FORMANTICS – VIBRANT LIVING The Instagram community is largely one of mutual respect and admiration. I love the little musings I read on pages and I enjoy the interaction all be it though text. The best feeling though is when you actually get to meet those whom you admire… in real life. Formantics is the brain child of Susan Christie and I was lucky enough to visit her gorgeous Californian Bungalow, on Auckland’s North Shore where her studio Formantics – Vibrant Living
FORMANTICS – VIBRANT LIVING The Instagram community is largely one of mutual respect and admiration. I love the little musings I read on pages and I enjoy the interaction all be it though text. The best feeling though is when you actually get to meet those whom you admire… in real life. Formantics is the brain child of Susan Christie and I was lucky enough to visit her gorgeous Californian Bungalow, on Auckland’s North Shore where her studio 
My Tips for a Top Sleep
MY TIPS FOR A TOP SLEEP The older I get the more sleep eludes me. What used to come naturally now seems to need preparation. So I’ve done the research and I’ve tested the tips and here is what comes out on top. #1. The bedroom itself plays a role; though the aesthetics won’t help you sleep, if the environment pleases us it will encourage you to relax, there are also a few practical things you can do Boozy Birthday Fudge
ALL OR NOTHING There are some people in this world that will buy a block of chocolate, eat two squares and place the rest into the refrigerator. Often these people wont go back for another couple of squares for days later. I-am-not-that-person. Sadly my husband is, sadly I say because after he places the 98% full block into the fridge – I finish it for him. Yes that is right I cannot leave that block alone until it Hydrate me
HYDRATE ME Our biggest enemy is often ourselves. We know what we should be doing and sometimes we do it, other times we do the direct opposite and wonder why we don’t feel good. I often sit at my desk and think about how thirsty I am but instead of drinking a glass of water I have a coffee, or worse. Well let me tell you water is where its at. The best advice I have heard via A Daybed – A bed for the Day
A BED FOR THE DAY I’ve been blogging a little lately, off the track of interiors into the world of life, simply because I sometimes feel so overwhelmed with everything that I need to just take a breath and a step back to appreciate things as they are. This doesn’t mean I am stopping my interior dreams and aspirations for my little house (which I must add seems to always be a WIP) certainly not, but sometimes I Sophie Melville Artist
SOPHIE MELVILLE ARTIST A number of Sophies art works are dotted around my home, often transient, they provide a calm presence, noticeable but not imposing, wherever they sit. Her series of watercolour prints became popular with the wave of Scandinavian inspired interiors largely due to their monochromatic tones and blurry edges, identifiable as the land and seascape but modern and edgy. 2017 has marked a change in Sophie’s art, not its style or its inspiration, but in the sophisticated Styling 101 – The Sofa
STYLING 101 – THE SOFA A sofa without cushions for me is like walks without my dog, gin without tonic or mornings without coffee, but getting the right cushions for that sofa is a big ask and with the cost of a single cushion pushing upwards of $80 you need to get it right – first time! Think about how you put an outfit together; is it instinct that tells you those shoes won’t work with that bag Lavender Spray
LAVENDER SPRAY We all need a treat, right? It seems to me that we often live our lives on a roller coaster of being really good or really bad. Why we can’t just find a middle ground I’m not sure. Perhaps its media; eat this, don’t eat that, do this, don’t do that. Perhaps its the whole Adam and Eve and the Apple thing. Can we not live a life where the little things can bring a form Its all about balance
ITS ALL ABOUT BALANCE I’m all for creating a lifestyle that you love. A little Hygge. It seems a little contrived, it should just happen, but often there needs to be some sort of organisation for things to be able to occur naturally. The word Hygge; which in essence means to be cozy, to be still, to share, to be content, to feel well, to enjoy simple things; is something that can happen only when all your ducks are Chocolate Brownie Balls
CHOCOLATE BROWNIE BALLS I am no great baker, nor, have I decided, do I want to be. No, that would just be far too tempting and there are enough temptations in life without adding another that ultimately no good is going to come from. Agree? Okay, then here is the recipe to end all recipes, its a pick me up, a sweet snack sensation without all the fuss and bother and without all the refined sugar; something to