Design Boards | Bibby + Brady

I remember when I used to blog five days a week. Heck, when I first started this blog I used to post seven days a week! A blog is a huge commitment and takes hours and hours of work and planning. I love blogging, but as my interior design business, Bibby + Brady, has grown, the amount of time I've had to dedicate to blogging has diminished.

I thought you guys might like to see just a tiny bit of what I've been doing that has left me less time to write posts. One of the things we do at Bibby + Brady is to create design concept boards for our clients that are tailor made for their wants, needs, and budget. We spend a lot of time finding out what they are hoping to achieve, who will use the space and what it will be used for. We include paint colours, fabric for curtains, blinds, and cushions, flooring, furniture, wallpaper, art, accessories, as well as inspirational imagery. Other than the inspirational images, we can supply everything we put on our boards, and pass on discounts wherever possible.

We love working on the exteriors of homes as well as the interiors. It's great to make an impression right from the start.

These are just a few of our boards, and I've chosen ones that give a bit of a cross section of our work.

If you would like to hire Bibby + Brady to help with your home or workplace, don't hesitate to get in touch. Dael and I work with clients from all around New Zealand with our e-design service, as well as local Hawke's Bay clients. We can help you with jobs as small as making a roman blind for your bedroom, and as big as designing every room in your house. Our aim is to create beautiful, unique spaces that reflect their owners.

Simple Interior Design Tips

When we're working with our Bibby + Brady interior clients, there are some basic tips and tricks that we use again and again. It seems many Kiwis own black leather sofas. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but they can dominate a room with their heaviness. If that is the case, cushions and throws are your best friend.

Layering throws, sheepskins and cushions will help to soften your dark sofa, as well as adding great texture.

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If there was one item of furniture I would recommend you invest in and don't scrimp on, it's your sofa (and your bed). You spend a lot of time on it, so you want it to be comfy, and you want it to last. With a more expensive sofa you're paying for quality - instead of foam cushions, which will wear out more quickly, you get feather and down cushions. A cheap sofa may have a plywood frame stapled together that just won't last as long as one made from hardwood and held together with glue and dowels, or tongue-and-groove joints. Effectively you will have to replace a cheap sofa a lot quicker than a quality sofa, so my argument is that in the end you're saving money.

We often look to use a light neutral coloured sofa in our interiors. If you do invest in a quality sofa, a neutral colour will not date and works with so many different looks. A new selection of cushions will transform it when you're ready for a change.

But, of course, we do love our colour at Bibby + Brady. This stunning soft pink sofa with wooden buttons is a winner. It's still quite a neutral tone, adding lovely warmth, and would work in a quiet Scandi room just as well as a more colourful space. It's also available in grey if you prefer.

If you do want to be a bit more dramatic and sophisticated, you can't go past this divine blue velvet sofa with elegant brass legs. It's a darker colour, but the velvet fabric means it's softer than leather. All four of these sofas are available to purchase through us at Bibby + Brady, contact me for more details.

Another of our favourite tips is to take your curtains right up to the ceiling. It will create the illusion of height, and will add instant sophistication.

Often people will hang their curtains just above the window, but you can see from the pic below what a difference it can make hanging them as high as possible.  It's an optical illusion, the window on the right looks bigger when in fact they are both the same size. As well as the height, make sure your tracks are wide enough so that when you pull the curtains back you're getting maximum light. This also makes your window look larger, and we all love natural light in our homes.

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My final tip for this post has to be about vignettes - my favourite thing in the home. A good vignette will tell a story, as well as make a room look beautifully styled, lived in and loved. The most basic thing to know when you're creating a vignette is to use different heights, shapes and textures.

Lamps, flowers and foliage are great for adding height to your vignette. Books are brilliant for grounding smaller objects. As well as books and vases, use more unusual or quirky pieces to express your personality - a camera, a spool of cotton... whatever makes you happy.

Don't just layer from the base upwards, you should also layer from front to back to add depth. Artwork hung or propped up on the wall behind is the best way to do this. Nature always adds amazing life and texture to a display. Sometimes the most beautiful is the most simple, like some branches in a jar.

Remember the space underneath. If it's a console table you can place a basket or a small stool below it. Some side tables have a lower shelf great for a stack of books topped with a bowl or dish. I love the repetition of orange in this vignette (below), it draws your eye up and down over the entire scene.

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These are just three tips to help create a stylish home, there are many more. If you want help with your home or workspace, we're here for you. You can send us photos of the area/s you want our advice and we can put together individual tips and tricks especially for you. Of course we can also help you source and purchase the perfect pieces for your home too, be it furniture, fabric, art or homewares. Drop us a line, we'd love to hear from you.

Nina Dobrev's Home Tour

Definitely the coolest home I've come across on the net this year is the California bungalow belonging to Nina Dobrev. I have a hard time putting a label on my interior style, and I don't necessarily think that we should have to label everything. But if I did, "relaxed-boho-glam" would be an apt description, and I think Nina has the same aesthetic.

After following Mat Sanders (Consort Design and creative director for Domaine Home) on Instagram for some time, Nina knew and loved his style. He, along with partner Brandon Quattrone, worked with Nina to help transform the Spanish-style, four bedroom house into the glamorous, laid back home you see here.

Mat used the strong contrast of black and white throughout the home and softened it with warm tones such as natural wood, brass and gold.

Artwork, books and accessories collected by Nina over the years help bring through her personality and tell a beautiful story about who lives here.

A powder blue kitchen is a bold choice, and it works so well with the brass fittings and black and white tiles. They've even included an all-time favourite of mine - the breakfast nook - yay! The tiled herringbone floor is gorgeous.

Nina has just enough layers to create a warm, comfy and interesting home without being OTT. Beautiful natural materials and texture for the relaxed, cosy vibe, and a touch of glam in the artwork and accessories.

Usually a peach bathroom is not so favourable with me (I've seen too many bad ones left over from the eighties), but teamed with chic panelling and simple black and white styling, Nina's is super cute.

Finish the tour off with a gorgeous blue walled pool area complete with festoon lights and a Buddha head - yes, I totally love Nina Dobrev's new digs! Check out more at MyDomaine.

Photos by Chris Patey

Messervy House For Sale

Matt and Kate Arnold discovered the Messervy House whilst on a walk down a quiet cul-de-sac in their hometown of Christchurch. After talking to it's owner, they learnt that it had been designed for her family in 1964 by architect Allan Mitchener, and she'd lived happily in it ever since. Matt and Kate kept in touch with Biddy Messervy, and when the time came for her to move out, they bought the house off her.

As only the second owners, Matt and Kate spent last year restoring Messervy House back to her former glory. They painted inside and out in the original colours, replaced the cork flooring and cracked windows, had new linen curtains made, re-wallpapered, and replaced the kitchen benchtop. Everything was carried out with the intention of maintaining the original design of the house, and using the original materials where possible.

Now that she's finished, Messervy House is on the market, and it's very important to Matt and Kate that her new owners are design enthusiasts who will fully appreciate her. Not only the highly imaginative design, but also the effort that has gone into her restoration. The house has a stream at the back with a footbridge connecting to Ilam fields and gardens, and it's a nice walk across the park to the University of Canterbury.

For more information about the house and how you can view and/or buy it, click here. I asked Matt a few questions about the restoration process, read on for his answers.

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?
Finding cork tiles. We hit a national shortage, nobody had them. Kate called almost every Bunnings in New Zealand and sniffed out anybody who had cork tiles stashed away. We scrounged together just enough by buying them in small packets from all over the country. We almost went down the route of parquet floors, but finally got the cork.

Tell me more about the wallpaper you used?
The house originally had wallpaper, which is slightly unusual for a modernist house, but it seemed to work. The old wallpaper was done for, it was torn, faded and stained, but finding a replacement was surprisingly difficult. Have you ever shopped for wallpaper? It's bewildering. We finally settled on a seagrass, but at the last minute we spotted the green arches designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune (architects we really admire) and we were away.

Do you have any advice to help people find the right architect or draftsman for their project?
Go straight to Michael O'Sullivan.

You've done such a fantastic job with this home, will you be taking on another restoration or renovation in the future?
I think we will. There are lots of these wonderful little houses in and around Christchurch designed in the 50s and 60s that are perhaps a little bit under-appreciated. And when they're made of concrete, like this one, they don't rot or leak, and all you need is some white paint and enthusiasm. I think with these types of places, the less you do the better, really.

photography: Sam Hartnett

I wish you luck Matt and Kate, and to all my readers... if you are interested in buying this beautiful home, or know someone who might be, get cracking! I have a feeling it may be snapped up quickly.