Haymarket Hotel Opening Update

Earlier this year I posted about the much anticipated opening of the Haymarket Hotel in London. The hotel was due to open in March however, as with most large projects like this, the open date has been postponed to April. There are some new pictures though which have just been released of the hotel's rooms which I have posted above. Obviously a bright colour scheme was chosen. I'll keep you updated about the opening and I will post more pictures as they become available.

An Ethereal Dining Room

The beautiful dining room above is by Interior Designer Molly Luetkemeyer of M Design. Molly interned with infamous Designer Kelly Wearstler and has now created a name for herself with her fresh and innovative designs.

Photo above from M Design website which I found via Desire to Inspire.

New Designers Guild Display

Our new Designers Guild fabrics arrived today for our next display at Black & Spiro. The 2 above are my favourites. I will be posting photos once it has all been installed within the next month so keep checking back.

Please Can We Have One Mummy?

Devore Associates

I think my 4 year old son would love one of these but unfortunately we don't have the room. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a country weekend house with enough land to have your very own hedge maze - it looks like so much fun and maybe not just for the under 5's!!

Photo from Devore Associates via House & Garden via Stylecourt.

Another Fabulous Blog

Another fantastic blog I have just stumbled across via Pink Mohair is XT Decor Mag. The images above are my favourites on the XT site. Lots of colour and beautiful things everywhere on this site which has become one of my everyday reads!

I Love Fifi Lapin...

Fifi in Chanel

Fifi in Gucci

If you don't already know about Fifi Lapin then I am going to tell you she is the hottest little bunny on the catwalk this season!! If you love couture fashion then Fifi is the girl in the know!! Please go and have a look at her blog and you can even purchase your very own Fifi Lapin signed drawing in her etsy shop!! These are to die for. I am considering sending through some of my favourite runway fashion outfits so that Fifi can be drawn in them for me - I just love Fifi and I am so addicted to her blog!!

Casapinka Reminder

Just a reminder to you all to visit Casapinka. For all my new readers Casapinka is a blog which details the 1 year renovation of a house in America which I am helping decorate with it's owner Pink (don't worry that's just her alias - it's not her real name) from Pink Mohair. The catch is that Pink and I have never met and the only communication we are having is via email, telephone and postage. Now just to make something clear - Pink has her own very distinct taste and my job as her decorator is to make sure that she is making all the right selections and mixing the right sorts of things together to create an overall finished look. My part in all of this is not to completely push my tastes on Pink. I just give her my advice and suggestions, oh and I certainly tell her if I don't like something and it's completely up to her if she runs with it or not. She also presents me with a lot of things she finds and I give her my opinion. It's a lot of fun so please go and have a look at the site and who knows maybe you'll become addicted!!

Just to explain the images I have posted above - the top image is a picture I emailed to Pink a couple of months ago as an idea for her stairwell and just this week Pink found the mirrors in the bottom picture at her favourite flea market which she will arrange ad hock in her own stairwell. I think it will look fantastic - I can't wait for her to email me the pictures once she has finished it!!

A Black & Spiro Design Package

One of my clients came into my studio today to pick up her Black & Spiro Design Package. We offer this service to clients who want to project manage their own job. This service is great for clients who are on a budget yet want the concept of a Black & Spiro interior. This client loved our proposal and she's now off to start the re-fit of her home. I often ask the clients to email me pictures once they've finished so that I know how it all turned out. The picture above is the folder I presented to my client today.

New Lamp At Black & Spiro

We just received the new lamp above at Black & Spiro with a custom made lampshade which we chose to have made in a Gaston y Daniela fabric - I love to use pattern on pattern!!

Another Fashion Designers Home

I love this pretty house which belongs to Danish Fashion Designer Malene Birger. I have had this house in one of my "I Love" files for quite sometime now however, I was just looking at the beautiful blog Dreamhouse today and it was featured there and it reminded me how much I loved this house.

Photos courtesy of Dreamhouse.

You're Invited To A Tea Party

Your invitation is waiting for you at Pink Mohair...

A Snapshot of Betsy Johnson

Eccentric Fashion Designer Betsy Johnson's New York apartment has been featured in this month's American House and Garden. Johnson is widely known for her extremely over-the-top glamorous fashion designs and it looks like a bit of her craziness has found its way into her complete renovation of this downtown apartment. It's said that she has used a mixture of vintage and modern pieces and then signature candy pink walls to put a final stamp on her new absolutely beautiful haven.

Photo's courtesy of House & Garden

Vintage House & Garden

House & Garden Cover January 1st, 1920 by H. George Brandt above

House & Garden Cover January 1st, 1922 by H. George Brandt above

House & Garden Cover April 1st, 1935 by Pierre Brisaudd above

We all know about vintage Vogue covers and photos but also available for purchase from the CondeNast website are vintage House & Garden covers which, as an Interior Designer, I am mad about. I would love to cover the walls in my office with some of these. It's very interesting to note that although these covers are all roughly 80 years old they could well have been painted today as they depict scenes which seem to be so like designs which are being created today. For example a traditional plate wall above is similar to that created by Kelly Wearstler at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica - a modern take on traditional design.

Rockridge - A Beautiful Beach Retreat

Just 50 minutes drive from Sydney this beautiful beach retreat awaits you. Rockridge sits perched at the top of Palm Beach and was originally built as a Gentleman's residence in the 1940's. Now operated as a boutique holiday rental property through Contemporary Hotels, the house maintains many of its original features - stone fireplace, beautifully crafted joinery, timber floors and the most beautiful view of the Palm Beach Peninsula. A host of modern amenities have been added to the property to make your stay as comfortable as possible including a swimming pool just in case you don't feel like trekking down the steps to the beach . If you are desperately craving for a week at the beach then consider Rockridge as your first port of call.

More From My "I Love" File

I adore this house by Steven Gambrel which was featured in Elle Decor June/July 2004 edition. Just another lot of images from my "I Love" file.

A Rosy Little Posie - Alicia Paulson

Creative genius, Alicia Paulson, is the brains behind the web store Posie - Rosy Little Things and also the beautiful blog Posie Gets Cozy. I adore her hand screen printed stationery and also her beautiful hand made paper poppy boxes. Apartment Therapy just featured Alicia's gorgeously pretty house in one of their house tours so go and have a look at the photos on AT as I know you will love them!!

I also loved Alicia's beautiful welcome note on her site which I have posted below;

"Somewhere in your imagination is a midwestern summer that seemed impossibly long, a spare room at Grandma's where the bed was dressed in white cotton and roses, a neighbor's porch swing where you read novel after novel about girls who had horses. Humidity cloaked. Lightning bugs hovered. What could you do but dream?
At Posie, I remember this place too, and design things that didn't exist there, but could have.
Entirely handmade in my home studio in Portland, Oregon, Posie: Rosy Little Things is an original line of products and patterns created by, me, Alicia Paulson."

New Window Display at Black & Spiro

Today the girls and I created a new window display at Black & Spiro. I wanted a bright, fresh look so we opted for one of the gorgeous floral display drops I just purchased from Mokum. Into the mix we threw one of the much loved pink and mother of pearl inlay chest of drawers, some of our couture cushions, lots of mixed floral ginger jars and of course fresh flowers which always finish off a display perfectly. The girls were a bit worried that it was all a bit much but I said to them to think outside the square and opt for a bit of the unexpected especially when doing a window display as it is important that we catch the attention of passers by!!

Kitchen Dreaming

I'm dreaming of a new kitchen and I would be thrilled to bits with any of the above!! I particularly love the top pink wallpapered kitchen - I think this would be so fun to do in an apartment! I think it's so wonderful that wallpaper is creeping into the kitchen again and not just into hallways and feature walls in bedrooms and sitting rooms! It would even be fun to wallpaper a splash back and then cover it with glass to add a bit of interest to a simple white kitchen - even though I am such a huge fan of simple white kitchens!!

Images above from Domino.

An Outdoor Room

I was just searching through the Domino site and I found this gorgeous outdoor room which I adore. I especially love the blue and white curtains. I could imagine a relaxing Sunday afternoon spent lounging around on this gorgeous verandah with friends.

Saturday Night With Friends

Sometimes it can be so wonderful just to sit with a very close friend and chat. Tonight we visited our friends at their house and while the children played happily downstairs and the men watched a movie upstairs, Annie and I just sat in her beautiful lounge room with the candles lit and some of her amazing French music playing in the background. We had planned to leave the children with our husbands and then go to a late movie but instead we started to chat and then we decided that we were having so much fun that we would cancel the movie and stay and chat some more. We looked through some of her books and magazines on her gorgeous collection filled coffee table whilst we enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine. We talked about everything. I so much enjoyed this time with my friend. We have so much in common and whilst some people would think that we are mad talking about the things we talk about - we think we are quite normal!! We even discussed the prospect of setting up a monthly design book/magazine club with our other friends!! As I have said before friendship to me is a very important element of my life and nights like these are recorded in my memory forever and ever. Thanks Ann for being my friend and for such a fun, relaxing and memorable night!!

Photo's above are of Annie's collection of things on her coffee table.