I'm back

After a month long sejour from blogland, I'm back.  I hadn't really intended on going off the air so to speak and don't really have a good excuse either. Perhaps I wasn't feeling very inspired or maybe I've been a bit lazy in the evenings after work.  Anyways, to settle me back into the blogging way, here's three things that are currently delighting me.

1. Fresh strawberries from our garden each morning on my muesli and yoghurt

2. The 3-d image of our future extension (more on this soon!)

3. My swarovski Havaianas (who can resist a touch of bling?)

So here's what's going down...

... in the life of Stylish Irish.

I bought a cover for my Ipad.  It's pretty simple, you might even say low-key...

...and only cost 25 bucks from Typo.  I might still indulge in the Marc Jacobs one I blogged about before  but in the meantime, I'm pretty happy with this.

So, I've also come over all domestic goddess lately.

We had some beetroot from the vege patch that needed using up, so I made some Cous Cous with Roasted Vegetables at the weekend.

 

Of course I didn't think to take any pics of the finished product but it did look more or less like this (the recipe is courtesy of Kiwi cooking and lifestyle star Annbel Langbein).

Finally, look at this gorgeous book that arrived for me earlier today:

It's a late birthday gift from my honey and I love it.  Take a sneak peek inside:

Almost as good as the real thing... better in a way because I don't think I'll ever own more than 200 different hermes scarves!!

Now I'm, thinking I might need to buy a new coffee table to display my new pretty book on...

Laters!

Upstairs at the dream house

So previously on Stylish Irish I was 'fantasy decorating' my dream house that's currently on the market back in Ireland.  I'd managed to work my way through main rooms downstairs, so now it's time to move on to the first floor.

Wowee!  Not only 5 bedrooms to decorate but 5, yes 5 bathrooms AND a generously sized dressing room!!!  Shall we start with the Master suite?  Here's what I'm thinking...

Click for a closer look

I've looked to Suzanne Kasler again for inspiration here.  I'm loving lattice print right now and this neutral colour scheme is restful while also being sophosticated. 

via Suzanne Kasler

It's the interiors equivalent of a classic camel coat - luxurious and elegant without being showy.

That's my idea of style perfection.

Decorating my dream house

A while ago I blogged about my dream house back in the home country.  Check it out here.  Then the other day I was reading Blue Fruit's blog (a current favourite of mine) and I was totally inspired by Virginia's 'Rescue me Please' post.  Basically, she imagined buying a diamond in the rough Art Deco house currently on the market and imbuing it once again "with dignity and drama".  Well it occurred to me that I should also embark on a fantasy redecoration project and what better subject than my dream house.

There's quite alot of floor area to play with here so let's chunk this down and focus first on the ground floor.

What's our vision?  I'm thinking classic with a contemporary twist.  As a jumping off point, I thought of this photograph by Mario Testino:

If you look carefully at the picture of the stairs in the 'before' photos, you'll see there's already a black and white tiled floor to work with in the main hall. 

I like the idea of mixing the classic checkerboard floor with a more contemporary approach.  For example, the hallway below a la Suzanne Kasler is classic but contemporary in its simplicity and lightness.  I love how fresh and unstuffy it looks.  And bye bye Mr Red Carpet on the stairs (what were they thinking)!!



The room below is again by Ms Kasler.  I'm a sucker for black and white and I think extending the colour scheme from the formal entrance to the drawing room provides continuity.

You gotta admit, it's a step up from the current arrangement.  For some reason, terracotta is a big hit in Irish interiors (yuck!).  At least the carpet is neutral but I wonder whether original timber floors lurk beneath...

Next, let's step into the dining room.  I'm thinking of a scheme somewhere in between the following two looks, one of which featured in a recent edition of Lonny and the other is by Kelly Hoppen.

via Lonny 

Once again, it's about striking the right balance between classic and contemporary.

Now, what about the kitchen? What I ask is that navy stripe about?

How about something a little more like this...

via Lonny

and this...

via decorpad

It's fantastic that with such a large space, there's ample room for both a generous kitchen and a less formal dining area.

Every home needs a comfy living area for some serious relaxing, coach potato-ing even!  So here's what I'm thinking for the sitting room that's directly off the kitchen:

Winters are cold these times in Ireland and it's hard to beat an open fire as a focal point.
And finally, the study:

Soon to follow is the upstairs.  There are still five bedrooms, numerous bathrooms and a dressing room to go so the fantasy decorating is far from complete!

Back in the (blogging) saddle!

Wow - it's well time I got back into the blogging saddle.  We're back in NZ after our month away and I guess we're gradually getting back to 'normality'.  To be honest, at times it felt more like a tour of duty than a holiday but really, it was wonderful to meet up with so many of those nearest and dearest to us.

Here's a small selection of photos that capture some of our experiences in Hong Kong, Ireland, Copenhagen and San Francisco.

View from Hutong restaurant, 1 Peking Road, Kowloon

Looking at cattle in Co. Mayo, Ireland

LOTS of bikes in Copenhagen

Elephant parade on the streets of Copenhagen

Cycling through Yosemite National Park in California

We stayed in a little gem of a hotel in Kowloon called the Luxe Manor where the design was incredibly cool (and the rates not too excessive!).

The Luxe Manor

One of my favourite design features in our room was this cute bedside lamp:

Isn't it sweet?

Another design discovery for me on this trip was the Copenhagen department store Illums Bollighus.  This shop is four floors full of interior delights, many of which are, as you might expect, Danish designs.  Definitely worth a browse through their website.  I would spend sooo much money here if I lived in Copenhagen...

My Dream House

As a kid, every time we drove by this house I dreamed that one day I would own it.

via sherryfitz.ie

It's currently on the market, which is really rather distressing as I'm not ready to buy it yet!!!  Even if I had the $$$ (and it is a relative steal given the very distressed Irish property market), there's the issue of me and 'himself' currently living on the other side of the planet! Maybe if I cross my fingers really tightly nobody else will buy it for the next, oh let's say, decade until we can!!!

Look at what it has to offer:

Features

Imposing period detached residence

5 bedrooms

4 reception rooms

8.5 acres

Stables, arena and detached coach house

Magnificent original features

11'5 high ceilings

That is a lot of rooms to decorate!!  And redecorate I would because the current decor isn't quite to my taste:

And after the house itself was redecorated there's then scope to go and renovate one of the out buildings into a studio or guest house...

What do you other bloggers out there think?  Is there a house (perhaps from your childhood like me) that you dream of one day owning?