Introducing Kcimory

Spending time at home with her young son gave Kim Rickard the opportunity to express her creativity after working years in an office job. She and her husband Cory (hence the business name Kcimory with a silent "c' - Kim & Cory) recently bought a very run-down bungalow and began restoring and renovating it. Throwing herself into the project Kim quickly learnt about woodwork, tools and paint, and also used that knowledge to restore some of her vintage furniture. She loved working with recycled timber and designing new pieces, she'd found her calling and this is how Kcimory was born.

The Kcimory range includes vintage furniture that Kim has brought back to life, ottomans with storage, furniture and homewares made from reclaimed timber, and wooden framing for displaying prints and posters.

The ottomans can be tailor made to your requirements - you choose your fabric, the style of legs, and added extras like piping and buttons. These are such a handy and versatile little piece that can be used as extra seating and storage in the living room, bedroom, hallway... They come in medium and large sizes, but can be custom made any size by request, and also available as a non-storage model.

Most recently, Kim has introduced a series of prints. "For the luv of birds" is a selection of bird prints that she has given a contemporary spin. They start at an A5 size and come as large as an A0. These look great with one of Kcimory's hanging solutions.

Kim will be adding to her range of prints and furniture. She has some exciting things in the pipeline, so make sure you keep up to date by signing up for their newsletter and follow their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. There's also a great DIY section on the website where Kim encourages you to have a go yourself at a project.

South African Beauty

The use of natural materials and the amazing indoor/outdoor flow are just two of the things that drew me to this beautiful South African home. Owners Matt and Victoria Bresler hired Meyer+Vorster Architects to create an easy-going contemporary home for themselves and their three young children.

Located next to a vineyard, the outlook is stunning and they've capitalised on that by having lots of floor to ceiling glass and big sliding doors that open the home up to the outdoors.

The interior style is simple but beautiful with lovely attention to detail. I love the master bedroom's Kandy wallpaper from Elitis, it's nice to have one hero piece in the bedroom, and because everything else is kept simple it allows the wallpaper to shine. Also, aren't the little bedside table and sitting-down lamp adorable?!

The textures of the wood, concrete and glass are beautiful and really practical for the young family.

This staircase by Stable Marketing might be my most favourite part of the house. I love that the larger steps on the right allow a place to display pieces, and the oak balustrade or divider to the left is gorgeous. Yes, I could happily live here!

photographs: Warren Heath | styling: Danielle Howard

Thank you to House and Leisure for allowing me to feature this beautiful home.

Inspired by Petra Bindel

It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Swedish photographer, Petra Bindel, I have featured her work before on the blog, here and here. The interiors she photographs always inspire me with their unique style.

I love the dark walls and crisp white trim in this room (below) looking through to the gorgeous teal room beyond. The touches of teal and green in the foreground room provide a link to the room behind.

I'm particularly drawn to the dramatic moody colour palette of charcoal, teal and indigo blue at the moment. Soften with white and bring warmth with wood and metallics.

Also high on my list of current faves is a modern take on traditional plaids and checks. I love taking something old and giving it a new twist.

To see more of Petra's work check out her website, and also Cameralink, I'm sure you'll be as inspired as I am.

LA Loft

It's been a while since I've featured a home tour on the blog, but I've been searching for one that just blows my socks off. To do that it has to be unique and quirky, and chocka full of personality. I found that in this cool Los Angeles loft, the shared home of Olivia Lopez, Erin Dennison, and Doug Emmett.

The natural light that all those beautiful windows allow, the space and the industrial nature of the building is a fabulous base to start with. The layers of texture and cool furniture complete the look. I love the wood and the worn leather with touches of metal.

With three cool creatives living here it was bound to be a stylish abode. I love the main colour palette of indigo blue, brown and white. I'm not usually a big fan of red, but in this case the small pops of red throughout are really cool.

Pop over to My Domaine to see more of this amazing home.

NutriBullet Goodness

There was much excitement in our household this weekend as we tried out our amazing NutriBullet for the first time. I have heard a lot about how fantastic this machine is, and with the amount of processed/convenient food available these days, I love the idea of getting extra nutrition into my family's diet.

The NutriBullet is a powerful superfood nutrition extractor that completely blitzes and blends any ingredients, including fibre, pulp, seeds and skin of whole fruits and vegetables. This means you extract the highest degree of nutrition from your food, and the silky smooth texture makes it easy to digest. No more partially blended spinach leaves or berry pips. There are so many ingredients you can use, and we've had a lot of fun making up recipes to please the whole family.

We started with a couple of handfuls of baby spinach leaves, a green apple, a pear, and chopped pineapple topped up with coconut water. It's amazing how quickly it blends into a smooth and super healthy drink.

The NutriBullet comes complete with a tall cup, two shorter cups (one with a handle), two resealable lids, the extractor blade, and a milling blade which turns dry ingredients into powders (perfect for milling oats, nuts and seeds). So next time you're running late and don't have time for a sit-down breakfast, you could simply throw your favourite fresh ingredients into the NutriBullet, pop a lid on and take it with you. Now that's what I call "fast food"!

I whipped up a ginger and citrus flu-fighter recipe from two whole oranges (skin removed), the juice from half a lemon, a teaspoon of fresh ginger, and a couple of teaspoons of maple syrup to sweeten. You can tweak these recipes to suit your taste - less ginger, more maple syrup... it just takes a bit of experimenting.

The kids wanted a berry smoothie so we went quite traditional with a banana, lots of frozen mixed berries, yoghurt and milk. I added a dash of vanilla and organic carob powder. Needless to say, they loved it. It really is a fabulous way to get fussy eaters to get their fruit intake. My eldest doesn't like bananas, her favourite recipe so far includes mango, pineapple, coconut flakes, almonds, almond milk and yoghurt - delish!

The last drink I made was a mix of some of my favourites, and was just like a healthy dessert. I used almond milk, a shot of cold coffee, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and two tablespoons of organic rolled oats. Once blitzed I added two tablespoons of chia seeds and let it sit for ten minutes, stirring regularly. Topped with coconut flakes, slivered almonds, and chocolate chips, it was a delicious guilt-free treat.

I would highly recommend a NutriBullet to anyone wanting a quick and fun way to create exceptionally healthy drinks and meals. Check out the website to see where you can buy yours, and lots of great recipes.

The Social Types

I recently discovered the work of talented young designer Jaz Isabella Dean and her latest project The Social Types. Jaz has designed a range of super cool greeting cards that are guaranteed to make yours the best looking gift, without a doubt. These are the cards that will get stuck on pin boards and popped into frames, as each one is a tiny work of art.

Taking inspiration from popular culture, the internet generation and her fashion background, the line incorporates unique graphics, illustrations and typography. Jaz has used striking black and white, bold colours, and gorgeous gold foil to create a series of designs that work beautifully together as well as stand alone. "I created The Social Types as a collection of prints I think customers will love themselves as well as love to share, to shake up the market and make greeting cards cool again," she says.

The Social Types studio is located in Karaka Bay, Auckland, where they are committed to using only the highest quality printing methods and sustainably sourced paper stock.

Pop over to the website to check out the full range, and make sure you follow The Social Types on Facebook and Instagram for all updates and new arrivals. Keep your eye out as the designs are all soon to available as art prints - yay!