The winner of the January 2014 first anniversary 7 Vignettes is…
Picturedthoughts! Congratulations, Dee!
Tag: alisa and lysandra
Well, I can’t quite believe it’s been a full year since I came up with idea for 7 Vignettes or that our Instagram community has been participating and making it bigger and better each month this entire time. We’ve shared almost 30,ooo images on the hashtag and it really blows my mind!
The January birthday edition starts on New Year’s Day and you can find the themes list above. Our guest judges next month are The Block twins Alisa and Lysandra Fraser, who will be appearing on the next Fans vs. Favourites series, rumoured to be starting at the end of January. The former Interiors Addict guest bloggers have generously offered a $250 voucher for their new online homewares store, Alisa & Lysandra Collections, as the prize.
The winning twins from The Block Sky High, now due to appear on The Blocks Fans vs. Favourites, have finally launched their online homewares store.
It’s still in soft launch stage, with a small but carefully curated range of cushions, throws, lighting and more.
By Lysandra Fraser
It’s come to that time where I am writing my final guest post for Interiors Addict. I had been thinking to myself “What topic am I going to pretend to know about this week?” LOL! Then Jen suggested that it would be nice for the final blog to be about “Where to from here?” For Alisa and I, this is a question that we have been asked rather frequently of late.
I think back to a year ago and think “wow” at how both mine and Alisa’s lives have changed so dramatically. We were both police officers working part-time shift work, always striving for a bit more in life. We sat down and watched the finale of The Block one night and thought to ourselves, yep, let’s apply. Actually, let’s win The Block 2013 (no word of a lie). From the moment we decided to audition, we had this gut feeling that we were going to win.
By Alisa Fraser
Are you thinking about putting your house on the market or do you just want to give your place a much needed but cost-effective facelift? There are many things that homeowners can do themselves, that won’t cost a fortune or take up too much of your precious time. Here are a few of my tips and tricks.
Plaster over and re-paint any cracks in your walls or ceilings
It is only normal that over time, cracks start to appear in most houses. This has the potential to scare buyers away, as they may start to question the integrity of the building. Small cracks are fairly easy to repair with adhesive and top coat, however if the cracks are large then you may want to seek the help of a professional plasterer. Once the repair is completed, nothing lifts a room more than a fresh coat of paint. To avoid seeing colour variation or roller/brush marks, ensure you paint the entire room or wall that you have repaired.
It’s the announcement we’ve all been waiting for: The Block winners and Interiors Addict contributors Alisa & Lysandra Fraser are quitting their day jobs as police officers to pursue full-time design careers. Good on you girls!
Read more at News.com.au. Read the girls’ next guest post this Friday.
By Lysandra Fraser
Many people are at a loss when it comes to defining their style. I’m not afraid to admit that Alisa and I had no idea what the difference between contemporary and modern styles were. We would often get asked to define our style and we would reply with “the Alisa and Lysandra style”. Some people know what they like but are afraid of getting the terms wrong, so they struggle to be able to describe verbally what style or look they want. I believe that you don’t necessarily need to have a degree, or even have experience, to be able to put a room together, just a good eye for detail and a passion for design.
When it came to designing our kitchen and bathrooms on The Block, we were very conscious about what they would look like in comparison to the changing trends, 10-to-15 years down the track. Kitchens and bathrooms cost a lot of money to change, so I believe that if you think carefully about your choices at the very beginning, you could have a kitchen/bathroom for 10-to-15 years without the need to upgrade in 5-to-10, when most kitchens and bathrooms would seem dated.
It’s that time of the week again: a guest post from one of the twins, and today it’s the lovely Alisa.
Since finishing The Block Sky High, I have been finding so many exciting products that I quite often think to myself ‘if only I knew about this while we were filming!’ As we were labelled the bathroom queens on the show, I thought it would be fitting to share a few of these cool new products that I’ve come across on my travels.
The GROHE Power & Soul
Power & Soul uses a spray pattern technology, harnessing the force of water through 8 dynamic spray nozzles, recreating a ‘fingertip massage’ effect and to bring about tension relief. It has 4 different spray patterns with a button to select up to 11 different varieties of spray options. Seriously makes showering seem like an inviting way to relax!
In the second of our regular posts from The Block Sky High winners Alisa and Lysandra Fraser, it’s Lysandra’s turn! She reveals how they spent most of their budget on the show on tradies, picking up bargain furniture, linen and accessories from Ikea, Freedom, Kmart and even op shops, only splurging here and there. Just up our ‘style without the snobbery’ street!
Growing up, Alisa and I were always taught the value of a dollar. If you wanted something, you had to work hard to get it. Money was spent wisely and it had to stretch a long way. These same values followed Alisa and I as we entered The Block, and I believe they ultimately contributed considerably to us being crowned the winners.
Many artists never make a viable business from their talent and passion. It’s a tough gig. But former school teacher Emma Cleine is bucking that trend with Lumiere Art + Co and her story is inspiring. Today, she shows us inside her charmingly understated Mornington Peninsula home and tells us about making what she loves into her full-time job.
I’ve watched the Lumiere Art + Co brand go OFF in the last year and recently had the pleasure of meeting Emma. Her work is now very recognisable due to it being stocked by some amazing retailers and featured on the recent series of The Block Sky High. She’s now branched into homewares too with her textiles and ceramics.
But Emma, who is based on the Mornington Peninsula, never thought this would be her full-time job. In her early days as a maker, she created paper bunting from vintage books and sold it at markets. “That’s how I started! Oh, and paper covered blocks. They were cute and took me a long time to make. From there I just moved on to other things.”
I’m delighted the twins are joining Interiors Addict to guest post and share their renovating and interiors expertise over the next few weeks. Today, Alisa sums up her best renovating advice.
As I sit down to write my very first blog, I asked myself what advice could I give the home renovator/decorator? Here are my 3 top tips to a successful renovation.
So, twins Alisa and Lysandra managed to get perfect 10s from all 3 judges last night. Did you think they deserved it? I must admit I agree theirs was the best room revealed this week.
The excitement is definitely building now for Sunday’s auction which seems to have been a really long time coming! The show has had great viewing figures throughout and it has been my favourite series so far. Have you been hooked too?
There were some great things to lust after in last night’s ground floor apartment reveal. Here’s some of my favourites.
I really loved the textures and colours going on in Matt and Kim’s bedroom. Not exactly my taste but I still appreciated the look and some of the great finishes.
Categories
The Block second chance re-do rooms
Alisa and Lysandra’s bedroom looked so much better second time around, impressing the judges. It was my favourite of the re-do rooms. Darren Palmer called it “a gazillion times better than before'” and Shaynna said their apartment was one of the most saleable homes she’d seen in a long time.
Love their look? Pick up the Emma Cleine Lumiere Art + Co print, bedside lamp, pendant light and more online from The Block Shop. I’m a big fan of that pendant ($335)!
The artworks used by this series’ contestants have been some of the most asked-about products this year. Here are some of the pieces that may have caught your eye, now available to buy online.
Alisa & Lysandra’s Protea by Emma Cleine http://www.theblockshop.com.au/store/single/protea-print-series
So, what did we all think of last night’s room reveal? I thought it was seriously impressive! Not one but two bathrooms completed by all the couples in one week. It would have been a tough call for the judges but I called it on Twitter when I guessed it’d be either Bec and George or twins Alisa and Lysandra, and blow me down, they tied!
There wasn’t much I didn’t like about any of the bathrooms and the judges were also very generous with their praise. But the steam room drama was the talk of the week and I’m glad Trixie and Johnno went ahead and revealed theirs despite promising the twins they wouldn’t. They didn’t knowingly copy and after being accused of lying again in the “fluffy roller” scandal, I think I would have done the same! Thanks goodness the girls were winners this week though, or there surely would have been steam coming out of their ears (pun intended)!
Did you watch the bedhead challenge earlier in the week?