In two weeks time, Bangalow (Byron Hinterland) will be having a Vintage Fair which I'm so excited about, in-fact I think we should organize a girls week-end what do you think girls?
I could not resist posting images from Vicki Archers "My french Life" garden in the south of France. Her birthday party for her daughter would have been amazing and can be viewed via her blog www.frenchessence.blogspot.com. Her garden is Heavenly, the beautiful furniture, the flowers, its a feast for the eye's. I'm especially in love with the iron furniture, the day-beds and the amazing bird cage that I really want to own desperate really!!!! don't get me started on the Chateau!!
I absolutely adore the book "Velvet Pears by author and gardener Susan Southam. I have read the book from cover to cover and every page was a pleasant surprise. I have always loved beautiful gardens but I was never much of a gardener, I suppose in my busy life I just never slowed down enough to appreciate how soulful and rewarding gardening can be. This beautifully illustrated book is a diary of a passionate gardener with a beautiful story to tell.
I noticed when I was in France last year European magazines featuring beautiful homes that used dark wall colours in shades of dark grey and rich warm chocolate tones. Contrasting with lots of white or oak timber finishes creating a unique and different look that had lot's of appeal.
Using timber through-out the home keeps the charm and character of these beautiful homes
The kitchen is simple but very tasteful and stylish, love the style of the chairs too.
What a great idea to create a study nook, using timber feature paneling. My partner Paul loves this idea for a den, simple but warm and cosy.
In our next home, my partner Paul wants his own Den i.e A boy's space" he wants tan aged leather Ralph lauren chairs, the chandelier above, a wine cellar and a fireplace with a t.v so the boy's can smoke cigars, play pool and I suppose talk boy talk! Keep dreaming honey!
The images I have used are from a new book that we are selling at lily-g. I snapped up my copy immediately as every page is fabulous. The company called Mi Casa based in Europe are without doubt the leaders in building stylish timber homes. The company is owned by two very talented men Jean-Luc Lidou and Marc Noreillie. The book is a must have and a brilliant read, full of inspiring pictures of stunning houses and beautiful Interiors. This company shows how with good taste and simple elegant style you can have a timeless home that only gets better with age, now all we need is to have them building in OZ!
What I call Hampton style is really my version of a timber home filled with character. I know a traditional Hampton, long island style home has wood grey shingles but in Australia we simply do not have access to the unique materials required. The photos I'm about to post are all materials we can access and achieve in design.
I often tell my clients when using timber its important that your windows have timber surrounds, giving the window more bulk and definition. In this image the surrounds have been featured in a taupe colour. I would only recommend doing that when your walls are white not coloured. When building or renovating replacing aluminum windows can be very costly and not always achievable, by adding the timber surrounds and using white timber shutters it can at times fool the eye in to thinking they are timber windows, of course the windows need to be the same colour as the surround for this to work. I often tell my clients that if they don't want to spend the money on timber windows then to at least spend it on all the external french doors, it really makes a difference or blow the budget and go timber all the way for the ultimate look!
Love this internal staircase with the dark timber top rail and treads. Oh! to have a curved staircase, that would be magical!
A beautiful house must have a cubby house or a garden shed....it must be made of timber and match the house to really pull it off!
Lots of french timber doors to complete the look. I like to add windows above the french doors to make the doors taller and I feel it makes a greater statement, but again it depends on your roof height whether you can achieve this look.
This week was the arrival of lots of new books at lily-g. I'm always on the hunt for American style books featuring homes from Long island, Nantucket and the Hamptons but with very little success until today!
