Tuesday
Dec272016
Entries in bedroom (183)
Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Tuesday
Nov082016
My guest bedroom makeover
It has been a while since I got around to decorating my guest bedroom and I finally found some time to snap some photos so I can share it with you. This room is annoyingly small (10'x8.5') so it fits nothing really but our old queen size bed and a couple of small furniture items. I am tempted to do what the next door neighbours did and rip out the wall between it and the master bedroom and make an ensuite....maybe one day when I win the lottery. In the meantime if anyone wants to stay over, we have a proper bedroom setup which we did not have in our tiny previous 2 bedroom (1 bedroom plus dressing room/closet) house. As for the decor, after working on most of the other rooms in the house I came to realize that I had a bunch of things I had carted back with me from one of my many winter vacations in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico that did not have homes. Thus resulting in this Mexican theme space! At the end of the post I will list sources, but just about all of it are Mexico mementos. This room was a great excuse to try one of the new Farrow & ball colours - Inchyra Blue which I used on the ceiling and opposing walls to create a canopy effect. I LOVE this incredible blue/teal/grey shade and how cocooning painting those 3 walls are without going dark all over (I have enough dark rooms in this house already). I highly recommend this colour for anyone looking for something unique that is dark but not too dark. And as I have come to expect from F&B colours, it has chameleon tendencies and changes drastically depending on the amount of light.
Wednesday
Sep072016
Bedroom envy
I have a bad case of bedroom envy with this absolutely stunning space by Paloma Contreras. It was a bedroom/terrace combo she designed for the 2016 Traditional Home Southern Style Now showhouse in New Orleans. The room was designed around a stunning, custom-made deGournay wallpaper featuring 12 carat white gold and aluminum hand-gilding on a silk background. OH LA LA!!!
Monday
Aug292016
Rough Linen - everyday luxury
Have you noticed it? There is a quiet revolution going on. A stand against fads and the throw away. In a world that is getting faster and smaller and increasingly more wasteful it's about quality, craftsmanship and longevity. It's about luxury but not the store it away and hoard it type of luxury. Everyday luxury. Taking the time to source the best, the most beautiful and using it all the time.
I have loved Tricia Rose's Rough Linen for so many years now. The story goes that Tricia found a homespun, hand-sewn linen pillowslip while clearing her grandmother's cottage in Scotland. Made by her great-grandmother in about 1840, it had been in regular use for generations. When she found a natural linen several years later with the same wonderful homespun texture and feel, she started making bedding, each piece handmade, cut to the thread, pre-washed for shrinkage and to release the texture. Good materials, careful and mindful production. Her range of bedding (sheets, duvet covers, shams and more), curtains, table linens, pinafores and robes is strong, elemental. You don't need to fuss with it, just use it, enjoy it's beauty and practicality.
And then there's the look, the smell, the feel of linen. Once you've slept in linen sheets you'll never want to sleep in anything else. I love the feel of linen against my skin. The best part is that it gets better with use, softening, becoming almost lustrous. But there's nothing "precious" about linen. Machine wash with a mild detergent and I love to hang my linens out to air dry. No need to iron. The natural creases are part of the Rough Linen look. Could everyday luxury be any easier?
These images of key pieces from Rough Linen's line were taken in a house in California's Wine Country, which belongs to a friend, designer Patricia Adrian-Hanson. Dan Hale the architect is a friend of Tricia's too, and she says "I LUST after his houses!" With photography by Laurie Frankel and styling by Christina Watkinson they epitomise the beauty, the elegant sufficiency of Rough Linen pieces. An object may be simple, practical, efficient yet it can be equally luxurious. The ritual of family meals is finished with a swipe of the lips with a soft linen napkin and everyday chores become just a little more delightful. Imagine drying dishes with such a lovely linen teatowel. I think that just about sums it up. Rough Linen is a luxury you will use every day.
This post is in collaboration with Rough Linen.
Wednesday
Aug172016
Onetangi Beach House
There's something subliminal going on with my posts so far this week. Beach houses and holiday rental accommodation, accommodation and houses by the sea. Perhaps I need some time off? A holiday in a beach house? Or perhaps it's just where the interwebs have taken me this week. Like this beautiful home at Onetangi Beach by New Zealand design firm Sumich Chaplin Architects. Open the doors and drink in that view.
