Monday, 31 March 2014
Beautiful in Barcelona
The start of another week... let me alleviate that feeling of 'Monday-itis' by inspiring you with this gorgeous Barcelona home. They do 'sophisticated' so well in Europe - this home filled with an eclectic mix of antique and modern furnishings is packed full of personality. It features stunning art and light fittings, but the outside is my favourite area of all.
Friday, 28 March 2014
YouShop | part one
My job requires me to spend a lot of time online... sourcing unique products for my own home, my Bibby + Brady interior clients, my Cush & Nooks online shop, and for interior inspiration. New Zealand is a tiny country, fairly isolated from the rest of the world, but the world wide web has opened up a whole new world for us. The world is at our fingertips.
We have a lot of fantastic local products here in New Zealand, but I love having the opportunity to buy from further afield. A lot of companies are happy to ship internationally, but there are still many occasions when I discover the perfect piece only to find that they won't ship it to New Zealand. Luckily for me NZ Post has come to my rescue!
They have created YouShop, a service that is free to join up to, and provides you with an address in the US and in the UK to have your shopping delivered to. Your parcel will be delivered to the YouShop warehouse, and once received you will be contacted for your nominated address in New Zealand, and payment for international delivery. You can get an idea of the cost of your shipping on the NZ Post website here.
I was so excited when I learnt of this fabulous service, and knew it would invaluable to me. There are a lot of things I'll use it for - I often come across beautiful European products that I can now have shipped to the UK, and then to NZ. But I knew the first thing I wanted was something from Kate Spade...
I love Kate Spade - the high quality of their products, their incredible branding, and their effortless style has won me over, but they don't ship outside of America. You can find her products elsewhere, but not the full range. For my first YouShop experience I have started small (you know what they say about small packages!). I'd been looking for a stylish way to store my business cards, and the 2 Park Avenue Small Bella Pouch was the perfect solution. It's on it's way to my US YouShop address as we speak, next stop New Zealand.
I'll let you know when Bella arrives, and give you my thoughts on the process in part two of this story. But don't feel you have to wait for me, why don't you go out and try for yourself.
We have a lot of fantastic local products here in New Zealand, but I love having the opportunity to buy from further afield. A lot of companies are happy to ship internationally, but there are still many occasions when I discover the perfect piece only to find that they won't ship it to New Zealand. Luckily for me NZ Post has come to my rescue!
They have created YouShop, a service that is free to join up to, and provides you with an address in the US and in the UK to have your shopping delivered to. Your parcel will be delivered to the YouShop warehouse, and once received you will be contacted for your nominated address in New Zealand, and payment for international delivery. You can get an idea of the cost of your shipping on the NZ Post website here.
I was so excited when I learnt of this fabulous service, and knew it would invaluable to me. There are a lot of things I'll use it for - I often come across beautiful European products that I can now have shipped to the UK, and then to NZ. But I knew the first thing I wanted was something from Kate Spade...
I love Kate Spade - the high quality of their products, their incredible branding, and their effortless style has won me over, but they don't ship outside of America. You can find her products elsewhere, but not the full range. For my first YouShop experience I have started small (you know what they say about small packages!). I'd been looking for a stylish way to store my business cards, and the 2 Park Avenue Small Bella Pouch was the perfect solution. It's on it's way to my US YouShop address as we speak, next stop New Zealand.
I'll let you know when Bella arrives, and give you my thoughts on the process in part two of this story. But don't feel you have to wait for me, why don't you go out and try for yourself.
Thursday, 27 March 2014
Bibby + Brady Hamilton Home | part two
Following on from yesterday's post where I showed you the bedrooms that Dael & I designed, here are the living areas we've designed for Angie and Ryan - our wonderful Bibby + Brady clients. The hallway coming from the bedrooms opens up onto a small landing. Doors off one end lead to the bathroom and laundry, and the other end takes you to the main living areas and entrance.
A gorgeous gold and white Ferm Living wallpaper covers the landing, and a beautiful Juju hat adds texture and a focal point as you come down the hall. At the end of the landing is a small cupboard housing the home office. On our recommendation, Ryan built shelving for the computer, books and filing. It can be closed away behind the door, but the Anna Spiro wallpaper is so gorgeous, it's often left open.
The dining room is the first room you see when you enter the house, and it's also a thoroughfare to the other rooms. We used a large round dining table, big enough for the whole family and more. Round edges mean it's easy to walk around as you head for the landing or living room. The round mat and low-hung light anchor the table in place and makes sure that it's not just floating in the large open space.
Angie and Ryan transformed their existing cabinet with paint and cute new handles. This provides lots of storage for the busy family and a place to display some favourite knick knacks. Another Anna Spiro wallpaper runs the entire length of the main wall, and it's vertical stripes add a sense of height and space.
One of the most recently renovated rooms is the open plan living area. Carpet has been replaced with polished concrete floors - really practical with little feet running in and out the large bi-fold doors. Rugs help to zone different areas and soften the concrete. Blinds and curtains are yet to come, but you can see the difference the new white windows make (previously brown aluminium).
I think my favourite space in this home is the entranceway. Angie agreed with me that it's the place to make a great first impression. It was an exciting and, at the same time, truly hard day when we purchased the divine vintage brass console table for Angie and Ryan - I would've dearly loved this in my own home!
The doorway beyond the entrance creates a small alcove allowing us to paint the entrance ceiling bright Kelly green. It creates a 'wow' and brings a bit of the outside in. You're greeted by a stunning piece of artwork, and a black and white runner that leads your eye inside.
As I mentioned yesterday, there are still a few bits and pieces to finish off, but I can honestly say that the transformation of Ryan and Angie's home over the last year has been massive. If you would like to know where any of the pieces are from, or would like Dael and I to help you with your interior project - residential or commercial - please get in touch. Thanks so much Angie and Ryan for allowing us to share your home - you guys are the best!
A gorgeous gold and white Ferm Living wallpaper covers the landing, and a beautiful Juju hat adds texture and a focal point as you come down the hall. At the end of the landing is a small cupboard housing the home office. On our recommendation, Ryan built shelving for the computer, books and filing. It can be closed away behind the door, but the Anna Spiro wallpaper is so gorgeous, it's often left open.
The dining room is the first room you see when you enter the house, and it's also a thoroughfare to the other rooms. We used a large round dining table, big enough for the whole family and more. Round edges mean it's easy to walk around as you head for the landing or living room. The round mat and low-hung light anchor the table in place and makes sure that it's not just floating in the large open space.
Angie and Ryan transformed their existing cabinet with paint and cute new handles. This provides lots of storage for the busy family and a place to display some favourite knick knacks. Another Anna Spiro wallpaper runs the entire length of the main wall, and it's vertical stripes add a sense of height and space.
One of the most recently renovated rooms is the open plan living area. Carpet has been replaced with polished concrete floors - really practical with little feet running in and out the large bi-fold doors. Rugs help to zone different areas and soften the concrete. Blinds and curtains are yet to come, but you can see the difference the new white windows make (previously brown aluminium).
I think my favourite space in this home is the entranceway. Angie agreed with me that it's the place to make a great first impression. It was an exciting and, at the same time, truly hard day when we purchased the divine vintage brass console table for Angie and Ryan - I would've dearly loved this in my own home!
The doorway beyond the entrance creates a small alcove allowing us to paint the entrance ceiling bright Kelly green. It creates a 'wow' and brings a bit of the outside in. You're greeted by a stunning piece of artwork, and a black and white runner that leads your eye inside.
As I mentioned yesterday, there are still a few bits and pieces to finish off, but I can honestly say that the transformation of Ryan and Angie's home over the last year has been massive. If you would like to know where any of the pieces are from, or would like Dael and I to help you with your interior project - residential or commercial - please get in touch. Thanks so much Angie and Ryan for allowing us to share your home - you guys are the best!
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Bibby + Brady Hamilton Home | part one
This post is a very special one for me. Last Friday Dael & I went on a little road trip to visit two of our favourite Bibby + Brady interior design clients. I'll be bringing you photos from both houses over the next few days, starting with this fabulous family home in Hamilton. We got so many great photos I'm going to run them over two posts.
Angie and Ryan, along with their three adorable kids, were our first official clients. I remember being so excited to get Angie's first email titled 'Help!' They'd just bought their 1980's home in Tamahere, and were trying to decide where to start. Angie has great style and lots of ideas, and Ryan is a fantastic builder, but (like a lot of our clients) they just needed help to pull everything together.
A few words from Angie... "I love colour, design and pretty things so when we purchased our home and started the first room reno (our bedroom) I was so excited! Firstly I had to decide on the right shade of grey paint and I was completely overwhelmed with all the options... and then I needed to choose curtain fabric and the choices were endless... my mind was buzzing as I knew what I liked but I couldn't envision it altogether and it was consuming my indecisive mind!!
Luckily for me, after reading the Cush & Nooks blog daily, Vic announced Bibby & Brady had launched. Dael & Vic listened to our brief and budget, checked out my pinterest boards, and a week later presented us with the PERFECT moodboard for our bedroom. It was comfortable, stylish, functional and we were so impressed with what they had created that we instantly asked them to help with other rooms in our home too. One year later, two million emails, lots of hard work by my hubby, and we have amazingly functional rooms that are comfortable, beautiful and reflect us perfectly. We are thrilled with their service and can't recommend them highly enough to anyone. They have saved us SO much money, and time, with their expertise. They are such super cool ladies, honest and their design eye is bang on." Angie xx
See why we love her so much?! The home is not completely finished, there are still a few things left on the 'to do' list. But Angie and Ryan have done an incredible job in the last year. I'll show you some before and after photos of the bedrooms, starting with the master bedroom, and tomorrow I'll show you the living areas.
Because the hallway from the master bedroom down to the landing is quite narrow we kept it simple, painting it all white other than the two doors leading to the kids' rooms. These we had painted glossy blue and watermelon pink. A collection of black and white photos is the only other decoration.
Our brief for Mack's room was to keep it 'boysy' but something that would grow with him, and not be too young. They wanted a fun, eclectic look, definitely nothing matchy-matchy! His favourite colour is orange, but it's unfortunately not Angie's, so we included enough to keep Mack happy, but not to overwhelm his mum.
Tilly and Lulu share a room and we used their duvet covers and two existing pieces of art as our jumping off point. The room features two different wallpapers on facing walls, and Angie had the new beds powder coated a complimentary mint green. New light shades and blinds were a must in both childrens' rooms, as well as some new furniture pieces.
I can't wait to show you more tomorrow, so make sure you come back for part two.
A few words from Angie... "I love colour, design and pretty things so when we purchased our home and started the first room reno (our bedroom) I was so excited! Firstly I had to decide on the right shade of grey paint and I was completely overwhelmed with all the options... and then I needed to choose curtain fabric and the choices were endless... my mind was buzzing as I knew what I liked but I couldn't envision it altogether and it was consuming my indecisive mind!!
Luckily for me, after reading the Cush & Nooks blog daily, Vic announced Bibby & Brady had launched. Dael & Vic listened to our brief and budget, checked out my pinterest boards, and a week later presented us with the PERFECT moodboard for our bedroom. It was comfortable, stylish, functional and we were so impressed with what they had created that we instantly asked them to help with other rooms in our home too. One year later, two million emails, lots of hard work by my hubby, and we have amazingly functional rooms that are comfortable, beautiful and reflect us perfectly. We are thrilled with their service and can't recommend them highly enough to anyone. They have saved us SO much money, and time, with their expertise. They are such super cool ladies, honest and their design eye is bang on." Angie xx
See why we love her so much?! The home is not completely finished, there are still a few things left on the 'to do' list. But Angie and Ryan have done an incredible job in the last year. I'll show you some before and after photos of the bedrooms, starting with the master bedroom, and tomorrow I'll show you the living areas.
Because the hallway from the master bedroom down to the landing is quite narrow we kept it simple, painting it all white other than the two doors leading to the kids' rooms. These we had painted glossy blue and watermelon pink. A collection of black and white photos is the only other decoration.
Our brief for Mack's room was to keep it 'boysy' but something that would grow with him, and not be too young. They wanted a fun, eclectic look, definitely nothing matchy-matchy! His favourite colour is orange, but it's unfortunately not Angie's, so we included enough to keep Mack happy, but not to overwhelm his mum.
Tilly and Lulu share a room and we used their duvet covers and two existing pieces of art as our jumping off point. The room features two different wallpapers on facing walls, and Angie had the new beds powder coated a complimentary mint green. New light shades and blinds were a must in both childrens' rooms, as well as some new furniture pieces.
I can't wait to show you more tomorrow, so make sure you come back for part two.
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