Home of the Year 2014

The Home of the Year 2014 was announced last night and this year's winner was Eyrie, a pair of cabins on the inlet of Kaipara Harbour, by Nat Cheshire of Cheshire Architects. Enjoy this short film of the twin cabins which features an interview with Nat - the beautiful cinematography and editing are by Jeremy Toth.

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Citta Design Winter 2014

My surprise package from Citta Design

I received a package yesterday from Citta Design and it was filled with lovely goodies to promote their new collection. Thank you Citta!
The Winter 2014 collection has been inspired by the city, Copenhagen and after looking through their catalogue,  there are some great Scandinavian inspired furniture pieces, among many other gorgeous home-wares, to get your home cosy for this winter.

American Oak Spindle Back Chair

American Oak Dining Table

American Oak Coffee Table with White Lacquered Top

Ambient Pendant Light

Photographs via Citta Design.

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Wall Mounted Paper Roller by George and Willy

A client had the above image of the wall mounted paper roller on their Pinterest board and they were keen to find something similar for their new kitchen. I thought we would have to get it made - then boom, I found one. This paper roller is by George and Willy and it's made right here in New Zealand. Perfect.

 

 

Photographs via George and Willy

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Marble Top Tables

 

Iko coffee and side tables from Jardan, Melbourne

Have you noticed the trend of marble top tables? They're quite lovely and I was admiring these ones from Melbourne brand, Jardan. I looked for one available in New Zealand and sure enough found the simple All Circle side table at Douglas and Bec. Nice.

Tuck side table from Jardan

All Circle Side Table from Douglas and Bec.

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Inspiration Profile - Meg McMillan

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Well, I know that a whole lot of new colourful and exciting stock has arrived at Tea Pea just in time for your Christmas shopping. And they do free shipping for all orders over $150 - excellent!
Tea Pea has recently opened a new brick and mortar store in Khandallah, Wellington and I was grateful that Meg McMillan, owner and creative mind behind Tea Pea, managed to find some time in her busy schedule to do the Inspiration Profile for this week. Enjoy!

Meg McMillan

 

Name: Meg McMillan

 

What do you do: Owner, buyer and designer for Tea Pea, our store in Wellington and online. Also mother to three, Griffin, Coco and baby Rosie. And wife to Scott who works in advertising as a day job, and Tea Pea as an evening job.

Where do you live: Wellington, NZ

What are you working on:Juggling all of the above! It helps that home, the store, our local deli and the kids school is all within walking distance.

Little Lamb felt garland

Colour: Oh I love colour. Primary colours and pastels. And there are so many amazing colour combinations I adore too. Then mixing patterns and colours - oh my! If I had to choose just one colour it would definitely be pink.

Plant/Flowers: Peonies, and thank goodness they only have a short season or I'd be broke. And dahlias too, and as luck would have it we have the most incredible dahlias growing in our garden through summer. Also have a growing collection of indoor plants.

Food: Yes, I love food. French and hearty would be my favourite I think. I'm a 'good ingredients and keep it simple' sort of cook.

Smell: Flowers, especially Jasmine and Daphne, my baby Rosie, a delicious meal.

Style: Surround yourself in what you really love. That's my style, and what I suggest to clients.

The new Tea Pea Store

Who/what inspires me: Enthusiastic, clever, and hard working people.

I work best:  in the morning. Evenings are for wine and dancing.

What I do when I’m stuck for inspiration: Get away from my laptop! Go outside, hang out with the kids, catch up with a friend.

The best advice I have been given is: Well, it's from Pinterest - does that count? 'Start each day like it's your birthday'. However I also tend to live by 'Bite off more than you can chew'.

My latest discovery is:Armadillo & Co rugs. I'd like one in every room in the house.

Armadillo & Co rug in New Zealand wool.

Books that I get inspiration from:A good novel - a lovely escape.

Magazines that inspire me: There's so many - if only I had the time to leisurely read them all.

Blogs that I enjoy: There's loads of great NZ blogs - Cush & Nooks, Design Chaser, Studio Home, Milo& Mitzy, re:address, Beautiful Bedlam, Alex Fulton Design.

My favourite room at home is:Our living room. Family, food & fun all happens there.

My office is: a mess!!!

What am I looking forward to: Summer

Feliz Love and Happiness pillow cases

 

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Stockholm Stitch by Laura Thomas Linens

Stockholm Stitch bed linen from Laura Thomas Linens

 

When I received an email from Laura Thomas Linens about their new bed linen called Stockholm Stitch, I knew I had to share (as well as add to my 'to buy' list).

This new range is in crisp white organic cotton with a smart pin stitched detailing along all the edges (and such a good price too!), it's so simple and lovely - this linen would look great in any bedroom.

Laura Thomas is an expat Scot, who on her move to New Zealand, found a lack of mid-priced good quality bed linen, compared to the UK where white bed linen could be easily found. Hence Laura Thomas Linens was created and their mission is to be leading online New Zealand bedding brand. Sounds good to me.





LTL also have 100% soy wax candles that are handmade in New Zealand.

Photographs provided by Laura Thomas Linens.

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New Zealand Holiday Home in Dwell Magazine

A New Zealand holiday home has made an appearance in the latest issue of US magazine, Dwell. Located at Onemana Beach, this compact prefab house was a collaborative effort between the clients, the builder and a group of architecture students. Read all about the unique process here.

 

 

Photographs by Simon Devitt via Dwell.

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Living with Kids II - Kate Oppenhius in New Zealand

Here is another New Zealand home featured in 'Living with Kids' series on Design Mom. The previous featured New Zealand home was in Auckland and it has been a popular reference by my clients who read this blog. This time we are in Wellington and it belongs to interior stylist, Kate Oppenhius. Read all about it here.

 

 

Photography by Paul McCredie via Design Mom.

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Joinery Inspiration

I have been working on several joinery projects lately and this is one of my inspiration images. From the Nikau House in Parnell designed by Strachan Group Architects, this image captures the simple joinery pieces of the home office slash library and the nook seating at the top of the stairs. Lovely.
Photo by Jackie Meiring via HOME New Zealand.

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Inspiration profile - Talia O'Connor and Ella Murdoch

Lately I have been regularly hearing about new home wares stores popping up all over New Zealand, which is positive to hear, especially after the tough economic climate from the last few years.
This week's profile opened one recently in Dunedin after having an online store since March. Enjoy and have a great weekend all!

Ella Murdoch and Talia O'Connor

Styling by MintSix

Name: Talia O'Connor & Ella Murdoch

What do you do: We co-own our home wares & lifestyle business, MintSix. We also do interior styling both locally and online. Our business has been online since March and we have we have just opened our first store in Dunedin. 

Where do you live: We live in Dunedin, New Zealand. 

What are you working on: Lately, we've mostly been working on getting our new store up and running, as well as continuing with our online business and working with clients on interior projects.

MintSix store, Dunedin

Colour:Such a hard one, we love colour! Talia: Chartreuse. Ella: Mint & at the moment anything Fuchsia 

Plant/Flowers:T: Currently loving our fiddle leaf fig trees Ficus Lyrata) & I'm very partial to a big beautiful bunch of peonies. E: Lilies

Food: T: Vietnamese E: Dumplings

Smell: T: The smell of summer or my Stella MCartney perfume I can't live without!  E: Jasmine 

Style:  Fashion:   T: Can't beat H&M & Topshop for affordable items and I love anything from Gorman & Mr Zimi. E: Zara, I miss Zara! (Zara was about 100 metres from our apartment in Beijing). We are both also big fans of Isabel Marant and Alexander Wang although unfortunately don't have a huge amount of their pieces in our wardrobe... one day hopefully!

Home: We like an eclectic mix of stylish and functional home wares, quite often with a bit of a twist. At the moment we love brands such as HK Living, Pony Rider, Kip & Co & Brita Sweden. We're also still huge fans of the original items we started importing, our Bamileke Juju Hats and Moroccan Pouffes. These can all be found at MintSix!

Who/what inspires me: Talia: I try and grab at least ten minutes (more like half and hour if I'm honest!) a day on Pinterest & Instagram and try and squeeze in some blog reading once a week. I'm also always inspired when I'm in Melbourne where I lived for eight years, I'm completely obsessed with the place!

I work best:During the day when my children are at school and kindy but also often find myself on the computer again in the evening.

What I do when I’m stuck for inspiration: There's nothing quite like a sneak peek into someone else's home. The Design Files showcases some amazing Australian homes weekly on their blog and it's one of the few emails that gets opened immediately when it arrives into my inbox. Being a hoarder, I also never throw away magazines, so I often dip back into old issues of my favourites if I'm lacking inspiration for a particular project.

The best advice I have been given is: To do what you love, work hard and trust your instincts. 

My latest discovery is:All the great Kiwi designers & creatives that I'm discovering now that I'm home. 

Mood boards by Talia - Black

Mood board - yellow and caramel

 Books that I get inspiration from: A range of interiors books. I especially love Todd Selby's books & more recently Megan Morton's, Things I love. 

Magazines that inspire me: Living Etc, Inside Out & Real Living are favourites

Blogs that I enjoy:The Design Files, The Design Chaser, Dos Family, Lovenordic Design Blog, Ascot Friday, Bluebird Vintage, Studio Home, Stylizimo, Desire to Inspire, Emmas Design Blog, Cush &Nooks, Elsass, Sincerely Jules, 79 Ideas, Caroline's Mode, Planete Deco, Fashion me Now, After DRK, The Fashion Guitar, My Scandinavian Home, Milo&Mitzy, Table Tonic...I'll stop now but could go on and on! 

My favourite room at home is:  Probably my living room as that's where we all hang out together. We get the fire cranked up in the winter & it's gets nice and cosy, which is essential here down South!

My office has:Been used as the MintSix headquarters during the last few months. Now that we have moved into our new shop it's looking very empty apart from my beloved mid-century desk and iMac.

What am I looking forward to:I'm looking forward to watching our business grow and diversifying our range. I also can't wait to explore more of New Zealand with my family. My husband is British and my kids were born in Australia so they haven't seen much of our beautiful country. 

MintSix styling work.



Photographs are used with permission from MintSix.

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