“Please contact me if you would like a consultation or further information about any of the products you see here at Decorum.”Archive for September 2009
Worst Dressed Wednesdays
Welcome to another post where we look at a property that has a “different” colour scheme.
This house has recently been repainted. It is a Sydney red brick Californian Bungalow and therefore there is not a great deal of painted surfaces. The gable, gutters and batons on the gable as well as the window frames and fences are about it. In my opinion the blue is too high chroma (too bright) and too clean to work harmoniously with the red brick.
Blue is the most popular colour in the universe and represents constancy and truth. If I had been asked to choose a blue for this house I would have knocked it back a bit, greyed it up, taken the red bricks as my lead and chosen a shade that would work with reddy, brown rather than zing away from it.
Something like
Dulux Blue Fin
That would give a softer look alongside
and
Dulux White Watsonia
This mistake is made often, when combining colours on houses. Take the colour that is predominant and hang everything else off that bearing in mind the chroma level and whether the base colour is a warm or cool colour. Adding a bit of zing is great in clothing, especially beach wear but sometimes on a house it can look so wrong.
Purple and Green
This morning I noticed that the leaves on the Jacaranda tree in the neighbour’s garden have all fallen off. This means in a couple of weeks the tree will be covered in purple flowers and the view from my kitchen will look like this.
This is another one of my favourite combinations – purple and green. The house I grew up in had lime green walls downstairs – toilet, laundry and hallway with the cupboard doors in the laundry painted purple. Maybe that’s why this colour combination appeals. I love it in flowers and when we planted out the garden in our current house, I chose mainly purple flowering plants
Iris
Hyacinth
Wisteria - These photos aren't from my garden, I'm sorry to say.
And I’ve always been a big purple and green fashion follower. I wore green at school for five years so need to temper it with another colour if I am going to wear it these days.
I like the bright, lime green with a darker purple giving strength and balance to the combination. Here are few rooms I’ve found that use the colour combination well.
And the other day I passed these irrestible pet beds. The photo makes the green look a bit yellow.
And this house in Brisbane shows a clever use of the colours.
Purple is the colour of Passion and Green is a calm colour which explains why this pairing works. If you are wanting to experiment with this combination have a look at these Dulux Colours.
Dulux Juicy Lime
Dulux Chive Bloom
Dulux Dynamic Green
Dulux Parma Violet
Orange Crush
We were all stunned this morning when we woke at 6.30am to a red glow in the air. Sydney was covered in a blanket of red dust that had been whipped up from Outback Australia during high winds that originated in South Australia yesterday. Apparently it is the worst in 70 years.
Sydney Harbour Bridge taken by Rob Griffin
Not quite sure what to make of it, I had to snap a few pics of our back garden in orange.
Our back garden during the dust storm
I had the flash on for this one and you can see the light reflecting on all the dust particles.
Fortunately it’s all gone now but you should see the cars, and the outdoor furniture and even inside with all the windows closed. It was really quite amazing.
Worst Dressed Wednesdays
Welcome to a new feature I’m starting. As I travel around this wonderful country of ours I sometimes see a house or building which makes me cringe. It’s usually just that the colour is sooooo wrong. I have noticed this one (like, who couldn’t) ever since it was painted about 12 months ago.
It sits on the border of a Conservation Area and all the surrounding houses are more sedate and in keeping with their age. I have no idea how council has allowed this colour scheme and who would choose it in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I quite like the mix of pink and orange and a dash of red but usually on garments not houses.
from Decadent Luxe.com
What do you think? And if you spot a building that’s ripe for the picking and planting here in Worst Dressed Wednesdays, send it to me via email.
Bling
I have a confession to make, I heart Bling.
The term originated in the late 90′s by Rap artists B.G and Cash Money Millionaires and over the last decade we have seen bling in every possible application.
It gives a Luxe or Glamorous bent on all manner of items. With the onslaught of the GFC, I was sure the shiny, glossy look would disappear.
So you can imagine my excitement when I spotted these new shoes for summer beach fun today.
There’s just something about a bit of bling that lifts your spirits and makes you happy. So I can continue to put chandeliers in homes and use metallic paint on walls.
Not everywhere, mind you, just here and there as needed.
Dining rooms and Master (or teenage girl’s) Bedrooms look great with a bit of bling.
Pictures from Open Salon, Bandhini, Cafe Lighting, Holster, Cafe Lighting, Bandhini.
Wishing You A Colourful Weekend
"High Country" by Dulcie Clegg - Watercolour on Yuppo Paper
If you’re in Sydney’s North Shore tomorrow, drop into Roseville Public School’s Fair. They are having an Art Show as well and I have just delivered four of Mum’s paintings to the organisers.
"Tumbling Peonies" by Dulcie Clegg - Watercolour on paper
Hope they have good weather and a successful Fair.
by Gianluca Neri on Flickr
Whatever you get up to this weekend, enjoy.
Cushion Magic
Isn’t it amazing how a few scatter cushions can transform a room.
Client's sofa before
It’s a really simple way of injecting colour and personality into a space without doing too much. You can change the covers with your mood or the season.
Client's sofa after
Mind you, when you read Maria Killam’s post over at Colour Me Happy you will realise that maybe it’s not that easy. It’s just that we designer’s make it look easy.
Cushion Magic
Wild
I managed to pop into David Jones, Elizabeth Street store yesterday for the final day of their Spring Flower Display.
This year the theme was “An Australian Perspective.”
I’m not an Australian Wildflower fanatic, although I did have a garden full of Australian natives in my Gold Coast home. However, who could not marvel at these stunning displays. The colours are very Australian and depict the natural landscape – Yellow Kangaroo Paw, Orange Banksia and Red Waratahs.
Each year, during the first two weeks of September, the store arranges massive displays on the ground floor. One year I’d like to join the horticulturist for his talk on the flowers and the inspiration for the displays followed by tea and scones. I wonder if they served tea and damper this year?
It can’t be!
No, you’re joking right? It can’t possibly be Friday already? What a week.
Photo by William Waldron via Elle Decor
I’ve had house guests for some of it. I guess he would’ve liked a guest room like this one which belongs to Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Sorry about that.
I collected new bed linen which I had made for a client from my friends at Freshwater Frangipani. Sorry also that this shop no longer exists due to greedy landlords.
I spent a morning here being inspired and encouraged by guest speakers. There’s more to come over the next couple of weeks.
Last night I attended the Design Institute’s Artichoke Night School and enjoyed the presentation by Dan Hill from City of Sound Blog.
Botanical Range by Mokum
And today I visited Mokum looking for some outdoor fabric for a client’s new “summer room”. They have a great range of outdoor fabrics and I collected a number so when the room is finished, I’ll post some photos.
So I’m quite looking forward to the weekend. My October magazines are sitting on the coffee table calling my name. Hope you have a good weekend. It’s meant to be 30C here in Sydney – just my style.
Happy Father’s Day
It’s Father’s Day in Australia today so I just wanted to wish all the Dad’s a happy day.
My Dad is some 1000kms away but we will talk. My daughter and I are taking my husband and his Dad, who is visiting from Brisbane, to breakfast.
So to all the Dad’s where ever you are and whatever you do, have a Happy Day.
