Categories
House Tours

How to escape reality & live like a millionaire (temporarily!)

We all sometimes dream of living in a multimillion dollar property with all the space you could want, chic furnishings, a pool, a designer entertainer’s kitchen and so on. And how many times have you ‘real estate stalked’ the weekend’s for-sale listings (or is that just me?). Ever thought about staying at one of these amazing luxury properties for a night or two rather than a hotel? Get a group of friends or family together and you’ll suddenly find it an affordable getaway or staycation. I was amazed at the sort of properties available to rent through Stayz so I rounded up a few to show you what I mean!

This stunner is in Sydney’s Darling Point and I was lucky enough to get to look around recently. That sweeping lawn and imposing facade feel right out of the Great Gatsby! This amazing house costs $3,500 a night but sleeps eight. If you divide the cost, this makes it comparable to a 4-star hotel, and you get a heated pool and spa, more rooms than you’ll know what to do with, bags of character and so much more of a luxurious and unique experience for your money, if you ask me. Not to mention privacy.

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I’m still desperately looking for a reason to head back here to stay with a group of friends and live how the other half live for a weekend.

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Isn’t it amazing?

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If you’re in Melbourne, check out this property (below) in Malvern, VIC. It sleeps up to eight from a mere $1,360 a night, making it a relative bargain! It’s as impressive inside as it is out, and even has an elevator and pool.

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The ground floor is a huge open plan living and dining space with gorgeous furnishings. Although do bear in mind that parties are strictly banned here.

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If you prefer something with a little more old world charm, you might, like me, love Eaglemont (below), just 10km from Melbourne CBD. This luxurious mansion has majestic gardens, six bedrooms and five bathrooms, all spread over three levels. Not to mention the pool and games room.

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Although parties and large gatherings are usually not allowed when you book these properties, I absolutely love the idea of getting family together for a special celebration. It is often hard to get everyone in the same house and to be able to stay the night is always a treat and gives everyone more time together.

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Last but by no means least, check out this stunning Spanish style mansion, cantilevered off a cliff in Sydney’s super exclusive Vaucluse! Your from just $2,347 a night and sleeping up to eight (that’s less than $300 each), it retains many period features while having the best of everything new too.

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The interiors, as you can see, are divine. With its calming, white bright palette and sumptuous furnishings, you couldn’t fail to relax here!

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Book more properties like this through Stayz, offering more than 40,000 properties across Australia, from humble beachside shacks to grand country homes and everything in between. Why not think outside the hotel box for your next getaway?

Categories
Expert Tips

IKEA’s formula for the perfect Christmas lunch table

Everyone wants to enjoy the perfect Christmas lunch, from the family eating it, to the host serving it, so making sure the table is a welcoming place for guests to linger is just as important as the food itself. An imaginatively laid table presents the perfect opportunity to spend more time with your loved ones.

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This Christmas, spending time with the family and arranging a brilliant Christmas get together couldn’t be easier thanks to these top tips from IKEA.

1. Laying the table is fun

When we think about the fun of Christmas we think about putting milk and cookies out for Rudolph and decorating the Christmas tree. Laying the table for Christmas lunch can be seen as a chore, but there are ways to turn it into a popular exercise for all.

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Make it an occasion and allocate a job to each member of the family, including guests who might be staying for the holidays.

Jobs can include:

  • Writing and decorating place cards
  • Deciding where everyone will be seated and creating a hand-drawn seating plan
  • Scattering table decorations, using items found in the garden or beach to bring the outdoors in
  • Creating imaginative shapes for napkins using online how-to tutorials

2. Make the table the new couch

We often think about the Christmas table as a place we simply eat lunch and more often than not, as soon as the food has disappeared, guests will quickly retreat back to the comfort of the couch. For an extended Christmas lunch, where the fun and conversation continues long after the pavlova, let everyone know that the table is going to be the backdrop for their day.

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As soon as guests arrive, have the children escort them to the table and show them the parts they’ve helped decorate. Not only will this encourage conversation around the table from the start but it will make the younger children feel more involved. This is likely to encourage the children to enjoy the experience more and therefore sit for longer, without being distracted.

3. Laughter and fun are the ingredients for success

The real secret to a successful lunch is laughter and fun. Create this for guests by handing out some party games as soon as they sit down. Christmas means different generations around the table and so finding games that appeal to everyone from age seven-to-97 is the key.

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Christmas ‘I Spy’, a pre-prepared pass the Christmas parcel or ‘Who am I?’ are always great options. Have a few options prepared, this will allow you to hand over the role of chief fun maker to a family member whilst you focus on the food.

4. Keep everyone talking

After a starter and a main course, it’s easy for guests to enter into a food coma and for the conversation to begin to dwindle. Keep everyone talking by introducing a mid-lunch twist with a game of pre-prepared Christmas Bingo! Nominate a caller from the table and encourage everyone else to participate.

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Not only will this buy time for dessert preparation but it will also reignite the room with a second burst of energy.

5. Encourage guests to linger

Add another element of fun and a reason to remain at the table by turning desert into a blind taste-test challenge. Bring out blindfolds and a desert selection and challenge the entire family to guess what each desert is. This is a great way to encourage the little ones to give Christmas pudding a try and also a great way to continue the fun, together.

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By adding this final element of theatre, guests will feel as though they’re enjoying their lunch so much they won’t be in any hurry to get up and leave, meaning even more time to chat and play games.

For more from Ikea visit their website.

Categories
Interiors Addict

How would you spend $50,000 if you could renew a special memory?

Sponsored by Nuffnang

It’s a big question and a lot of cash! You have every chance to win it though, thanks to NRMA Insurance. More on that later. It got me thinking how I’d spend all that money to relive a memory or start a new one. When I think of cherished memories I think first of the most recent, our wedding, six months ago, which certainly rates as the most magical day of my life. Then my thoughts quickly turn to family, home and Christmas and all the nostalgia, history and happy memories around that.

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Having grown up in the UK and spent the first 26 of my life there before moving to Australia six years ago, Christmas for me is cold, sometimes white, involves sitting in front of an open fire (there’s even chestnuts sometimes) being with my family, eating ourselves into food comas. There’s also church, midnight mass, reunions with my oldest and dearest friends from school and so on.

The only time I get homesick in Australia is at Christmas time. We don’t talk about the time when I started weeping during carols by candlelight at Sydney’s Balmoral beach (my now husband and I were quite a new couple and I think he was a little concerned about my mental state). These days I spend Christmas with my in-laws who are delightful, but it isn’t the same. They go big on Christmas Eve, whereas my family is all about Christmas Day. They eat salmon, whereas nothing less than roast turkey with all the trimmings (and then some) is really Christmas lunch for me. Last year I served warm mulled wine to their very bemused guests (all the more for me when some found it a little too much for a summer’s day).

Anyway, I’d use the $50,000 to fly home to the UK with my husband, business class to make it all a bit easier, and then get professional chefs to cater a massive Christmas lunch for us all at my dad’s place. There’d be champagne, of course, and mulled wine. And plenty of spare change left over for generous gifts!

I’d love to know what your most special memories are, or what memory you’d love to ‘renew’ if you could. Please share in the comments below.

If you’d like to enter NRMA Insurance’s super simple competition for a real chance to win $50,000 (to renew a memory or start a new one), visit their site and enter your insurance renewal details in their Renewal Reminder system, whether you’re a customer or not. When your policy is up for renewal, you’ll be contacted.

Good luck!

 

Categories
Appliances

Win a French door fridge from Westinghouse!

Would you like to win this French door fridge from Westinghouse, in your choice of white or stainless steel, delivered to your door? Look at ALL THAT SPACE!

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This Australian made, wide-open fridge space, is designed with the modern family in mind and easily fits platters, plentiful fresh food and multiple bottles of soft drink, juice or wine, meaning you can see everything at a quick glance. It’s worth $2,329 and you could win one with Appliance Addict.