New online concept store

Anna Spiro's new online concept store is an inspiration.  I love the way you can shop the vignette.  Check it out here.

Last week's round up (a day late but better than never!)

via Deliciously Organized

First off, isn't this a great picture? It comes from Deliciously Organized who last week shared with us her recipes (is that the right word?) for homemade body scrubs.  Here they are:

SALT SCRUB:

1/2 cup of organic sea salt
1/3 cup of organic raw sugar or 1/3 cup of organic cane sugar {tip: cane sugar is softer than the raw}

1/2 cup of room temperature coconut oil {best when it has a liquid consistency}

30 drops of essential oil 

OR

SUGAR SCRUB:

1/2 cup of organic raw sugar or 1/2 cup of organic cane sugar {tip: cane sugar is softer than the raw}
1/3 cup of organic sea salt

1/2 cup of coconut oil {best when it has a liquid consistency}

30 drops of essential oil 

Add ingredients in order listed above, topping it off with coconut oil {add more coconut oil if you like it less dry}. Then, add essential oil and stir with a butter knife.

I definitely intend on trying at least one of these out.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Next up is Decor is like Butter's post where she showed us how the latest Oscar de La Renta catwalk looks have inspired her ideas for the interior of her new pad (best of luck with the move Anastacia !).  I think this is really creative - great post!  see the rest of the photos here.

And finally from my picks of last week's posts comes So Haute's feature on Amber Lewis' LA home.  I was particularly inspired by her blown up sky photos as shown in below.  Apparently, Amber snapped the photos from the car while on a drive with her hubby and then put the enlarged prints in Ikea frames.  To see the rest of Amber's home tour (well worth the visit) click here.

Via So Haute

Have a great week!

Spoilt!

My new bracelet, a beautiful present from 'himself', is designed by a Kiwi, Boh Runga.  You may already have heard of her sister Bic who is a singer, as is Boh along with being a talented jewellery designer.  You can check out her range of jewellery here (there's also an online shop).  This particular bracelet is from Boh's Messenger Stories range, which is inspired by the feathers of native NZ birds.  I'm thrilled with mine.

More yellow!

Think bananas. Think melted butter dripping down corn on the cob. Think daffodils, baby ducklings and The Beatles' yellow submarine!  Now put on your ruby red slippers and join me in another journey down the yellow brick road.

Not so mellow

Overuse of the colour yellow in Irish home decoration had I must admit put me off the colour somewhat. In particular, it seemed like every kitchen you went into was painted a 'sunny' yellow. In the many new homes that were built during the boom, yellow also seemed to have become the developers' alternative to cream. I began to think of it as insipid and predictable. A little bit of distance (well actually a lot of distance - NZ is very far away!) has opened me up to giving yellow another chance. Then I saw the first pic below and a newfound love for yellow began to blossom. Yellow - it doesn't have to be mellow!

Spot the Orla Kiely cushions and mug in the above pic.  I'm also loving that retro phone.



Am I cheating a little here?  These walls are verging on mustard.  Love the combination with the pale grey.



These things I've seen... (Introducing my new "Last Week's Round Up" weekly post)

How was your weekend?  Mine was, I must admit, a little lazy... though I did plant some strawberry plants, make beetroot risotto with fresh beetroot from the garden and go to see "Beginners" at the NZ Film Festival so not a complete write off!

Anyway, I've had it on my mind to start a new weekly post.  Each weekend, I thought I'd share my pick of the best posts for the previous week from blogs I follow.  Here's my first go at this.

First up is decorislikebutter's post featuring Mario Testino's very glamorous shots of SJP and family at home.  Here are my favourites:

I just love the retro vibe of these photos and that spotty evening gown is amazing.

Chantal at Beau Lifestyle shared with us this cute idea of framing wedding cake butterfly decorations as art (this idea originally came from a blog called kiki's list).  This is one I might just have to try myself.

Centsational Girl featured yet another inspirational furniture revamp project.  This time it was a little faux bamboo chest of drawers that she repainted in a peacock blue colour.  Isn't it great?

I love how she provides step by step instructions and makes recommendations on the best materials and products to use.

Finally, luxeandlillies did a couple of posts this week featuring pictures from the latest Lonny including this mock croc papered bathroom which had also caught my eye.

Here are some other images from the latest Lonny that I bookmarked:

That's it for now.  Looking forward to some more wonderful inspiration next week!

Blooming lovely

I'm feeling a bit under the weather (speaking of which, I thought our house was going to get blown away last night!) so today, just a few snaps of the pretty blooms currently on my bedside table.

I've done it - My Gallery Wall

What was holding me back?  Turns out I had all the pictures I needed to get me started on my very own gallery wall in our hallway.

The plan is to add to it bit by bit with some more framed photos in a combination of dark wood and white coloured frames.

Amazing what some courage, a hammer and some nails will do!! : )

A few shots of my hallway

I'm really slow to post pictures of my house because it is such a work in progress (heck, there's a whole big extension as big as the current house planned!).  Inspired however by the vignettes I recently posted and feeling the need to play with the new Nikon D3100 we bought in Hong Kong, here are a few shots of our hallway including some vignettes of my very own making!  Hope you like.

The future extension will start where the hall currently ends meaning the existing kitchen/dining area will be demolished.  See here for the concept plans.

I'm a Leo and love this little lion I found in Trade Aid in Ponsonby Road near where we live in Auckland.  The Tivoli Audio radio was a Christmas gift last from me to 'himself'.

When we moved into the house, the original villa front door had been stripped back to the wood.  With complete disregard for someone else's hard work, I decided to paint it again in black.  I'm a big fan of the classic black and white colour combo.  I store all our reusable, cloth shopping bags in the basket by the front door so we don't forget to take them with us on trips to the supermarket.

We store shoes (and a couple of hats) on this little unit by the front door.  I found it on Trade Me (NZ"s answer to EBay).  It came in bare pine so I painted it white.  I toyed with the idea of going for a bold colour but chickened out in the end.  On top I keep some plastic trays, one for each of us to drop our keys, wallets etc. in.  There's also some room on top for whatever Orla Kiely bag I have on the go.

I still have lots to do in our hallway - it needs a lamp, the ceiling light fitting we bought ages ago still hasn't been put up, I think it might need a rug (black and white stripes?) and I'm thinking of doing a gallery wall on one of the currently bare walls.  Hope you've enjoyed the little glimpses of where I've gotten to though.