Sometimes the best ideas come to you unexpectedly, which was the case for Milray Park founder Sally Bevan. Struggling to decorate her home, she was overwhelmed by the magnitude of options. Furniture shops left her feeling directionless, while interiors on Pinterest found her questioning how on Earth she could bring them to life, especially with a budget! So, Sally enlisted the help of an interior designer online and via email they came up with a design she was happy with.
Sally
Jump forward a few months and Milray Park was conceived, with the hope no one else would ever have to deal with the same stress. 100% online, the platform allows you to access all of the tools you need to achieve a beautiful home. “We’ve plugged in the best interior designers, custom built the eDecorating platform for seamless designer-client collaboration and have disrupted the pricing model to provide a full design service at $299 flat-fee per room.”
The home of Milray Park client Erin SmithThe home of Milray Park client Erin Smith
However, Milray Park’s recent development is the most exciting, with the launch of the ‘View my room in VR’ service. This allows you to fully visualise your new space with a realistic 3D rendering, so you can actually try pieces of furniture in your home before you buy. And the best part? It’s only $99 per room. “Before virtual reality, it was impossible to know exactly how your furniture would look like in your home,” explains Sally. “Now, our customers can make much better purchasing decisions and with confidence. This is particularly important when buying pieces like dining tables and couches, which are investment items that you don’t want to get wrong.”
ErinThe home of Milray Park client Erin Smith
So the big question: Does it work? Well according to client Erin Smith: “Yes! When Milray Park suggested using ‘View my room in VR’ we jumped at the idea of seeing our space perfectly designed, before hitting the buy button for our big ticket items. The VR service gave us full confidence in our design.”
Before Milray Park came to Erin’s rescue!Before Milray Park came to Erin’s rescue!
While eDecorating can seem a bit daunting, for peace of mind Milray Park offers a designer callout service (for $149 per visit), however both Sally and Erin agree it’s not necessary. “I fell in love with the concept of having a beautiful, professionally designed space without the huge price tag,” says Erin. “With Milray Park I was able to bring to life the interior design I envisaged and be involved in the process.”
If there’s one thing Melissa Penfold knows, it’s how to create a classy, expensive look without spending a small fortune; something we can’t get enough of at Interiors Addict. We couldn’t wait to see what’s on Melissa’s coffee table and how she styles her living room space.
“Some sneer at coffee tables, but for me they’re an indispensable accessory,” Melissa Penfold says. “You want to be able to put a glass, teacup or book down without thinking, but you don’t want coffee tables to block important traffic routes through a room or involve you in awkward manoeuvres when you reach for your evening aperitif. Stability and positioning are vital. My favourite options are Chinese black lacquer stools, glass or timber tables with metal frames or ottomans with a hard top. A pair of cross-based stools can also look terrifically chic.”
There are just a few books on her coffee table!”I always choose ones with lovely pictures covering subjects such as houses, gardens, food, flowers, travel and art. I pile up glossy hard-covered books to the edges of my coffee table. Four to six deep piles. Not only do I think books finish a room but they also reflect your personal style. For me, books are central to an interior, the ultimate finishing touch. I use them like works of art.They are decorative, interesting and a statement that you are interested in the world.”
Melissa also stacks her coffee table with beautiful things that inspire her, from coral to bowls, boxes, baskets and flowers. “It’s a passing parade of covetables. That’s the magic of decorating. You can can change one group of accessories for a new lot and instantly update a space. I find my books and bits at shops everywhere: high-end, bargain, online, offline. I never shop with an agenda, I find the best things when I’m not looking.”
She bought the Chinese stool many years ago at Oriental Arts (now closed). “Try Orient House for similar pieces. It’s a brilliant source of tables of every kind, old and new in lacquer, timber, bamboo, the lot. A-list designers swear by the place.”
Melissa recently launched a website covering the latest in interiors, design and shopping. “I am also offering a fab new e-decor service which is a quick hit of professional design advice for a single room or your whole house. It’s about engaging with design-savvy folk who are looking for a quicker, more affordable way of decorating their rooms, for less than a traditional decorator. It’s a flat-fee design service with a transparent pricing system, that’s about sourcing the right door knob, table lamps, fabric, furniture, blinds or paint colour for you and your interior. If it becomes a bigger project, and you want a hand in actually executing what we have suggested, we hand you over to one of our preferred decorators who we think is perfect for your job.”
She describes her own home as about 70 percent classic, and 30 percent trends. “I think that’s the best ratio for ensuring that your interior is both timeless and up-to-the-minute. My own style is a mix of things from all times and places. Interestingly, our new country pad has a laid-back, contemporary, casual look with aged timber floors, bagged ecru walls, white woodwork, raw stone fireplaces, and lots of easy pieces that can be mixed and matched. I’ve filled it with old and new sofas and armchairs slip-covered in tactile natural stone and white linens, timber tables and weathered cabinets painted in muted hues. It’s a relaxed way to live.”
Melissa is a former columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald on all things style and currently writes for House & Garden. She wrote Melissa Penfold’s Little Black Book and co-authored Australian Style.
Come back tomorrow for Melissa’s top tips for interior style on a budget.
Aussies sure are known for their love of travel and Natalie Shell has made Tel Aviv her home, via stints in New York, Copenhagen and Amsterdam! Today, she shows us around her home and shares some expert tips on decluterring and small space living.
One half of global interior design and decluttering business Apartment Diet, Nat met fellow Aussie and business partner Tip Atkins Moore in Amsterdam. Now they work together via the wonders of the world wide web.
In 2007, Nat had a friend living in Tel Aviv so she went to stay for the summer holidays and ended up falling in love with the place. She later met (now husband) Noam and the rest, including son Luke, is, as they, say, history!
Nat and son Luke
Now back to her newly renovated Tel Aviv home: “We live in an old, typical Tel Aviv building in the city’s “old north”. We bought in May 2010 and moved in in September after renovating for 2.5 months (read: gutting it and starting again). Even in its weird, pokey, unrenovated state (there were seven rooms in only 75 square metres!) it had great light and airflow and a lovely energy, and is situated in a great neighbourhood (location, location, location always applies!).”
Almost everything needed changing so serious vision was required. The layout and flow were all wrong and the pink bathroom and olive green kitchenette, plumbing and electricity hadn’t been touched since 1950s.
“I knew what I wanted and worked with an architect friend Roy Itzhaki, to create the technical plans for a layout I envisioned and learn building project management,” Nat says. “First and foremost, after the basics, was making the flow work for us to create two bedrooms, a bathroom and guest toilet and an open kitchen/living room. I wanted to maximise living space and the light and create a space that was relaxed, fun and inviting.”
She chose a simple colour palette of timber, white and dark grey. “I’d lived in Copenhagen and have picked up a bit of the Scandinavian aesthetic. I also I love art and fun pillow covers and wanted a simple palette that would allow me to show them off.”
Almost all the internal walls came down and the bathroom was moved while other rooms were reoriented. They added a laundry into a closet in the new bathroom and lots of built-in storage, and Roy suggested turning the walk-in closet into a walk-through, effectively turning the apartment’s one bathroom into an en-suite from the master as well. Clever!
The new layout is a vast improvement, not least because you no longer have to walk through the kitchen to get to the second bedroom! “There were just too many rooms for such a small space and the layout made the space feel dark.”
Nat’s favourite thing about the apartment is how it feels. “It just feels good.” She’s also a big fan of the exposed brick areas. “My original plan was to remove a pylon between our living room and kitchen but then the structural engineer said the building couldn’t handle it, even with a steel beam. That weird brick structural pylon, and the original brick wall that was behind the original kitchen (now our bedroom), are now features I love.”
While Nat misses her family and friends in Oz, she describes Tel Aviv as an amazing, vibrant creative city, filled with great food, coffee, sunshine and beaches. “It’s in a crazy part of the world, but perhaps that’s part of the attraction.”
Nat and Tip have plenty of advice for other people living in small spaces but the key is to design for how you actually live, not for how you think you should. “For instance, if you don’t eat at home, you may prefer to have a larger couch area with a coffee table and some extra stools, making your living space bigger and not having furniture you don’t need. If you are renovating, think about how you want to live — do you like to spend time in the living room? Then consider designing more space in shared areas than say the bedrooms.
“Have good storage (preferably that closes). At the same time, we sometimes make the mistake of paying for extra storage rather than first letting go of things that don’t belong. Sliding doors and mirrors are also a good trick, though I personally went for art framed with glass and a glass splash back over mirrors because I prefer that type of reflective surface.
Nat in her dining area
“When it comes to furniture, don’t have too much. Choose furniture that is the right scale for the space and that can easily move (for instance, we often host dinner parties where we add a fold-up table to double the size and move the table into the living room/entrance void).”
Last but not least: “Have some empty space. It sounds strange but empty space, like our entrance and part of our bedroom, can make a space feel bigger. Edit what you own regularly and if something doesn’t belong, even after you’ve bought it especially, sell it or let it go.”
Nat and Tip help clients create homes and workspaces that they love, delivered either in person or online via Skype and email. Their business grew out of the blog apartmentdiet.com, which they’ve been collaborating on for five years. They’ve also created an online course that teaches people their Happy House Rules™ process: helping them get started, declutter, let go, and create homes they love plus systems that are easier to manage them with, across five weeks.
The next course starts next Monday 17 November 2014, just in time to get your space ready for guests to ensure a stress-free holiday period! Find out more.
There’s no question that the internet is increasingly a game changer for all industries, not least interiors. It’s amazing the products and services we can sell online these days. But despite having an innovative and digitally brilliant online model, new business Urban Couture realise that there are some people who still want to touch and feel! That’s why they’ve just opened this gorgeous warehouse space in Sydney’s Ultimo.
“We decided to open the showroom as it became evident that although the majority of Australians are increasingly confident to buy furniture online, there is still the need for people to “try before they buy”– in relation to seeing and touching the products before they purchase. This is common with our big ticket items such as beds and sofas where clients really want to test the comfort,” says creative director Katriarna Rodgers, a stylist and graphic designer. “We also felt that it is important that we have a beautiful creative space where clients can visit us, be inspired and receive a one-on-one design service.”
Online, Urban Couture is both a homewares and furniture store, a place to create your own moodboards with their free tool Couture Boards, and a place to get free e-decorating advice. Katriarna runs the business with Tom Towhidi who, with a background in accounting and law, looks after the logistics, legal and financial side of things.
Katriarna and Tom
The showroom is a converted warehouse and former wool factory. It’s open to anyone, but Urban Couture have made it by appointment only so they can give everyone a specialised, one-on-one service. They hope to avoid the snobby and unfriendly feel of some high end showrooms and will even be offering customers a glass of wine or a cup of tea: “A process that in our opinion always helps you to relax and decide what it is that you really need!”
Katriarna believes it is thanks to shows like The Block and House Rules, and online inspiration from design blogs and Pinterest, that the general public are increasingly interested in interiors and excited to have a go themselves. While there is still a perception that professional design advice is only for the very wealthy, Urban Couture are trying to make it more accessible by offering free e-decorating to their online homewares customers. “E-decorating is simply an avenue for us to understand our clients’ needs, in order to deliver tailor made design and decoration which works for them and importantly, represents their personal style.”
“One of our goals is to make great international design more accessible to the consumer, no matter where you live or what your budget. We want to continue doing what we love by traveling the world and bringing new and inspiring furniture and homewares to Australia. We hope to play a big part in changing the perception of buying furniture and homewares online, by showing customers that choosing furniture and homewares for their homes can be simplified and enjoyable for them through effective and efficient customer service. Further, by offering a one stop shop and design service, we hope that customers will be in a position to enjoy the process, rather than being faced with the task of searching tirelessly around shopping malls on the weekends and wasting their valuable time.”
Wow, it’s amazing how quick the beginning of the month comes around at the best of times, but even more so when you’re traveling and multi-tasking, it seems! May 7 Vignettes starts this Thursday 1 May. The winner this month will get the chance to have a room in their home styled by the experts at Silk Home Staging & Styling, worth up to $450.
A Silk Express moodboard
If you win the Silk Express Online Styling Service, you’ll receive a moodboard containing furniture and homewares suggestions, info on where to buy, a floor plan and more.
Here’s the themes list…
1. White
2. Hidden
3. Escape
4. Treasure
5. Home
6. Sunshine
7. Autumn
This month, I’ve asked editorial assistant Olivia Shead to judge as she did such a great job of her first attempt at 7 Vignettes last month. So, make sure to tag @interiorsaddict and @oliviashead in your entries, and of course use the hashtag #7vignettes. You know the drill! But if you’re new, everything you need to know can be found here.
Editorial assistant Olivia Shead is this month’s 7 Vignettes judge
I loved this post on Gwyneth Paltrow’s blog, Goop, about a new room in a box concept. It takes e-decorating to a new level! What do you think?
Source: Windsor Smith’s Room in a Box
Decor8 featured a tour of a gorgeous Dutch family home this week. Could you live with such a monochrome palette or are you more a colour person? I love the idea of it but think I’d find it too restrained in reality.
Source: Decor8
Emma’s Designblogg is another international fave of mine. Loved this Berlin store, XXX, she shared this week. Might have to visit on my European travels later this year!
New online destination Urban Couture is offering free e-decorating services to its customers and an innovative DIY moodboard tool.
By using the site’s Couture Boards, you can select a template for a room or space to curate and style the interiors by literally dragging and dropping from a huge selection of products. Using “share” tools, you can then communicate the designs through your social media networks, creating interactive mood boards and inviting friends and members of the design community to interact, while also viewing other people’s styled spaces for inspiration.
Visitors to the site can even get a free e-decorating session from founder and interior stylist, Katriarna Rodgers. Urban Couture is also an online store for homewares and furniture, stocking brands like MCM House (their exclusive online stockists), Xavier & Me, NUD Lighting, Oscar & Lulu and Billy Heckenberg.
She’s calling it the ultimate global, virtual interiors service for anyone anywhere. “Innately glamorous, multi-layered, with a tongue-in-cheek twist, it’s sure to propel any pad into the design pages of glossy magazines and (the best news) it works anywhere in the world – uptown, downtown, on the coast or in the country!”
My favourite British designer Abigail Ahern, who I met and raved about last month, is now offering her services via the wonders of the world wide web. The service is created by a team member but overseen by Abigail herself. So if you love her unique look, which let’s face it, nobody can do better than her, and thought you could never afford to have her advice (or get it in Australia), that’s all changed.
Interior stylist Emma Blomfield owns Nest Designs, a business that specialises in affordable decorating for everyone. Her innovative online service means she works with clients all over Australia. Here Emma shares her thoughts on the popularity of replica furniture.
“Replica furniture fits the bill for style and budget conscious home decorators. For these buyers, purchasing an original piece is not a practical option, whether that’s due to young children with sticky fingers, monetary constraints or simply the desire for more flexibility in their decorating style in years to come.
Australia is not known as an elitist society but rather one that embraces inclusiveness, so whether you be a first home buyer, a young person setting up your first rental, or a busy family with competing financial demands, everybody is entitled to the look and feel that inspires them and this ideal has been central to Nest’s philosophy.
Whilst replicas are largely produced in Asia, for the most part they are distributed by Australian companies therefore their purchase supports local businesses rather than large multi-national furniture retailers.
By law, retailers must use the original designer’s name along with the word ‘replica’ to avoid confusion. Additionally, if the patent has expired then replicas can legitimately be created, as in other industries.
Replicas allow a new generation of home decorators to discover and appreciate the innovative designers of the past. For practical reasons a replica might be the answer today, but this may lead to an aspiration to own an original piece in the future.”
