Christmas, New Year & A New Venture

Today is my last day of blogging for 2012. Mark finishes work today too, so we're going to be spending lots of time with our three girls, our family and friends. Merry Christmas to you all, and thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy lives to visit my blog. I really appreciate it, and love sharing the things that inspire me. Have a wonderful Christmas break and I'll be back in the New Year.

Talking of the new year, I'm very excited to let you know about my new business which will be officially launched in January 2013. I've teamed up with my awesome friend Dael, and together we will be offering interior decorating and styling services. If you live in Hawke's Bay and have a home or business that needs some styling advice, we can help. And we will also offer an e-service for those of you who live outside of our beautiful city. 

The following photos are my home. Colour and pattern are my trade mark, and you'll see I have a love of deer and birds. But our job will be to find your style, and inject your personality into your space. When our website goes live I'll let you know via Facebook and Twitter and will add a link on this blog - so watch this space. x

Casa Cárdenas

I found the image below on a tumblr site yesterday, and was immediately captivated by the beautiful tiles, and I'm always a sucker for oversized typography. It's really hard to trace the origin of a photo from a tumblr site, but luckily one of my lovely Facebook friends, Lisete, gave me the link. Because the rest of the home was equally as gorgeous, I thought I should share it with you.

Emma Sloley and Adam McCulloch are a couple of Aussies living in New York, writing for magazines such as Departures and Travel & Leisure. They fell in love with the Mexican state of Yucatán while on an assignment, and decided it was the perfect place to work on book projects. After renting various houses Emma and Adam finely decided to purchase a home which they set about renovating with a Maya construction crew.

About a third of the house was gutted, with an extra story, a guest casita and a pool added. Glass curtains in place of solid walls means that you can see right through from the entrance to the backyard. I don't know about you, but living in this home, writing books, with the occasional dip in the pool, and a margarita or two, sounds like a pretty idillic life to me!

via

Beautiful Books

I am obsessed with beautiful books! I always have a long list of titles I want to buy, and once I have devoured them from cover to cover, I use them in displays around my home. The best way to create a simple vignette is to stack a couple of books and top with a vase of flowers. They add colour and height to a vignette, and they anchor smaller objects placed on top, which would otherwise feel a bit lost. In a bookshelf, turn some on their sides to act as bookends. Practical and beautiful! Does anyone else share my obsession?

All images (and more) can be found here on my Pinterest 'Vignettes & Details' board

Take a Breath

With all the craziness that comes a week before Christmas, this home will help to soothe your soul and ease your stresses away. Stop, take a breath, and drink in the tranquility!

The Danish home has a beautiful light and open feel created by the white walls and ceiling, light parquet floors, and large french doors that open out to gorgeous views. The door between the living room and kitchen has been removed, the space widened, and a built-in bookshelf added to accentuate the open living.

Posters from Theatre Republique in Copenhagen bring pops of neon colour to the otherwise quiet colour scheme.

Christmas in Black & White

There's nothing quite as crisp, delicious, and graphic as black & white. I absolutely love this Christmas styling by Charlotte Love for UK company Papermash. Using paper straws to create snowflakes and garlands; and washi tape and stamps for gorgeous wrapping.

images via Charlotte Love

image via Papermash

When I think 'black and white', I automatically think Scandinavian design. So, of course, Ferm Living has a fabulous range of black and white Christmas decorations to make your home look suitably fab these holidays.

Christmas Tree Blanket

images via Ferm Living

Painted Ceilings

I really like the idea of a painted ceiling, in the right room. You may remember when I did a post on The Novogratz last month, they had painted both the ceilings in the kids' rooms in a New York apartment. I loved the vibrant green ceiling next to the white skirting, and the green chandelier...

This simple and stylish kitchen really comes alive with a hot pink ceiling...

How fab does this bright yellow ceiling look?! It compliments the concrete wall and subway tiles beautifully...

I posted this bedroom on my Facebook page a while ago, and got very mixed reactions. Some people loved, and some found it too heavy. This is quite a small room, but I still like it against the crisp white walls...

This is another Novogratz room. I absolutely love the graphic wallpaper, which appeared on just one wall. And the ceiling is painted in chalk board paint, so an amazing piece of art could make a statement...

And here a single wall and the ceiling look spectacular in sky blue...

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Marquee Lights

You may remember this post from the other day, and how much I loved the heart light in the outdoor patio.

Well, I tracked down the company that made this light - Scott Coppersmith Designs - and the great news is that they custom design these lights for their customers, and and you can even hire them - how great would a heart light look at your wedding venue?!

Incandescent bulbs are mounted on reclaimed wood and framed with automotive grade aluminium. They can hang indoors or out, and you can even request LED lighting. Now if only they were a bit closer to me - they're based in Ventura, California. If anyone knows anyone in NZ that can make these lights, please let me know. x