Are you ready for our next Instagram challenge? Just in case, here’s the list:
And a reminder that the prize, for one lucky winner, is two extra large canvases of your choice from Urban Road’s latest collection. I’d definitely pick this one!
You must tag @interiorsaddict and guest judge Suzie Atkin (@suzie_urbanroad) and use the hashtag #7vignettes. You must have uploaded all 7 images by midnight on 7 June, and be an Australian resident, to be in with a chance of winning. The usual instructions can be found here. The fun starts tomorrow (1 June). I’m looking forward to the hashtag passing 15,000 images this time around!
Or indeed his ‘n his or hers ‘n hers. We’re all inclusive here at Interiors Addict!
How to combine two people’s styles when moving in with your other half is something I’m often asked for advice on. I’m not sure I’m the best person to give it (or if my fiance would think so either). So I asked the girls at new Sydney wedding registry The Wedding Nest, for their top tips.
Their in-house interior stylist (former Belle interior design editor Imogen Naylor) works with their couples to collate a registry of gifts that will achieve a beautifully styled space true to both their individual styles.
Top tips
Be involved together from the start! Even if one partner takes the lead, keep in mind that it’s best to consult the other partner regularly and ‘take them on the journey’ so they don’t block all the hard work by the time it’s well down the track.
Plan! She might call this a mood board, he, a strategy, but either way the key here is agreeing on a vision. We invite couples to bring magazine cut-outs and to get pinning on Pinterest. Together they work through the collection to agree on a style or a selection of key pieces they both like that will suit their home.
Looking at Julia Green’s styling work, it’s very hard to believe she’s only been doing this professionally for 3 years or, indeed, that she spent 15 years in the corporate world of pharmaceuticals!
“Yes it’s true I used to pedal drugs… all legal ones though,” she jokes. “After uni I needed to earn money. I saw an ad in the paper promising a car and money. I interviewed and blow me down, I got it. Then comes the timewarp of some 15 years where I sell, manage and recruit in that industry before having my last baby and realising I had been living a lie.”
Fenton and Fenton shoot
Whilst everyone always told Julia she should be “in interiors” she had no idea how to turn her passion into a real job, or that stylists even existed (true story). Then fate intervened. One day, a man came to her door to collect a couch she’d sold him on eBay. “Ends up he is a photographer for Vogue and he asked me who I styled for. In perfect ignorance, I asked what he was on about, only to learn of a whole new world out there, that I apparently should belong to. He gave me a card and told me to call. To cut a long story short, I have not stopped running from job to job ever since!”
Whoops, it’s Wednesday. I forgot to post Off-Topic Tuesday yesterday and the alliteration has such a nice ring to it! Ah well, I’m here anyway!
Today’s off-topic post is about doubt and about worrying too much about what other people think about what you’re doing. At the weekend, I was asked to speak about blogging at the Kidspot Voices of 2013 masterclass. A real honour. One of the questions to the panel (with the fab Viv from Ish & Chi and Rebecca from Wee Birdy, moderated by the fabulous Pip from Meet Me At Mikes) was do you ever doubt yourself? Now, it may seem from my blog and even from meeting me in real life, that I’m a super confident person who knows their stuff. Let me let you into a little secret: I am as self-doubting as the next person. I worry about what people think about me and might be saying about me behind my back. ALL THE TIME. I live in constant fear of being found out. What for, I’m not sure!
For all the diehard 7 Vignettes fans out there who love to start prepping before the monthly challenge starts, I have some good news! The list will now be released a whole week before the start date each month. To be the first to get your impatient, creative little hands on it, you’ll need to be signed up to my Wednesday newsletter. You can do so here. See you next month!
Every month since we started in January, 7 Vignettes, the Interiors Addict Instagram photo challenge, gets bigger and better and with its amazing community.
“Her entries were consistently fantastic,” says Amber. “I’m really drawn to flat lay and her composition was really thoughtful. The chalkboard background gave them a really distinctive look, I knew who they belonged to even from the thumbnails. The objects used were really varied and I loved the different interpretations of each theme. If I had to pick a favourite from all her entries it was day 2.”
When a brand employs great stylists and photographers to work on its catalogues, magical things happen. Domayne chose well with stylist Glen Proebstel and photographer John Bamford.
(L to R) Zoe Jackson, Stephanie Hugan and Hilary Bellew of Melbourne events company The Design Depot
Creating events that wow people involves many of the same skills involved in creating interiors that do the same. Whether you’re planning a kids’ birthday party or your own wedding, we asked Hilary Bellew, Zoe Jackson and Stephanie Hugan of Melbourne’s company The Design Depot, to share their insider secrets. We hope you pick up some great tips!
(L to R) Zoe Jackson, Stephanie Hugan and Hilary Bellew of Melbourne events company The Design Depot
If you’ve have ever had the pleasure of attending an event brought to life by the incredibly skilled and creative team at this event hire and styling company, you’ll know full well what it what it looks like to be the host with the most.
A labour of love for owners Bruce and Chyka Keebaugh, their eye for style and impeccable execution has warranted a cult following among the design and hospitality industries since they launched in 2007. Whether you want to take your guests to the streets of New York or the palaces of The Middle East, The Design Depot ensure a safe, comfortable flight to the most glamorous destinations.
Q: What are the five key elements to a great themed party?
Make it memorable. You want your guests to be talking about your event for weeks to come. Do this by giving your event the wow factor. Try a feature installation or fun custom signage and make sure you follow through with the theme all the way down to the finer details. It’s important not to simply think about the big things. Make sure there is detail in everything from the menus, theming your staff and even the bathroom signage. And remember to use quality suppliers.
There are many reasons why I enjoyed The School’s first birthday celebrations this afternoon. Firstly, I finally got to meet stylist and photographer Kara Rosenlund (and her lovely husband Timothy O) who I’ve been a big fan of for a long time now. They brought their vintage caravan Frankie and all kinds of gorgeous wares, all the way from Queensland. Was lovely to have a peek inside and peruse her great collection of vintage lovelies for sale. And Kara was every bit as genuine and nice as I imagined. I wish I had the time to have done one of her vignette classes this week.
I have always wanted to meet Kara Rosenlund, the stylist and owner of Frankie the caravan, from which she runs her Travelling Wares store. Only problem is, she is in up in Queensland. However, this weekend, she will be in Sydney, at Megan Morton’s The School, on both days! She sets off on Wednesday and is bringing Frankie, with lots of lovely wares for sale, with her! I ‘m so not missing this so I’ll be there on the Sunday. If you see me, say hi!
There’s all sorts of cool stuff happening at The School this weekend on account of it being its first birthday. From 10am to 4pm on both days, go along for a visit, a free pavlova party and a free kids craft class. Find out more at The School’s website.
Tomorrow I’m off to the Sydney launch of stylist Jason Grant’s first book, A Place Called Home, so it’s about time I reviewed it for you!
If you know MJG, or follow him on social media, you’ll know this is a project that has taken over his life for a good year. Luckily he is DELIGHTED with how it turned out and I can see why. It feels like if Jason was a book, this would be it.
It’s light on words and heavy on beautiful images by photographer James Geer. And let’s face it, who has time to actually read their coffee table books anyway?! I actually devoured this book in one enjoyable afternoon, but it’s the sort of book you’ll want to dip back in and out of on rainy afternoons, especially as its many photos of the beach and Bondi will bring back memories of summer.
Jason is a well known freelance interior stylist and was previously style director of Real Living, who he still works for, alongside almost every other Australian homes magazine. He was also one of the very first people I interviewed for Interiors Addict! Jason has his own paint ranges for Murobond and recently styled Freedom’s new winter collection for its catalogue and advertising.
Interior stylist Dina Broadhurst collaborated with brandsExclusive to demonstrate an easy classic makeover for your bedroom, step by step. Even better, you can buy everything she uses online!
If you took part in the very first 7 Vignettes, my monthly Instagram photo/styling challenge, you’ll remember the lovely Kara Rosenlund was the guest judge. As well as being very generous with her comments and advice on participants’ efforts, we also saw how AMAZING she is at styling vignettes in her home with the most ordinary of objects (sometimes even chooks!).
Sarah Ellison has the job many readers would kill for: senior stylist on one of the country’s most popular magazines: Real Living, where she’s been for more than 2 years. Here she shares what it’s really like behind the scenes and gives plenty of advice for those wanting to follow in her footsteps.
After fashion college, Sarah Ellison started a small fashion label but to earn some money, she took a job doing visual merchandising for an interiors store. She met many stylists there and started assisting Paul Hopper from House & Garden part-time.
“Fashion and interior styling are very similar jobs,” she says. “The main difference would be that interior styling is much more of a mammoth production. There’s a big difference between calling in some clothing and calling in 6 rooms’ worth of furniture to shoot. Creatively though, the ideas come from the same part of you that gets inspired. Inspiration can be applied to any media.”
Sarah assisted freelance for a couple of years and built a portfolio of test shoots in her spare time. She was assisting stylist Kirsten Bookallil, who had been putting a good word in with Real Living editor Deb Bibby. “I met with Deb and she gave me my first editorial shoot. Unbeknown to me it was actually a bit of a test as there was soon to be a position opening up for a stylist. Deb loved the shoot, put her faith in me and hired me for the job. Great timing too as I must admit there aren’t many jobs out there.”
Photo by Nick Scott
She says the most common misconception about the job of a stylist is that it’s all glamour. “Most of the time you are schlepping furniture around, crawling around on the floor putting Ikea together and being a bit like a courier,” she says.
Heather Nette King’s enthusiasm for styling and interiors is palpable and so inspiring. Brave enough to make the move out of an unfulling career in PR to try her hand as an interiors writer and stylist, it’s safe to say she’s never looked back. These days you’ll mostly see her gorgeous work in the Melbourne homes pages of Sunday Life and she recently took on her first official interior decorating job after spending years advising friends and family on what to do with their homes.
Having always dreamed of working on an interiors magazine, when Heather and her family moved to Sydney, she quit her PR job and was starting to contact the editors at her favourite titles to see if they’d take on an unpaid intern, when she got a very lucky break. “I was given a trial period producing the home pages for Sunday Life magazine. They knew I could write, so I had to source and shoot some fabulous homes so they could see if I had what it took to do the rest of it. I am forever in debt to the wonderful Aleksandra Beare (then the art director at Sunday Life, and currently acting creative director at Inside Out) who gave me this lucky break. Five years on, I am still doing these home pages. I get to visit the most incredible homes and talk interiors for hours – so I am like a pig in mud!” Her advice to aspiring stylists is to team up with an aspiring interiors photographer and “just get shooting”. Build up a portfolio then start knocking on doors.
And although she feels very fortunate, Heather’s a great believer in making a change when it’s needed. “I really don’t get it when people stay in jobs, or any kind of relationships for that matter, when they are not happy. Like everyone, I find change a bit daunting, but sometimes you just have to back yourself and jump!”
Heather Nette King
Writing about how people live in their homes gives you an amazing insight into the human condition, she says. “Honestly, during interviews, I have sobbed along with someone who was describing how their grandfather smuggled just one possession out of a war zone, and I have laughed until I cried with other people describing their renovating experiences. The common denominator is how important our little patch of space and our belongings are to us, and it’s an honour to get the chance to do justice to people’s stories.”
Rumour has it some of you are practising and prepping already! Such is the excitement for the second round of 7 Vignettes starting on Saturday on Instagram. I’m delighted to welcome Steve Cordony, Belle’s interior design editor and stylist extraordinaire as our new judge, and to thank Down That Little Lane for providing a $100 voucher for the winner. But you know it’s mostly just for fun. Any prize is just an added bonus!
Steve Cordony
Still not quite sure what a vignette is? Steve explains: “I like to think of a vignette as a small cluster of objects or things that have meaning or resonate an emotion or memory. Items collected from travels, objects found in the most obscure places or that one amazing piece you have been coveting for months.
“I style vignettes constantly to give inspiration for a trend or project I am working on, and I am constantly changing vignettes around in my home. Usually atop a stack of my favourite books on a shelf or my bedside or coffee table, then adding layers of objects and collectables to create a three dimensional mood board.”
Shelley Ross! (or should we say @shelleyrossxoxo?) CONGRATULATIONS!
Here’s my favourite of her vignettes…
Our judge, stylist Kara Rosenlund, said: “It was such a great week on Instagram; everyone’s commitment and thrill to be be part of such a challenge was really inspiring. It was such a privilege to see into everyone’s homes and lives and read their special and sentimental stories about pieces from their homes and their loved ones.
“Thank you so much to everyone who participated. It brought such an overwhelming sense of community and friendship into the instagram world, I didn’t want it to end.”
There wasn’t even meant to be a prize but we were so impressed we decided to award one! Kara has put together a box of lovely styling treasures for Shelley and I’ll be sending her an Interiors Addict candle.
I must say I was overwhelmed by the success of 7 Vignettes. I’ve run, and taken part in, Instagram photo challenges before, but this one was extra special. There was so much sharing and community. Everyone really encouraged each other and everyone had a go. Some people didn’t even know what a vignette was when we started. Some found out about it on the last day and still managed all 7 vignettes in 24 hours! Amazing! Between us we shared more than 2,000 images! So much enthusiasm, talent and just a lot of great feeling! I had warm fuzzies all week, especially when I kept getting gorgeous little messages like these!
I was so sad it had to end (although I was worrying about the RSI in my right hand from constant scrolling and liking!) I’ve decided to make this a monthly challenge with a new set of words and a new guest judge each time. The next will start on 2 February with the lovely Steve Cordony from Belle magazine. Look out for the new list of words on Instagram. Just keep looking under the #7vignettes hashtag or like Interiors Addict on Facebook so you’ll be sure not to miss it.
There’s something seriously cool going on over at Instagram, have you heard? It’s called 7 Vignettes in 7 Days and it’s my latest Instagram photo challenge in collaboration with stylist and queen of the vignette, Kara Rosenlund.
