Tag: charity

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Architecture Design Designers House Tours

Design community unites to rebuild home lost in bushfires

Kitchen
Kitchen

With the current state of the world, good news stories seem scarce which is why this one really warmed our hearts when we came across it this week. It’s the story of David and Barbara Rugendyke, of the rural New South Wales town of Cobargo, who lost their home to bushfires on New Year’s Day in 2020. After a lifetime of helping others–David is an RFS firefighter and the couple have fostered over 400 children (incredible!)–the couple have had a new home built for them courtesy of Architects Assist.

Kitchen
Their gorgeous new kitchen
Living
The open plan living area

Set up to provide pro-bono architectural services, together with donated products, Architects Assist is doing fabulous work and David and Barbara’s new home is just another example of it. The organisation connected the couple with Melbourne’s Breathe Architecture, who planned and designed the home. It also reached out to suppliers and collaborators to donate materials, products, and services for the build. Incredibly, the couple were fostering eight children at the time of the fire.

David Rugendyke
David Rugendyke
The gorgeous view from the lounge room
The gorgeous view from the couple’s lounge room

A long list of suppliers donated to the cause including Fisher & Paykel who stepped in to donate kitchen and laundry appliances. “It has been incredibly heart-warming and rewarding to work with the architecture, design and building community to rebuild the family’s home, and help rebuild their lives and community. The industry has the skills, knowledge and resources to make a real difference for those in need, and Fisher & Paykel is proud to be involved and contribute,” says Richard Babekuhl, head of marketing Australia. 

Bathroom and bedroom
Bathroom and bedroom
Dining room
Dining room

Other donors include Fielders who provided cladding, roof sheeting and roof plumbing. Fixtures and fittings were donated by Tradelink while Taubmans donated paint and Form Brick provided brick tiles. Windows were provided by Accent Windows, ceiling fans by Universal Fans, hydronic heat pump by Automatic Heating, lighting by Studio All, solar install by BREC Energy and Jason of Davis Construction provided the all-important building services.

Deck
Deck
The house from a distance
The house from a distance

Photography: Pablo Veiga | Styling: Atelier Lab

For more on Architects Assist | For more on Fisher & Paykel

Room reno: Young patient’s charity bedroom makeover

“The design brief for the room was pretty simple really – unicorns, mermaids, rainbows with splashes of pink and yellow,” says interior stylist Sarah McMillan of The Cullin Interiors who…
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Art Shopping

Melbourne artist raises money for charity with foodie art prints

Melbourne creative Gemma Leslie has designed a second collection of limited edition recipe posters to raise money for FareShare, an Australian charity that provides millions of free meals for those in need. It follows the sell-out success of the first collection, which raised more than $40,000 for FareShare. 

The four new posters feature recipes from Australian hospitality heavyweights Andrew McConnell (Cumulus Inc.), Lennox Hastie (Firedoor and Netflix’s Chef’s Table:  BBQ), Lisa Valmorbida (Pidapipó Gelateria) and Kay-Lene Tan (Tonka). She has interpreted the chefs’ recipes into her signature ‘naïve’ art style, which is inspired by organic forms, imperfections and bright colour. 

Firedoor’s recipe for pipis with karkalla and native citrus

“Food For Everyone is my way of bringing a touch of happiness into people’s homes during an extremely difficult  time,” says Leslie. “For me, this project was born out of my love for sharing food with family and friends. Coming together and sharing a  meal is a communal and binding act—an act that is understood globally. I wanted the posters to capture that spirit.”  

By collaborating with some of the country’s best chefs and cooks, Food For Everyone honours those who have made a lasting impact on Australia’s food scene, while allowing people to own a small piece of culinary history. “Most importantly, it puts food on the table for those in need through the work of our friends at FareShare,” Leslie continued.

Cumulus Inc’s tuna tartare with crushed peas

FareShare runs Australia’s largest charity kitchens in Melbourne and Brisbane. It rescues surplus, quality food from supermarkets, wholesalers, farmers and other businesses that would otherwise end up in landfill and cooks it into millions of free, nutritious meals for isolated communities, low-income families, people experiencing homelessness, and others struggling to get by. 

FareShare is among hundreds of frontline charities and foodbanks across Australia that have experienced a significant increase in the need for food relief at varying times in the past year due to the ongoing impacts of  COVID-19. Many Australians currently experiencing food insecurity expect they won’t cope when the additional Government support via JobSeeker and JobKeeper is withdrawn in March.  

Pidapipó Gelateria’s strawberry sorbetto recipe

“The support from Food For Everyone has already allowed FareShare to provide more than 30,000 free, cooked and highly nutritious meals for Australians in need. Gemma’s artwork celebrates Australia’s exceptional food culture by capturing its bright spirit and bringing together the industry’s best to generously support some of our  most vulnerable,” said FareShare director Toni Hetherington. 

“As panic buying at supermarkets resurfaces during cluster outbreaks and the cost of fresh food fluctuates during the  pandemic, vulnerable people who live week-to-week continue to turn to food charities for assistance and FareShare is  committed to not only cooking enough meals to nourish those in need but cook the best possible meal for each individual.” 

Tonka’s halwa carrot cake

The purchase of every poster provides 70 meals through FareShare. Each poster is in A2 format (42cm x 59cm) and  printed on paper made entirely from 100% recycled single-use coffee cups.  

Posters are $80 each and available to pre-order online for a limited time from until 25 February 2021. 

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Art

Drought relief: Buy Aussie art to help our farmers

A piece by James Lai
An artwork by James Lai

The Art For Bales charity art event is back this weekend (Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October), with all proceeds going to the Aussie drought-relief organisation, Rural Aid.

200 Australian artists, from across the country, are donating original artworks to be sold via Instagram in what is a win-win for everyone. Buyers will procure a beautiful piece of original art, while helping out our rural communities, who are currently living through one of the worst droughts in Aussie history.

A piece by artist Joan Blond
This artwork, by Joan Blond, is one of the pieces up for grabs

“The whole concept has snowballed fantastically in a year, from co-founder Kate Pittas and I donating the sale price of a painting to buy a bale, to it becoming this collective effort that’s gone viral in the online art world,” says Art For Bales co-founder Andrea Hamann who launched the inaugural event last year which raised an impressive $77,000.

A piece by James Lai
This artwork, by James Lai, will be available for purchase

“With Art For Bales, our goal is threefold: raising the funds, raising awareness of just how badly the drought is affecting people outside the cities, and – from a mental health perspective – letting affected communities know that we haven’t forgotten about them,” says Andrea.

Artwork by Kate Pittas
This artwork, by Art for Bales co-founder Kate Pittas, will be for sale

Prices for the works start at a very affordable $30 and go right up to $4,500 for the more serious collector. Participating artists include Sulman Prize finalist and Hawkesbury Art Prize winner Ben Tankard, Paddington Art Prize winner Kiata Mason, along with Alexandra Plim, James Lai, Joan Blond, Thomas Bucich, Maggi McDonald, Tracy Dickason and Ana Young.

Artwork by co-founder Andrea Hamann
This artwork, by Art for Bales co-founder Andrea Hamann, will be for sale too

“From droughts to fires, the thought of having to deal with one natural disaster after another is difficult to contemplate but that’s what these farmers go through,” says Rural Aid chief executive officer, Charles Alder of the charity that supports our farmers in many ways, providing everything from bales of hay to mental health services. “The demand for mental health support is unprecedented right now,” says Charles.

A work by Alexandra Plim
This Alexandra Plim artwork will be up for grabs

How to participate:

  1. Head ​here and browse the page to see the artworks available for purchase.
  2. From 12:00am AEDT on Saturday 19 October, once you’ve decided which artwork you’d like to purchase, visit the Instagram page of the artist and comment ‘SOLD’ on their post. The first to comment ‘SOLD’ buys the artwork.
  3. Organise payment, receipt and shipping with the artist directly.
  4. The artist will then send Art For Bales a receipt of their donation to Rural Aid, to the amount of the sale.
  5. Share your artwork and spread awareness using the tags ​#artforbales2019​ and #artforbales​.

For more on Art for Bales | Contemporary Indigenous Australian artist Natalie Jade

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Interiors Addict

Charity house auction comes fully furnished with a car!

Henley charity home

By Shaynna Blaze

We’d all love a dream home, but imagine if your next home was a house of dreams not just for you, but for thousands of others? Henley Homes, along with Browns property group, has joined forces with 200 local trades to auction Henley’s 69thcharity home. Amazingly, all proceeds will go towards the FightMND Foundation, a charity committed to finding a cure for Motor Neurone Disease.

Henley charity home

Located in the greater Melbourne suburb of Clyde North, this brand-new home comes complete with furniture, accessories, appliances and a new car so is ready for the lucky winner to move straight in with absolutely nothing to do. And aside from all the bells and whistles (professional landscaping, decking, ducted heating and air-conditioning and window coverings and more), the additional bonus is that if you buy this home you’ll be benefiting thousands of people and their families too. The money raised at this auction will go not only towards researching and finding a cure for MND, but also providing a quality of life back to sufferers by supplying much needed equipment in their homes. This is one charity auction where everyone is a winner!

Kitchen and dining
Kitchen and dining

The four bedroom home, the ‘Emperor 38’ is sure to entice a wide demographic of buyers with its quality fittings and luxury appliances. The top level is fitted out with a glamourous master suite with walk in robe, double vanity and a walk-in shower. The home also has an additional two bathrooms as well as five living/lounging spaces, so no-one ever has to feel like they are on top of each other. The home is set within a fully landscaped garden (with alfresco) and a boasts a two-car garage complete with a donated Toyota Corolla.

Bedroom
Bedroom

Bathroom
Bathroom

The home makes a striking presence in the street with feature brickwork, render and weatherboards in the new modern tones of deep chocolate and white. Once you walk inside, the home has an elegant and classic feel with luxurious timber-look oak floors contrasted with a feature walnut, open-rung staircase. Guests Furniture donated all the neutral toned furniture, soft furnishings and artwork and it really complements the minimalist look of the home.

Lounge room
Lounge room

Staircase
Staircase

So how could you not want to put your hand up to buy this home? And how amazing would it be knowing that all of the donated land, plus the labour and materials have been given with the knowledge that this home will be giving for a very long time to the families and sufferers of MND.

Auction date: This Saturday 2 March 2019 at 11am

For more

Categories
Design Designers DIY Furniture Homewares

Talented design folk upcycle stylish pieces for charity

norsu Interiors
norsu Interiors' Natalie

Currently in its fifth year, the annual Feast Watson Re-Love Project is upon us again and this year sees a talented line-up of design folk upcycling for charity. Steve Cordony, Sarah Ellison, Natalie Turnbull and norsu Interiors’ Nat Wheeler and Kristy Sadlier have all reimagined existing furniture and homewares that are set to be auctioned for charity at the end of October.

Steve Cordony's up cycled wares
Steve Cordony’s upcycled wares

Steve Cordony
Featuring lots of gorgeous turned wood, stylist Steve Cordony’s upcycled pieces bring plenty of drama to this year’s line-up. There’s a bold black dining table (that was upcycled with a black stain) and an array of complementary accessories – the proceeds of which will raise money for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Steve Cordony BEFORE
BEFORE Steve Cordony

AFTER Steve Cordony
AFTER Steve Cordony with his upcycled pieces

Sarah Ellison
A solid timber sideboard, a classic wooden bowl, two wicker chairs and a hollow cube-shaped side table with glass top all received the makeover treatment from stylist and designer Sarah Ellison for this year’s project. Sarah’s nominated charity is Livin’– a charity that aims to destigmatise mental health issues and increase awareness of suicide prevention.

BEFORE Sarah Ellison
BEORE Sarah Ellison

AFTER Sarah Ellison
AFTER Sarah Ellison

Sarah-ellison-cube-table
AFTER Sarah Ellison’s upcycled glass cube table

AFTER Sarah Ellison
Sarah Ellison

Natalie Turnbull
A solid timber desk and coffee table were given a statement green stripe when stylist and art director Nat was put to task on her Re-Love Project upcycling project. They complement her upcycled accessories too and all proceeds will go to Challenge, a charity focussed on supporting kids with cancer – a cause dear to Natalie’s heart.

BEFORE Nat Turnbull
BEFORE Nat Turnbull

AFTER Nat Turnbull
AFTER Nat Turnbull

AFTER Nat Turnbull
AFTER Nat Turnbull

norsu Interiors
Employing their signature Scandinavian meets pastel style, the ladies from online homewares store norsu Interiors have worked their magic on a number of pieces for the project including a stool they transformed into a table by reupholstering it and shortening its legs. Proceeds from the sale of their pieces will raise money for brain cancer research, with money going to Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer.

norsu Interiors
norsu Interiors’ Nat Wheeler and Kristy Sadlier with their Feast Watson pieces

BEFORE chair
BEFORE chair

AFTER chair
AFTER chair

BEFORE stool
BEFORE stool

AFTER table
AFTER the legs have been shortened to make a table

For more | Steve Cordony’s guide to upcycling furniture with style

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Interiors Addict

Buy a house for charity and feel warm & fuzzy for life!

Sponsored by Henley

Imagine buying a brand new dream house and then getting to keep that show home look and everything in it! Well, it doesn’t just happen on The Block, it could happen for you. Plus, you’d know everything you paid for it went to an amazing cause: the Royal Childrens Hospital Melbourne’s Good Friday Appeal!

This is the 25th year Henley has built and donated a house to the Good Friday Appeal (with land donated by Villawood Properties) so they wanted to make it extra special. The no-reserve auction house comes furnished thanks to friends of Interiors Addict IKEA, Early Settler, Incy Interiors, the Print Emporium, Willow & Wood and Clarke Rubber. It was our pleasure to help source and choose the furniture and homewares for this special project.

You can take a tour of the double-storey Emperor 41, situated in Villawood’s boutique Waratah community, below.

 

Here’s the unisex nursery furnished by Incy Interiors, GlobeWest, The Print Emporium, Willow & Wood and Clarke Rubber. How cute is it?!

The living and dining areas were furnished by Early Settler and I love the pink and grey colour scheme. It would be so easy to move straight in!

Living room furnished by Early Settler with sofas, artwork, side tables, coffee table, accessories and more.

Pendant lighting was gifted by Beacon Lighting and the kitchen cupboards stocked with essentials by IKEA.

IKEA also furnished the theatre room, the al fresco area and the guest bedroom!

Theatre room

Outdoor dining

Guest suite

There’s still plenty of time to inspect the home, which goes for auction on Friday 30 March.

The house is open for inspection every Saturday and Sunday (1-to-3pm) and Wednesdays (5-to-6pm), until 30 March at 13 Harfield Avenue, Mickleham Victoria.

For more information.

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Interiors Addict

Charity house furnished by Interiors Addict could be yours!

Nursery furnished by Incy Interiors, GlobeWest, Willow & Wood and The Print Emporium.

Sponsored by Henley

At the weekend, Henley and Villawood Properties officially opened to the public to inspect the Good Friday Appeal charity auction home. It followed five months and 320,000 collective labour hours from over 400 tradies and suppliers.

 

It was a huge team effort by Henley, Villawood Properties and the generous trades and suppliers who volunteered their time and services. Year after year, they give it their all to create a stunning family home for one successful bidder to call home. This is all in aid of the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal, with the Henley double-storey Emperor 41, situated in Villawood’s boutique Waratah community, selling at a no-reserve auction on Good Friday 30 March – with 100% of the proceeds donated to the appeal.

Living room furnished by Early Settler with sofas, artwork, side tables, coffee table, accessories and more.

Dining area furnished by Early Settler and kitchen stocked by IKEA.

“It’s our 25th year building and donating houses to the Good Friday Appeal, and the whole team at Henley is enormously proud in being associated with such an iconic event, where the community really comes together for a feel-good cause,” said Henley’s managing director John Harvey.

Nursery furnished by Incy Interiors, GlobeWest, Willow & Wood and The Print Emporium.

To make Henley’s silver anniversary even more special, Interiors Addict was delighted to be asked to be involved. We called on our network of furniture and homewares brands to donate everything from art to sofas and a dining a table! Early Settler, IKEA, GlobeWest, Incy Interiors, Willow & Wood and The Print Emporium didn’t hesitate to give generously, allowing me to choose from their gorgeous stock for the house. And the lucky bidder will get to keep it all. That will make moving day easier!

The home has a spacious open plan kitchen/living/dining room furnished almost entirely by Early Settler. Kitchen cupboards are full of essentials from IKEA, who also furnished the guest suite and theatre, as well providing outdoor dining furniture. In the super sweet nursery, Incy Interiors donated a cot and change table while the rug and chair came from GlobeWest, the bookcase from Willow & Wood, artwork from The Print Emporium and cot mattress from Clarke Rubber.

“This year, we once again have a group of passionate and dedicated trades and suppliers who donate their time and resources in making this extraordinary build happen, some who have contributed to the cause since its inception in 1993 and others who have joined us along the way. Each contribution means so much to us, and adds immeasurable value to the worth of the home,” John added.

Guest suite furnished by IKEA

Dining furniture donated by IKEA

Beyond the gorgeous home, the lucky buyer will be moving to a peaceful oasis, surrounded by historic woodlands and conveniently located in close proximity to the Mickleham Town Centre and future primary school, while also in walking distance of the state-of-the art Childcare Centre within the Waratah community, due to open in early 2019.

Theatre furnished by IKEA

“We believe the sense of ‘home’ is so much more than what’s contained within a property’s boundary and we design our all our projects to instill a true sense of community, where people know their neighbours and greet them in the street. The Village Green, a large neighbourhood park with playground, will be integral to this and we’ll have an exciting 12-month calendar of events kicking off just after the auction,” said Rory Costelloe, executive director of Villawood Properties.

“A special thanks this year to Early Settler, IKEA, GlobeWest, Incy Interiors, Willow & Wood and The Print Emporium, who have come on board through Interiors Addict publisher, Jen Bishop, to style the house with all of the donated furniture and accessories included in the auction price.

“This house is packed to the roof with quality inclusions, donations, upgrades and of course, the feel-good factor and we can’t wait to meet its new family who get a beautiful new home with a whole heap of extra value,” he said.

The house is open for inspection every Saturday and Sunday (1-to-3pm) and Wednesdays (5-to-6pm), until 30 March at 13 Harfield Avenue, Mickleham Victoria.

Visit www.henley.com.au or visit www.villawoodproperties.com.au

 

Categories
Interiors Addict

Gift guide: unique pieces for a good cause with Etsy

This year, thanks to Etsy, you can do all your gift buying with ease — and for a good cause! They’ve teamed up with Plan International on a charity initiative called Make For Good (check out #makeforgood on your Instagram!).

Inspired by Plan’s Because I Am A Girl campaign, its mission is to empower girls by helping to create brighter futures around the world. Dozens of Australian Etsy sellers have created bespoke products that coincide with the theme of the campaign, with 20% of proceeds going to charity. Last year, they raised over $30,000 internationally and this year they plan to beat that – with our help. The fight for girls around the world is a cause everyone can get behind, so let’s get to shopping!

hangingvase

Hanging Vase by Kirraleeandco  Being an outdoorsy girl myself, I am a sucker for greenery in the house. Made of reclaimed wood and ceramic, this vase will brighten up the wall of any dreary office space!

resinvase

Walking on Sunshine Handmade Resin Vase by ResinatingByMarina  In a gorgeous sunny yellow, this resin vase will provide the perfect pop of colour to any room. With its exceptional design, people may not even notice the flowers within!

floralcalendar

2017 Calendar by CarlaEllisCreative  We all have that friend that could really use a calendar to get them organised (hint: if you don’t have that friend, it may be you!). This dainty and beautiful floral piece is sure to do the trick.

cactusprint

Brighter Futures Cactus Print by Meyouandjack  It seems lately I can’t walk into a store without finding something cactus printed – and I love it! This bright and colourful piece is perfect for any trendy household.

tealighthodler

Ceramic Tea Light Holder by Maribray  For the candle lover in your life, consider this gorgeous light holder with gold accents.

fruitplates

Fruit Slice Mini Clay Dish by Nuviart  I am in love with these bright, fruit themed plates! They are absolutely perfect for any upcoming summer barbecue. They come in pineapple, watermelon and passionfruit.

abstractink

Gold, Yellow and Purple Abstract Ink Painting by ElizabethEllenor  Your art-obsessed friend is sure to swoon over this abstract piece. With its beautiful hues, it will definitely be a gift to be remembered.

moon

Letterpress Full Moon by Fluidinkletterpress  If you’re like me and love anything cosmic, then you’ve found the perfect piece (in fact, I’ve already added it to my cart!). The gold dusting creates a simple and elegant statement for your home.

bluebirddrawing

Bluebird Pencil Drawing by CarmenHuiArt  Last but certainly not least, this bluebird pencil drawing is the perfect sweet addition to any room.

With all these products and more on Etsy, you’re sure to find something to tick off your gift list. The best part is, you can rest easy knowing your cash is going towards a tremendously important cause.

Learn more about Because I Am A Girl.

Categories
Art Interviews

Op-shop charity art series celebrates beauty in the everyday

In a sea of sameness, it’s lovely to stumble across something that bit different on the interiors scene and it’s even better when the sale of said item helps those most in need. The creation of talented photographer Penny Lane (and yes, that is her real name!), the series of images were created with a variety of op-shop finds with part proceeds of their sale going to the 2016 Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Utterly quirky and rather captivating, we’re big fans!

PENNY_LANE_OPSHOP_STILL_LIFE_email_007 Mint Bird Interior Sydney
‘Bird in the hand’ framed

The project started when, while setting up a new home in Melbourne, Penny did what she always does in the circumstances and scoured op-shops looking for thrifty finds. “I was stuck in a ball of stress, so I decided to go op-shopping to find things for my house and just generally have some thinking time. I find op-shopping very therapeutic!” says Penny whose latest project, rather beautifully, was inspired by her late mother too. “It would have been my mother’s sixtieth birthday recently and she was always a great person to turn to when I was stressed and so I was imagining talking to her, and what she would say, and I felt she would say that I should just do some work for fun and get creative.” Penny started fossicking for fabulous finds during this year’s Salvation Army Red Shield appeal.

PENNY_LANE_OPSHOP_STILL_LIFE_email_009 Frame
‘Pink Ladysaurus’

“I got inspired to create still life art works out of things that I found that day, and photograph it, and just have fun and put it on my website and if by any chance anyone bought it, I would donate some of the profits back to charity,” says Penny, who spent two weeks driving around city and country op-shops to find the objects that were styled and photographed in her home studio in Melbourne.

PENNY_LANE_OPSHOP_STILL_LIFE_email_008 Frame
‘The Graduate’

The series is divided by colour and was created with no specific brief beyond a desire to create something visually appealing. “It sounds a bit airy fairy but I really wanted the still life images to grow into scenes as I was making them. They took on a styled life of their own, so I would play around with the styling of the objects and flowers and see what I came up with and let the wacky or very ordinary objects take on a new meaning and life of their own. I suppose that was part of the theme, taking some very mundane, or cuckoo objects and re-interpreting their use into telling a different mini story. If that went in a bit of a wacky direction, even better! The images are meant to create new beauty from donated, every day and run down objects,” says Penny.

PENNY_LANE_OPSHOP_STILL_LIFE_email_006 Bananarama
‘Bananarama’

A keen op-shopper since her teenage years, Penny enjoys the thrill of finding that diamond in the rough. “I think I love that unexpected, surprising mystery about the op shop adventure. You might spend hours rummaging through and not finding anything but then sometimes, in the least likely place, you get super lucky and it’s such a great feeling.”

PENNY_LANE_OPSHOP_STILL_LIFE_email_002 Peach Queen_
‘Peach Queen’

You can purchase the prints alone or framed in a Victorian Ash float frame and with only 25 hand signed and numbered copies, you’d better get in quick.

PENNY_LANE_OPSHOP_STILL_LIFE_email_005 Eggplant Emoji
‘Eggplant Emoji’

Shop the series here.

Categories
Interiors Addict

Meet Greg Natale, Darren Palmer & Steve Cordony at our event

Greg

IA-BiggestMorningTea-blog-post-600x252-042016-F

This year, I’m delighted to be an ambassador for Cancer Council New South Wales’ Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea initiative. Here at Interiors Addict, we’ve teamed up with our friends at BoConcept to host our own event with a definite interiors twist! We’ve brought together our dream trifecta of Block judge and interior designer Darren Palmer, award-winning interior designer Greg Natale and stylist extraordinaire Steve Cordony. We know, it’s good, right?!

For just $50 you can join us, and them, for a morning of design tips, meeting these three members of interiors royalty, delicious sweet treats, tea and coffee, plus you’ll go home with an Interiors Addict Shop gift. A bargain at twice the price and 100% of the ticket price goes to Cancer Council New South Wales. This is a cause very close to my heart as I lost my mum to cancer when I was three.

If you’d like to join us, buy your ticket here.

When and where: 10.30am to 12 noon, Tuesday 17 May 2016, BoConcept, 575-597 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest NSW 2065.

Huge thanks to BoConcept, Greg, Darren and Steve for their time and generosity.

IA-BiggestMorningTea-blog-post-logos-600x61-042016-F

Categories
Art Designers Furniture

Chairity Project: 20 creatives, 20 charities and 20 chairs

The second ever Cult Chairity Project (no, that’s not a typo) sees a bunch of talented Aussie and Kiwi artists reinvent an iconic chair design. Each artist is given complete freedom to reinvent the chair which is exhibited and auctioned off to a charity of the artist’s own choice.

ADAM_GOODRUM_HR
Adam Goodrum

This year the chair in question is Arne Jacobsen’s Series 7, and the 2015 event ties in neatly with the 60th anniversary of the iconic chair.

CHRISTOPHER_BOOTS_DETAIL
Christopher Boots

Building on the success of last year’s event, Cult has added to the list of artists from a cross section of industrial design, architecture and art, as well as floral and jewellery design. Included in the list are local talents such as Dinosaur Designs, Akira Isogawa and David Trubridge.

FIONA_LYNCH_HR
Fiona Lynch

The project will be shown off nationwide via guided tours, starting in Sydney this week, then making its way down to Melbourne (12-14 November) and finishing off in Brisbane (19-21 November).

The online auction is live and closes 22 November.

Categories
Interiors Addict

Vote for me to win $2500 for Cancer Council and I’ll match it

I’m not normally one for begging people to vote for me in some kind of popularity contest.  It makes me feel a bit embarrassed. However, Kidspot are offering $2500 to the charity of the winner’s choice in their Voices of 2015 Most Popular Alumni Award and I couldn’t say no to the chance to raise money for The Cancer Council. What’s more, if I win, I pledge to donate a further $2500 to the cause, making a big fat $5000 for charity! I’d have to get an awful lot of people to sponsor me to do something to raise that kind of money!

2015-kidspot-voices_alumni-EDM-600X300

The winning blogger gets not just $2500 for their charity but a cash prize or business grant of $7500 for themselves. I’m promising (and I’ll of course provide evidence) to give $2500 of that to The Cancer Council if I win.

I don’t need to tell you why The Cancer Council is a brilliant cause and I’d be surprised if any of you have not been touched by losing a loved one to this disease. But I can tell you why cancer is personal for me.

This cause is particularly close to my heart because I lost my mum, Patricia Bishop, to skin cancer (malignant melanoma) when I was three (and my little sister was even younger). Becoming a mum has brought the harsh reality of what happened into focus for me. I remember just a few days after Sebastian was born in May, having lost my mum hit me like a tonne of bricks and not how I’d expected it to at all.

mum

I knew I might feel the lack of having a mother when I became a mother myself and of course the thought that Sebastian would never get to meet his maternal grandmother saddened me and still does. But what I didn’t see coming was the sudden empathy for my mum, knowing she was going to die and leave her two young daughters to grow up without her. I had never ever thought about her dying from her perspective before. I’d thought about how sad it was for my dad being left a single parent and for us little girls being left without a mum but I’d never (and how I feel rather selfish and ignorant about this) thought about how it would feel to be a mother knowing she was leaving her children.

I think only becoming a mother myself made me realise just how awful that must have been. I just can’t imagine it and if I try to put myself in her shoes it really is too painful to think about.

Of course, sadly, children will continue to lose their parents and parents will continue to lose their children, but I don’t want people to lose relatives because of a lack of research into the many different cancers which are killing people. Research saves lives, there is no doubt about it. I’ve recently become an ambassador for The Cancer Council’s Girls’ Night In (please consider holding your own event this month!).

So an unashamed PLEASE VOTE FOR ME! Not out of sympathy or to make me feel popular, but because The Cancer Council will get FIVE GRAND if I win! I won’t deny that if I manage to pull this off, it will make me feel amazing! Thank you SO much, lovely readers, for your help and for reading my personal story.

(And while I’m here I can’t resist a reminder to please wear your sunscreen and get your moles checked! I didn’t get this pale and interesting English rose look by sun baking, you know…).

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Voting closes on 6 November 2015 at 6pm. You can vote as many times as you like.

Categories
Competitions

Shop and raise money for charity without paying an extra cent

Sponsored by pink.org.au

It’s almost too good to be true, but it’s not. What if I were to tell you that you could shop online at major retailers where you’d usually make purchases anyway and in doing so, without it costing you a cent, a donation is made to life-changing breast cancer research? You can. And it gets better. You’ll also benefit from special deals and cashback on your purchases. Amazing!

This week, I’ve been checking out pink.org.au for myself and not only have I had my usual retail therapy fix, I’ve been raising money for a charity close to my heart (my aunt has breast cancer a few years ago and is happily now in the clear after treatment), the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). Talk about a win-win situation!

First, I hit up Marks & Spencer (12% cashback), the iconic department store in my motherland, England, that ships to Australia. It’s one of my favourite places to buy baby clothes for Sebastian and they have a most excellent range of dungarees (or overalls as you call them here!).

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Cute Marks & Spencer outfit for Sebastian

Still thinking like a mum (what happened to buying clothes for myself online?!) I headed to Appliances Online (up to 1.6% cashback), where I often shop too, and bought a food processor, because we are fast approaching the time for introducing solid food (can’t wait for that mess…).

Don’t worry though, this interiors addict wanted to know what was on offer in the home category and I wasn’t disappointed. I bought a nice white waffle quilt cover for our spare bed (a classic!) from Adairs (7.2% cashback). Incidentally, they also have their own NCBF range, so if you buy that via pink.org.au, you’re helping the charity not once but twice!

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Adairs linen for the spare bedroom

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Bluebellgray Eric cushion from Amara Living

Then I spent far too long browsing the amazing range at Amara (up to 8% cashback), another UK-based site who ship here (free shipping on orders over $200 too), and sell luxury homewares. I didn’t previously know they shipped internationally so that was a great discovery. My haul included salt and pepper shakers, a gold stapler for my home office desk and an odds and ends trinket dish, all by Kate Spade New York. Divine! I also couldn’t resist a stunning Bluebellgray Eric cushion.

Kate Spade tray from Amara Living

Before my purchases even arrived, I started getting emails about my cashback, letting me know how much had been credited to my Pink account. It really is brilliant! And all the more incentive to head back to the site to shop again and help raise more money.

It’s not just shopping you can do on pink.org.au though, you can also order takeout. We always use Menulog anyway, so from now on we’ll be using Menulog via Pink (2.4% cashback), knowing a bit of cash is going to charity too. Why wouldn’t you, frankly? Some of the other online stores we often frequent which we’ll now be browsing via pink.org.au are The Iconic, Bonds, Asos and Virgin Australia.

It’s very simple to use pink.org.au. Once you sign up, you simply access the various stores via the Pink site and complete the transaction as normal.

It doesn’t cost you anything and it’s quick and easy to sign up. Join for free now!

WIN $200

If you’d like the chance to win $200 to spend online at pink.org.au, simply sign up (it’s free) then complete the form below by midnight on Sunday 27 September 2015.

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Categories
Competitions Styling

The best 7 Vignettes photos of 2014

7 Vignettes is always one of my highlights of each month and I’m still so proud to have started it. Now about to start its third year, I thought it would be remiss to let 2014 pass without showcasing some of our readers’ best efforts.

Here are my favourites from each monthly winner’s collections:

January 2014: Picturedthoughts

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February 2014: @mozsas

heart february 2014 mozsas

March 2014: @themastersfoodandstyling

march vignettes

April 2014: @lauren.storey

austrahlee april vignettes

May 2014: @vintagefox_

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June 2014: @kraig_at_the_warehouse (our first male winner!)

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July 2014: @angelasteynandco

july vignettes angela steyne

August 2014: @brownpaperlemon (now featured in the 7 Vignettes Gather Journal from Rainy Sunday)

brownpaperlemon august vignettes

September 2014: @overgrown_garden

overgrown garden vignettes september

October 2014: @_fridays_child_

ocotber 7 vignettes

November 2014: @mozsas (second win of the year!)

mozsas november vignettes

December 2014: @mintandfizz

mint and fizz december vignettes

A huge thank you to all our participants, sponsors and guest judges!

Seeing all these together makes me think, as I have been all year, that it would be fantastic to take some of these images and turn them into something tangible and, at the same time, raise money for charity. I’d love that to be a project for 2015 and I’d really welcome your thoughts and ideas on what we could do and the best way to do it. Please comment below. Thanks! Jen.

Ready to take part in next month’s challenge, starting on New Year’s Day? You could win a $500 Kip and Co voucher! More info.

Categories
Interiors Addict

What to give someone who has everything? Nothing!

By Caitlin Davis

Because, somewhere out there, is a little green tree. On that green tree is a little golden star. On that golden star it is written, “Female, Aged 17”.

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That was my tag. Once I got over the incredible shock, the wholehearted pity and the overwhelming feeling of “I’m one of those children”, I felt immense gratitude and compassion. I received a $40 voucher with a bath and body gift set and I felt on top of the world walking into the department store to buy a brand new pair of jeans with an abundant “just stepped off the resort” smell of fresh coconut. I hand washed my new jeans for months as if they were Gucci and boy, did I ration out that body lotion! At 17, I was old enough to not believe in Santa…but he truly visited that year.

So how can you make a difference? Here are my top local gifting destinations.

1) Your local family and children’s services office, outreach centre, church group or crisis accommodation desk.

If you contact your local council, they will be able to help you find your local crisis centres and family and child service offices who are in need of donations or gifts. These are often the most in need as they do not advertise and do not have the pull that other retail giants have. Often, there will be a donation box at reception.

2) Department stores

The Kmart Wishing Tree, partnered with the Salvation Army, has a long and loyal reputation for Christmas gift giving. Just pick up a tag, hunt down the present, wrap or leave unwrapped and attach the tag to the present for placement under the tree.

Target has teamed up with Uniting Care Australia this year with the Target Giving Box. The same principles apply here as Kmart. Uniting care also accept unwrapped gifts at local offices. (http://www.givingbox.com.au/)

3) Online local charities

Purchase a gift online from Simply Giving and they will deliver it to your charity of choice! Twenty charities to choose from.

4) My Cause

This website is dedicated to helping anyone in need of anything and the donations are directly linked with no middle man. You can randomly select a cause from helping to pay for cancer treatments to emergency funds for widows and their families or even school tuition. The campaigns are heartbreakingly endless.

So don’t buy something useless for someone who has everything. Instead, buy something for someone who has nothing. It will make a much bigger difference in their lives and you can give the “has-it-all” person a nice card that reads, “I compassionately gave your present to…”

–Caitlin Davis is a qualified colour consultant, an interior design student with the ISCD Sydney and a new mother on the brink of a blogging adventure. She believes everyone should be able to afford a stylist to take their ordinary house to an extraordinary family home. Follow her on Twitter.

Categories
Homewares

Online shopping fix: A Few Good Women

A Few Good Women is must more than an online store! Rather, the social enterprise aims to make doing good easier than ever, by giving away half their profits to good causes, making shopping a genuinely feel-good affair.

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Alongside their shop, A Few Good Women also has a very active online community. Where, by becoming a member (which is completely free) you can submit stories for the magazine, suggest good women to be featured and good causes to be supported, advertise your own business, collaborate on products and take part in special members-only offers in the shop.

Having recently made their first donation of $1450 to a local not-for-profit, Annie’s Angels, which helps families through difficult times; A Few Good Women is happy to announce that three local families, with small children, have already directly benefitted from this gift. “It’s exactly what we want to be able to do; to make a tangible difference to people’s lives, to help very directly,” explains A Few Good Women’s founder Jacqueline Loughray. “It’s easy, you shop and we give. It doesn’t cost you anything extra. We want good women everywhere to join in, it’s all about working together. It’s exciting, who knows what we might be able to achieve?”

Currently offering a capsule collection of beautiful homewares – the wooden range is hand-made by A Few Good Women themselves in the Southern Highlands – the collection will be growing soon to include other brands and products.

Shop online.

Categories
Interiors Addict

Pack a shoebox with gifts and make a child’s Christmas

Living in Australia we are faced with a multitude of #firstworldproblems like finding time to do the Christmas shopping within our busy lives of work, parenting and other commitments. But how about people — specifically children — in developing countries, who might not even receive a Christmas present? The thought of it breaks my heart. That’s why I’m getting behind Operation Christmas Child this month and asking you, my lovely readers, to fill a shoebox and donate it. Then make a $9 donation per box to help it get to its destination and track its progress online. If you don’t have time or a dropff location near you, you can make a general donation instead.

This is an initiative I always took part in as a school child. I loved choosing things for my shoebox, wrapping it in festive paper and knowing it would bring joy to another child less fortunate than me. If you have kids, this is a lovely activity to do with them. This short video explains what to put in it. Download your labels here for boys and here for girls.

Here’s a list of dropoff points for your shoebox. Please drop off by the end of this month.

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ONE MORE THING!

To encourage other people to get involved too, I’d love you to share a photo of your finished shoebox or of you/you and your kids filling your shoebox on Instagram. Please tag @interiorsaddict and use the hashtag #interiorsaddictshoebox We’ll be sharing the best ones.

Last but not least, I challenge you to watch this video and not want to take part. I cried!

A record 316,323 kids in seven countries received shoeboxes from Australia and New Zealand last year.

Thank you so much in advance! Jen x

Categories
Interiors Addict

Build For a Cure house gets finishing touches from Jason Grant

The amazing charity project Build for a Cure is making impressive progress and recently, Freedom and stylist Mr Jason Grant, helped give it its finishing touches. The house will be auctioned, fully furnished, on 26 October, with all money going to the Children’s Cancer Institute.

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The four-bedroom house in Glenmore Park NSW, will be built and furnished in just 21 days with everyone donating their time and products for free. It’s a lucky buyer who gets to move straight into this place! And of course, the amount of money raised for the charity, as part of International Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, will be substantial.

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Stylist Jason Grant

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom ‘Havana One’ home is being donated by McDonald Jones Homes and built in partnership with Austral Bricks. It will sit on 500 m2 of land in donated by Wearn Brothers Group and will be sold fully furnished by Freedom, with kitchen and laundry appliances by Electrolux and home entertainment by Panasonic. All real estate services are being donated by PRDnationwide Penrith and the home will be auctioned by The Block celebrity auctioneer, Damien Cooley.

Check out the race against the clock in this video!

Find out more.