Summer holidays...

I am at work this week and I keep thinking about all of those people out there driving off to stay in summer batches and lying on the beach...it's torture!
Luckily I am only working three days and then next week I am off to Sydney for five days. I have started doing my research into what interior shops I can visit while I am there. I am definitely going to go to Sibella Court's shop The Society Inc. I've been checking out her portfolio and look at some of the inspiring work I have found:

Merry Christmas

Christmas is at my house this year and lunch will be on the deck (hopefully in the sunshine) with ham, chicken, sausages, turkey...basically every  meat known to man! I am so looking forward to setting the table on christmas morning. I found some fabulous christmas table settings to inspire me:

Bedroom finished!

We finally finished the bedroom on the weekend and I love it so much I want to spend all my time in there. It is so cosy and inviting. I'm afraid the picture I took just doesn't do it justice because I don't have a wide angle lense on my camera (like in the real estate "before" picture below).

Before:

 After:

Mirror in the dining room

Found a mirror for the dining room in the weekend and it was a steal - only $150 (from Briscoes!) crazy. It's a little more glam than I am used to, but it looks great as a focal point in the dining area.

Wedding woes

After being so organised planning my wedding, I have had a few hiccups these last couple of weeks. My venue fell though - with only three months to go! - and I have been frantically searching for another. You'd be suprised by how little everything else matters if you don't have a wedding venue.

March in Napier is a very popular time to get married, so it hasn't been easy.  Luckily - a few tearful tantrums later- we have finally found a new venue, or venue(s). We have had to split the ceremony and reception up, but it is okay because they are within walking distance of eachother.

Now we are having the ceremony at the Centennial Gardens:

And the Ceremony at the iconic Hawkes Bay Club (which is a lovely alternative):

Dining room

We finally put up the Grasscloth wallpaper I purchased from Resene a few weeks ago in the dining room as a feature wall. The new curtains are also up and there is no sign of the wall sconce I hated so much - I think the space looks much more sophisticated now. Especially with our brand new contemporary Christmas tree. I dressed the table as a practice run for Christmas, which is at my house this year!

Before:

After:

Morocco

Ah, Morocco - you say! Actually no, it's the third level of Harrods. Incredible!! And the installation is only until 18 December - shame it isn't staying that way indefinitely. It looks lovely.

Decorations

I found these lovely Martha Stewart Pom Poms on Amazon and ordered them for the wedding. I think they will look magical dotted in the trees as you walk down the aisle.

Wedding invitations

I decided to design and make my own wedding invitations which are in-keeping with the rustic-garden theme of the day. I finally finished them (with help from my fiancee) after many stressful hours at the printer. I used a little piece of twine to keep all of the cards together and made RSVP postcards using different images I found in our colour scheme.  I think they look great and I can't wait to send them out!

Farrow & Ball

The new Farrow & Ball store in New York’s Upper East Side has been wrapped in the company’s Lotus wallpaper. It looks amazing!!! What a cool idea. My sister is off to New York next week, maybe I should get her to go and check it our for my sake :D

FINISHED!!!

I am offiically finished my diploma in Interior Design! I got my last mark in the post this week. I am so happy to have done it, and I hope it is just the start of much more Interior Design to come!

I am now barrelling full speed ahead with the main bedroom re-vamp at my house and have nearly finished stripping the room. I have been looking at grey paint colours and am yet to decide on which one is the best. So far I have tried these two Dulux colours, and I think one is too blue and the other is too light, so maybe something in the middle would be perfect:

I have picked my drapes and rug and they are coming from the States, so should be here in a couple of weeks.

So I think it is fair to say this bank holiday weekend will be spent DIYing around the house. Wish my luck...

Espanola Way

Loving this bold ikat print by Designers Guild - especially in the charcoal, grey & chartreuse pictured here.

littlebrownpen.com

I came across this lovely photography company called littlebrownpen.com when I was scouring Etsy.com. They take photographs that "celebrate the city’s intimate details, often overshadowed by iconic landmarks".  I think they are beautiful. My favourite pictures are those taken as a part of the yellow collection: