Monthly Archives: January 2016
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
Some of you may recall that Guillaume and I celebrated 15 years of marriage last month. It’s pretty huge, so we thought we should do something a little monumental to mark the occasion. My parents were visiting from Sydney and we took advantage of them here to look after the kids so that we could have a few days away. We both enjoy hiking (known as tramping here). We had heard so much about the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and decided that was what we were to do.
A home prop box for the stylist within
Something that I always wish for is to have more places to display things in the home. I don’t like clutter so have quite a few things packed away in various boxes and drawers. Organised storage is not my forte! I find it really frustrating to not be able to put them all out on show, because I love these things. Then the other day while I was doing my kitchen revamp I had a thought. I had neglected the area and placed a whole bunch of things that I love on the windowsill and didn’t know what to do with. Clutter disaster! With this restyle I had no choice but to store things away. In the process I pulled something out of the storage box that I had forgotten about and was perfect for the new look… It feels good; it feels almost as if I’ve brought something new home!
Happenings and weekend reads
I can’t believe that we are moving into our last week of January! It makes me a little sad knowing that we have only one more month left of official summer. Okay we do manage to stretch it out into March, but still. I do live for the sun and warm weather!
Decorate with Tapestry
Fabric tapestry would have to be one of the most versatile things to have in your home. Even more so with this bohemian trend, which I’m really loving right now. Urban Outfitters demonstrate here how very easy it is to decorate with tapestry with their “Magical Thinking” collection. The best part is that it’s so inexpensive! Spend about fifty dollars and you’ve got all of these options to style and restyle your home.
Urban Jungle Bloggers | Kitchen Greens
Almost always my Urban Jungle Bloggers posts begin with one plant, and then the inspiration for the rest follows. For this month’s topic, “kitchen greens” I had a succulent that my friend picked for me from her mother’s garden. It had been sitting on my windowsill in water ready to be potted for a couple of weeks. Just this Friday I found this lovely old terracotta planter at The Botanist, which I thought was perfect for it!
“The Piano Beach” Karekare
Do you remember the beach scene in Jane Campion’s The Piano? It was a cinema masterpiece and something that has always stayed with me. The scene where Holly Hunter’s character, Ada played the piano locked under a box for hours on the beach, was was filmed in Karekare, a spectacular black sand beach on the rugged west coast of Auckland. It’s only about forty minutes from the downtown and I’ve been meaning to visit there since arriving in the country four years ago! I’ve been to the surrounding beaches, the most famous being Piha and then there is Bethells Beach, where Taylor Swift just happened to film her latest clip.
Lamps by Decade | 1950’s
Elegant is certainly the adjective to describe the lamps of the 1950’s. It was of course an era of well-designed functional products that will forever remain timeless.
Not forgetting my furniture by decade series, I thought it would be nice to also visit lamps by decade. To me, a room without good lighting always feels like it’s missing something. Not even mentioning the importance of directional and ambient light, good lamps strategically placed around the room are a decorative feature. Some of them are also a good investment and should stay with you for a lifetime. If (on the off chance) they don’t please you later, you could always sell them, at times for a profit.
2016 Goals | Create a one page roadmap
Happy 2016 to each and every one of you! I hope that you all managed to take some time off to recharge the batteries and indulge a little over holiday period.
