One of my favourite parts of styling interiors is creating vignettes - collections of beautiful pieces that not only look pleasing, but also tell a story. It's the quickest way to bring your personality into a space. Trend forecaster (what a great job!), Anne Ziegler has mastered the art of vignettes and has created many throughout her new Los Angeles home.
White walls and blonde timber floors throughout provides a lovely base on which to layer her pieces. Everywhere you look you find gorgeous groupings and lots of yummy texture.
This (below) is one of my favourite vignettes. Your eye travels up and down the vertical line taking everything in. It's framed by the simple white curtains.
You can successfully group together pieces of a similar tone by making sure they are of varying sizes and textures - this adds interest and keeps it from looking 'blah'.
The use of art is another way to stamp your mark on your home.
And in the little nook outside the bathroom Anne uses the same vertical layering as in the living room. The little dipped stool in the bathroom beyond creates a visual link - so clever!
If you love this home as much as I do, go and get the entire tour over on Domino.
As a kid I did a lot of tramping with my family - and I'm talking five or six day tramps! My parents loved the outdoors, the nature, the exercise. I remember as a teenager complaining about how my friends were going on skiing trips, as I was packing my red and black bush shirt and my freeze dried food. But, in actual fact, we had some great times on those tramps. Beautiful scenery, playing yuca in the cabins at night, that cute boy, whose path we crossed, that took me eeling.
I still love the beauty and the adventure of being in the outdoors, but these days I prefer a few comforts - a soft bed and a glass of wine at the end of the day, rather than a skinny bedroll on the ground and some scroggin. And so do Liz Henderson and Sonia Minnaar, the founders of Canopy Camping Escapes. After a few too many of their own camping mishaps, the pair decided 'glamping' was the way forward.
Glamping, or glamorous camping, has become extremely popular worldwide. And why wouldn't it!?... all the upsides of camping, but with a luxury tent, comfy beds, hot water, and decent loos. And no extra equipment to purchase and lug around.
Liz and Sonia have created the most brilliant business and website. They have partnered with landowners all over New Zealand to bring you a selection of luxury campsites in the most beautiful locations. Each will offer you something different and unique. So whether you're a family, a group of mates, or a couple looking for a romantic escape, explore the different campsites available to find the one just right for you.
Don't let the cooler weather of Autumn and Winter put you off. Many of the sites are open year round and offer lovely wood burning stoves in your tent to keep you snug and warm. Enjoy the view in a hot bath in the evening and toast marshmallows over the fire. This is definitely stuff that memories are made of.
If you have a beautiful piece of private land that you think might make the perfect Canopy Campsite, get in touch with Liz and Sonia. People, both local and visitors from abroad, are looking to escape their busy lives, if just for a moment. They want that meaningful experience, but being time-poor they want something that's easy and convenient. Canopy Camping have developed their own NZ made luxury tent, with an optional wood burning stove. These are available to purchase, and they can recommend campsite products to suit a range of properties and budgets. Read more about it here.
I'm finishing this working week off with a few magazine excerpts. First... the latest edition of Adore Home magazine is out, and is amazing, as always. It's focus this issue is on the beautiful city of Perth.
There's a lot of inspiration, and as usual, my favourite are the home tours. The first home belonging to interior designer, Lisa Marinovich, is a beautiful example of how you can use pattern and colour to bring a space to life. She's used one of my absolute fave wallpapers, Coconut Grove, which also appears on the cover.
The next home I love too, although it's very different to the first. It's funny... I feel like if you throw both homes in a big bowl and stir them around, you'll get my perfect home! I love the edginess of Samantha Tatulli's home.
Samantha is also an interior designer, she works for Coco Republic, and she has a more neutral colour palette with the addition of warm leather, gold and greenery. If you look at both home owner's fashion style, it's a real reflection on their interior style. I often tell people to look to their wardrobe to help with their choice of colour palatte. There's so much more to see, so find some time this weekend to read all of Adore.
Dale & I, Bibby + Brady, were recently asked by Habitat, the Resene Magazine, to come up with an alternative room scheme. They sent us a photo of the original dining room and asked us to re-design it with our choice of furnishings and, of course, our Resene paint colours. We love the result...
And last but definitely not least, make sure you check out my new "Nook of the Month" in Your Home & Garden magazine. Each issue will have a new nook - ideas for what to do with an under-utilised, or awkward space in the home. You know I'm all about 'nooks', and there are some fantastic ones coming up, so pick you copy today.
Have a brilliant weekend everyone. See you next week, I've got some great things to share with you then.
