Inspiration...

A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a spark that creates extraordinary results...

Author unknown...

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Coastal Living, Global Style.


Last week I spent a wonderful few days on the peninsula, amidst the sunshine & the sea air without time restraints or must do diary entries, heaven! I enjoyed coffees at leisure, walks along the beach, magazines & movies anytime of the day, & of course visiting Sorrento shopping Village, how much it has changed since Summer! New stores & cafes to sample & enjoy (Two Sisters is fabulous!), & it was fantastic to see such energy & activity mid-week & out of holiday season, but Sorrento is always a favourite regardless of the season.

One of my much loved stores is Coastal Living, & after closing briefly in July for renovations, it has reopened with a beautiful new space, fresh, uncluttered, exciting & just divine. Ross Nichols & his team have created the perfect ambience to showcase this beautiful new look, with ideas, pieces, touches & style for coastal, city & country interiors, for bed, bath & living. This is what I refer to as the retail experience, with delightful staff, space, gorgeous merchandising & excellent service.

If you're looking to renovate, decorate or wanting to invest in key piece furnishings, I would also highly recommend you visit their stunning showroom in Boneo Road, Rosebud.


























Coastal Living: Sorrento & Rosebud, both open 7 days.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Mint Home Spring/Summer 2011








Having a great appreciation for understated, relaxed contemporary style & a love for natural materials & neutral colour palettes, I was immediately drawn to the divine new Spring/Summer collection of Mint Home at Melbourne's August Trade fair. I love the combinations of textures, tones & lines of this brand. My new favourite pieces include the New York Hurricane with Candle - perfect of course for candles, ice or flowers, & the Hudson Tray for entertaining, or as a stand alone feature piece. As for the Citrus Mint story? Sublime.




Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Interior House Designs

Megan Gates is an active American blogger who shares her expertise and insight on New York City Luxury Real Estate, Hamptons beachfront properties, home improvement, and the latest architecture, design and fashion, and I welcome her as a guest writer with her post on "Interior House Designs"...enjoy.

Interior Design for Manhattan Homes Currently, modern art deco design principles and Asian decor are popular in New York. Designer Donna Karan has influenced this design trend with her "Zen" Manhattan apartment design. She likes simple colors and furnishings. Many times a black and white color palette is used to give a modern, yet clean feel to the home. The minimalist decor provides a calming effect to the individuals that enter the home. Many of the modern art deco apartments use natural materials. For instance, many of the Manhattan homes feature hardwood, marble or lowpile Berber carpeting for the flooring. The paint may be a sundry of colors ranging from cool grays to complement a monochromatic room to a vibrant green, depending upon the designers and homeowner's preference.
Granite, glass, copper, bronze and masonry are also popular materials of the Manhattan designer. Many homeowners are also adding concrete floors to homes for a modern effect and durability. Colored concrete is ideal for Manhattan lofts and spaces that receive high traffic. Much of the furniture is Asian inspired with clean, perpendicular lines. Asian furniture, beds included, has a low profile and often blends into the environment as a modern piece of art. Manhattan homes have numerous unique designs.








Interior Design for Hamptons Beach HomesHamptons beach homes often feature the natural colors of the beach area. The light and cool color palettes are very popular in a Hamptons beach home. Walls are often white or some neutral color. Light blues, greens or yellows are also common.
The furniture often complements the wall color with a lighter color. The decor is casual, but remains light with linen-upholstery and the use of wicker furniture. Nautical stripes, florals, toile and gingham are common in a Hamptons beach home.
Sun-bleached hardwood aged flooring often works with the decor in these homes. Contemporary styling is common, but it is balanced with wood, period hardware and bead board walls. Rustic elements may be added to give the space an antique feel. Many people in the Hamptons do not like the contemporary feel for their Hampton beach home.
Lighter colors help to illuminate the natural lighting. Large windows are a focal point of many Hamptons beach homes to maximise the view. Many of the homes also have natural lighting as well. Plants are also used to balance the home.


General Country Homes
Country style homes are casually elegant. The designs are often simple and are esigned to provide comfort to the homeowner. The furniture is practical and sturdy. Red, beige and white are some of the most popular colors for a country home. Rocking chairs and hardwood floors are common.
Country homes are universal. Depending upon the region of the world, a country home may vary. Other than traditional country, both French country style and English country style are also popular.
French country, for instance, has a bright color palette with the use of lavender, eggplant green, yellow and blue. The fabrics for the furniture are also bright. Florals or animal patterns are often featured, as is heavy wood furniture. Lavender wreaths, roosters and lamps are often decorative items placed in the rooms.
English country style relies more on the deep red, forest greens and brown color palettes. The rooms are dark with the use of tweed, leather and other heavy wood furniture. Large mahogony bookcases and overstuffed furniture is often common in the decor. Brass is also common for door and cabinet hardware.








Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Eight Shades of Pink...

Following on from my last post, "Blue Monday, 7 Nearly Blue Rooms" I was approached by the American lighting company, Arcadian Lighting (www.arcadianlighting.com). The range of interiors that follow encompass their interior passion for the pink palette, in diverse furnishings, and of course lighting. My verdict? Sophisticated, stunning, exciting, ecletic & visually dazzling....


"Pink is one of those happy colors that we love in big and small doses. Like one of our favorite flowers, the peony, pinks come in shades from palest blush to deep fuchsia. Pink doesn't have to be reserved for a little girl's bedroom. Pink can be a sophisticated neutral or a bold design statement in an entry, living room, bedroom or bath.

There are plenty of furnishings and accessories which come in pink such as sofas, chairs, light fixtures and bedlinens. Inspired by the peony, here are eight pink rooms we think you'll love.









Palest of pinks on walls and upholstery act as neutrals in this simple, yet elegant, living room. Blue accents in both the art and accessories keep the room feeling crisp and not too feminine.



Pale pink walls and dustry rose accents give this room a feminine feeling. Take note of the rose painted side table - what an unusual color. The deep darm brown base and light brown shade of the table lamp complements the side table. We love it!









This warm pink entry by Mary McDonald is sophisticated with its gold mirror and console table flanked by upholstered side chairs.











A cooler pink wall color with grey trim color and grey floors give this room a vintage, antique feeling to it.









Love the rose curtains in this room. But what caught our eye was the pink bookcase with the glass doors - it's gorgeous! The pale pink area rug is lovely too. A few pink pendant lights would be dazzling in this room.





A mix of pale pink walls, rose colored accents and bright pink upholstered furniture give this room a nice balance of strong and soft hues. Everything works in a harmony of pink.







The hot pink on this entry wall makes a bold welcome to guests. The pink is nicely balanced by the white wainscoting below. The crystal chandelier also compliments the decor with its gold accents that allures the eyes.





Deep fuchsia on the walls with patterned upholstery gives this room an exotic feeling. What a nice depth of the color against the dark wood."





Content and images for this post provided by Arcadian Lighting. Founded in 2002, Arcadian Lighting started selling decorative home lighting accessories and lamps online. It has since become one of the top internet retailers for home lighting products.



For further lighting and design inspiration, go to http://www.arcadianlighting.com/

Monday, May 16, 2011

"Blue Monday: 7 Nearly Blue Rooms"

I was delighted when I was approached by the online design firm, Design Shuffle (http://www.designshuffle.com/) an American social media site filled with Interior Design Ideas from top tier design talent from around the globe. Registration to this absolutely fabulous online design resource is free, and for those of you who love the world of interior design, contemporary, classic, eclectic or otherwise, I highly recommend you register.

I hope you enjoy this post, "Blue Monday: 7 Nearly Blue Rooms" written by Lindsay, one of the Design Shuffle team, and I look forward to sharing more from them, with you, in future.




While a hint of blue Mondays may leave one down and out, blue in the home is anything but. Blue comes in a bevy of tints and shades, its effects are almost always calm, cooling and meditative. Tints of blue in Robyn's Egg, Periwinkle, Sky and Powder work beautifully in the bedroom, office or as an exercise room. Even more vibrant shades with hints of green, think Peacock and Teal, are cool and calm in the living room or den. If you're hoping to incorporate a new, versatile colour into your interior design ideas, blue is definitely a great place to start.

The above room is an example of a vibrant shade of turquoise done in the bedroom. It may be bright, but the white and gray accents of the bed, nightstands and lamps, offset the shock and it's still calming.



In the bedroom, above, pale blue walls give off a cool, calming effect and are accented by similarly tints of blue in the bed's headboard, as well as the curtains. White of course works well here, but chocolate brown offers a surprising, though understated, pop of colour.



While this sitting room, above is another 'tropical' shade of blue, its vibrancy is well-balanced by chocolate, camel and ivory.



In this Nantucket beach house, above, the designer evokes oceanic blues and white throughout, but the high ceilings and beautiful, natural light of the bathroom, together with the pale blue walls, evokes an almost airy quality.





Deep navy walls are young, fresh and feminine, thanks to french mirrors, a Phillipe Starke Ghost chair, and bright pops of lipstick red.





The above classic pairing of white and a deep shade of cobalt blue is stately, yet serene in the drawing room of this villa on the island of Capri. It's one of the easiest interior design ideas to incorporate into your home because of its simplicity.




This room is actually mostly white, but the painted wooden floors in Robyn's Egg Blue together with the sunlight, create an unbelievably serene feeling, almost like the ocean.


These rooms are proof positive that blue can be calming, cooling, even vibrant, but never sad.


Design Shuffle



Thursday, May 5, 2011

Natural Winter Warmth
















Natural, neutral, white & cream together, timeless, chic, warm, always works & looks divine

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Living with TOAST









I love TOAST. Whether for your home or your wardrobe, the mix of colour, layers & textures combine key pieces with simple touches to create an endless thread of inspiration...


Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Millswyn





Yesterday I enjoyed a fabulous girls' lunch at The Millswyn, my second since it opened only a few months ago. Located opposite the Botanic Gardens, & site of the once infamous formal dining institution, Lynches, it has been completely reinvented with new soul & energy & is absolutely divine. It is testament to a brilliant design interpretation between owner/entrepreneur, Davis Yu, & renowned interior design team, Hecker Guthrie. Working with a neutral base palette, the detail in the fittings & fitout also reveal an appreciation for Scandinavian design & New York style.


The service was both efficient & enthusiastic, & the food a perfect Saturday menu of gourmet delights. We lingered longer over wine & coffee, savouring the atmosphere of the cocktail bar & the music in a very understated, relaxed & welcoming ambience at this fabulously chic new dining establishment. Now, to organise dinner...

The Millswyn


Thursday, April 7, 2011

Holiday Solitude...

Autumn, my very favourite season. Whether Easter or a cosy weekend away, a coastal retreat is my ideal getaway as the nights get cooler, the leaves change. Fresh sea air, sleeping, reading, movies, no time restraints. Brunch at all hours, walks along the beach, a picnic with friends...I'm looking forward to relaxing & enjoying a few simple pleasures, to re-energise & have time to do little that we all need to find.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Iris' Holiday Heaven...



Like so many Nancy Meyers' fans, I adore her style & appreciation for beautiful furnishings & focal pieces. For those of us who embrace romantic comedies, complete with stunning set design,The Holiday is the perfect movie (yes, I too watched it once again tonight, & loved it even more!).
Timeless, Hamptons influence, belgian interior colour palettes & the perfect balance of natural materials against the sophisticated blend of texture & space threads throughout "Amanda's" home in this always feel good title.
Together with 'It's Complicated' & 'Something's Gotta Give', 'The Holiday' completes a visual feast of sophisticated, yet understated & timeless interior design, but echoes warmth & comfort from every aspect...set design made for home...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

From Hotel to Home with Crown Gifts online...


Crown Gifts - luxurious pillows all wrapped up


Crown Metropol Bathrobe-available in velour, micro fibre, waffle-weave

Crown Towers Doona Cover

Crown Promenade Ensemble

Crown Towers Pillowcase



Crown Towers Ensemble

Crown Metropol Pillowcase



The world renowned Crown Hotel Melbourne epitomises luxury & opulence. The experience bestowed upon guests is now available to replicate at home, through the Crown Gifts online store...
The superb 'At Home' collection offers a range of beautiful bedlinen & accessories to recreate the inhouse luxury that is resplendent in every suite of Crown Towers, Crown Promenade & Crown Metropol.
Whether your perfect night's sleep requires duck & feather down pillows, complete with doonas to match, luxury thread count sheets & pillowcases, or the divine touch of a Crown Metropol bathrobe, the 'At Home' collection from Crown Gifts online is now available for you to enjoy everyday... at home...
For more information on the luxurious Crown Gifts, visit: http://www.crowngifts.com.au/