Midcentury Melinkt

Bold graphic patterns such as those found in Scion’s debut Melinkt fabric and wallpaper range are currently big news. Drawn both from mid-century design archives and modern Scandinavian design, Scion’s patterns are contemporary but still lush enough to be welcoming. Curtains in Rosehip, chair in Lace, wallpaper in Flight, all from Melinkt Two. Available in New Zealand from Malcolm Fabric...

Read More

Beauty backgrounder: rosehip

According to Trilogy co-founder Sarah Gibbs, the demand for natural skincare has grown so much that the category can hardly be considered alternative. “It’s not a niche. It’s not even ‘lifestyle’… It’s mainstream,” she says. Recently sold to Ecoya in a deal reputedly worth $20 million, Trilogy is a huge Kiwi success story. The essential ingredient in Trilogy products is organic rosehip oil. Superfine and certified organic, the oil easily absorbs...

Read More

White is right

A little while ago I posted on an all-white interior that I didn't think worked. Here's a few that do. I've reblogged them from annaleenashem.blogspot.com, the blog of Swedish interiors stylist Annaleena Karlsson. ...

Read More

Savar giveaway winners

Congratulations to Claire Walkinshaw of Cromwell and Sally Laurie of Papakura... Bottles of Savar's beautiful Energizing Body Wash are on their way to you n...

Read More

Let there be light

Some people love shoes; others handbags. I'm obsessed with light fittings. My search for the perfect pendants for our house has taken me all over Auckland. I see them as accessories; as capable of 'lifting' our house as a designer handbag is of an outfit. These are some of the ones currently catching my eye. I have a budget of $5000 for all the entire household lighting (everything including wall mounts, recessed and vanity lights) which I know...

Read More

Pedestrian pile

Oprah has re-listed her huge Chicago apartment for US$2.8m, less than half of the US$6m she wanted for it when she first put it on the market in 2008. Global recessions aside, I can't say I'm surprised. Fab views of Lake Michigan notwithstanding, it's hardly spectacular from an interiors point of view. (And I can't even begin to guess how much she would have paid an interior designer.) Only room I'd like to hang out in is the wood-paneled...

Read More

The house speaks

Our house has started speaking. It hates white. It loathes bleached or blonde wood. And it also doesn’t appear to much like the fine-boned furniture that comes attached to its mid-century heritage. A house of straight lines and sharp angles, it’s screaming out for softness, luxury and just a bit of glamour. Since glamour is so subjective, it’s better restricted to fittings rather than fundamentals. This means I’m keeping the flooring, kitchen cabinetry,...

Read More

Natural wonder

I recently spent a long time interviewing Antipodes founder Elizabeth Barbalich for a story for NZ Life and Leisure and came to greatly admire her intelligence and her passion for her brand. The company which, to date, has been the recipient of two Technology NZ research, is focused on achieving scientific validation for its products. “I don’t believe in miracles when it comes to skincare,” Barbalich says. Now sold in Hong Kong, South Korea,...

Read More

'Kitchenzilla'

These are the images that have inspired our new kitchen. They are all very sleek and minimalist; quite unlike anything I've ever chosen before but somehow right for the house. Their simplicity puts a huge emphasis on detail – one of the reasons why I found myself almost having a complete meltdown at Kitchenworks a week or so ago. There to finalise the kitchen plans, we were told that although the inners of our  cupboards and drawers are...

Read More

Ode to a rose

On counter today is Lancome’s new Absolue L’Extrait, a high-end anti-ageing miracle-worker spurred by the application of stem-cell science in skincare. L’ Extrait, though, isn’t exactly based on human stem cells but on those of a special rose, known as the Lancome rose, which is recognized for its amazing resilience. Over a decade of intensive research, Lancome scientists have discovered how to cultivate the rose’s stem cells in the laboratory...

Read More

Love NZ Life and Leisure

Belinda and I have just finished shooting the fashion and beauty pages for the next issue of NZ Life and Leisure magazine, which isn't on sale until early July. We went for a really romantic modern vintage feel. Here's a sneak peek. It's a shot that didn't actually make the cut so I don't feel like I'm giving too much away. And Zoe and Morgan's cute necklace deserves at least some exposure (it's available from Macy Home in Auckland). Talking of NZ...

Read More

Giveaway: Savar

Like many great brands, natural-skincare company Savar was launched because its founder, Vicky Woolford, couldn’t find products that suited her. It wasn’t so much her skin that objected, it was her nose and eyes. Woolford, an artist, mum and all-round enthusiast, has an appreciation of fine fragrance and a pedant’s eye for design. Reduced to decanting products such as body lotions and hand soaps into her own containers because she couldn’t find...

Read More

Pure Fiji faces up

I am a huge fan of Pure Fiji. There’s something so very blue-skies about it: all-natural, environmentally responsible, smelling of the islands… Mainly available through salons, the brand has a loyal New Zealand following that’s well deserved. It’s hip, socially conscious and value for money. Until now, the focus has been mainly on body products – luscious, great-smelling ultra-hydrating body butters, scrubs, cleansers and oils. This month, however,...

Read More

Nerves are natural... I think!

Our lovely kitchen (not) is no more and the wall between it and the dining room has been knocked out. This gives us a chance to actually see the space – rather than imagine it through an architect's eye – and work out whether our kitchen will look any good. I'm really excited that it will. One of the things I'm learning is that no matter how developed your eye is, when it's your own project nerves are natural. If I'm styling a cover, consulting...

Read More

Blah blah blah...

Life is not beautiful. Our laundry is my kitchen. The fridge is in the living room; the freezer in Stu's workshop. We have no wall linings or ceilings in the house and we are living in a room the size of a motel unit. Our dinner has to be carried about 30m (outside in the dark and cold) before we can sit down and eat it. We spent the weekend moving furniture. But worse – far worse – Mouse the very vocal Burmese cries all the time because her home...

Read More

Floral fantasies

You might expect a stylist to stress about her wedding. But when I got married a couple of years ago, it wasn't so much the dress I obsessed about. It was the flowers. I got lucky since I regularly work with Davina Prankerd of Vida Flores www.vidaflores.co.nz for NZ House & Garden. Incredibly creative, she listened to my ideas and came up with an amazing waterfall of orchids and sweetpeas (scroll down to see it). Despite the fact we had discussed...

Read More

Shades of pale

I love sleek, minimal, well-edited interiors but I couldn't live in one. This is beautiful to look at but I'd be constantly fighting the urge to add more stuff. Where are the flowers? The texture? The bits and bobs that make a home a home? Funnily enough, the lack of clutter makes it feel agitated rather than calm. It's all a bit too white. But that's probably just me... ...

Read More

Welcome to our world

We don't have one architect, we have two. One for the concept; another (who is local) to do the drawings and mother our application through the consent process. We also had a surveyor, arborist, kitchen designer and structural engineer. We met with a quantity surveyor/project manager and decided we couldn't afford him. And I have been shamelessly plundering the expertise of my interior design friend, Peter Dunnachie. All of these experts have helped...

Read More