Passionate About Pattern

A friend of mine forwarded me the link to this home thinking I'd like it, and she was right, I LOVE it (thanks Emma). Irene Neuwirth designs jewellery which is worn by Hollywood's royalty, and her luxe Bohemian style has been translated into her Venice Beach home.

A fellow lover of colour and pattern Irene finds it hard to go plain. I can relate to this being instantly drawn to pattern myself. She makes it work in her home by keeping the background simple - white walls and floors allow the furniture and artwork to bring the character.

The gorgeous home is filled with art and photographs, all of it personal and meaningful. Irene has mastered the picture wall by placing a piece in the centre and building out from there, adding new art as she collects it.

She has a built-in ability to mix patterns - keeping the colour palette consistent is key. "It's all about having a mixture that makes sense and stays balanced", she comments.

Rearranging her shelves on a regular basis is a labour of love. I do this too, and highly recommend this to keep your home looking and feeling fresh.

The bedhead alcove with it's built-in shelving is a clever idea. The colour palette is quieter in the bedroom to create a calm experience. As you can imagine, Irene's jewelley collection is exquisite.

A clothes rack in the corner holds the clothes that don't fit in the wardrobe. You can see her fashion sense definitely mirrors her interior style. Would you have thought to mix leopard print with the bright Moroccan rag rug? It looks fantastic, and note how they're balanced by the simplicity of the desk and lamp. If you love this eclectic home as much as I do, click here to read more about it.

Saben Style

Here in the Bibby + Brady office we are huge Saben fans with Dael & I owning half a dozen of their gorgeous bags between us. We love the fact that there is a bag for every occasion and each one has it's own distinct personality. To illustrate that we've chosen several bags from Saben's latest collection to tempt you share with you.

Let's start with the Briefcase. Smart, serious, and extremely organised, she means business and won't let you down. Made from luxe leather in taupe or black, she'll easily carry your laptop, phone, and latest reading material. Carry her by the grab handle or over your shoulder for a hands-free option.

Styling by Bibby + Brady :: magazine, notebook, pen, phone & laptop all stylist's own
(glasses borrowed from Anna) :: marble laptop cover from Uniqfind

Regan is a multi-functional, super-sized gal. She can take you from the airport to the gym, and down to the park with the kids, all in great style. Don't let her casual air fool you, she is super luxurious, hard wearing and beautiful quality, with multiple pockets for storage and two handles for easy carrying. Available in black, tan, or navy, Regan will quickly become your best friend and you'll wonder how you ever survived without her!

Styling by Bibby + Brady :: baby booties, lip balm, & Converse sneakers from Baz*ar The Empire :: BKR water bottle from Paper Plane :: necklace from Bibby + Brady :: phone, mints & sunglasses all stylist's own

Dash is like many of us these days - a woman on the move, with places to go and people to see. She's professional and glamorous, but looks equally at home in more casual surroundings. Wherever she goes, Dash will turn heads. She likes to be noticed which is why she sports her high shine gold hardware to contrast her black or pine leather.

Styling by Bibby + Brady :: necklace from Bibby + Brady :: Hydra-Repair Day Cream & sunglasses
from Baz*ar The Empire :: phone, protein bar, mints & take-away coffee cup all stylist's own

Many of you will know Tilly, but have you met her big sister, Tulip, yet?! Tulip is a little bit older and wiser than Tilly and has a detachable shoulder strap to prove it, but she loves a good girls' night out as much as her little sis. With five compartments and an inner zip pocket she is happy to hold on to your lippie, perfume, phone, and credit card, and will even look after your iPad mini too.

Styling by Bibby + Brady :: nail polish & heels from Baz*ar The Empire :: bracelet, 
champagne glass, phone, perfume & lipgloss all stylist's own

Just like "Sex and the City" all the girls are different, but you probably need all of them in your life. You can never have too many girlfriends so make sure you meet them all on the Saben website. There are even a few boys to check out - I love Kingsley, but Monty is very handsome too!

My Kitchen | Part 3 - Tiles

If you look at these pics (below) it may not look like we've had much progress in our kitchen reno, but in fact we have. You can see the from these earlier posts that all of the old kitchen cabinetry has now gone. I no longer have an oven, a dishwasher, or a washing machine. I'm actually coping OK without an oven, as we have set up a mini kitchen in the living room with a microwave, kettle, toaster, slow cooker, and electric frying pan, and the BBQ is outside. But the loss of the washing machine with our family of five has hit me the hardest. Thank goodness for my Mum and Dad around the corner!

Last week our electrician, Davyd Auckram - Bay Cities Electrical, and our plumber, John - John Riggs Plumbing, were busy doing their part. They're both great guys, and I can highly recommend them - email me if you want their contact details. We also had our hot water cylinder removed and an infinity gas water heater installed, which did mean no hot water for a day - eek!

Today the builder, Glynn Pritchard - GCP Construction Ltd, has started, which is exciting because it means we should have walls again soon. Next comes the floor sanding, and all the while our kitchen is being built by the talented guys, Rick Martin and his righthand man Ben, at Sunshine Joinery.

In my last post I was looking into our option for benchtops, and I can report back that we have chosen an engineered stone with a marble look. Now it's the tiles for our splash back that I'm trying to decide on. My first choice was a small marble hexagon tile, and I still love these, but unfortunately they may be outside of our budget.

I really love these cube tiles, but they're from an Australian company, which means shipping complicates matters.

These cube tiles from Tile Space are pretty gorgeous, but they only come in gloss and I was thinking of going matt. They looked great in Alex and Corban's Block kitchen though, so I haven't ruled them out yet.

There is a similar tile found at Tile Space which does come in a matt white, called Rhombus. It featured last week on the TV programme Our First Home, but you can see it's a lot bigger, and possibly too big for our kitchen splash back.

Perhaps this matt white hexagon tile is the one, it is, after all, the same shape as my first choice only a little bigger. If you're wondering why I'm not considering the good old subway tile, our cabinetry features wood panels (vertical lines), so I want to introduce a more contrasting shape in the tiles.

Here's another hexagonal option from Porteous Tiles which looks pretty fab in pink and red. Hmmm... what do you think?

I talk about this as our "kitchen reno", but really we're tackling the kitchen, dining room, and laundry all at once. It's pretty huge and explains why we're living in a mad house at the moment. Spare a thought for me with my dining table in our living room, our console table holding the mini make-shift kitchen, the pantry in the hall, the dishes in the bathroom sink, and now with the arrival of Cyclone Pam, most of our outdoor furniture has also been crammed inside.  Good things are a-coming (I keep telling myself!).