Holiday feelings...

Coming up to the end of the year my mind can't help but drift towards Christmas, New Year celebrations and impending holidays. With the warmer weather already here, I can't help but feel like there is a part of me already on holidays - which got me thinking to how you can make that feeling last after you return from a trip.

Image from Ankyra Home

A couple of years ago my husband and I went to Europe and fell in love with Greece and Turkey. We brought back far too many hand painted ceramics as we just loved the memories we knew they would give us for years to come. Taking this idea one step further, I love the idea of having those memories front and centre by incorporating the motifs and colours into a kitchen splashback or mural - whether your home is modern or more traditional.

Image House to Home

Image via Pinterest

Image via Modenus

50 Beautiful Rooms

Australian Home Beautiful October 2012

Yay! Australian Home Beautiful October 2012 issue features one of my projects in its '50 Beautiful Rooms' feature. It's room number 40 (p.60) and was completed while I was working at Austin Design Associates. I really loved working on that project as I felt a real rapport with the clients and felt their tastes and lifestyle were in line with my own - which always makes for a great result!

Australian Home Beautiful October 2012 p.60

Haymes 2013 Colour Forecast

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to the Haymes 2013 Colour Forecast Launch. Its always an interesting and inspiring evening and I have been to the last four or so. This year the guest speaker was Debbie Ryan from McBride Charles Ryan who is a great presenter. She is effervescent about her love of colour in architecture, interior design and life in general.

Haymes forecasted four themes for 2013:
U Emerge - Autumnal & Metallic Shades
The Way U Were - Chalky Pastels
U R Artiste - Brights
U in the Universe - Blues

They also released 12 new colours - the 'Next Generation' palette:

Haymes Next Generation Colours 2013

It was interesting to see blues feature heavily in the 'Universe' forecast. Blues have typically been banished to the realms of healthcare and educational interiors for the past decade or two. My favourite colours from the evening were Autumn Leaf, Diversity, Spruce Grove, Copen Blue, Amazon, Copper, Enigma, Patina & Intuition.

One of the things I love about Haymes is that they truly are an Australian company and a family company. I look forward to specifying some of the new colours on up and coming projects!

new Dwell

The latest issue of Dwell has been sitting unopened on my coffee table for a week - I have been too busy to read it!! Looks like a great issue too. Will have to save it up for the weekend now...

Coloured Taps!

Vola from DeDeCe

 Coloured tap ware is HUGE at the moment. Everyone from Ikea to Vola are making a range in black, white and a multitude of colours in between. A powder room or kids bathroom is a great opportunity to add a splash of colour with the tap ware - particularly if you are keeping the cabinetry & tiling very 'neutral'.

Vola from DeDeCe

My favourite taps! - Astra Walker 'Icon'

Astra Walker 'Icon' in Matt Black (sooo good!)

Zuchetti 'Isy' Wall Taps in Glossy Red

Zuchetti 'Isy' in understated White

Reece Nobili Mixers

Ikea 'Glittran' Traditional Mixer in Matt Black

Ikea 'Ringskar' Kitchen Mixer in Glossy Black (or White)

And its not just the bright block colours that rate a mention; companies like Astra Walker & Gessi are releasing their tap ware ranges in delicious finishes like Copper, Brown Bronze, Iron Bronze, Brushed Platinum and even Gold...

Astra Walker 'Metropolis' in Copper (swoon!)

Astra Walker 'Metropolis' in Iron Bronze

Gessi 'Mimi' in Gold

Mutina Azulej by Patricia Urquiola

Pretty darn excited about the upcoming release of Mutina's 'Azulej' tile range designed by Spanish wunderkind Patricia Urquiola. It's the fourth collection Urquiola has released with Mutina and definitely the boldest. I love the patchwork/mosaic qualities that the patterned tiles have, not to mention the great colour combinations. Teal anyone..?

 

 The range will be available in Melbourne at Urban Edge Ceramics later this year.

Kitchen Before & After

I was thrilled to hear from some clients in Canberra recently who have completed their kitchen & library renovation. M&A sent through some great 'After' photos and while I work on my elusive website, I thought it would be a great opportunity to post the happy snaps here.

BEFORE - Tired Kitchen

BEFORE - Kitchen Chimney & Canberra Cooker

BEFORE - Dining Room

BEFORE - Existing Wall Unit

The clients came to me wanting a kitchen renovation and rather than just re-fit the existing kitchen layout, I analyzed the layout of the internal rooms and how the clients use these spaces. They had a makeshift study tucked away in a third bedroom and a small dining room that often got used for the laptop of an evening. The kitchen was a separate room which felt disconnected from the living spaces and they also had a living room with an awkward unused section at the rear. It became clear that we needed to open the kitchen up and re-purpose some of these areas. We removed the original chimney and Canberra Cooker and opened up the adjacent wall by creating a sort of island bench framed by pantry & appliance cupboard. We also created a study/library space where the dining room once was - a space for the computer, lots of book storage and a comfy chair to curl up and read in the sun without feeling disconnected from the rest of the house. The awkward space behind the family room furniture became the new meals area. We used a restrained palette of marble, dark grey & white to offset the timber floorboards. We also gave the existing wall unit a lick of dark grey paint to give it a new lease of life.
 

AFTER - View through new opening from dining room to new Kitchen

AFTER - New Appliance cupboard and re-rejuvenated wall unit

AFTER - New Library & Study area