Time for Tea

If you're on the look out for a nice tea set then Carraig Donn is always a good bet. Here are a few nice ones that they have at the moment, I love the grey one, I think it's the cake stand that's winning me over!

Keep that Fire Burning in Summer

Despite all those global warming warnings I doubt we can be really guaranteed a Mediterranean summer here in Ireland just yet! In the event of some chilly evenings I think a patio fire is so much nicer than one of those big ugly patio heaters. I would light a fire inside nearly every day of the year as I think it brightens up the room so much, so this is the perfect way to give me a good excuse for lighting a log fire even in summer!

This one is from Unicahome and costs $450.



If the designer option isn't for you then there are plenty of the ones below available on ebay.ie with prices starting from around €72. I actually prefer this one! I think it would look great with some nice black wrought iron patio furniture with cream cushions.



I know that Lidl did a simple one for a much cheaper price last year, no doubt it will be coming soon again!

Changing Rooms

My Dad bought me this book for Christmas, it was just a few months after I had qualified in Interior Design so he thought it would be a good practical present. Dad's are always great for buying practical presents, mine especially - he also bought me a torch to keep in the boot of my car, practical!

This turned out to be a great little book, if you are pretty good at putting a room together but you find yourself lacking in the final steps, the little decorative touches that transform the room to an actual designed space then this is the book for you.



Amazon review:

There are no wild premises or promises here. This is about handy hints to
update, transform, or liven up your home. According to Barker it's the
"essential finishing touches that bring a room scheme together and contribute so
much to the first impression as the owners walk through the door".

In the first section, Styling from Scratch, the main text (and there's
a lot of it) amounts to basic common sense about creating a new look home, with
advice such as covering sofas with throws, thinking about storage, and throwing
out clutter. This advice continues in the following section, Instant Make-overs,
which focuses on specific rooms. The eye-catching 5-minute facelift tips, are
largely sensible reminders: use floral patterns for a strong message, add a
sensual touch with throws, use lights for a sculptural as well as lighting
element.

It's the final section, Makes, which is the strongest and which won't
disappoint fans of the Changing Rooms TV series. There are 25 projects to have a
go at, making this an adult child's delight. Choose from making laminated paper
blinds, Japanese style seating, or even the sunburst mirror--a an ideal handmade
Christmas present?!

3 Beautiful Seating Areas and a Beautiful Bedroom

Vacation

Seasons

Seashore

Colonial

All of the images above are from Prestigious Textiles, a textile company based in Walkinstown, Dublin. Prestigious have been in the market as a trade supplier of soft furnishings since 1995. They went from strength to strength and just 12 months later had developed into the largest brand in the market.

The reasons I love the images above are because of the life provided by the fabric. Without the soft furnishings each room would be so plain. Its important to remember this if you are decorating a rooom in your own house. You could take a room that is white from floor to ceiling, a blank canvas, and create the most vibrant, colourful room just with the soft furnishings - if you're brave enough!

Love Them or Hate Them..?

If there's a Goth lost in you somewhere then you'll probably love these! I'm sure there's a market for these out there somewhere but I wouldn't be parting with $75. for one of these mall mounted hooks, or $95. for the vase or candle holders! These were designed by designer Harry Allen and are available from Elsewares. I just can't stop thinking of Thing from the Adam's Family!









If you want to buy one for your inner Goth you can purchase by clicking here.

Beautiful Junior Rooms

I came across a really nice website recently, treehouse has some inspirational kids rooms (a few of my favourites are shown below). The great thing about the website is that if you click on an image it will give you the details of items in the image so you know what you need to achieve the look.









They have some beautiful pieces of furniture click here to see more.

More Wallpaper

As a recent convert to the world of wallpaper I'm always on the look out for interesting new patterns. I just love how you can take a dead plain room and instantly bring it to life with a section of wallpaper. Here are a few that I love from Debenham's, probably not to everyone's taste but I think they would be fantastic in the right setting. The first 4 are from Debenham's Julien MacDonald collection and the last one is from the Graham & Brown collection.


Red Paradise


Green Dazzle


Green Mysterious


Purple Mysterious


Pink Figaro

All of the wallpapers shown above are approx. £16.99, I'm not sure what range they have in their Irish stores but if you can't find what you're looking for then you can always order online. To view the full collections click here.

Nice Way to Pass an Afternoon!

A Day Bed is described as a bed that is for resting and not for sleeping. I think that a Day Bed is a lovely feature in a house if you have the space for one (and if you have the time for resting during the day!). It would be so nice to have a day bed just by a window in your house and to have the time to settle down with a good book for an hour in the afternoon. Here are a few nice ones that I found. The first one is from Minnie Peters and the second one is from Instore

California 1955

As a way to ease myself gently back to the world of blogging I thought I'd do a quick post and share with you my favourite ever photograph so you could tell me what you think! This image California 1955 was taken by the extremely talented French born photographer Elliott Erwitt. Before I knew of his work, a friend took me to an Elliott Erwitt exhibition and I spent so long staring at this photograph, I vowed there and then that I would have (a copy of!) this print hanging in my hallway someday!

Elliott Erwitt has such a beautiful collection of Black & White snippets of people's lives, his photos don't need any lengthy titles or sub-headings, the photo in itself is enough. Take a look at www.elliotterwitt.com To view his most beautiful and famous pictures go to the Collector's prints section.

Thoughts?

Sick Note

Just a note to apologise for the complete absence of posts in the past week, spent last Wednesday in hospital getting my wisdom teeth out. I planned on getting loads done on MTeriors while I was convalescing at home but completely underestimated how sick I would be! Feeling much better now that all the swelling and bruising has gone down (!) so I should be back in action in the next few days!

Guest Post by Maz @ Style Treaty

A couple of weeks (possibly months at this stage) I did a post about my ongoing search for a new table lamp. Well I finally found one in Homebase last week. It’s as simple as I wanted and yet there are a few details that I like on it. You’ll find the picture on the website here, but it’s not a great picture.

Here is a picture that shows the details I spoke about above.

Please ignore the mess that is the CD/DVD stand - we have so many it's impossible to keep them tidy!!

I was wondering what to do with the old lamp and since I didn’t know anyone who needed a new one I dropped it into Oxfam on William St. I found out that they are more than happy to take home ware so if you’re doing a cleanout or redecorating, please keep them in mind.

I almost forgot to mention - it was about €30

A Splash of Life

A nice rug is a great way to introduce colour and pattern into a room. With the minimalist and monochrome look so fashionable at the moment there seems to be a lot of quite plain looking living rooms around and I really think you can't beat a good splash of colour or pattern to bring a room to life.

If you have a blank canvas of a room to start with then I would recommend choosing a rug you love first and use that as your starting point for co-ordinating everything else in the room. If you already have your room furnished, there are so many beautiful rugs available at the moment that you shouldn't have too much trouble finding the perfect one to compliment your room.

Here are some nice ones I've found. The first three are from Hal Lou in Tralee. There are no prices on the website but you can check out the website here to find contact details etc.







The next three are from Habitat. I love these, I was in Habitat in Galway on Friday and I decided that I want to live there, yes right there in the store, it's my new favourite place!


Mosaic Rug €295.


Glasgow Rug €250 (small) €450 (large)


Decotrail Rug €450.

A Rug is also a great way to cut down on echo and noise in a room, especially if you have a solid wood floor.

Summer is on the Way!

With this lovely weather we've been having I'm really starting to feel like summer is on the way! I know we have a while to wait yet but there's no harm in planning ahead, I've been looking at garden / patio furniture lately and here are a couple of nice ones that I've found at Cunningham's, Tipperary Road, Limerick.

This Sienna Sofa Set costs €999. for the sofa and armchair with cushions, along with the granite/marble coffee table.



This Hamptons Set is €1,999. for the sofa and armchair with cushions and the rectangular coffee table.



This Provence Set costs €359. for 2 chairs with cushions and the round granite coffee table.



I'm dreaming of long summer evenings in the garden already! The pictures don't do them justice so either visit Cunninghams at the Crossagalla Business Park or online by clicking here.