Kate Spade Ad Campaign Images

I love these images from Kate Spade's Spring 06 Ad Campaign which I wish were available for purchase - wouldn't that be a wonderful idea. I could imagine grouping all of these images together in beautiful mix matched vintage frames in a graphic cluster on a wall in a large walk-in wardrobe or if you're like me and have your own special room for reading, working and watching t.v. in at home they could be fantastic placed again in a cluster on a wall in this sort of an environment - a real treat for a woman who loves fashion and style images.

Which one is your favourite?

**Post note - I previously made an error on this post in that I was under the impression that the images could be purchased from the Kate Spade website. I was incorrect. Apologies for this misleading statement.

Images from my "I Love" File

Room above by Nate Berkus

Photos above and below courtesy of Marie Claire Magazine



Room above by Jay Jeffers

Images above courtesy of Marie Claire



I love all the rooms above even though they are all quite different in style - just a small collection of images I have in my "I Love" file.

Fromental - Taking the World by Storm

Tim Butcher and Lizzy Deshayes above

Tim Butcher is the former Creative Director for the world renowned Chinoiserie house, De Gournay. He has also trained as a weaver and has had vast experience designing silks for the likes of Paul Smith and Ralph Lauren. Believing there was a broader niche to that which was being satisfied by other companies in the market place for hand painted wallpaper Tim and his wife, Lizzy Deshayes pooled their immense individual talents in 2005 to create hand made wallpaper company, Fromental. This multi-talented team intends to take the world by storm by establishing Fromental as a world leader in hand made wallpaper.

Butcher was recently quoted in The World of Interiors December 2006 edition as saying "I love it when wallpaper covers every surface, when it goes around the chimney and has a door cut into it. That's when it is not a painting - it's decoration - no matter how beautiful it is - and that to me is when wallpaper comes to life."

Using this ideology as a basis for their creations the pair have made the wallpapers to be all non-repeating designs conceived for entire rooms rather than just one wall - even though I would personally still use the papers in both sections and entire rooms.


Their unique ordering process involves providing the specific measurements of the area to be papered in order to customise the pattern and design to suit your particular space. You can expect to wait approximately 6-10 weeks for your special order to be processed and delivered.

I am currently considering some of the Fromental papers in the redesign of my office at Black & Spiro - my decision is still pending. More on that to come...

The Kemps do it again...

The brains behind the world renowned Soho Hotel in London, Tim & Kit Kemp of Firmdale Hotels are embarking on their 7th hotel opening in London next month. The new Haymarket Hotel is located on the corner of Suffolk Place and Haymarket next to the famous Haymarket Theatre Royal which was designed in the 19th Century by John Nash. The historic building features a dramatic row of columns on its facade and has been undergoing a major "Kemp Style" renovation over the past 12 months. The hotel's interiors which have been directed by Kit, who has also been the visionary behind the interior design of Firmdale's 6 other properties, are tipped to be her best yet.

I have listed above photos of the drawing room at another one of the Kemp's properties - Number Sixteen Hotel in London - also designed by Kit. I couldn't believe it when I saw the paintings on the wall which are by Australian artist Allyson Reynolds from her Moths series. If you remember the pictures I posted last week of my home you will recall my Allyson Reynolds moths painting.

I will be posting photographs of the much anticipated Haymarket Hotel as soon as they have been released so stay tuned!

More Black & Spiro Remnant Cushions

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the remnant fabric cushions I have been having made for Black & Spiro and as a follow up to that post I thought I would show you some of the gorgeous black and white ones I have just picked up from my workroom for the shop. I have used a mixture of Florence Broadhurt, Designers Guild and Mokum fabrics in these cushions which are currently in the front window on some white slip covered chairs at Black & Spiro.

Odette Teerink - A Brisbane Artist

I'm really enjoying these paintings by Brisbane based artist Odette Teerink. After just returning from a 3 year sabbatical in Seattle, USA where she studied at the Seattle Academy of Fine Arts and where she is said to have acquired a more mature approach to her artwork, Odette has returned to Brisbane to work on her recent series, "A Journey to Contentment" which is being exhibited at Freestyle Tout Emporium in Fortitude Valley from 1-28 February. I have already sent an enquiry off to Odette's email address about the lantern painting above which I am absolutely in love with.

I love this exerpt from her website which is how she describes her latest series;

"A Journey to Contentment” is not so much about escapism but about actively pursuing a happier life and being conscious of where you are in the world. “The idea is to sit down, have a cup of tea, and let the painting take you to a quiet place where you can put your life into perspective, so when you return to the craziness of reality you have a sense of calm and balance.”

Wouldn't that be wonderful - sitting down, a cup of tea, a quiet place and putting life into perspective. I love that idea!!

A Room by Amanda Grillini

After

After

Before

Amanda Grillini is a talented Interior Designer who has been working for me at Black & Spiro for the past 12 months. I love seeing the work she does and I thought I would post a before picture and an after picture of a job she has been working on lately. What a difference a few beautiful pieces make to a room. A job well done Amanda!! I look forward to seeing more pictures of this job as it progresses even more. Your eye for detail and your hard work has certainly paid of with this sucessful room transformation. I love having you here at Black & Spiro!!

A Nice Wardrobe Idea

One of my gorgeous clients, Jules, whose beautiful Art Deco apartment I am currently working on has just had the most wonderful wardrobe built for her huge collection of clothes, shoes, handbags and jewellery. I absolutely adore it and I just wanted to show you a photo of one side of it - a little bit of Hollywood Regency way down here in Brisbane, Australia!! I'll be posting more photo's of Jules' apartment as it takes shape over the next couple of months so stay tuned!!

Audrey Hepburn - Actor Artist & Icon

The beautiful actress and style icon Audrey Hepburn who was raised under Nazi rule in Arnhem, Netherlands during World War II spent her childhood days drawing and some of her drawings above are so beautifully executed. The bottom picture of the child standing in front of the Christmas tree has been used in a series of Christmas cards. I just love the top image so much - A Bad Hair Day is what it looks like to me - I'm certainly used to these sorts of days!! These drawings date back to 1940. During the 1940's, Hepburn also become a proficient ballerina. She was later quoted as saying "the best audience I ever had made not a single sound at the end of my performance." An interesting quote I thought.

Everyone's Talking About Pink & Brown...

Pink & Brown setting by Jan Showers above.

Pink and Brown in nature above.

The Barclay Butera room as posted by Amy at Design DNA.

The Ruthie Sommers Pink and Brown and White room above as posted by Stylecourt.

A Pink and Brown patterned fabric above available from Black & Spiro.

There's alot being said around the traps about Pink and Brown. Stylecourt has been talking about the combination of Pink & Brown in some of her posts lately with a reader asking her advice about the use of Pink and Brown in her nursery. Stylecourt also posted recently the room I have pictured above by the much decorated American designer Ruthie Sommers - again the mix of Pink and Brown with White trims is evident. New Blogger friend, Amy from the beautiful Blog, Design DNA posted about the juxtaposition of Pink, Brown and Gold on her site a couple of weeks ago claiming that it is one of her favourite colour combinations. The above photo of a lounge room by Barclay Butera was posted by Amy and I just loved it so much that I had to include it in my post today. I have added a few Pink & Brown things I have found and also a picture of a setting by Jan Showers which I adore. The way I think of this colour combo is - it's like neopolitan icecream - Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla - what a great combination!! What are your thoughts, do you like Pink and Brown as a colour combination?

Some More Pictures of My Work

I thought I would show you some pictures of another room I have done. It is Annie's lounge room, a friend of mine who I posted about a couple of days ago. In her room we have made a collection of cushions over time in vintage fabrics, fabric remnants and beautiful Designers Guild and Kenzo designs. Some of the first cushions I ever made for her, nearly 8 years ago, are still being used in the room. We have used an eclectic mix of patterns, colours and furniture styles in this lounge room to create a lived in, family atmosphere. I have also used one of the beautiful inlaid chests placed behind one of the large loose cover sofa's as a place for Annie to display family photographs and fresh flowers.

I hope you all like this room.

Who is Anna Spiro?

I just thought I would mention that the gorgeous Ronda over at All The Best has profiled me on her blog today. If you would like to find out a bit more about me then go and have a look at Ronda's beautiful site and while you're there check out the rest of her site too. She always posts beautiful things. Her blog is one of my favourites out there. Thanks Ronda for asking me to be involved with this great Blogger Profiling idea of yours. I can't wait to see the other people you are going to profile. To go to Ronda's site click HERE

Photos courtesy of www.flickr.com

Tagged

Well, Pink has tagged me...damn her!! But, imagine if I wasn't tagged then I think I would be very upset!! So I suppose I have to say, thanks Pink for tagging me!! I think you all know what I have to do, but for those of you who don't here it is; I have to list 6 weird things about me and then tag 3 more people. So here it is - My Weird List:

1 - I wear tracksuit pants to bed all year including Summer - I love them, they are just so comfy!!

2 - When I fly on a plane I take my own blanket, my own pillow and my slippers too!!

3 - I stress so much about having body odour I carry a bottle of perfume and a bottle of deoderant with me at all times - I hate smelly people!! There is no excuse.

4 - I hate sand in my bed - whenever we go to Straddie (where we have a beach house) I make sure that my husband cleans his feet before he gets into bed.

5 - I love cheese and pineapple sandwiches.

6 - I love going to junk shops.

Well that's it. Gee it was hard to think of 6 things. I now tag only 2 people because all the other people I wanted to tag are already tagged so I am tagging Preppy Princess and Sylvie at SoSylvie. Sorry guys!!! And if either or both of you have already been tagged too well that's it, I'm not tagging anyone else.

Junkshop Lampshade photo courtesy of www.flickr.com

A Beautiful Sunday Lunch at Straddie

Tropical greenery and shells in a timber bowl sets the scene above. My gift to the host was the branch of Frangipani which I cut from a Frangipani tree in our yard at our beach house.

Each female guest was given a soap which was placed on their dinner plates.

Look at this beautiful setting - I love the bamboo cutlery and the blue and white tablecloth and napkins in particular, oh and the shell which is so perfectly placed!

Beautiful rattan pieces which Annie has collected over time.

A bamboo tray filled with delicious bites. Notice the pineapple head which is used as decoration on the platter was cut off from the pineapple which Annie also was using in the cocktails - so creative!

The cushions I had made for Annie late last year pictured above - all made in Ralph Lauren fabrics.

The breathtaking view from Annie & Michael's veranda above.

As we arrived Annie was serving fresh fruity cocktails which she handed to each guest in the most beautiful rattan drinking glass as above.

More Ralph Lauren cushions above.

A beautiful collection of shells in a timber bowl.

Yesterday we were invited to our very special friends beach house at Stradbroke Island (Straddie for short) for a Summer lunch. My friend, Annie is so creative and I just had to show you the beautiful scene she created for the lunch. Blue, white and orange were her colours for the day with beautiful blue and white patterned tablecloths, woven place mats and bamboo cutlery - not to mention the beautiful orange flowers, orange linen napkins and shells which adorned the table setting. Late last year Annie asked me to have some blue and white cushions made for her beach house which I have photographed above - we made them all in Ralph Lauren blue and white patterns and stripes with my favourite one being the Koi fish design. When we were in Hawaii over the holidays Annie bought the matching Koi navy and white fish beach towels - so beautiful. As you will see above her beach house is to die for!