Place setting with a twist

The strong Aussie dollar makes shipping costs to our remote shores that little bit more realistic so I have been perusing the sites of those US companies that ship here more than usual - Anthropologie being one of them. Love this round rug based on fancy china plates.

Image: Anthropologie

Carnival by Paul Smith

Love this rug by Paul Smith for the Rug Company. Have always been a fan of his work and I believe this design has picked up a few awards in 2010. It gives quite a different effect in landscape vs portrait.

Images: The Rug Company

Morning dew

Jamie Durie has launched a new set of interior rug designs - following on from his outdoor rug collection. I really like this one - Dew Web available from The Rug Collection, so subtle and gentle. While it is pretty annoying when you walk into a big spiders web that has formed overnight in your front garden, they do look stunning on a dewy sunny morning. There are a few really lively rugs in the collection that also caught my eye but I felt they would over shadow Dew Web and the cracking view on location so I will have to feature them at a later date.

Images: The Rug Collection

Missing out

I have missed having the time to blog - no proper excuse really, I just seem to be over committed at the moment. Even more though I have missed out on reading blogs and all the inspiration out there. So I finally got the chance to click through a few new spots yesterday and am reinspired by images like the one below from Greige. I will find the time.

Image: Skona Hem via Greige

Pappelina rugs

Outdoor rugs are all the rage. These rugs are made from recycled plastic and can be used inside and out. The beauty of them is that they can be hosed down and the smaller ones can even go on the washing machine making them ideal for high traffic areas and as a sand trap. This is just a snippet of the styles and colours from Pappelina, available from Nordic Fusion here in Australia.

Images: Nordic Fusion

Designing rugs

Posting has been a bit sporadic lately as I am head down on coursework to try to get up to date for the start of term next week. One of our assignments is to design contemporary rugs for Designer Rugs ( purveyors of amazing rugs by amazing designers . . .). This is one of my entries - Ned. Its a bit tongue-in-cheek, the idea being that you think you have a big plain rug with a splash of colour in it but really you have a big Ned Kelly head on your floor. I had just done this when the first issue of Lonny came out - check out this great online magazine if you have not done so already and I saw a NYC apartment designed by Ron Marvin that would suit my Ned rug down to the ground (pardon the pun).

Images: Sheila O'Meara, Lonny

Rug Up

RugUp was a (very short) exhibition of contemporary rugs designed by COFA Textile Design students on display at Government House from 30 July to 2 August. I was hoping to attend the talk tomorrow night on contemporary Australian rug design and manufacture but can't make it happen this week unfortunately. The panel will include Neale Whitaker, Editor-in-chief of Belle, in conversation with industry experts Yosi Ta and Harold Luke and designers Akira Isogawa, Julie Paterson of cloth fabric and Liane Rossler of Dinosaur Designs which would make for an interesting forum I reckon. Tickets via the Historic Houses Trust if you can make it.

This rug is by Akira Isogawa and was featured in the current issue of Inside Out in a divinely renovated Paddington terrace.

Image: via Sydney Design 09

Birds eye view

About 10 years ago I spent a lot of time in planes flying around Europe over the farms and fields, for hours and hours. These beautiful rugs by Liz Eeuwes are inspired by these aerial landscapes - what a unique idea I thought. The first rug is inspired by Scottish landscapes and the second the tulip fields in the Netherlands - a view I missed out on personally. I just love the colour palettes and the detail where she has included roads, little farms and their shadows.

Images: Liz Eeuwes

Black and white rugs

I must have a look on Design Sponge to see if Grace has listed black and white rugs as a mini-trend as I seem to be coming across them everywhere. This rug is from the IKEA Stockholm collection which has been really well received in print and on the blogs. Some of the collection has been around for a while but new elements seem to be arriving bit by bit here in Sydney. I usually go in the school holidays as, like his mother, my eldest loves a trip to IKEA so I'll be checking out the rest of the collection soon.

Images: IKEA, Roger Davies via Shelter

Still on the subject of landings

I could keep on going on stairs and landings from my stock of shots in the good old Folder of Ideas but I promise I will stop here for now. This rug is 'Cosmic Garden' designed by Easton Pearson for Designer Rugs - doesn't it just look fantastic with the dark wood ?

Image: Designer Rugs

Offside

Or you might get the aspiring socceroos at home onside and get them to hang up something once in a while if you treat them to these hooks for their bedroom. I like the red / stainless colourway myself. You can get "offside' from WA based Scandinavian Exposure who also do a very nice range of other products ( a alot are from Norway ). I especially like the washable Pappelina rugs.

Images: Scandinavian Exposure

Weekend escape

I can't believe I feel like I need a weekend away and its only three days since I was away for Easter. Must be the school holidays . . . Anyway, this fabulously dramatic bathroom is in Bellinter House - a boutique country house hotel in Ireland. Not sure I'd be so bold as to go for the wall colour in my bathroom at home but could definitely enjoy this for the weekend !!

Image: Bellinter House

Favourite rooms: Kitchen

This picture is from a flooring ad in an Irish interiors magazine. I do like the floor which is big scale parquetry and it is unusual in that it has a more bleached look than most parquet floors you see. I really like the kitchen though - it is so enormous the Aga looks tiny. I love the way you can see the light fitting from the stairs, the mix of surfaces, windows and what looks like an enormous skylight over the island. I wonder whose kitchen it is . . .

Image: www.scottsflooring.com

Paul Smith at The Rug Company

These rugs have been on my wish list for some time. At present I don't have the right spot for one and when I did have the perfect spot I had two boys under two crawling all over it and couldn't face wrecking one of these beauties. See www.therugcompany.info for more details.

Images: The Rug Company