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