Goodbye for Now!

Sorry for the complete lack of posts lately, things have been hectic. Well the time has come, today is my last day at work and I leave Ireland in the next few days. I'm spending a week in Japan, 5-6 months in Australia (taking in a fortnight in New Zealand) and finishing off with a week in China. I don't really know what is going to happen tto the blog while I'm away. I will definitely be putting up some posts but I don't know how frequently, please check in every so often to have a look, I should be back in action with a bunch of new ideas by next March. Thanks for all your comments and emails thus far, talk you to soon!

Mary T xxx

Drogheda in Style - by Maz

Instyle Designs in Drogheda truly is a store to behold. It never occurred to me to wonder where you would buy an outdoor hot tub or a sauna but never the less, now I know. You can find out more about said saunas and hot tubs on the website. However it was their range of garden furniture and smoke houses that really caught my eye.

This Caravelle Oval table and four bench set was by far my favourite - don't think it'll fit on my balcony though!!

I have to admit that I didn't actually know that you could buy BBQ huts but I am definitely happier for that knowledge...

Here are some of my own pics from the show room

This bubble chair reminded me of Diarmuid Gavin (they also had the ones that hang - and they really reminded me of Diarmuid Gavin!! )

And I'm looking right at home aren't I (I didn't actually realise I had been so cheeky as to take off my flip-flops ;-) )

Lastly I just wanted to show you these amazing chairs - last of the high kings or what??


All in all Instyle Designs is well worth a visit if you're up that side of the country - and if you want exceptional garden furniture then it's worth making the trip specially.

Impulse Outlet Shopping - by Maz

I mentioned recently on Style Treaty that I had paid a visit to the Kildare Village outlet centre, well my favourite shop of the day was definitely the Le Creuset shop - almost everything was marked way down so I had an absolute field day. Here are some of my purchases...

The Multi Mat - in white
The Silicone Whisk - in lime green

The non stick basting brush (far right of the picture - in white)

These all came from the silicone accessory range and you can read about them here.

The Pot Handle Glove - bottom right of the picture , basically a tiny oven glove that fits over the pot handle so that you can pick it up!)


And finally - the utensil holder in cream
The whole lot came to about €50 but should have been closer to €75 or €80 so bargains all round :-)

Bazaar

Anna over at Absolutely Beautiful Things recently posted a beautiful picture of a beach party from Chez Fifi's blog and commented on the use of mis-matched chairs.



I love anything mis-matched, I think it makes for a much more lived in and interesting look than having everything looking the same. The mis-matched chairs in the pictures above got me thinking about Bazaar, a really interesting restaurant in Brussels (63 rue des capucins).

One of the things Bazaar is known for is its wonderful interior, the building is an old fabric factory (I love anything with a history!). The place is also known for its mis-matched chairs. There are ornate wrought iron chairs, hand-painted Morroccan style wooden chairs, unfortunately the website doesn't have pictures of the chairs but here are a few of the restaurant to give you a feel for the place...





One of the focal points of the restaurant is the hot air baloon above the bar...





I read in a guide book once that the decor of Bazaar was inspired by a dream that the owner had. The walls are draped with fabric and covered in broken mirrors.





Oh and I forgot to mention - the food is great too!

Imprints

I was recently racking my brains trying to decide on what to get some friends as a Christening present for their beautiful new baby. Maz suggested that I get the Imprints and I thought it was a fantastic idea so that's what I did!



Imprints are available from Brown Thomas, by appointment. There various shapes and sizes you can get, the website has a full list of prices, you hcan check it out here.

Somewhere Beyond The Sea...

I've recently come across a beautiful website called Buy The Sea which sells "a seductive collection of gifts and home accessories that capture the essence of the sea". With our non-existent Summer this year, I've barely made it to the beach and browsing through all these things was like a breath of fresh air.

There are so many things to choose from, I've just selected a few. Everything on the website has a coastal or nautical theme. The seaside look is very popular for bathrooms but as you can see there are also items for the kitchen or anywhere else in your home for that matter. If you're lucky enough to have a Summer Home any of these accessories would look great in it. If you do want to achieve a nautical theme in your home you should go for anything with navy, red and white stripes, natural ropes, circular mirrors and clocks, anything with driftwood...

These storage boxes have a lift-up lid and cost £5.99 (€9. ish) each





I love these lighthouse salt and pepper shakers (I seem to have a thing for salt and pepper shakers but I can't justify buying any more - how many salt and pepper shakers does one home need?!) These cost £29.95 (€44.) for the pair.



The driftwood mirror costs £50. (€73. ish) I love how natural it looks, you can imagine it just floating up to the coast like this, glass and all!



The lobster bucket is £22. (€32. ish) If you don't have any lobsters to hand This would be great for storing sticks by the fire, or potatoes in your kitchen!



The bell costs £54. (approx €80.) A great way to call the kids for dinner!





And last but not least... you can even bring a little bit of the fun of the seaside home with you for a rainy day! This sandcastle kit costs £5.99.



As I said there are many more items on the site, so have a look!

Stakefest 2007

Stakefest is taking place in the Racecourse Retail Park, Thurles all this week. A group of us took a trip down there yesterday to have a look, they have a really nice show-room with some beautiful pieces of furniture. There are activities for the kids every day, along with face painting and some free sweets!

There are also great offers on so if you are looking for something in particular it may be worth paying a visit there. There's a week full of activities planned with a key event every day. Yesterday's event was a head to head challenge between two designers. They had to create a living room and the winner was judged by RTE's Showhouse presenter Neville Knott (complete with fake tan and french manicured nails that would put Victoria Beckham to shame!) The competitors were just completing the wall finishes while we were there so unfortunately I got no pictures of the finished room.

I did pick up a couple of items to help feed my kitchen-gadget addiction, including this toast tongs, no more burnt fingers for me - don't know how I ever lived without it!



I got this spaghetti measure, I'm dying to give it a test run - spag bol will be on the menu tonight I think!



I got a couple of other items including a gravy spoon that has a hook half way down so you can hang it on the edge of your pot. All the items are from Gadget Barrell, they don't have a website I can shown you unfortunately as they have lovely bits and pieces.

To have a look at the rest of the events and to see whats on offer at the Stakefest, visit the website.

Post of the Month - July!

My favourite post from last month, for obvious reasons was my holiday post!
Click here to read it!

Plaid Flamingos

I think I've mentioned a few times before that I love a busy kitchen. I like everything to be neat, organised and orderly but for me this also has to encorporate a friendly lived in look.

When it comes to tableware I love everything to be mis-matched, but matching if that makes any sense! I've got lots of glasses at home that would be the same shape as each other but different colours, or plates that are all matching colours but some are round, some are square, some are rectangular. To sum up - I'm just not one for matching plain white round plates!

I love this plaid and pink flamingo plate set from delight.com. The set costs $25. for a 9" flamingo plate, 11" plaid plate and 13" flamingo platter.

Moulin des Herbes

While we were in France, we took a day trip to the city of Avignon. Avignon is a beautiful Provencial city famous for the Palais des Papes (Palace of Popes) where the Popes lived for much of the 14th century. Unfortunately this was closed for the evening by the time we got there so we had to content ourselves by sitting on a terrace cafe sipping a glass of vin rouge instead! Difficult but we managed...

I didn't do much shopping while we were away (the impending trip to Oz has my finances drained...) but I fell in love with this herb mill when I saw it so I had to splash out.



I very rarely use dried herbs as they taste like dust compared to fresh herbs, but its always good to have some on hand for emergencies!

ABC Carpet & Home

If you like colour and pattern then you'll love what ABC Carpet & Home have to offer. They are so brave in their use of pattern and there are clear influences from all over the world. Here are some pictures that I like, visit the website to see more.















ABC Carpet & Home are an interiors company based in New York, they also have a store in London.

Garden State

Maz from Style Treaty has done a post today on how to brighten up a balcony in need of a little love! Click here to read it.

Woodies Woodies Woodies!

I'm back! All chilled and relaxed after my holidays! Just a quick post today to tell you that Woodies DIY finally opened in Limerick this weekend.

In honour of the very rare bit of sunshine we're having today, here are some nice patio sets they have in stock...


Druid Patio Set €599.


Picnic Bench €99.


Mosaic 3 piece set €129.99

Enjoy the couple of hours of sunshine!

A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down - by Maz

The Irish thirst for tea doesn't seem to have been quenched even after we've been introduced to Latte's and Cappucino's and Nettle Tea etc we still love to sit down sometimes with a nice cup of Barrys or Lyons Tea and maybe a biscuit or two!! Well with that in mind I've picked out a few items that might make your tea drinking experience even better!!!

One of my favourite shops at the moment is Whittard of Chelsea (as far as I know the only one in Ireland is in Rathdowney Outlet Centre but it was in Scotland that I came across them first.


I absolutely love these little tea for one pots that fit into a lovely mug, this one is about £23 but I actually got one in The Kitchen Range on Catherine Street for about €15.
I also love this Large Chintz filter tea pot for £27.


Whittards is also fantastic to buy tea itself, my favourite is its Earl Grey.


Of course the Irish being known for their tea drinking are not short of some great designers of teapots.This large tea pot from Louis Mulcahy is a design classic , expect to pay about €120 though.

Louis also does really nice mugs - about €20 each





My dream tea set is Nicholas Mosse here's my wish list.

These mugs look so country kitchen, €18.80 each.


And of course the Teapot €85.95


And the necessary accessories, bowl €14.95 and jug €30.75


If you're a fan of loose leaves and are looking for something more practical I got one of these (or something similar) for Mary T last year. It works a bit like a plunger for coffee!!


And if you want to learn more about tea you can always visit the site that dedicates itself to tea.