Happy Decorating

Back from my whirlwind trip to Sydney with packed out seminars and long huge queues at my book signings and I must say I am totally overwhelmed, blown away, flattered and delighted at the response. Thank you Australia for being so enthusiastic to this style of decorating, particularly as its dark, eclectic, kaleidoscopic and so on. It goes to show that you can live anywhere in the world,  in hot climes in cool climes and once you get that decorating bug there is no going back. It becomes a little obsessive, just when you think you’ve nailed it and you’re sitting back with you’re feet up proud as punch wham bam you happen upon something that takes you by surprise, pulls you up by the cuffs and off you go again. It doesn’t end EVER, which is a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

The best thing about being home is being reunited with the two M’s, we have had the most snuggles ever this weekend. My parents kindly took care of them whilst we were away and from all accounts they had lots of country adventures. So this past weekend I snoozed they snoozed and we’re only just getting back to normal.  23 hours on a plane with no sleep kind of screws you up!

So this morning I wanted to try to encourage anyone who is up for it,  that is to ditch all those niggles and worries when it comes to decorating and just get on with it. Who cares if you’re room is to small, or an awkward shape, or you have little kids, or you’re renting. Maybe you have a limited budget, maybe you’re time poor (aren’t we all) but my point is the more limitations and barriers we put up the more boring our spaces become. Its only when we take risks, i.e. paint a wall in a colour you wouldn’t normally go for, or play around the scale, or move the furniture away from the walls, that sort of thing that we elevate our spaces to a whole other level. Years of being in the biz has taught me one thing – the most memorable interiors are those that push boundaries and dare to be different.

Found this image below from the latest issue of Rue. When you break it down its actually pretty easy to see why its so powerful. The homeowner has pushed it with the colour selection, added oodles of texture and into that mix a couple of beautiful hues to elevate to another level, the pink flowers (pink and black are a magical combo) and a gold mirror. You don’t need to be an A list decorator, or a leading stylist to pull it off. You just need to believe in yourself and have the confidence to give it a go.

Happy Decorating

Creating jaw on the floor interiors

Yesterday was amazing.  My seminar  completely sold out, the queues ran the length of the Hall at Decoration + Design in the Sydney Exhibition Centre and the feed back was overwhelming. Thank you so much to everyone who came to the seminar and the book signings afterwards it was an incredible morning. I’m back again on Friday, book signing afterwards too and for more info see here……http://www.decorationdesign.com.au/visitor/attractions/international-industry-seminar-series/.

I get asked alot if dark colours work in hot countries and I say yes they do. I personally love the contrast, and I’m a firm believer that if you ditch all those preconceptions like the location of the property the orientation of the property, the architecture even and just start afresh you are on your way to creating a pretty cool home. Rules, regs and barriers hinder us when it comes to decorating, so does discussing decorating ideas that are somewhat radical with family, friends even the Joneses down the road. My advice tell no one especially if you are going dark, keep it under wraps until the reveal and then watch the jaws hitting the floors!

Happy Decorating

 

Decorating with Style

Morning, evening, afternoon to all where ever you may be. I’m currently in Sydney, the weather is perfect hovering around the mid twenties  and not so hot that it makes pottering impossible. Today is my seminar at Decoration and Design which is hugely exciting, and again on Friday.

I’m yabbering about how to Decorate with Style so we’re talking about colour, texture, pattern, dissecting space, small spaces, large spaces, not to mention a section on decorating for less and finishing touches. A lot to pack into one hour, it will be a visual  kaleidoscopic journey; much of the photography is from the new book WHICH is launching at the show today as well! Oh and people are available to register free of charge at Decoration + Design to attend my book signing, which takes place after my seminar at 11.30. So big day today.

The thing about decorating I find is that once you start looking at things a little differently there is no going back. Once you’re brave enough to take a few risks or push a few boundaries there is no return. Take Shaun Clarkson’s pad in London which I photographed for my new book, it was one of the those houses where you just couldn’t get your jaw off the floor. Personal, eclectic, lived in, loved, high-end pieces, low-end pieces, and every room pulled at your heartstrings. There was one particular room which I literally had to removed from I just didn’t want to leave.

Lower ground floor, little natural light and yet this room was magical. Book shelves lined all the walls, some of the books we’re fauxs, (cardboard spines), the furniture was exquisite, the lighting amazing, it was the coolest room to hang out, watch a movie, read a book, flick through a magazine. It wrapped you up in the squishiest of blankets, so that you just didn’t want to leave. It was painted out dark (yes dark, small basement room with low ceilings and no light) and dark! It was such an inspiring room; it literally pulled me up by the coat tails because we often put so many barriers in the way when it comes to decorating. BUT we don’t need to, you can create anything, anywhere the only thing stopping us is our imagination, and those self-doubting nagging little questions that always hold us back. No more I say!

Details on Sydney book signings

So guys the details below for my book signings open to all  this Wednesday and Friday from 11.30-12.30pm at the Sydney Exhibition Centre. I am in Hall 3 and the book signings will take place at the back of Hall 3 just by the lecture theatre. Hope to see you there xx

1. Guests go to the Registration Desk in the Foyer

2 . Tell the Registration staff they are attending the book signing

3. They will be issued with a “TRADE GUEST” sticker which will enable them to enter the fair

4. Any guests who are involved in the interior design, building, decorating, architecture or affiliated industries should register in full.

Book signings in Sydney now open to the public!

Good day from a very sunny Sydney. Haven’t been in the country long but have just found out that my book signings at Decoration and Design have now been opened up to the public which is hugely exciting, as we got so many emails and calls of people wanting to grab a signed copy and stop by.  Numbers will be restricted but if you are in the city at 11.30 on the 6th or 8th Feb and register in advance then it would be lovely to see you.

I’ll be back later with details of how to register for entry and the location of where exactly I will be.

Until then xx

Some thank you’s

Forgive the late post, to many elderflower martini’s last night which resulted in me sleeping in late and missing Pilates – darn it!  However it’s Friday so I can always catch up on the weekend should I need to. Talking of the weekend off to Australia for 3 days (bonkers) yes a little, but there is a lot going on right now so can’t manage much longer regrettably. The two M’s stay here which I am not thinking about as I am the hugest baby saying goodbye to them – any more trips then I need my own plane because they are coming, and that is the end of it. Infact its going in my rider, cannot stand to leave them!

I wanted to say a big thank you to Karen McCartney the founding editor of the beautiful magazine Inside Out who wrote a lovely review of our store in Est Magazine. The best part of my job is the incredible feedback and reviews I get off the press and off you guys, it makes everything so worthwhile. On Monday The Times listed my blog as one of the top websites you can’t live without which was amazing, and now Est. magazine (images below) have photographed the store beautifully and given us the sweetest review. So thank you guys, to the press and all of you who leave comments and come to the classes, to the store, shop online it’s much appreciated. It makes the long hours, the frustrations that go with the terriority of having a retail store so worthwhile. I never talk about the behind the scenes scenarios that occupy quite a large part of team AA’s day (I do a little in the retail class) but not on the blog and so we all get the biggest buzz from the lovely feedback.

Some images from Est. below, have a good weekend and talk next week x

Mixing not matching

Morning thought I might talk about mixing not matching this morning. Matching is easy it’s why everybody is doing it;  mixing is far harder. WHY well because when nothing  matches  its quite a challenge to somehow get a room to feel like it makes perfect sense and that it feels balanced and harmonised when everything in the room is from a different era, or maybe a different material, texture or colour. I love mixing but then I cheat a little bit and mix in pairs. For instance I have two loungy chairs upholstered in the same hue in the TV nook. I have two ostrich tables with two poodles sitting atop each alcove in my studio and my dining chairs are pairs of odd chairs rather than everything being different. The reason for the occasional doubling up is I want all my rooms to feel balanced, harmonious and not crazy, so it’s a good tip. Also you don’t want to overdo it on the pairing up trick otherwise the room will feel boring so no matching furniture sets please or bedside tables and lamps as that is a design crime! You never know when one of my task force will be banging on your door issuing you a ticket for such an offence (gosh I wish I had a design task force, my idea of heaven)!

The other trick when mixing styles as I say probably a trillion times a day is to reign in the colour palette.  Do that and you can mix far more easily if you only have a few hues fighting for attention rather than every single piece because what it does is cancel it out big time. I stick to 3 maybe 4 dominant hues and it works for me.

Big thank you to the Times for putting my blog in the 50 top websites you cannot live without. Thank you guys, very flattered

An image below of the mismatched dining chair look, although some of the chairs are the same, for me at least it feels a little too unbalanced but hey its a personal thing.

And my dining area where some of the chairs are in pairs.

Happy Thursday