“Please contact me if you would like a consultation or further information about any of the products you see here at Decorum.”Archive for November 2009
Alex Perry for Designer Rugs
I was one of the lucky ones to have breakfast with Australia’s premier couturier this morning. It’s not every day I get to breakfast with the stars but today Designer Rugs were showcasing the latest Australian Designer to join their stable. Alex Perry launched his fashion label in the early 1990′s and his name is synomous with red carpet events and weddings.
I was hoping that Alex wouldn’t think I was stalking him as this is the third time this year I have been at an event where he was the guest speaker. I love his laid back personal style and his glamorous fashions and am thrilled to see this style transformed into art for the home. The inspiration for this collection is his Greek heritage.
Palati
Alex admitted that his favourite would have to be Palati which was inspired by the iron gates on the National Gardens of Athens.
Rhodes
I can imagine Rhodes was inspired by the marble floor in an ancient building.
Anthi
I really like Anthi for it’s style and glamour and surprisingly enough I’m drawn to Ipografi with it’s funky colours and script.
Ipografi
Which is your favourite?
It’s the weekend
Yippee!!!! It’s been a full on week with family taking most of my time. End of year concerts for music, ballet and drama have done us all in.
I’m looking forward to a quiet weekend (calm before the storm, perhaps?) and I want to head over to Powerhouse Museum to the Young Blood Designers Market.
I’m sort of wishing I was going to Melbourne for the weekend too as Emma Jay Designs is having a Warehouse Sale with up to 50% off wholesale prices.
If you are in Melbourne you can check it out at Unit 25, 282-284 Chesterville Road, Moorabbin today between 10am and 6pm or tomorrow between 10am and 5pm. Grab a bargain for me, please and have a lovely weekend.
Worst Dressed Wednesdays
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.
Australian Rowing Team in Beijing
Since 1984, our national colours have been green and gold and our athletes wear these colours proudly. The colours were taken from our national floral emblem, the wattle.
Golden Wattle
The colours also represent our landscape, the gold images of our beautiful beaches, mineral wealth, grain harvests and the fleece of Australian wool. Green represents the forests, gum trees and pastures of the Australian landscape.
Shelley Beach, Sydney
So, do you think these homeowners are patriotic?
Change The Colour Of Your Day
Cadbury Crunchie
Do you remember the ad for this chocolate bar? Change the colour of your day with a Cadbury Crunchie. It’s still one of my favourite chocolates for a mid-afternoon energy boost. Soft honeycomb covered in chocolate.
I have been spying honeycomb inspired patterns everywhere lately.
Warwick Xenon Fabric
Etsy Stationery Set
Cushions by KAS Australia
David Hicks Hexagonal Wallpaper
Cushions by Madras Link
Floor Tiles from Onsite Design Studio
More cushions by KAS Australia
Drum Stools by Moriarty and Co
It’s a simple pattern but very effective when repeated. I like the way it all fits together.
Worst Dressed Wednesdays
Maybe the owners of this house were inspired by these?
It was really hard to photograph as I there is no footpath on the opposite side of the road and this house sits higher than the road. Driving past this place really jumps out at you as the houses on either side are so “normal”.
On closer inspection it looks like there is a lemon tree in the front garden and a grape vine closer to the house.I wonder if that was Wisteria at some stage and therefore inspired the colour scheme?
Paint and Polish
Further to my post yesterday about summer colour, I was intrigued to read that Dulux have collaborated with makeup company Kit Cosmetics to release the Limted Edition Dulux Nail Polish Collection.
Hot Calypso, Blue Surf, Kiss and Exotic Flower
These nail polishes match four of Dulux’s 2010/2011 hottest summer paint colours. You can purchase these colours from your local Kit Cosmetics retailer and embrace summer colour!
Summer Fashion
Antigua Tie Neck Floor Length Dress
My daughter and I spent yesterday afternoon at the Fashion Weekend here in Sydney. My 9 year old seems to fancy herself as a bit of a fashion designer and is always sketching outfits usually targeted at her age group. If anyone has tried to shop for this age group you will see that she may have a very big future. The clothes seem to either be really old or really young and mother and daughter end up battling it out with no-one winning.
Zippora Floral Dress
The Fashion Weekend didn’t have any clothes suitable for the tweens but we did sit down and enjoy two of the many fashion parades which were running over the weekend event. The first was Long Summer Days and the second was Hot Summer Nights. What impressed me was the colour on the catwalk. As we were waiting for the show to start, I looked around at the audience and decided that everyone wearing solid black had to leave. That would’ve left about 10 people in the 200 chairs.
Achilles Pleated Shift
You know, colour often starts on the catwalk and then a season or two later (or even less with today’s technology) these colours are transplanted to our homewares and paint colours. This excites me no end as there is promise of moving away from the safe neutral tones and injecting some life back into our surroundings.
Pink Coral Tube Dress
So I am inspired to continue to embrace colour. What do you think? Can you see these colours making a splash in your home?
I wish
Growing up in Brisbane, you were either a Gold Coast person or a Sunshine Coast person. For me, it was the Gold Coast. I know it has many faults but I love it, warts and all. I love the never ending beaches where you can walk for miles and miles. I love how the highrise buildings twinkle in the night and I love the city life on the beach.
I lived there for three years back in the early ’90′s and my husband and I bought a unit there in the early noughties. We had dreams of retiring to this particular unit and it was bought with that in mind. However, settling in Sydney on our return from overseas we realised that it would be a long time before we get to move into our unit and we could use the funds for our home in Sydney.
But around this time of year I get a hankering to own a little piece of paradise. Somewhere to move to for the summer break. Main Beach is my favourite spot as it has a good beach, great shops and cafes and is not as hectic as it’s neighbour, Surfers Paradise. We would HAVE to have a three bedroom unit so family can come and stay and it HAS to have ocean views. The beauty of a unit for a holiday retreat is that you can lock it up and walk away leaving the Manager to take care of the maintenance, security and shared facilities.
So I’ve been doing a little real estate trawling and come up with this little gem.
We could sit in or out and pass the time
If it gets hot, we can cool off in our own lap pool
What a great place to write my blog
And the perfect place to retire for the evening
Dream on!
Worst Dressed Wednesdays
This property is currently on the market. Maybe they are hoping that the red and green colour scheme will attract a pre-Christmas buyer. That combination always reminds me of Christmas no matter what or where it is placed. I think I’d be calling in the painters if I were to buy it. Oh and a Colour Consultant!
Tea and Sympathy
I have long been a fan of Clarice Cliff pottery. Alas, I don’t have a piece in my collection. I do, however, have a lovely book called Tea and Sympathy – Fabulous cakes on art deco plates that was published in 1985. This book combines wonderful afternoon tea recipes from Australia’s best known foodies with accompanying photographs of the food on Clarice Cliff crockery.
Clarice Cliff
Clarice Cliff was born in 1899 in Tunstall, Staffordshire, UK and became one of the most outrageous and celebrated designers of mainstream twentieth century art. At an early age, Clarice took to the walls of her bedroom painting them orange and yellow, the ceiling a metallic gold and the furnishings orange with black relieve. She described the effect as bizarre, a word that would later attach itself to her early work. She studied at various art schools before becoming a lithographer. This field was too limited for her talent and design ambition and she experimented with hand-painted designs on warehouse stock pottery. Her work was launched on an unsuspecting Britain on the eve of the Great Depression. Her first test-run of 60 dozen pieces sold out in days.
Hundreds of Clarice Cliff Tea Cups ready for auction in 2008
Her crazy designs called for unusually shaped pottery and I think the shape, colours and geometric patterns are what draws me to her work. She was a firm believer that the pieces were to be used not just put in the china cabinet to be admired. I’m glad many people didn’t use their pieces too much so we have many still being bought, sold and displayed today. A selection of Clarice Cliff ceramics is on display on Level 3 of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney until December 2009.
Bizarre Jug by Clarice Cliff
You may be lucky to find a piece of her work at your local Antique shop or your could try Deco Downunder.
