Establishing Your Style

Last week I was contacted by the lovely Tina from Roomie. She was putting together an article for Stuff and asked if I could share one of our most commonly asked design questions. I was happy to help, and decided to focus on a question that I think is very important... how to establish an interior style...

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We often work with clients who want help defining their style. Some people were born knowing it, and for others it takes time. Your home should be an extension of you, it should reflect your likes and interests, tell a story, and celebrate the people that live there.

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Try looking to your wardrobe for inspiration. What colours, patterns and textures are you drawn to? What places make you feel happy - the beach, a certain cafe…? Try and translate that feeling into your home.

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Definitely the most favoured Bibby + Brady tool for establishing your style is Pinterest - a free website that enables you to ‘pin’ images from anywhere on the internet to your own pin boards. If you don’t already know your style, you will be surprised how quickly a pattern emerges once you start pinning.

Even if, and when, you find your style and know what you love, you still may want help pulling it all together. Maybe you don't know where to start looking for that perfect piece of furniture that is unique to you; or you're just so busy with the rest of your life that finding the time to design and decorate your home is tough... This is where Bibby + Brady can help. Dael and I specialise in creating amazing spaces that reflect their owners. Our job is to make things easier for you, and in the process of creating a home that you'll love, I'm pretty sure we'll also save your huge amount of time, and money (by avoiding costly mistakes). Come and visit us!

My Kitchen | Part 3 - Tiles

If you look at these pics (below) it may not look like we've had much progress in our kitchen reno, but in fact we have. You can see the from these earlier posts that all of the old kitchen cabinetry has now gone. I no longer have an oven, a dishwasher, or a washing machine. I'm actually coping OK without an oven, as we have set up a mini kitchen in the living room with a microwave, kettle, toaster, slow cooker, and electric frying pan, and the BBQ is outside. But the loss of the washing machine with our family of five has hit me the hardest. Thank goodness for my Mum and Dad around the corner!

Last week our electrician, Davyd Auckram - Bay Cities Electrical, and our plumber, John - John Riggs Plumbing, were busy doing their part. They're both great guys, and I can highly recommend them - email me if you want their contact details. We also had our hot water cylinder removed and an infinity gas water heater installed, which did mean no hot water for a day - eek!

Today the builder, Glynn Pritchard - GCP Construction Ltd, has started, which is exciting because it means we should have walls again soon. Next comes the floor sanding, and all the while our kitchen is being built by the talented guys, Rick Martin and his righthand man Ben, at Sunshine Joinery.

In my last post I was looking into our option for benchtops, and I can report back that we have chosen an engineered stone with a marble look. Now it's the tiles for our splash back that I'm trying to decide on. My first choice was a small marble hexagon tile, and I still love these, but unfortunately they may be outside of our budget.

I really love these cube tiles, but they're from an Australian company, which means shipping complicates matters.

These cube tiles from Tile Space are pretty gorgeous, but they only come in gloss and I was thinking of going matt. They looked great in Alex and Corban's Block kitchen though, so I haven't ruled them out yet.

There is a similar tile found at Tile Space which does come in a matt white, called Rhombus. It featured last week on the TV programme Our First Home, but you can see it's a lot bigger, and possibly too big for our kitchen splash back.

Perhaps this matt white hexagon tile is the one, it is, after all, the same shape as my first choice only a little bigger. If you're wondering why I'm not considering the good old subway tile, our cabinetry features wood panels (vertical lines), so I want to introduce a more contrasting shape in the tiles.

Here's another hexagonal option from Porteous Tiles which looks pretty fab in pink and red. Hmmm... what do you think?

I talk about this as our "kitchen reno", but really we're tackling the kitchen, dining room, and laundry all at once. It's pretty huge and explains why we're living in a mad house at the moment. Spare a thought for me with my dining table in our living room, our console table holding the mini make-shift kitchen, the pantry in the hall, the dishes in the bathroom sink, and now with the arrival of Cyclone Pam, most of our outdoor furniture has also been crammed inside.  Good things are a-coming (I keep telling myself!).

Cool Cafes

I love a good cafe, and I have my favourites in Hawke's Bay where I go to for meetings, catching up with friends, and relaxing with my family. Good food, coffee and service is paramount, but obviously for me the decor is very important too. Commercial spaces likes cafes, restaurants, offices, and retail shops have the opportunity to be really creative, and you can often be more adventurous than in a residential space. But the thing is, you really need to update them every couple of years, because of the high traffic wear and tear, and also just to keep things fresh. Here are a few I particularly love...

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If you want any help with designing a super cool commercial space in Hawke's Bay, or anywhere in New Zealand, get in touch with Dael & I for design advice.

What's Been Happening...

There's always a lot going on in my life behind the scenes of this blog. I'm always on the look out for great products to use in our Bibby + Brady interiors, often trialling them in my own home before I recommend the same products for clients (tough job, I know!). Sometimes I'm lucky enough to be gifted products too, like these cute little concrete and metallic pots by Zebony Design.

Ebony Harvey, founder of Zebony Design, is a busy mum of two. She creates a range of gorgeous pieces including these pots, which can be used as candle holders or little dishes, maybe pop a little succulent or two in. She also makes these fun, colourful necklaces (see below) - mine looks right at home with my other necklaces, I love it. As well as her website, you can also follow Zebony Design on Instagram.

I love great bedding and my latest purchase was a set of delicious linen sheets in soft grey from Jamie Kay. A great combination with my Kip & Co velvet duvet and pillowcases, the sheets are buttery soft. Definitely only linen sheets for me from now on, and they look even better messy!

Over the weekend Mark and I painted a magnetic stripe on the twins' bedroom wall using Resene Magnetic Magic and a top coat of Resene Knock Out. It runs from ceiling to floor down past the top and bottom bunk, giving the girls somewhere to display their favourite photos and cards. The very cool Zorro Dog postcard is from My Deer Art Shop. I bought the Super Dog poster for the girls' room, because it reminds me of our beautiful Sam. Maaike, the lovely founder of My Deer Art Shop, gifted me a set of the postcards too, which I adore.

When I was in Taupo recently I made a point of dropping into The Storehouse cafe in Runanga Street. Owned by locals, Brad Dellar and Sam King, and Brad's wife Melissa, it's a very cool cafe and shop. My coffee and scone were delicious, and the shop is full of great vintage furniture pieces, art, and amazing homeware. A 'must' if you're visiting Taupo.

Before I finish off this post, here's a very quick sneaky peek of my next project. I'm not going to say anything more at this stage, but keep an eye out for the reveal on the blog soon.

The Student Hotel

I was so excited when I came across The Student Hotel online recently. Located in Amsterdam, it's amazing accommodation for students, interns, researchers, friends and family. It's so refreshing to see a big facility like this with such incredible design throughout. It looks like the perfect home-away-from-home.

The rooms are fully furnished with private en-suites. There are large shared kitchens and a restaurant, and, of course, lots of quiet study areas.

It wouldn't be a student campus without lively communal areas to catch up with friends, watch a movie, shoot some pool, or even work out at the gym.

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I'm so impressed, I wish there was somewhere like The Student Hotel when I was studying all those years ago! Dael & I are working on a small commercial interior design project at the moment, and I look forward to showing you more soon. After seeing what they've achieved here, I'm itching to sink my teeth into more commercial work where we can really get creative. Watch this space!