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 Product Launch
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 
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 Velvet in Interiors
MY VELVET CRUSH Interior Designers love velvet, we cant help ourselves, just ask my friend Nita from The Gooses Bridle. Shes a little obsessed! Velvet to us, is like what Tonic is to Gin, Ice cream is to Jelly and Juliet is to Romeo, (well not quite, but its a good analogy). Seeing velvet makes us go weak at the knees, its our biggest crush! For me it started with my first home, technically it was my second Friday Finds
FRIDAY FINDS A purchase of potting mix at The Warehouse resulted in today’s find that I had to share with you. This plant stand is the perfect way to add height to this vignette without creating a heavy feeling. It was, in fact only $5.00, and all I did was add the pot and plant, which were already occupants of this old French Dropside table currently sitting in my entryway. Also new and worth a mention is the tiny Color of the Year 2017
PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR 2017 Annually, Pantone announces a colour of the year for the year to come. Why do they do this? The colours chosen usually represent a global need of the time. This colour is used throughout the world and dictates the trends you see in the stores from fashion to decor to flowers! 2017 is Pantone 15-0343 Greenery. A life affirming shade described as Natures Neutral. Chosen to reassure, revitalise and reconnect. This makes For your walls
FOR YOUR WALLS I am ever so lucky to have been asked by Mini Grandi Artist to style and photograph a new range of prints available exclusively via Paper Plane Store. These prints, four in total defy the usual monochromatic style that the lovely Sophie is well known for. In this instance the prints are a mix of her usual tonal black and grey with a hint of delicious blush, pink and rust and dusky blues with yellow. Natural Cleaning Products
JANOLA AND JIFF We live in a semi-rural spot which means we are the proud owners of a Septic Tank. Well sometimes not so proud! Ours is an older system and it requires a bit of maintenance to keep it all working well and part of its ongoing maintenance is to make sure I use all natural cleaning products. Since I was brought up on Janola and Jiff it did take a little persuading! There are many on Display Ladder
DISPLAY LADDER Living in a styled interior isn’t difficult and that’s because everything I have I love and everything has its place (even if it moves around a little). I love this lightweight metal display ladder I found in Freedom Furniture. I was shopping for a client, needless to say I left the shop with two. Its simplistic lines make it ideal for filling a space where you need height but don’t want heavy furniture, making it an invaluable Style vs Price
STYLE VS PRICE Its the last day of winter and you couldn’t get much better here in Auckland City. I was lucky enough to be spending it with some lovely like-minded people in one of our most stunning spots. The Warehouse are about to release their Summer range and we got a sneak peak. With the gorgeous sit-down lunch themed to match the new range what could be more perfect? I will tell you what, The Warehouse has hired Lewis & Lou
LEWIS AND LOU Sometimes you just need a little change. This coffee table was an expensive purchase many years back. It is large, solid and has 3 drawers that pull though either side. Though it is a little battered it is unique and it is the perfect coffee table for our living room. The wood makes a nice addition to the otherwise monochrome palette, I can hide the ugly clutter inside the drawers and its large enough to display lots of