “I remember them saying, ‘Wow, it’s a nice spot but it needs a lot of work!’”
Fixing things up is no big deal for Sam and Xanthe. “From being in TV, especially in the art department, your basic job is probably 80 per cent furniture removalist and 20 per cent creative,” says Sam. “You go in there and clear things out, set things up and make everything look spick and span pretty quickly.”

By consolidating their office into one spot, they had room for two bedrooms. Floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors open onto a spacious deck, and flood each room with light. Besides replacing the carpets and repainting, the only real challenge of moving in was reducing their “stuff” – an occupational hazard of working with props. They managed to ditch most of it, but have held onto some memorable remnants, including a giant mobile phone from one of their first shoots together. It now sits in their office.

In their bedroom, everything has its spot, including a floral crown Xanthe wore on her wedding day. The costume designer she was working with at the time had collected paper flowers from vintage stores, and the delicate piece she made now dangles from the mirror. Another favourite belonging is a framed piece above the bed that reads “Happy Happy Joy Joy”, in honour of their shared loved for Ren & Stimpy.

The second bedroom will be a nursery for Sam and Xanthe’s soon-to-be-born baby. The room also has its fair share of treasures, including Sam’s old white bassinet. “It’s in the exact same space as it was when I was a baby,” he says. “Mum and Dad brought me here after I was born. This whole building is home to me.”  

frankie magazine is giving away two copies of Spaces volume two. To enter, simply tell me what you love most about the space you call home. The comments that resonate most will win. Open to Australian residents only. Winner announced in this post on Wednesday November 12th at 8pm.

Good luck!

Comments are closed. The winners are: pheasant - you got me with "home is easy on the senses" and Unknown/Emma - I'm so inspired by the community you have created. Email your postal address to jodiclairewilson @ yahoo.com.au and I'll make sure you get your book asap x



42 COMMENTS

  1. What I love most is how, if you stand in the utmost corner of our study, on the tippiest of tippy toes, shut one eye, you can just see the ocean!

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  2. I love how our home has gathered paraphernalia and memories since we moved here in 1999 and my entire childhood is mapped in the smell, the sprawl, the familiarity. home is easy on the senses.

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  3. That we have created a community. My partner and I bought our inner city terrace a few years ago and built a modest studio in the back garden to live, and then opened up the house for a few others to come and live. It has developed into a really lovely crew who all support each other in life and share meals often. Emma.

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  4. What I love most is that we built it ourselves - from digging holes for footings, pouring concrete for walls (I love our wonky imperfect walls!), laying timber floors and everything else. My dad, my brother-in-law and my husband - with me adding bits of help too!! - spent months, years making our house and now we've moved in our whole family makes it a home. I also love that my dad and I didn't need to draw any plans to build it and could talk about aspects together and both be seeing the same vision in our heads.

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  5. The thing I love most about our home is its history both old and new. Built in the 1890s it has been in the same family until we bought it as a deceased estate. Upon my first viewing of it I was 36 weeks pregnant seeking a change from city to country. Part of the balcony gave way as I walked around it admiring the garden. I returned back to Sydney that night and begged my husband to stay at my parents house (they live 10mins away) so he could see the house the next day ashes missed the inspection with me. That night my waters broke. I rang my husband and said see the house then come to the hospital, which he did! He found out that the lady who was born and lived in our house then went onto raise two sons there. That afternoon (my husband made it) I birthed our second baby, our second son. Two years later after restoring the house to its former glory, we moved in and are raising our two sons in it. Oh how attached I feel to our house!

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  6. We moved into a neglected 1920s home with our four children last spring and have been slowly renovating it ourselves. Although some days I wish for a "finished" home and for all of the projects to be complete, I love the imperfect nature of our home. It reflects our own family's evolvement in this way--the loving, methodical manner in which we live together, imperfections and all. Our home reflects beauty and process. It reminds me always to discover, to create.

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  7. I love living by the sea. Our home is full of beachcombed goodness, shells, driftwood, banksia cones, old bottles. And often sand! (ah, you gotta take the good with the bad!)

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  8. The place I call home is the same place I was bought to on the day I was born. Its is surrounded but a lush tropical forest. The walls created by my mother and father's hands combined with mud brick and stone. The hot Territory air flows freely through the open walls. Your feet always cooled by the slate that was layed under my mothers heavily pregnant belly as she carried my sister. On her hands and knees she placed each tile. Our love and spirt runs deep within this house and that is what I love the most.

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  9. What I love most is the people In it. Home is where your heart is...

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  10. Oh my, I wish i could take part in this giveaway.... I'm from Isreal, trying to find Frankie everywhere, no luck.
    Even though, I have to share that i love most the people, wherever my people will go i will call my home :)

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  11. I love that it is a bright space with white clear walls, framed pictures and photos, living room filled with books, many books, and a fireplace to warm up in winter, cosy bedroom and practical kitchen. But the true is, this is not my home, not yet. I am still living with my parents and I am grateful for it, because they have taught me how I should feel at home - calmed, loved and inspired - and one day I will create such place where my own family would live - calmed, loved and inspired. :)

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  12. As a child my family moved a lot, so I used to find it hard to connect with a place as home, I connect more to the things inside. But my home is filled with the things from the people we've lost - my grandmother's Parker side board, a great grandparents stained glass drinks cabinet, a rug rolled up and smuggled out of Hungary to escape the communist persecution, and so on. When I walk through the door my cat meows, my son meows (he is a cat), my dog jumps, my husbands looks up from the stove, and I feel every aunty, nanna and grandparent form both sides, blessing this little family of mine. I love that my home is filled with the ghosts of all who came before us. It comforts me to sit at the same dining table that my husband did, and that his father did, the same one his grand mother did, even if the chairs are a little wonky these days, we just love them.

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    1. oh no typos - I have only one husband! and I should have said my son thinks he is a cat

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  13. I LOVE my bed. Its perfectly worn in sheets, obscene amount of pillows (my only sewing projects that get any 'wear' around here), the surrounding moat of books, lists and projects that get tossed aside at lights out time, the view of the magnolia tree top tips (magnificent in ALL seasons) and the feeling of reflecting on the day just gone and another one beginning again tomorrow. Bliss!

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  14. Built by my awesome hubby 3 years ago, ready for when I arrived from England to start our life together in this harsh yet beautiful land 'down-under' , I love the reassuring stability of a home built by love and hard work. Bringing calm and acceptance to even my most homesick days, it has truelly become the "love, dream house" my 5yr old niece calls it!

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  15. Last night I packed our first box to move to our new home. It was our choice to move - we were searching for some more space, some more peace, somewhere we felt suited us a bit better - but I am struggling to come to terms with leaving this house behind. Our first house together, we moved in with a youthful enthusiasm we now envy, like whirlwinds filled with the dreams of our future we painted and gardened and imagined possibilities. It was this house that heard years of my sobs as we tried and failed over and over to start the family we always thought we'd have. It was in this kitchen that we danced and cried with joy when the phone call came to say that it had worked and there was a baby coming, it was in this bedroom I woke with a start 9 months later, and in this hallway I paced slowly with a quiet smile while our beautiful first girl started to come into the world. Three hours after she was born we were on the back lounge, snuggling in the shade. It was this house that saw 8 months of heavenly baby, then a miraculous suprise pink plus on a stick! Nine months of a rounding mama, another peaceful labour walk, a drive to the delicious bath, then home again a few hours later with another incredible daughter. This time it was winter, so we found places around the house to put our toes in the sun and rest cups of tea.
    We cannot believe that this Christmas we will have been here 6 years, our minds are blown and our hearts slightly heavy that our biggest girl will be heading out into the world every weekday with a tiny backpack and a huge smile in a few months, her little sister the following year. This house has seen our wails of exhaustion, our raucous parties, our long lunches and short fights, it's full of our laughter and tears and love. I know I wanted to move, and I know it's just an ugly 80's double brick building, but I can't be sure that we aren't, just a little bit, leaving a bit of our family behind.. So in the quiet, when the spot in the centre of my chest starts to ache with worry that our lives won't be quite the same when we aren't living amongst our history, instead of sitting in the anxiety and preempting the mourning I choose to focus on the future. Paint colours, furniture arrangement, curtains and rugs. I've pulled out all my dusty home magazines, thrown away the dated ones and am searching through the pages for a glimpse of our next life. Determined to let the anticipation win over the sadness, knowing that once we're all together anywhere is home and I won't miss the ugly bricks, and knowing that if I let myself wallow in the memories that these walls hold I will never move on, never leave, never move into new worlds. As much as I want to press rewind, or even pause, I can't. So now with a big sigh, I turn the tape over to the next side and press play. Here goes..

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  16. It's the place where the people that I love most in the world gather. The flower and food gardens that we are slowly creating. The homemade bits: coffee table, outdoor table, mini orb splash back in our kitchen, computer table made with a recycled door. Home is the place where I'm happiest! xo

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  17. I don't love much about my physical home at all, in fact I'd happily move in a heartbeat...but my family are here, they love it and I love them. So I work hard to be grateful for the home I have and love my gorgeous family that live in it with me.

    cheers Kate

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  18. I love my home because it is made up of bits and pieces we have collected from living and visiting other places and countries and generations of family hand me downs. What I love most is the smell of my home. I think everyone's house has its own special scent and you know you're home when you breathe it in upon opening the front door.

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  19. What I love most about the space I call home is the books, white sheets, the laughter, the freeness, the place I can be unashamedly 'me' in. I love my room, small and white, and the desk and textbooks and perfume and shoes placed carefully in their place. I love that I can create a space in my home, any time and anywhere.

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  20. I love the light in our lounge room. Sure it still is a smelly dump, as my Italian dad said when he first saw it, but its our smelly dump and that light is enough to wake up this tired mamma! That and also the fact we are raising our kids in it.

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  21. I love that everything from the ground up was designed by my mum. The open plan is a beautiful mix of natural light and warm wooden tones, but best of all it's practical, homey and it's ours.

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  22. I love that nothing is too precious in our home. It's lived in. It's practical. It's ours. Some bits are broken, others beautiful. Imperfectly wonderful. Our windows allow light to fill every room, and they let the greenery of our gardens and yard join us inside. There's a Summer laziness. We can sit on the back verandah in morning sun, or enjoy a glass of wine after work in the cool evening breeze. In the Wintertime, our front room is all golden sunshine and warmth.

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  23. Secondary to my most awesome twin daughters, we live in a small old apartment on the second floor, but we have this utterly perfect tree that is gloriously green in spring and summer, shading our place. It gives the girls crunchy leaves in autumn and allows all the light in our living room in winter. With the added bonus of brushtail and ringtail possum spotting out our balcony.

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  24. I love that I brought my three gorgeous babies home to our house.
    I love that it's where I saw all the first steps.
    I love that everywhere I look I have a memory of my little people.
    I love that I see the plants growing at the same time as my kids.
    I love that the lounge room floor is so cold in the summer and the back deck timber gets so hot in the winter.
    I love stretching out on my yoga mat and feeling the change of the seasons in my own home.
    I love that it was the home my husband grew up in.
    I love that he chose me to share it with.

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  25. I love the wood on the floor and the creamy walls.
    I love the smell of coffee in the kitchen.
    I love that it's small enough to see, or at least, to hear every member of the family, in every moment.
    I love kids' little shoes on the stairs.
    I love the fact that there are books everywhere, litterally.
    And that our home just reflects the five of us and that it's our favourite place to be.

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  26. There’s a rainbow chandelier hanging above my dining table, it’s a little crazy, but it’s bright and happy. This light has become a point of interest for a lot of our home’s visitors and if my son is about he will often tell them he was born underneath that happy light, leading to further wonder! Perhaps this light symbolises my hopes for our home – joyous and spirited. Looking around, I think my home is a reflection of my better side - the hopeful side, the loving side, the side of me that bubbles. I hope its energy reverberates on all those who dwell within it.

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  27. I love that our home feels safe, beautiful, comfortable and interesting.

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  28. The cozy fireplace, the turquoise door, the beautiful old dark timber floors, the spots where I can see daylight in cracks and crevices. The bathroom with it's beautifully converted dressing table that is now houses a little green sink. So simple and so beautiful. The lack of storage space, so we consider every single thing we own. Not everyone's cup of tea but it suits us just fine, we wouldn't be anywhere else.

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  29. You know how some places just have that special something, a vibe or a feeling about them? That's what my place has for me. I feel it as soon as I am on the property, like it emanates from the ground itself. That feeling of "this is where I belong". It's the combination of the smells, light, colour, comforts, and the love within. It's intangible, but that's what I love most about my place. It's mine like no other.

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  30. Our couch and reading corner are my favourites in my home. We don't have a lot of space but the couch is a great reading family area, a place for conversation and cuddles. We watch our veggie patch and the native birds feeding from the bird feeder and it gives us a space for the whole family. Our house is chaotic, colourful and home.

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  31. I don't think it's the walls so much we love, more so the the everyday things that happen within them... We've only been in our house 2 years, but already so many significant and precious memories - our daughters first steps, bribing our new baby son home to his very own room... We've tweaked the space here and there, and it's still very much a work in progress - but all of us, really feel happy to be home... I think because we truly became a family here, complete.

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  32. the amazing light we have in our living areas. i love it the most for sure.

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  33. I love that I am slowly learning the history and collecting stories about the original owner's of our little house, from the next door neighbour June. She pops her head over the back fence for a quick chat and each time I am told a new story. It's nice and I feel grateful to have that.

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  34. What I love most is the people I share it with. My family, my greatest loves. Home is when I am with them. x

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  35. I love that my husband and I get to form part of the history of our home. Whilst not quite a Federation era abode, the walls of our home have weathered many seasons over many years and it is a privilege to add our our story to this space. In our quest to revive our home to a contemporary form of its modern glory through our renovations, every decision has been made with the integrity of the story of our house in mind. We are but caregivers for a season. And what a beautiful season it has been in this, our first home, where we have began our story as husband and wife.

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  36. The light. It's always the light. The way the sun streams in through my blinds every morning. The way it bounces off the table tops in the kitchen and illuminates the tea cups. The way it creeps from window to window throughout the day, finally making it's way to the front door before it sets.

    I don't know what it is but the way light illuminates a home is what I hold dear to me. It sounds strange but there is no greater feeling than coming back home and finding the spot within my home where the sun is lingering. It's so warming.

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  37. Fresh out of our parents homes, just twenty, my partner and I have moved into our little unit we call 'shoebox'. Light fills every corner, frankie lines our tiny ikea bookshelf, 70's styled aqua tiles rock our bathroom and every morning our home smells of sweet, sweet chai. We may be a little on the poor side, but our journey together begins here and we simply couldn't be more blessed.

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  38. Hi Jodi, did you announce a winner for this competition? Just curious! xx

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