Inspiration: Rita Konig home loving

I break out into a smile as I agree heartily with this statement:
There are few things more pleasurable than shopping, but there is also enormous joy to be had from repairing and revitalising.



This statement is by Rita Konig, daughter of wallpaper and fabric genious Nina Campbell, former Domino writer and author of Domestic Bliss: Simple Ways to Add Style to Your Life. She has a home which inspires me. Especially this corner:

Via La La Lovely

Here's some more eye candy from Rita's lovely home:


Tip from Rita: soft wallpaper makes a room bigger than it is.







Read about and from Rita here:
Very good article:Make do and Mend by Telegraph UK
My Homeby The Independent, UK
Tips from Rita Konig on {frolic!}
Interview profile by all the best

Inspiration: Elle Decoration UK Oct 2008

You know you have these whispers of ideas in your head for ages and ages... and then you flip to a page in a magazine and you see that someone else has gone and done it?!

Elle Decoration UK Oct 2008 has TWO of this images.

One:

I've wanted a set of those flying wall ducks for myself for a while now but they are quite dear on eBay... esp the good ones. Seems a pity to then spraypaint them! But I'm going to get myself a set that isn't so "good"... that I can coat with gleaming paint.

A good one on eBay Australia

Two:
We have a bar area which we have turned into our coffee bar. I've been wanting to start a Holmegaard collection to line on the back of this area which is mirrored.



Just like this one in Elle Decoration UK:


Or like this one I've had on my inspiration-board for nearly 2 years, from O At Home, 2004, featuring Muffy Nixon's home.


What have you read lately that inspires you?

London Home: I love so bad!

Daisy Pink Cupcake posted shots of an AWESOME London home.
Man, I wish I were given that freedom around here :)







Hop over to her blog to see more shots!

Absolutely beautiful at Absolutely Beautiful Things!

Anna Spiro, fellow Australian design blogger behind the wildly successful blog Absolutely Beautiful Things, is an incredibly inspirational interior designer and she's recently posted her newly renovated, recently bought, home in Brisbane. It's right down my design style... with more money, of course! :)

I love it so much!

Sherrill Canet Interiors

My previous post featured a green living room by Sherrill Canet Interiors. I clicked over to her site and I was drooling by the end of it. (Isn't it fantastic when interior designers are so confident of their work that the photos displayed are so large that we can really look at detail??)

New York designer Sherrill Canet has created such gorgeously elegant but sumptious rooms for her clients... man oh man. I especially love the mix of new and antiques, something that I myself strive for (not similar level of antiques, of course!!!!).

Style test: mydeco

Mydeco has a fun style tester that I took tonight. Apparently I am a

YUMMY MUMMY
You're the intuitive home-maker, par excellence - in fact, you've probably dreamed of having a family home for as long as you can remember. The look is quintessentially feminine: cool, pretty colours; layered patterns and textures; and flawless attention to every little detail. You have a true 'home', full of love, laughter and warmth - and often the reassuring aroma of home-baked goodies.

Living Room
You love to indulge the senses, to pamper and prettify... expressed in myriad styles. Nonetheless, there are some constants: curvaceous sofas and generously comfortable upholstery, and an eye that misses nothing... The clean lines and pure proportions of classically inspired accessories -- from lamps to picture frames -- will lend the room a more sophisticated and urban look, without diluting its essential prettiness. Vibrant, jewel-like colours command attention while eclectic black and white make for a bold, yet chic statement. Curled up on the sofa with a good book, your living room's the perfect place for some "me-time".

Bedroom
Your bedroom has a mix'n'match feel. You have a magpie approach to interior design in the bedroom, using vibrant colours to make a bold statement.

Conclusion
You lavish time attention and -- most importantly -- love on both family and home.

Well. I did make Jamie Oliver's meringue chocolate and hazelnut dream... course, I didn't have the right ingredients for anything! So I'll have to give it a second go another day.

I also apparently have a magpie approach to interior design, which is accurate. (I call it eclectic.)

Take the test for yourself... and let me know what you come up as!

Woah: Felice Varini & Georges Rousse!

I was like-wise blown away by this:



As a graphic designer, it would be easy-peasy to put a opaque red square on a top layer of an image of a room. Takes all of 5 seconds.

But this is PAINT. This is some meticulous, precise and some kind of OCD type design and paint job. How surreal!

According to Orange Beautiful, back in 2007, there was an exhibition at Musée des Beaux-Arts in Arras, France which featured some experiments-in-perspective. Felice Varini and Georges Rousse created the above masterpiece.



I mean, I could see how this could have been achieved... projector, stencil, ladders, cramped limbs and a pencil. But to actually do it to SUCH A LONG SPACE....



I am blown away. Good Friday night jaw-dropper. Thanks Orange Beautiful!

Glass wall coverings

Remember seeing one of my favourite homes in Melbourne? I've been attracted to the pink wall in the kitchen and here I've found a company in UK that has some great examples of glass wall coverings. Opticolour custom fits your kitchen and bathroom with custom-coloured slashbacks and walls.


Kitchen splashback in rose coloured glass, with the undercabinet lighting becomes almost ethereal with the delicate crystal chandelier and in-cabinet lighting with the darker cranberry pieces.

Now I know what to tell my architect/builder for our first home :)

An Affair with a House

Has anyone got this book by Bunny Williams?

Is it any good for the average about-to-be-homeowner-who-might-consider-a-fixer-upper??

Please let me know!

Flickr Envy

I found this set of photos of Flickr user hibbardjennifer's home and I am STUNNED. Jennifer lives in Arizona in a Charles Shreiber home... and obviously enjoys a spectacular kind of home!

Chocolate & pink

The room we spend most time in is the living/dining space in our small rented townhouse. This is the hub. The kitchen is not part of this space. It's a long rectangular room with one double folding door as an entrance. This is where I spend my day... daydreaming :)

If we bought this townhouse, I'd be painting this entire space chocolate brown, painting the trim, window frames and ceiling a brilliant white and to the far wall, I'd be installing a pink glazed... effect.

Kinda like the one found in this South Yarra, Melbourne beauty, blogged by All Things Bright and Beautiful.




(And ditching the awful lights fittings.)

And then, after a month, I'd be inspired by yellow and white. *sigh* My poor husband.

Luxury living in Toorak

Man some people live big... and so wow... I love the... way it's been decorated. Leaves you gasping at the amount of space and detail...

6 bedroom gorgeous Marcus Martin house in Toorak