Showing posts with label Kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kids. Show all posts

Friday, 13 November 2015

Blue & White at The Bach

I absolutely love the combination of blue and white - it's fresh, it's classic, and it's timeless. It's also a great colour choice for a bach, and if done right will give a chic, relaxed look. Team it with white panelled walls, warm wood and natural textures and materials.


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This home in Sweden is a great example of how to use blue and white to create an airy, comfortable and inviting space. My favourite spot is the back bedroom with bunk beds covered in classic checked linen, and a little curtain for privacy.







Another Swedish home, I absolutely love this one with it's shots of pink to warm up the blue and white. The use of old pieces of furniture, flea market finds, and fabrics picked up on travels tells a great story about this home.






If you have a holiday home, or you want this relaxed feel in your own home, try using blue and white ticking fabric, plaid and checks, paisley and ikats. Lots of white panelling, touches of wood and leather, and blue and white ceramics.

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Introducing Sticky Tiki

If you haven't heard of Sticky Tiki before, let me introduce you... they produce a range of gorgeous wall decals and murals. Formed in 2008 by the talented Kim Hands, Sticky Tiki features cute and quirky designs crafted from original paintings. The painterly effect complete with visible brush strokes will bring warmth and character to your home. In 2014 Rose Wells, who has a background in graphic design, bought Sticky Tiki and continues to produce these beautiful, high quality wall graphics produced in Christchurch, New Zealand.




The Sticky Tiki decals are made from fabric and won't rip, wrinkle or damage your walls. They adhere to any smooth surface and can be removed and repositioned countless times. They're also weatherproof which means they can be stuck outside and wiped down if little fingers mark them.





There is a fantastic range that your little ones will love. The kereru with ribbon is specially designed to be customised by writing your child's name on the ribbon.




My personal favourites are the dress up dolls which have a range of outfits that can be removed and swapped as much as your child desires (much cooler than the paper dolls we had as kids).





There's also a range of chalkboard decals. Chalkboard letters that can be bought individually to make up a specific name or word, and you can mix and match them with other decals to create a fun feature.





Plain chalkboard decals come in a range of sizes and shapes and can be used in so many different ways...






Sticky Tiki have also collaborated with other artists to bring you a varied range of decals including the intricate line drawings of Scribblelicious.





Pop over to see the full Sticky Tiki range. With Christmas just around the corner you may want to do away with a real tree this year and opt for this Christmas tree wall decal instead.





Thursday, 22 October 2015

Back To The Wall

Today I wanted to share with you the most amazing design company, Back To The Wall. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they produce custom designed wallpaper murals for your home, office or commercial space.




With over 30 years experience in the print industry, owners and designers, Relda Frogley (below left) and Joanne Gray (below right) are passionate about all of their work. They design and print their murals on site, allowing them full control every step of the way.




The beauty of Back To The Wall is that you can tell Joanne and Relda the size of your wall and they will print your mural to fit exactly, so you're not paying for any excess. Printing their paper at 100cm widths (as opposed to standard wallpaper widths of 50-60cm) means you don't have as many joins, and they specialise in beautiful oversized images rather than repeat patterns.





There's a huge range of pre-designed murals and art prints to choose from. Email Joanne and Relda with your design choice and size requirements and they will provide you with a quote. The murals are easy to install yourself, or you can hire a professional wallpaper hanger to do the job.





If you want to customise a mural, that's not a problem. Jo is incredibly clever working with Photoshop, and she can tweak their existing designs, and alter colours to suit. Or perhaps you have a completely different vision in mind, discuss your ideas with the girls and they can help you with your own unique design.






There's something for everyone including a gorgeous range of kids' murals...







And beautiful work by contributing artists, Helen Bankers and Diana Watson.





Lastly, just in case you're not already totally inspired (I know I am!), your wallpaper doesn't need to be confined to the wall. Relda and Jo can create smaller pieces of art for the back of shelves, the front of your stairs, cabinet doors... let your imagination run wild!




Tuesday, 13 October 2015

The Block NZ Villa Wars | Kids' Room Reveal

Who watched the kids' room reveal on Sunday night's episode of The Block Villa Wars? Host Mark Richardson said it was the best room reveal in The Block NZ history, which is pretty impressive for week two. 

As top scorers of week 1, Cat and Jeremy, and then Brooke and Mitch were able to choose the house they wanted for the duration of The Block. Both chose to start fresh with one of the untouched villas, which put them behind the other two teams who were able to rework the previous week's rooms. The restoration of heritage details, and failed council inspections were the major setbacks, especially for Brooke and Mitch.

Cat and Jeremy: 1st place | 17.5 points

With more time to focus on the styling and details, Jamie and Hayden were expected to take this room out with their amazing built-in bunk bed and cubby house complete with a slide. But they were pipped at the post by Cat and Jeremy, who were thrilled (and a bit surprised) to take out their second room win.




While the brief was "to wow an eight year old", this room is cleverly versatile and could work as a teenager's room, a spare room, or a study, giving the new home owners lots of options. A gorgeous soft grey blue on the walls (Dulux Lake Camp) sets the scene.





I think Cat is very good with her details. I love how her custom made curtains pool ever so slightly on the floor, and how she's chosen lots of warm colours to contrast the cool blue walls. In my opinion, the reason Cat and Jeremy are winning is their attention to detail and adding that little extra layer that gives the room personality and a 'lived in' feel.




Jamie and Hayden: 2nd place | 17 points

Jamie and Hayden had the satisfying task of painting out Sarah and Minanne's awful lilac room from the previous week. They continued with their black and white theme by painting one wall entirely in black board paint (Dulux Design Chalkboard), and the others white.




The bunkbed is indeed epic! Martin the builder did an amazing job creating the bed on a mezzanine floor, a little study area underneath, a super cool slide, and the top of last week's wardrobe became a little cubby house.





The black carpet is pretty cool and works well in the room, but from experience dark carpet like this needs constant vacuuming as it shows up every little thing. I know Jamie and Hayden were hoping to win this room, and they came so close. I think they need to just take it up one more level - a large piece of art on the wall by the slide would've helped to add a bit more life and maybe a touch of colour. Also, although the room is carpeted, the addition of a fun rug would help to create zones in the large floor space. But those things can be added in, and on the whole it's a pretty great room.




Sarah and Minanne: 3rd place | 15 points

The sisters have come a long way since their disastrous first week, and they produced a cute kids' room, also with a built-in bunk bed. It's a great use of space with a desk underneath and makes the room feel huge - there's certainly enough room for a second bed if they wanted it, or a sofa/daybed would be fab.




Once again, for me, the styling is pretty simple and lacking that something special. Sarah chose to put a 3D printer in the room, which, at about $1000, was a big ticket item. I would've preferred to have seen that money spent on some beautiful decor and accessories. But maybe the kids would disagree with me.





The wall colour this week (Dulux Elusive Blue Half) is really pretty and subtle, and I like the calmness of the overall colour scheme. A massive step up for the girls this week, let's hope it continues.




Brooke and Mitch: 4th place | 14 points

It was a particularly hard week for Brooke and Mitch, but with all their set backs they did well to finish their room. I was really happy to see them keep their heritage ceiling and spend lots of time on those details, which they failed to do in week 1.





They chose some sweet pieces and Mitch did a good job of putting up all those pink dots after very little sleep. It needed more, there's no doubt, but it is a good blank canvas for the new home owners to put their own mark on.





Top residential real estate agent, and one of The Block judges, Bernadette Morrison awarded Jamie and Hayden her top score of 9 for their kids' room. But it was Cat and Jeremy's score of 9.5 from judge Jason Bonham, founder and director of Bonham Interior, that propelled them to victory. Can they make it three out of three with The Block's first wet room? I love designing bathrooms, so will be watching this week with interest.




To see more of the kids' rooms and lots of extras, pop over to TV3.
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