“Please contact me if you would like a consultation or further information about any of the products you see here at Decorum.”Colour
Particularly Partial to Purple
It seems that I everywhere I turn I see purple.
Jacaranda trees in full bloom
Which is not a problem for me as I’m particularly partial to purple.
Lavender bushes providing colour and scent
Any minute now the Agapanthus will be flowering too
Fortunately my clients like it too.
Lyn Johnston Photography
Lyn Johnston Photography
What about you? Are you partial to purple?
Lyn Johnston Photography
If you would like assistance choosing colours for your home, contact us for an online or in-person consultation.
Happy Halloween
When we were in the States last month, we loved seeing all the Halloween decorations in shops and hotels.
Pottery Barn, New York
Disneyland
Jewellers in San Francisco
Halloween Pet Costume Section at Target, San Francisco
Electrical Store, San Francisco
For the past few years, we’ve put decorations outside our home on 31st October to let the neighbourhood kids know we’re ready for trick or treating.
This year I decided to make some Halloween Cup Cakes using the Sanding Sugar and Halloween Stencils I bought at Williams-Sonoma Home in New York. There’s obviously an art to using them but I’m sure they’ll taste OK.
Halloween Cup Cakes
And for the first time, I noticed decorations in one of the shops at the local Westfield Shopping Centre.
Halloween Decorations in Sydney
What are you doing for Halloween?
If you would like assistance with your decor, contact us for an online or in-person consultation.
There’s No Place Like Home
After tripping around the United States for the past four weeks, I am finally home in my own little abode.
Click on photo for source
We had a wonderful time and saw so much. But there’s nothing like getting home to your own space and bed.
Newport, RI
Travelling certainly broadens the horizons and it was fascinating to see the many styles of architecture and colours used somewhere else. It was also great to visit some of the interior shops and marvel at the seemingly limitless choices there are in more populated countries.
Booth Bay Harbor
But coming home, made me realise that behind every door, the interiors are probably similar.
New York
There will be a kitchen where the meals are prepared and homework done.
Cape Cod
A living room for watching television and conversation with friends and family.
Somewhere in Vermont
And bedrooms that are as individual as the occupants, yet somehow the same as the next one.
Berverly Hills
The interiors will be smattered with curios and collectibles that have been purchased for one reason or another or handed down from family. Each item telling a story or transporting the owner to another time and place.
San Francisco
Dorothy was right, There’s no place like home.
Bar Harbor
She’s just lucky she didn’t have a 17 hour plane flight to get there!
Click on photo for source
Cape Cod and Beyond
We have well and truly left New York behind now. We’ve been travelling around New England and taking in the sights we’ve read and dreamed about.
Newport House
Our first stop was Newport, Rhode Island. Famous for the home of the America’s Cup (which Australia won in 1983) and historic houses from the Gilded Age. It is a colourful, harbour town with cute homes and lots of shopping.
One of the historic homes
From there we drove the entire stretch of Cape Cod to the very tip and stayed overnight so we could explore the town the next morning. Cape Cod homes have a big influence on the houses in Australia and many people would like to replicate the style. The easy-going relaxed lifestyle suits our Australian way of life.
Cute Cape Cod Home with bright yellow door
Then it was into Massachusetts to meet up with fellow blogger Linda Merrill. Linda writes a number of blogs including Surroundings and Silver Screen Surroundings as well as co-hosts the popular podcast The Skirted Roundtable. I’ve been following Linda for a number of years now and we have exchanged emails and blog comments from time to time. When I knew we were visiting her “backyard” I emailed her for some insights into things to see and do for an Interior Decorator from Down Under. In true Linda style, she emailed back with loads of ideas and information so it was only natural that we should meet for a bite.
Linda and Me
We met in her pretty hometown for lunch and a long chat on design, country similarities, what’s popular and general chit chat before heading further up the coast to Maine.
One of the "neat" houses in MA
I wish we had more time to explore this interesting and beautiful state. The houses are so cute and the word “neat” kept popping into my head when I stopped to snap photos of them. I’m not sure what makes them appear so neat. Maybe it’s the symmetry of the architecture or the neat gardens. Maybe it’s the high pitched roofs which don’t attract leaf litter or maybe it’s the manicured, green lawns.
Don’t you agree, the houses here are “neat”? You can check out more photos on my Facebook page. Don’t forget to “like” it while you’re there.
New York Colour
View from Empire State Building
I’ve spent the past week in New York City. I’ve never been to New York before, or America for that matter!
Colourful Candles at Bond No 9. Every scent is named after an area in New York City
I’ve had a wonderful time and managed to tick off many things on my To Do/Must See List. Not all mind you, so I’ll have to plan a return trip. Of course many on the list had a home decor bent.
Gorgeous crockery at Fish's Eddy
I’ve taken loads of photos but thought you might like to see this collection – my take on New York Colour.
Colourful Building
I’ve now moved on to a week in New England so will update you later on the many colours I find there.
Cabana display at Tiffany's
Fall Display at Pottery Barn
All photographs taken by me!
Around the world in 2 hours
You’re not going believe this, but on Wednesday evening I went to Melbourne, India and France. And I only went across town!
I attended the launch of Dinner Explorer an inspirational and practical new website from Electrolux.
We all love entertaining but are often stuck for ideas, themes, recipes, decor and all the other fine details that go into a successful dinner party at home. Dinner Explorer comes to the rescue with over 50 different themes, based on international and local Australian celebrations and festivities. Not only will you find a theme, but you will also find suggested menus, drinks, ideas to decorate your home and extra ideas like dresscode.
There are some really “out there” suggestions like The Wife Carrying World Championships and Polish Dumpling Day, but each and every one has something you could use for another occasion.
I love the calendar of events, as if you are already holding an event you could easily give it a theme based on what’s on at the time.
Electrolux hosted the launch at their wonderful showroom in Mascot. There were three stations and we were broken up into three groups rotating through each station.
I started with the Melbourne Cup, the Aussie horserace that stops a nation. Lobster rolls were very yummy, as was the Champagne Cocktail that had been specifically designed to accompany the rolls.
Next was India and the art of making chapati’s.
Colour, colour, colour is the key when entertaining Indian style. Oh and some Bollywood movies.
And finally the Peach de resistance – Christmas and Peter Gilmore‘s White Peach Bellini, which went down way to easily.
The Caremelised Brioche with Warm Cherry Compote was pretty good too. Peter’s recipes can be found here.
So now there’s no excuses to put on a great dinner party or casual BBQ. Head to Dinner Explorer for all you need including a full shopping list. Life couldn’t be easier!
If you would like assistance preparing your home for entertaining, contact us for an online or in-person consultation.
Affordable Fabrics
I went to a preview at Warwick Fabrics on Wednesday evening. They were showcasing their new release fabrics for 2011. Wow!
They’ve been very busy creating new styles and patterns while keeping abreast of current trends and maintaining the costs.
Warwick have always been well known for their affordable upholstery fabrics and that legacy continues. I was impressed with the number of releases and the wonderful mixing and matching of patterns and textures for all occasions.
Nordic Collection from $56 per metre
Nordic has a Marimekko influence with bright colours and bold prints. The fabrics are well suited to our relaxed casual lifestyle.
Banco Collection from $76 per metre
Banco has a Retro feel with inspiration drawn from 70′s wallpaper. It has high appeal to the younger first home owners.
Elvira Collection from $36 per metre for plain fabrics
Elvira is a profusion of pattern and colour. With a resurgence for a bit more colour in our interiors this collection is bound to prove popular.
Pan Pacific Collection from $100 per metre
Pan Pacific Collection is Australian Made and Australian inspired. The collection includes fabrics that include names and places of grain and wool companies. These fabrics are ideal for slip covers and soft furnishings.
Anthropology Collection from $56 per metre
One of the brand new releases, is Anthropology. It is influenced by colours and patterns of loomed rugs in bright colours like Watermelon and Navy but also a more subdued palette of Stone and Antique.
Anthropology in Stone
I loved the Stone colourway and thought it would be an excellent transition of brown to grey. Can’t you see cushions in this fabric sitting on a chocolate brown sofa or two occasional chairs like this one sitting adjacent to a black or brown leather sofa.
Fable Collection from $46 per metre
Fable is another recent release and is also woven in Australia. It is a vibrant, fun and young collection in bright colours.
This is a great range of fabrics for every application and every decorating style at affordable prices. All Warwick fabrics are available through Inside Out Colour and Design.
If you would like assistance choosing furnishing fabrics for your home, contact us for an online or in-person consultation.
Buying Quality
Many years ago, I bought my very first lounge suite. It consisted of two two seaters and a matching armchair. It was in my blue phase and the fabric was called Windsurfers Denim. It had little tiny pink and cream triangles all over it that were meant to represent windsurfers. The proportions were good for the lounge room in my very first house in Brisbane and it suited my budget too.
New lounge suite with hand-me-down buffet
I then sold that house and moved to a brand new house on Queensland’s Gold Coast. As the house was still under construction when I bought it, I was able to choose the colour scheme throughout of tiles, carpet and paint. Knowing that I had my lounge suite, I chose a soft grey colour which worked well with the lounge. I had roman blinds in rose pink and off white stripes installed on the windows and the lounge suite looked like it had been bought for that house.
Window coverings to match the lounge suite
A few years later, I moved back to Brisbane and bought a workers cottage in Nundah. Again the lounge suite moved into the new house and the room was decorated around the lounge. This time I chose barely pink walls with a darker pink for the trim.
Barely pink walls
We then moved to the Solomon Islands and the lounge suite went into storage for four years before being shipped to Hong Kong. Again the living room was decorated around the lounge suite and I chose sheer white curtains with a blue valance for the window coverings.
Sofa with precious cargo in Hong Kong
Back to Australia and into a rental property in Sydney, the lounge suite again just fitted perfectly into the space.
Ming didn't mind where in the world he was as long as he had his sofa
Twelve months on, and we purchased our own home and moved the lounge suite one more time. Only this time, it was clashing with the existing curtains in the home. Time had finally come almost twenty years later, to upgrade the lounge suite.
Sofa and curtains collide
We looked around at other styles of sofas but couldn’t find anything we liked. I called in my upholsterer who thought we were mad to throw away a perfectly good suite. So the search for fabric started and eventually I chose an off-white embossed fabric and had the sofas reupholstered. The sofas looked like new and I’m sure will last another twenty (well maybe ten) years.
Reupholstered sofa has a new lease on life
So the moral of the story is to buy good quality in the first place and give it a facelift when it doens’t work anymore. It works out much more cost effective in the long run.
If you would like assistance sourcing lounge furniture for your home, contact us for an online or in-person consultation.
There’s a new kid in town
Alhambra Ribbon
Spanish fabric house Alhambra has finally made it’s way to Australia. I was fortunate enough to view the collections yesterday and they are simply stunning. Such bright colours, exquisite textures and reasonable prices. And they also come in wide widths which is just great for bedheads and larger pieces of furniture.
About Alhambra
Sit back and enjoy the show.
Inside Out Colour and Design can supply these fabrics, now. If you would like assistance with fabric choices for your home, contact us for an online or in-person consultation.
Fashion Colours for Spring
I managed to take some time out last week and have a stroll around my local shopping centre checking out the new season fashions. I love the change of seasons and seeing the new colours gracing the shop windows and soon to be our wardrobes and then of course our home decor.
Many of the shops were featuring the classic black and white stripes.
Jessica Stripe Dress from Queenspark
Black and white has been gracing our lives for the longest time. It looks very modern yet can be at home in any decor. And no matter what decorator colour you add, your room is going to look fabulous.
via Decorpad
Coloured jeans are also this season’s “must haves”. Watermelon, Steel and Desert are the colours of one particular fashion store.
Sportscraft Coloured Jeans
Those colours sound a bit better than red, blue and brown, don’t they? But watermelon is softer than red and much easier to live with as decor pieces in the home.
Jonathan Adler via Elle Decor
Steel is like a washed out navy and is ideal for a more relaxed room. You could even paint a wall or two in steel rather than the stronger navy blue.
Stel Blue Dining Room
We’ve all been through the browns over the past decade or so. Many of our houses (and wardrobes) still have remnants of chocolate, latte, cappuccino and mocha so Desert is a way to add depth without having to start all over again. It can be teamed with a wide variety of colours too!
Bianca Bed Linen from KAS Australia
And then I saw this stunning colour combination.
via Kookai
The zing of the orange is balanced beautifully with the depth of the cranberry.
Orange and Cranberry for Warwick Fabrics
So what colours are you wearing or decorating with this Spring?
If you would like assistance choosing the right colours for your home, contact us for an online or in-person consultation.
