I'm a thief I know! I found this wallpaper through Homebug a few weeks ago and just had to post about it myself. I love how unusual they are.
The designs, by Danish designer Lene Toni Kjeld are designed as transition wallpaper. There are 8 designs that can be blended to fade in to one another.
The idea is to create an individual design and bring up different atmospheres. This would be a great way to define living spaces if you are living in an open plan apartment.
The interiors you create can really reveal a lot about your personality. As your personality and your life changes you will probably subconsciously change your interior along with you.
Take my sister and I for example, we've always had quite different personalities and while we were growing up I had my bedroom decorated with deep blues and purples while my sister decorated her room with lemon and cream. As we got older Catherine changed her room to mostly purple and I changed to pale greens and creams.
I think you can tell a lot about someone by how they choose to decorate their home, stepping into someone's home will give you a sneak peak at their personality. To show this I'm going to use the example of my favourite show - Sex in the City!
Carrie's apartment (my personal favourite!)
Carrie's apartment has a lived in look, verging on messy. It's got a real beauty about it but is far from flawless with bags under the hall table, mail on the floor, drawers open...
Charlotte's apartment...
Charlotte's apartment is elegant and classical. There are a lot of floral patterns to give a feminine appearance. Everything has it's place and the finishing touches are not forgotten.
Miranda's apartment
Miranda's apartment is safe to the point of being boring. There seems to be a fear of introducing any colour or pattern, she chose to use sensible dull and muted colours.
Samantha's apartment...
Samantha's apartment has a drama about it! There is no fear of colour here. There is a vibrancy and excitement about this interior. Oh and the bed is the focal point of the whole place!
Visit the HBO website to find out more about the girls and their interiors!
One of my favourite shops in Limerick is Olio & Farina. Hailing from Genova, Olio & Farina have the world famous Italian passion and enthusiasm for quality food. Their store on Little Catherine St., Limerick has the most delicious pasta and bruschetta sauces, not to mention their collection of olive oil and wines!
Apart from their delicious food they also stock some great "home" items and gifts. They specialise in Olive wood, a beautiful wood with a natural warmth and depth. Olio & Farina tell us that Olive wood requires a good number of years before reaching maturation point. A true work of art, owning one of our handmade products is to own a piece of history.
Here are a few beautiful pieces from their collection
Spaghetti Measure €11.99
Lemon Squeezer & Honey Drizzler €13.99
Mortar & Pestel €36.99
There's just something about using wooden utensils and tools in your kitchen, it feels really traditional, like you're really creating something as you cook! Apart from the items above there are great gift sets available from Olio & Farina. You can either get one ready made or create one yourself, these would make a really personal and very useful house warming present!
Visit Olio & Farina to find out more about them.
Another Interior Design free day today. Today I've done a fashion post on Style Treaty.
Click here to read the article and to see my new dress!
Earlier in the week on our lunch break Maz and I took a trip to Childer's Road Retail Park, a bad idea (it was Maz's idea...) as I ended up buying a pair of shoes from Dorothy Perkins, although they were on sale so I paid a ridiculously cheap price for them so I don't think it really counts! The fact that they don't really fit need not be mentioned...
I digress! My point was that we also visited Next while we were there and I just love all of their reasonably priced homeware. I don't know why but I never remember to visit Next and each time I do I'm pleasantly surprised. Here are a few things I liked...
This dinner set is €36. for 12 pieces, as is the Tahiti one below...
These Black conical glasses are €22. for a set of 4 and the best thing about them is that they are dishwasher safe
I loved these ceramic place mats, the picture shows the coasters as the Next website doesn't have a picture of the placemats but you get the idea! The place mats cost €19. for a set of two as far as I remember. Maz and I agreed that we would hate the sound of the plate on top of the ceramic place mat (!) and if I was to buy these I would actually use them as serving plates for hors d'oeuvres or starters like the Brazilian Agate ones I posted about earlier in the week, obviously this wouldn't work if your starter was soup! But would be perfect for little nibbles, crackers and cheese etc.
Maz spotted this bread bin which is very similar to one from Nigella Lawson. The great thing about this is that the lid is your bread board. At €32. however its much much cheaper than Nigella's one!
Its barely distinguishable from Nigella's one shown below, I know which one I'd be "splashing out" on!
One of my first posts back in January was about putting your favourite picture onto a canvas print, its so much more unique than just putting the picture in a frame and is a really great way to display your favourite pictures.
The reason that I'm doing a reminder on this is because just last week I got this done for my gorgeous little nephew Fionn as a Christening present for his parents and it turned out so well, his parents were delighted with it!
Click here to read the original post.
And here's the star of the show! This is the picture I used.
Its more than a little intimidating to consider using some Sanderson fabric or wallpaper in your home when you consider that they were awarded the Royal Warrant as Purveyors of Wallpaper to the King of England in 1923 and continue to supply to the Queen today... but if its good enough for the Queen...
I think I love everything on their website, I could post every picture from there to here, but as that would be more than a little time consuming here's a few of my favourites!
I've ordered my book of samples from them and as soon as it arrives I intend sitting down in a quiet room with a glass of wine and drooling! I really hope I get the chance to use some of their products in the future. There is currently just one supplier in Ireland, in Dublin. You can find out more about Sanderson here. Ok here are just a few more pics...
Well here it is - my final post on Elsewares! (I find it funny that I'm even pretending as I know I'll have another one up here probably by next week...).
I'm really struggling with the temptation to buy this fab Ming Oil and Vinegar set. I love it because it's stylish and novel at the same time!
As you can see its a very simple design made to imitate a wine glass turned upside down. The designer from Dutch company Jansen + Co. apparently takes particular enjoyment from deconstructing familiar items and redefining their use. According to elsewares this item is not just attractive its clever too as the narrow stem reduces flow making the liquid easy to measure as you pour.
For the reasonable price of $28. (approx. €20.) you get the two glasses in a stylish box along with a funnel for easy filling and a cleaning brush.
I love how the oil and vinegar actually look like red and white wine. I think these would make a great house warming gift. Anyone who likes cooking and enjoys wine would get a kick out if these.
Yes I know I've probably done enough posts on Elsewares at this stage, like here... and here... but I just love their products. Ok I'm doing this post on Elsewares today and one tomorrow but that's it - promise! (maybe...)
I just had to share these Hors d'Oeuvre plates with you, how fantastic would it be to serve your guests with these plates, dismissing their oohs and ahhs with mutterings of "oh these old things, they're nothing special, just some Brazilian agate...". Am I the only one that's not exactly sure what agate is? As far as I can find out agate is a type of quartz...
The plates (which can be ordered here) cost $68. each, not exactly cheap for a 9 inch plate but if you do happen to get a set as a present I want to be invited to the dinner party!
I think this "re-designed" vintage 1950's cafe chair would be such a novelty piece to have in your home! I love how unique it is, for GB £225 (approx. €330) you can be the proud owner of this chair. I know at that price you wouldn't go buying a full set for your kitchen table, but one wouldn't be out of this world...
The great thing is that you get to choose your own comic, or magazine, or newspaper, whatever you like and then choose the seat fabric.
Wouldn't it be great to do this with photos of all your family and friends! Or photos of every holiday you've been on! The chair is designed by Bombus and is available from www.notonthehighstreet.com click here to order.
Last week, Maz had the brainwave that all of the lovely lady Limerick bloggers should finally put faces to the posts and meet up. And that's exactly what myself, Maz, Laura and Lorraine did on Saturday night when we met for dinner and some vino in Limerick's new swanky Absolute Hotel.
If you fancy a few cocktails or Aperitif on a girl's night out then I would recommend the Absolute Hotel, the great thing about it is the decor, it makes you feel that you are somewhere special as soon as you walk in the door.
One of the nice things about the decor is that its not confined to the beige and cream of a lot of hotels and you will find a splash of colour and pattern here and there. Here's Maz waiting on one of the Damask patterened couches.
The attention to detail is superb, even their fire extinguishers look interior designed, in chrome so that they don't clash! Yes I did get a few funny looks when I was taking photos of the fire extinguishers...
A good night was had by all in these beautiful surroundings, we joked that the next time we meet up Lorraine can cook, Laura can be in charge of deserts, I can design the table settings and Maz can decide on all of our outfits!
I love cooking, I could happily chop, roast and sautee all day long, however I'm not the world's best baker. Last night however I tried Laura's Honey Cookies thinking that if her daughter could manage them I could surely attempt them! And I'm happy to report that they were a complete success! I have so many gadgets and tools to make life easier when I'm cooking and filled with a new found confidence in the baking stakes I decided that I need to update my baking utensils!
Unfortunately these silicone bowls from Isi are not on the shelves yet as I've decided that I have to have them! Are these or are these not the best invention ever! They're the kind of thing that you look at and think - why didn't someone come up with that sooner!
These flexible bowls can be used as a regular bowl for mixing and stirring or they can be manouvered into the shape of a spout for pouring, the clear plastic lid lets them hold their shape so they can be used for storage, as I said - best invention ever!
Isi are also responsible for other innovative kitchen items that you might be familiar with, like this silicone oven mitt.
I was browsing earlier on the beautiful Inspire Co. website and came across these felt tulips that I love!
I'm not generally a fan of dried flowers (although you can get some nice ones that can work in the right setting) and I absolutely abhor plastic flowers (they remind me of graveyards...) but I do know that fresh flowers are not always practical. That's why I love to find funky alternatives like these felt flowers.
If any of you have been to Amsterdam you'll know that almost every shop you walk past has an abundance of these painted wooden tulips that will only set you back a couple of euro for a bunch.
I love these tulips and the last time I was there I bought a bunch of plain white ones. I displayed them in a large tall vase filled with white sand to keep them in place.
If you are going to go down the route of artificial flowers then the best advice I can give is to find something like these felt or wooden ones that make no apologies for the fact that they are artificial and are not trying to look like real flowers and make a feature out of them!
