Living life to the full

This ad by Tourism Victoria is being screened here on tv at the moment and I love the styling, especially the line of lamps along the driveway at night - you'll see what I mean. Daylesford is known for food, wine, scenery and special spring waters so the idea of the ad is you can have two lives - decadence one night, nature and purity the next day. It is gorgeous to look at and listen to but some say the choice of music confuses the message and viewers are not sure what is being advertised. I'm happy, I just like the lamps - or is that very shallow of me . . . ?

Maine bathroom

Inevitably when one is blogging one's personal taste ( as I am here ) you to do tend to loop back around to certain topics from time to time - as you like what you like and that doesn't change that fast in my case anyway. So I have written about antiques and furniture in bathrooms before. I'm not quite there in terms of homelife as my bathroom furnishings still need a high level of water and toothpaste resistance but in time I would love to put a gorgeous piece like this in a bathroom. I also love the marble floor and mosaic tile on the bath. The photo is by Trent Bell (spotted via Desire to Inspire) and a little delving tells me that this room is in a stunning house in Maine photographed by Trent Bell for Maine Home ande Design magazine.

Image: Trent Bell

Burnt Orange: Avoca comes to Sydney

Happy day !- Burnt Orange opened on Middle Head Road in Sydney a couple of weeks ago and they are bringing one of my favourite brands and concepts in from Ireland - Avoca. Originally wool handweavers in Wicklow in Ireland, but now a lifestyle brand Avoca's stores and restaurants are hugely popular in Ireland with locals and visitors alike - and now Burnt Orange has brought their products to Sydney !! Avoca make beautiful wool throws and rugs - including baby rugs and their fashion label is now available here too. Food and setting was lovely and I have not heard so many Irish accents in one spot since I moved to Sydney. I reckon it will be a big hit. Read about Burnt Orange here and Avoca here

Images: Harbour Trust, Avoca

Stair styles

If we ever extend our house upwards and put in stairs I am definitely going to give lots of thought to the design of the stairs. A bit of panelling and detail makes a world of difference to the impact of a stairway. Especially in older houses a big blank triangular space along the side of the stairs can look really 'wrong' when a house has been renovated. Love this first hallway - very generous with three bannisters per step and deep detailing.

Images: Fric and Frac, Absolutely Beautiful Things, Living etc

Healing herbs

I cut my right hand badly on Thursday last which really slowed me down for a few days so no time for blogging. My left handed hair and makeup was looking a bit dodgy too over the weekend !! Anyway had to spend time this week researching the colour psychology for green which conveniently is a very healing and calming colour. My assignment was to create a magazine page of green objects and fabrics and this is one of my little finds - the herb garden by royalvkb, $79 from Top3 by design.

Thonet love

After the spikiness of yesterday's post I wanted to use something softer today - and what better than the gentle curves of Thonet chairs ? They are such classics and seem to be enjoying a revival - certainly they are featuring widely in the magazines these days. Love the cafe feel of this kitchen with the marble-topped table, the glossy floor and the photo wall.

Images: Tripod Agency via Desire to Inspire, Thonet Cafe Daum chair

Spite

When it comes to tables I am a confirmed 'leg' woman. The more elegant the wood turning the better. This is the 'Spite' table by Derek Welsh of Scotland. The name is a bit sharp (he has also designed a table called 'Malice' ) but I love how it touches the ground so lightly - always a good consideration in smaller spaces where heavier pieces can block up the space too much.

Image: Derek Welsh

The dining room debate

To have a dedicated dining room or not - that is the question. They are like a guest room - great to have on occasions but largely unused most of the time. I don't like dead space in a house and so this room by Trevor Tondo got me thinking. The comfy seating around the table is inviting and you could see yourself sitting with a friend having a coffee or reading a book and when formal seating is called for swap the chairs around putting the comfy chairs to the side. Admittedly this is a rather luxe example and quite a big dining / library room but the idea has potential. I also like the tree wall paper.

Image: Trevor Tondo via Desire to Inspire

Botanica

My bedroom is blue and white largely due to inherited blue and white curtaining but it is a restful colour I like so I am sticking with it for now. As the blue in my curtains is quite a deep indigo-y blue I keep my eye out for blue fabrics with a bit of punch and depth like this one - Botanica by Publisher Textiles. Love the detail.

Image: Publisher Textiles

World Exclusive !

Well - I'm not sure I'm ready for the world yet but here is a little peek at my latest assignment for my interior design course. The brief was to design a contemporary light fitting and design a room around it with at least 3 walls - no other constraints.

So here is my light and room. The light is inspired by tripod lights and oversized spotlights and is designed to tie in with the wallpaper which I also had to design earlier in the year. The wallpaper had to be based on a man made object, mine is based on a kitchen S hook and the little sculpture on the console is a twisted S hook (I had to get my husband to bend it for me). The photos are iphone photos so quality is little grainy.

Lets hope I can make the jump from dolls house design to real life rooms one of these years !

Images: Folder of Ideas

Screening doors

In Sydney there is a lemming like tendency to put in bi-fold doors to terraces, decks and gardens often without really considering all the available options for windows and doors. Bi-fold doors are the sliding doors that fold back on themselves so you can effectively fold away a wall of windows and they are everywhere. While I do enjoy going to peoples houses where they have opened out the back of the house for the whole indoors/outdoors entertaining experience I couldn't live with them myself as I get very badly bitten by mosquitoes. If I had bi-folds open for the night I would be stressing about how many mozzies and flies were getting in to bite me later !! So I go against the trend and save lovely pictures like this of alternative inside/outside window treatments (which can be screened more easily and cheaply than bi-folds).

Topo Dorado

I am intrigued by this wallpaper by Pattern Tales. 'Topo' is available in a number of different colourways and in some limited edition prints. It is quite unexpectedly detailed in close up and I love the gold version appropriately named Topo Dorado. ( Pattern Tales is a brand by Sir Alan the Gallant a Barcelona based design studio). You can't often put gold and understated in the same sentence but I think you could achieve just that with Topo Dorado.

Images: Pattern Tales, Elle Decoration via Pop Pervert

For a song

Work has been hotting up on my interior design course and I was in Spotlight at the weekend buying bits and pieces for a 3D model we had to build. We presented them today and I'll see how the photos come out - if they are any good I will post some mini rooms here. Anyway - always love a bargain so while at Spotlight I snapped up a few of these Songbird tea towels by Ladelle in grey for $4.99 each.

Image: Ladelle

Crosby Street Hotel

London based Firmdale Hotels are famed for their fabulous interiors so when I was alerted to their new hotel opening in New York by this is a design blog I had to have a look. For hotel lovers and interiors loves alike it is well worth clicking through www.firmdale.com to ooh and aah at the fabrics, furniture and art works.

Images: Firmdale Hotels

Difference of opinion

A fan of mid-century furniture, my friend's husband has fallen in love with an old sofa and wants to refurbish and reupholster it. Trouble is, his wife doesn't share the same level of passion for the mid-century look. Fear not, say I ( see this post also ) retro armchairs and sofas can look fantastic in all sorts of interior styles given the right fabric choices. See below . . . QED.

Image: via Homebug

Clever

Occasionally I include a post about a decorative item or homewares - usually when they strike me as so innovative or special that I can't pass them by without saving a photo. So here is the Four Vase by Muuto.

How many times have you found that your flowers are just too long, or too short, or you have too many or too few for the vases you own. I find this happens alot with tulips - you need lots for impact but they are quite fat and short so display can be a challenge. Enter the Four Vase which increases your chances four fold of having a suitable container. It comes in about five colours including clear and white inners. Muuto products are widely available here is Australia, see www.muuto.com for stockists.

Image: Muuto