I love the warmth of timber and its natural quirks and imperfections, so these Australian hand turned lamps from Wildwood Designs really caught my eye.
“Each piece is unique to us and has been lovingly hand turned by our local wood turner who was thrown out of TAFE on the first day of a wood turning course because he turned up with a telegraph pole,” laughs Wildwood’s Juliet Barr.
Blockheads were out in full force this weekend! Over 15,000 people braved Melbourne’s gloomy weather to attend the open for inspection yesterday alone.
There certainly are some dedicated Blockheads out there. The first person in line had been there since 3pm Friday!
Sponsored by United Artworks
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Brace yourself for the beauty of Lisa Madigan’s new works, Kaleidoscope. They’re so fresh out of her studio, the paint’s not quite dry on some of them!
(Above) After Glow
Explaining her inspiration, Lisa said: “Like reflections on a wet road after a downpour, a shaft of light through a spring storm at dusk, a glint in your lover’s eye or the colour of your heart, the things that we embrace whilst we’re there but soon slip through our fingers to form another vision, in another moment. Through these multiple flashes of light and sensory recollections, Kaleidoscope has filtered back to me.”
(Above) Impossible Beauty
She continues: “Recalling sunsets and the way light moves through the city, the punch of strong graffiti, tall buildings and in their shadows the secret entrances into luxurious worlds and caves of curiosities, the elements that juxtapose grit and the sublime right through to the elation of standing alongside those water lilies.
Some of Australia’s boldest and brightest young designers will unveil the furniture of the future when the VIVID (Vibrant Visions in Design) competition returns to FURNITEX next week.
Held from 18-21 July and co-located with DECORATION + DESIGN at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre, VIVID will see almost 50 of our most promising emerging furniture designers compete for awards in Student, Concept, Commercial and Green categories.
Though he loves to “create beautiful spaces in all capacities,” — theatre, film, landscape and yachts among them — it is interiors that designer Brett Mickan has settled on, and Sydney where he’s chosen to do so.
With a background in theatre and film design, and after 10 years in the States, Brett returned to Australia and established Brett Mickan Interior Design. Here, he fulfils an “intense love for all things design” and creates the “worlds” he so loved making on stage, “for people to actually live in.”
The new Kiribed from Melbourne’s Synapse Design is striking yet simple and, best of all, easy to assemble.
Created by head designer Rolf Meumann, he describes the assembly as “a beautiful puzzle underscored with tension; held firmer in use. This is a fresh, engaging aesthetic in bedroom furniture.”
Last month, the other half and I enjoyed a packed weekend in cold but beautiful Daylesford. In fact, we took in Daylesford, Kyneton and Trentham and the stunning countryside on the drives in between. If you love homewares and antiques shops, great local food and wine and friendly hospitality, I thoroughly recommend a trip!
We arrived in Daylesford (just over an hour’s drive from Melbourne Tullamarine airport) late on Friday night and had more than one scarily close encounter with a mob (that’s the actual term!) of wallabies. It really is out in the country so do be careful if you’re tired and driving after dark. We spent our first night at Hotel Frangos, which can only be described as pleasantly eccentric, in the Alpha Suite. It had the honour of being both the largest headboard and the largest hotel bathroom I have ever experienced. Frangos is definitely unique. It’s part Alice in Wonderland, part Addam’s Family, with a lot of black and red. It’s very dark, and it’s clearly geared towards couples (apparently some of the rooms have mirrors on the ceiling, go figure) and trying hard to be arty and romantic.
The service from general manager Bernard was faultless, the bed and goose down pillows, exceptionally comfortable.
Erika Rax!
It’s always tough, but this month’s judge, Kate Reeves Robertson from The Story of Us, chose @erikarax as our sixth 7 Vignettes champion.
“It was a gorgeous week of sublime hues, fab framing and organised chaos, but it was the elegantly restrained frames by Erika that caught my eye and inspired my imagination every day,” said Kate. “Clean, refined and simply beautiful.”
I loved the simplicity of Erika’s pictures too, and discovering her lovely blog was an added bonus.
Congratulations, Erika! You get to work with Kate to create your own custom stationery set. I have to admit, I’m jealous!
With my ‘style without the snobbery’ ethos, I love people that don’t take themselves too seriously, and I’m all for having things around your home which make you giggle. These felt, hand stitched artworks from Bowerbird Living really tickled me!
The name says it all for boutique textiles and furniture company Mr & Mrs White, run by husband and wife Nathan and Sasha. They create gorgeous pieces for the home: Mr White takes care of the furniture, Mrs White of the textiles.
Sasha and Nathan didn’t always plan on working together, however. Nathan has a background in boat building, completing an apprenticeship as a shipwright. His fondness for working with timber started from a young age, spending afternoons in his Pop’s workshop making wooden shoeboxes. He moved from boat building to cabinetry, then began making furniture. Sasha meanwhile, majored in graphic design, but found herself craving an outlet that didn’t involve a computer screen. “My nan bought me a secondhand sewing machine and I fell in love with the ability to create with my hands.” Later came the lightbulb moment and realisation they could build a business together.
Alisa and Lysandra’s bedroom looked so much better second time around, impressing the judges. It was my favourite of the re-do rooms. Darren Palmer called it “a gazillion times better than before'” and Shaynna said their apartment was one of the most saleable homes she’d seen in a long time.
Love their look? Pick up the Emma Cleine Lumiere Art + Co print, bedside lamp, pendant light and more online from The Block Shop. I’m a big fan of that pendant ($335)!
Whether you call it a loggia, a covered terrace or an outdoor room, Matt & Kim had the winning one last night. It was an exciting final Sunday night reveal, with the second chance rooms also unveiled. It marked the end of the renovations at The Block Sky High and 75 rooms made over in 8 weeks. Wowee!
The judges went gaga over Matt and Kim’s terrace. Neale called it incredible, Shaynna loved the ‘Austin Powers’ fireplace and they all loved the way everything could be controlled from an ipad app. Neale even said the penthouse was now on level 2, a little awkward when relayed to the other contestants!
Vintage and used furniture emporium Lakota Trading embarked on a new beginning last month as Alexandra Cornish handed over the keys to longtime customers Jen and Kash Ziaei.
The newlyweds fell so deeply for the store’s vintage charms and covetable collectibles that when the opportunity arose for them to buy it, they didn’t hesitate. With their love for vintage furniture and an eye for scouring markets, they are about to begin an exciting new chapter in their lives.
I just have to share my wedding invitations with you now they’ve all safely arrived to our guests here and overseas. I am so in love with them. I really can’t imagine anything better (other than a letterpress version, which I couldn’t afford). I worked with the ever patient Kate Reeves Robertson at The Story of Us to create my dream invites and the perfect start to our big day countdown.
When I received my printed goods back from Kate, I almost shed a tear. You dream about getting married for years (I wasn’t one of those girls with a scrapbook and all, but I won’t lie and pretend I hadn’t imagine what my wedding stationery might look like, being a paper nerd). Putting them together in the right order, addressing the envelopes (Damian’s job), inserting the envelope liners and getting the right stamps for overseas and domestic mail was a much bigger job than imagined and saw our dining table become a production line for three solid nights. (Top tip: use post-its!) It was fun though, despite the sore necks.
Armadillo & Co is launching its first ever rug range for kids rooms, the Junior Collection.
I thoroughly approve of the move by founders Jodie Fried and Sally Pottharst to develop something more timeless and less ‘kiddy’ than most of what’s already on offer for children’s rooms. Most of these rugs would suit a child from baby right through to teenager.
“Junior was certainly planned!” laughs Jodie. “In fact, it’s been well over 9 months of hard work. We are both parents – between us we have four children – and decorating their spaces was a battle to find items without ballerinas or rocket ships on them, ugh. Little ones like classic designs too, and quality underfoot as they so often romp around shoeless. Our rugs are fun but timeless.”
It’s now less than a month until Life Instyle Melbourne. Are you going? I am! Today, I’m pleased to share with you a first look at the look books for Life Instyle and Kids Instyle and share with you a few of the exhibitors I’ve got my eye on.
The artworks used by this series’ contestants have been some of the most asked-about products this year. Here are some of the pieces that may have caught your eye, now available to buy online.
Alisa & Lysandra’s Protea by Emma Cleine http://www.theblockshop.com.au/store/single/protea-print-series
