A Sydney family found entertaining a lot easier this Christmas thanks to winning a kitchen/diner overhaul from IKEA.
The Kalamaras family, from East Lakes, really wanted a space that better suited their growing young family but just couldn’t afford to do renovate just yet. Space was limited and that space was definitely not being used to its full potential.
Watch their story on this video
Customising and designing your own furniture online is all the rage right now and Retrojan is giving you the chance to design and win a retro-style sideboard.
It couldn’t be easier. Simply choose your body colour, then choose your doors. The doors are fully interchangeable so you can have fun mixing up colours or go monochromatic – make it yours!
The Moody sideboard on offer is the largest of 3 sizes available and worth $899.
Christmas is coming and before you know it, it will be February. And that means interiors trade fair season!
Decoration + Design and the co-located Flooring & Finishes with ATFA will return to Sydney in 2014, from 5-7 February in a brand new location: the Royal Hall of Industries and Hordern Pavilion at Moore Park.
Decoration + Design encompasses a number of exclusive features, including THE EDGE, a leading Australian design and innovation competition open to emerging designers. Design: Made: Trade is a curated forum showcasing some of the best art and design studios Australia has to offer and is a new feature of Decoration + Design Sydney.
It was my first time judging for a long time (let’s face it, having a guest judge is just copping out of what is always a very hard decision!) but this month, despite the many amazing entries, I felt Michelle Cann (thecinnamonfox) really did stand out.
The sandcastles and smashed pomegranate really did it for me!
Up-and-coming local designers have the chance to win a $2,000 grant to help them gain professional qualifications next year, thanks to IKEA Rhodes and TAFE NSW – South Western Sydney Institute (SWSi).
To be in with a chance, they must demonstrate their creativity by redesigning a corner of their own home using images of IKEA’s products from its iconic catalogue. Entries will be published on the Lidcombe Xposed Facebook Page where members of the public will be encouraged to show their support by ‘liking’ their favourite design.
The top 5 entries with the most Facebook likes will then be printed and displayed at the Rhodes store between Monday 30 December 2013 and Friday 10 January 2014, where customers will get the final say.
How’s this for an awesome Christmas giveaway? Here’s your chance to win 4 Bentwood chairs (European made originals) AND your choice of table cloth and napkins in time for Christmas.
Your Christmas entertaining table will look better than ever thanks to our friends at RelaxHouse and The Brown Trading Co.
This competition allows you to truly mix and match. Will you go for everything coordinating, 4 chairs in 4 different colours, mismatching table cloth and napkins? The choice is yours! All delivered to your door in time for Christmas Day!
It’s 7 Vignettes time again this Sunday (1 December) and, it’s been a while, but I’ve decided to be the judge this month. I see it as a real treat!
Here’s the themes list (above) with all of them suggested by you, the reader, as requested last month. You may notice a subtle festive flavour!
And I have a great prize too, thanks to Lujo: two indoor beanbag chairs in your choice of colour, delivered to your door in time for Christmas (and who doesn’t need extra seats at Christmas?!) worth almost $600!
Sponsored by Oneflare
Imagine your Pinterest ‘dream home’ board combined with an online directory of qualified professionals to make that dream a reality. No need to: Oneflare Scrapbooks exists!
If you’re looking to build your dream home, or to renovate, a new, Australian-first design tool could help. Oneflare Scrapbooks helps you find and collect inspiring photos of your favourite home designs and ideas, then find the right people to do the work for you, all on one website. Clever, huh?
It’s essentially like a Pinterest for home design, but powered by almost 40,000 qualified Australian home service businesses (like interior designers and builders), all guaranteed by Oneflare. And just like finding a local service on Oneflare, it’s simple to use, and totally free.
10 readers will win a styling masterclass (for them and a friend) with Jane Frosh from Cool Edie’s, a cooking class and dinner in Sydney!
I’ve teamed up with Electrolux to offer 10 lucky readers and their guests the chance to win an exclusive experience at the Electrolux Inspiration Kitchen; a place to be inspired by leaders in design, food and style.
This unique pop-up kitchen and dining space has been created to celebrate the launch of the new Electrolux Inspiration Range, inspired by more than 90 years experience designing cooking appliances for European homes and restaurants.
The lucky winners will attend a styling masterclass with Jane Frosh of Cool Edie’s, who will share her insider tips on styling your kitchen and entertaining spaces. The prize also includes an inspiring cooking masterclass. The masterclass will be followed by dinner, with the menu designed by Sydney caterers, Cook and Waiter.
Sponsored by United Artworks
United Artworks are giving away one of their most popular works, The Hanging Gardens (below), worth $399.
This hand painted acrylic on canvas (110cm square) features fresh mint and aqua tones, just perfect for the season.
You’re invited to get styling tips, take part in insider workshops and a design challenge when Temple & Webster jumps offline and brings its experience to life at the Better Homes & Gardens Live next weekend. Even better, they’ve given me 10 pairs of tickets to give away to the event.
As part of the Sydney expo, 2 dedicated spaces will be transformed by the Temple & Webster creative team using furniture and homewares, which you’ll be able to purchase from the website. Visitors will also have the opportunity to receive practical styling advice from the team behind its interiors shoots.During a styling session on the main stage, you’ll receive tips on how to style a variety of different home spaces, spanning from bedrooms to living areas, with easy to execute advice such as how to choose bedroom accents colours and how to style cushions.
Would you like to be one of the first to see the Dulux Colour Forecast 2014 presented by Andrea Lucena-Orr and hear her interpretations of the latest colour trends as seen at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan? I have 10 double passes to give away to lucky readers.
Hear Kim Chadwick from Colourways present the key trends for commercial and residential interiors, the newest exterior building products and the most directional colours, materials and finishes.
This Design Institute of Australia (DIA) NSW branch event takes place tomorrow (Tuesday 10 September 2013) night from 6-8pm at The Whitehouse Institute of Design, level 5, 2 Short Street, Surry Hills.
The first 10 people to email me will receive a double pass for themselves and a guest. Refreshments will be served.
Good luck!
PLEASE NOTE ALL THE TICKETS HAVE NOW BEEN CLAIMED.
If you watched Offspring or The Block, you may have coveted Ali McNabney-Stevens’ colourful artwork, which has been in a few magazines recently. Behind the scenes, this very humble Melbourne artist and mum is just delighted to be doing what she loves day in, day out.
A fellow Pom, she moved here in 2001 after marrying an Australian. “After 5 years in London, he missed the sunshine and we decided to come for 2 years and that was 12 years ago!” There’s no doubt her surroundings have affected her work, with Melbourne’s bustling art scene and cultural diversity a constant inspiration. “Right from the get-go the artistic side of me was fueled. I am a very happy person here and I like to think that my art is happy. It gives me great pleasure in producing it and I guess I hope in turn that it gives others pleasure to hang it on their walls.”
Sponsored by Laminex
As a homewares shopping starting point, no trip to NYC is complete without visiting the legendary American stores Anthropologie and Jonathan Adler! I would usually add West Elm and Pottery Barn to this list but, luckily for us, they’re now open in Australia (just Sydney for now but West Elm opens in Melbourne too, later this month).
Design lovers cannot go past the Jonathan Adler stores to pick up a quirky piece or a signature colourful, patterned cushion or throw. Friends of Interiors Addict Kate and Lu, from The Ooh Blog, were lucky enough to go on a trip earlier this year. “I developed a devastating idol crush on this uber fun designer a few years ago and it felt a little bit stupid really that I had never physically stepped foot inside one of his stores,” says Lu, an interior designer in Sydney. “I had a moment on the front steps then delved into a happy-chic paradise full of colour and pattern and retro, regency gorgeousness. It was a little overwhelming to see the pieces I’ve been frothing over online for years in the flesh but I was so thrilled to find that Jonathan, who began his career as a potter, is one seriously talented individual and his product is of an incredible standard and well worth the slightly heftier price tag. His tongue-in-cheek approach to decorating is evident in many pieces like the hilarious Delirium Coasters while others like the Desmond Screen are effortlessly chic.”
To celebrate this week’s blu-ray, DVD and digital release of The Big Wedding, Roadshow Entertainment are giving you the chance to win a gorgeous pink watercolour table cloth from Bonnie & Neil along with your very own copy of the film on DVD.
Judging by the amount of comments I get every time I post something on Instagram with this cloth (which I already own) in the background, it’s very popular!
To celebrate the opening of its new Melbourne store next month, West Elm are sponsoring September’s 7 Vignettes with the chance to win a pair of their best selling Martini side tables.
Next month’s round, which starts this Sunday 1 September, will be judged by interior designer Jacinta Preston. The first prize winner will receieve 2 Martini tables –one in silver and one in persimmon — and 3 runners up which each receive a silver one.
Here’s the list of themes:
Taubmans is creating an online video makeover series and looking for three interiors addicts to take part. Along with a well known stylist, Taubmans will go into the participating people’s homes and help them unlock their personal colour stories, redecorating and styling spaces they’d like to change.
You need to be Sydney-based and available mid-September for a day of filming. If you’re interested, email some details about how you’d like to change your home to [email protected]. Include a brief breakdown of what your room currently looks like, dimensions or floor plans if you have them, and photos.
Good luck!
Sponsored by Laminex
I asked leading British interior designer Abigail Ahern to tell me what’s hot in my home city of London for design lovers right now. I’m planning a stop-off at the end of our honeymoon in November, and I can’t wait to check out a few of these new shopping and dining finds!