Madder & Rouge Style

Now and then you find a home that resonates with you and calls out your name. That's what happened when I first saw the home of Erin O'Malley in the Aug/Sept 2014 issue of Homestyle magazine. It's everything I love in a home - fresh white walls, gorgeous colour and pattern, lots of Moroccan and Indian influences.  It looks relaxed and inviting and super cool. I love, love, love it!

Photography by Chris Sisarich

Erin is the owner of Auckland design store, Madder & Rouge, and it too is full of really beautiful and interesting pieces from around the world. I was exploring their website this morning and have my eye on quite a few of them. Pop in to their Newmarket store, or visit them online.

The Best Picnic Rugs Ever!

I'm excited to tell you that we have re-stocked the Bibby + Brady shop with our amazing Middle Eastern Picnic Rugs. Available in two massive sizes - 2 x 3m and 2 x 4m - we have all new patterns for you.

I'm pretty passionate about these rugs and for very good reason. I have bought countless picnic blankets in the past and it's always the same - they're too small for our family of five, and the base inevitably gets ripped. You will definitely not have this problem with our picnic rugs. Both sizes could fit a football team on, so they're perfect for the extended family and all your food, and they're incredibly durable, so will last (I'd like to say) forever.

Made in Saudi Arabia, the top is polyester featuring traditional patterns, and the bottom is a lining of tarpaulin. This allows them to withstand any harsh elements, and they're waterproof. Sturdy straps and a handle enables the rug to be rolled up and carried easily.

The rugs are sourced by our fabulous friend, Emma and her husband Richard, who lived in Saudi Arabia for some time. With a traditional nomadic lifestyle, the Bedouins in Saudi Arabia use the rugs as flooring in their tents.

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They're extremely practical for our outdoor lifestyle, and look fantastic too. Perfect for picnics with family and friends, outdoor concerts, at the beach, or simply throw down on your grass when you have some friends at home.

These are just a few of the patterns available, so go and check out the full range. Emma tells me they're selling really fast, so make sure you don't miss out on your favourite pattern. Keep in mind what a wonderful investment one of these picnic rugs is - it will be the last one you'll ever have to buy, and you'll wonder what you ever did without it. We accept lay-by too, just send me an email to discuss.

All photos, other than image 5, were taken by Sarah Horn

Last Minute Pressie Ideas

Dael & I have been busy creating and gathering lots of beautiful new products for our Bibby + Brady online store. How cute is our new "Excited" print by Katherine Norman?! We love it's fun, positive vibe. You can purchase the print framed or unframed (please allow 1-2 weeks for framing). If you purchase an unframed print you should definitely consider our cool poster clips as a fun way to hang it.

If you're really stuck for gift ideas, we're now offering gift vouchers to spend in our online store. We will send you a printed gift voucher to your specified amount, or if you'd prefer we can email you or your recipient an e-voucher. When the recipient of the gift voucher knows what they want to buy, simply email me and I will help process the order.

In order to get your orders delivered before Christmas you'll have to place them before 10am Monday 22nd (this only applies to non-rural New Zealand addresses). Quick, time is running out!

Finding The Perfect Toilet Roll Holder

I want to apologise for my slightly sporadic blog posts over the last week. You all know what a crazy, busy time December is! Dael and I are working long hours getting interior projects finished and our new office/showroom ready for opening early next year. But if you're renovating your bathroom in the near future, I'm sure you'll love today's post. Remember back here when I showed you my newly renovated toilet...

Well for the last four months we've been balancing the roll of toilet paper on the top of the loo behind. That's because I'd rather go without than put the wrong holder up. I wanted something simple, understated, but classy. Sure it's a functional item, but I also wanted it to look amazing, after all it's the little details that can make all the difference. I finally found this gorgeous brass toilet paper holder from Ferm Living.

Although it seemed to be sold out in every single online shop I tried, I was determined to track one down, and eventually bought mine from lefliving.com in Germany. I had to wait several weeks until they were back in stock and then have it shipped to my UK YouShop address (you can read all about how that marvellous service works here and here, I use it all the time!). The wait was totally worth it, I love how simple and elegant it is, and how the brass and wood work with my colour scheme.

When Dael renovated her toilet recently she chose to buy a standard holder (available from most hardware and plumbing shops) and turn it into something special by having it powder coated a fun colour.

I love the idea of powder coating, but I had my heart set on a touch of brass, so spent a lot of time looking into different options. This gorgeous loo roll holder (below) is part of the Simplify project by Group Work Studio in Australia. This was one of my favourites, but unfortunately they hadn't gone into production on their pieces at the time.

I also love onefortythree's tissue roll holder, but the white and brass was sold out, and although I love the aqua, I knew the colour wasn't quite right for my loo (also available in black and mint green).

Another clever idea is this toilet roll holder inspired by sailing equipment. It's part of the Diabolo collection, designed by Yang:Ripol Design Studio for Vandiss.

Last, but not least, the Roll With It (great name!) toilet paper holder by Assembly Design is very cool too - once again, simple by classy. It comes in a range of finishes including walnut and brass which would be my pick.

So those are my picks for toilet roll holders. I love mine, but to be honest I'd be happy with any of these choices. I know they're all from international shops, but if they don't ship to NZ, just set yourself up an account with NZ Post's YouShop, and you can have an address in the US, the UK, and China. I use this service a lot - it's fantastic and it opens up so many more possibilities with your online shopping.

Poster Power

A great piece of art can make a huge difference to a room. Dael & I fell in love with some large scale posters by US photographer, Debbie Carlos, and we're really excited to now be stocking them in our online shop. The subject is really simple, but in a large scale (approx 60cm x 90cm) it's so striking.

You can see from these gorgeous examples how fabulous the Flowers poster can look.

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The other poster we've chosen is this really fun Pink Ice Cream poster. I love the colours, and it makes me smile, which is what you want art to do - evoke an emotion.

Another great thing about these posters is that they're a really affordable art option. For a bit more money you could frame your poster (and if you live in Hawke's Bay we can do that for you), but we can also offer you a very cost effective hanging solution... We have these cool metal poster clips in gold or silver that can clip onto your poster and hook over some nails. Aren't they awesome?! Pop over here to see all of our most recent additions to the shop.

New Stock in our Bibby + Brady Shop

I can't believe it's December already! This year has been a whirlwind of exciting interior projects and new business developments for Dael & I with our Bibby + Brady interior styling business. As well as lots of fabulous clients, we have also met a lot of amazing, creative people who have become suppliers of ours. And we've been developing a range of our own products to use in our clients' homes, and sell to you in our shop.

We're very excited about the first of these new products to arrive.  This stunning Kilim lampshade is made by our friend Kate, from Bold Lampshades. We've been working with Kate to select a range of exclusive Bibby + Brady shades, there will be two more joining the kilim shade soon, and you won't be able to but them anywhere else.

It's complimented beautifully by the fresh white lamp base with it's little gold legs. This is a creation by another of our clever friends, Asha, from Little & Fox. Asha has a talent for finding old furniture and homeware and using her keen eye and upholstery skills to breathe new life into them.

The two gorgeous photographic prints featured here are the start of a new range of artwork we have coming. Tide and Lake Louise are available to purchase framed or unframed, and we've made sure they're a nice big scale to create lots of impact. 

You know my love of velvet, so it's only natural for a velvet pouf to sneak into the collection. The midnight blue is quite beautiful, and we also have a soft, blush pink version arriving shortly. Pop over and see all of the new arrivals, and keep your eye out, as there will be more arriving any day.

Introducing Leven

I'm a firm believer in having a dream, and doing something every day (no matter how small) that will help to make that dream a reality. That's how I got to be working in a job I love, and that's why I get really excited when I hear similar stories of people living the dream!

Leven is a homewares store that you can visit at 14 Empire Street in Cambridge, or online. Here you'll find a treasure trove of beautiful products just waiting for you to discover them. Owner and founder of Leven, Kath Pilcher, had always dreamed of owning her own design store. A break from her career to bring up her young children gave her the opportunity to make a change. She spent a year and half setting up her business and sourcing products from New Zealand and around the globe. The doors to Leven home and design store are now open and ready for you to explore.

You can find some of your favourites in-store and exciting new products - Ashley & Co, Triumph & Disaster, Madam Stoltz, Bloomingville, Jamie Kay, and Boskke, to name just a few. If you live in, or are visiting Cambridge, make sure you pop in to see Kath. Or head over to her online shop right now. And to keep up with all new arrivals and special offers you should definitely follow Leven's Facebook page. Happy shopping.

Me & My Trend | Giveaway

It's alway exciting to meet someone who loves and lives colour and pattern as much as I do. English born, Karina McGregor is the founder of the fabulous online furniture and homeware store, Me & My Trend. After studying surface pattern and design in the UK, Karina then travelled to India where she fell in love with colour and pattern. From there (long story short) she travelled to New Zealand, fell in love again, this time with a Kiwi bloke, and now together they source fun and quirky home and lifestyle products that are fashion forward and all very much 'on trend'.

It's a brilliant website where you can shop by category... "living", "homeware", accessories"...; or by trends..."copper luxe", "scandi pastels", "monochrome", even "as seen on The Block NZ".

It's so great to see very cool, unique products that are destined to add style and personality to someone's home. Here are a few of my faves...

Now we want you to know your favourites. To go into the draw to WIN A SET OF CERAMIC STORAGE OF YOUR CHOICE, simply visit the Me & My Trend website, choose your favourite pattern (maybe gold diamonds, perhaps orange starburst...), then email me your answer and where you would put the canisters - the more fun your answer, the better your chances! :)

You'll get an extra entry for "liking" Me & My Trend on Facebook, and another for "liking & sharing" this post on my Facebook page (let me know if you've done this when you email me). The winner will be notified by email next Wednesday 3 December by 5pm, and announced on the Cush & Nooks FB page (open to NZ & Aussie readers only). Good luck everyone and make sure you sign up to the mailing list to keep up with all new arrivals and special offers.

Competition now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Maree Halcione!

Florence Broadhurst Beach Range | Recline

Florence Broadhurst is one of my most favourite designers. Her designs are quite spectacular, and just as popular today as they were in the 1960's, if not more. "Cockatoos" in golden yellow is the ultimate summery pattern, and now you can purchase your very own Florence Broadhurst beach accessories from Recline - the perfect shopping destination for your outdoor lifestyle.

The Florence Broadhurst range includes everything you need for a trip to the beach. The beach towel is large and plush with retro loop tassels at each end. It comes with a handy carry strap, and fits comfortably into the matching beach tote. The tote is a generous size, with an inner lining, internal zip pocket, and a magnetic closure. Last, but definitely not least, the beach seat is super comfy, but very lightweight and easy to carry by it's adjustable carry strap.

My girls and I have tested each of these products and we think they're all absolutely brilliant! The quality is exceptional, and I love the cockatoos design. If you want to be comfortable while still looking stylish this summer, these are the products for you, and they'd make fantastic Christmas gifts.

Make sure you check out everything else that Recline has to offer too. Each product is hand-picked to make living outdoors easy and fun.