Summer Stripes ...

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Dreaming of my summer holiday ...

Have a fabulous Friday!

xx

Tranquility ...

A beautiful holiday lake house in Sweden by John Robert Nilsson.

Amazing views, infinity pool and I love the outdoor, in-ground seating area.

Enjoy your weekend!
xx

Bathing beauties ...

 Isn't this Vogue photo amazing?

 Also loving this series of artwork by American artist Alex Katz entitled 'Eleuthera', 1984 showing at the 'Give Me Tomorrow' exhibition at the Tate St Ives, Cornwall UK.

It's on until 23 September 2012

xx

A little project ...

I thought I'd share a little project I've been working on recently.

Only a little big colour change was involved ... and trying to deal with the client, painter/handyman on the other side of the world!

You see, I live in London and the beautiful Victorian terraces are in Sydney, Australia.

It all started with a leaky veranda roof ...

We (the clients and I) decided to change the bullnose roof to a new Colourbond roof in Monument and also paint the existing roof in the same colourway and replace the gutters. This you might think was the easy part, but it took over six months, as council permits (for scaffolding erection), utility permits (because of the electricity cables that fed the house from across the street) all had to be obtained before anything could be started!

The clients then decided to paint the property and wanted help choosing the colours.

I suggested they try and convince the neighbouring property owner to get on the bandwagon to paint the house in the same colour scheme to give it a bigger impact. This part was easy, as there was total agreement from both parties.

Then the fun part started ... choosing the colours.

This is always the hardest part, as colour can either make or break a place/room etc.
As the properties are situated on a fairly busy road and are constantly subjected to all the Sydney road grim, I suggested a very dark grey for the walls, which would one, keep the properties looking clean and fresh (no more grim on the beige walls) and two, bring them into the 21st century by giving them a fresh modern feel, but still retaining their Victorian characteristics.
I proposed a quick photoshop render of the properties and sent it across to the clients:

Working with Dulux colours and my handy Dulux colour palette fan for professional use, I suggested a few choices of grey and a wonderful red. What I didn't realise was even though Dulux is available world wide, not every colour is available in every country ... or thats what my painter would email me very early in the morning (arrrghhhh!)

I know if I were in Australia, this wouldn't have been a big problem, I would have sorted the colours out a lot quicker, but when you live on the other side of the world and when you take into account the time difference ... everything becomes a major issue ... plus I'm not there to see the actual colours in person.
The great thing was my painter (bless him) sent daily update photos and was quite wonderful and very professional about the whole job.

As I madly researched RGB values of the colours chosen and placed them into Photoshop for a simulation of what the desired effect would look like for the clients, we all agreed on:

• Dulux Monument on the masonry walls (to match the roof colour) in a low sheen, 
• Dulux black for the windows, trims and ironwork, in a high gloss
•  brilliant white on the facia boards and 
• WATTYL - Delicious Red in a high gloss for the door

 The details (fretwork) on the walls, the windows, the 'eyebrow' details around the windows and all the iron lace work I decided to paint a high gloss black to frame the properties and guide you in towards the door. It wouldn't have looked quite as effective, if only one of the properties was done this way. Now there is complete symmetry (except for the doors).

 The inspiration for the red door colour came about from all the wonderful bright coloured doors you see everywhere here in London. It also gave the properties an instant pop of colour, against the very dark grey walls. Above is a Photoshop render I was proposing, using a number of different shades of red.

 The house numbers were also changed to a rather modern look, using stainless steel numerals that sat 15mm off the wall.

The red door completed .. now to change that not so appealing glass!

The terraces completed!

I have suggested white plantation shutters for the windows  just to give the terraces a polished look... and some greenery, in the form of a row of hedging to complete the look...

but I'm sure that will entail another rather long argument with the local council!

I am pleased to say the clients were thrilled with the end product!
What do you think?

xx

Colour inspiration ...

image belongs to Iced VoVos

Today I'm inspired by the colour combination in this photograph I took last October when I visited the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech 

... the beautiful gardens were designed by the French artist, Jacques Majorelle in the 1920's and 30's

and later owned by Yves Saint -Laurent and Pierre Bergé

image on left via , image on right taken from Ballgowns book

The colour combination reminds me of the beautiful 'Rumina" dress created by Erdem for Fall Winter 2008, which I recently saw at the V&A Ballgown exhibition.

I wonder if Erdem was inspired by the same gardens?

Have a great Tuesday!

xx

V&A Ballgown Exhibition, London

Ballgowns,  " ... remain a special part of a woman's wardrobe" - H.R.H Princess Alexandra

They are the highpoint of a designers seasonal collection requiring creativity and many labourious hours in craftmanship to produce.

This post is dedicated to my good friend Virginia from Glamour Drops who would have loved to see it in person ... you still have plenty of time for a visit Virginia, it's on until January 2013!

Erdem's 'Rumina' silk with appliqué, quilting and beading

Photograph by David Hughes

This Erdem creation, I must admit was my favourite. The fabric, appliqué and beading towards the bottom of the skirt was exquisite!

The exhibition is displayed over two levels of the newly revamped fashion galleries of the museum.

As you enter the ground floor of the exhibition, you are immediately struck by Yuki's raspberry-pink silk chiffon kaftan dress (1972) on the left.

 Continuing around the ground floor, creations from the '50's up to the turn of the 20th century are displayed, from royal ballgowns including the "Elvis dress"designed by Catherine Walker for Princess Diana, to a large number of posh formal wear, created for débutante balls by the likes of Hardy Amies, Zandra Rhodes as well as royal couturier Norman Hartnell.

However, the new upstairs mezzanine level featuring 21st century British designs displayed in the brand new crinoline-like domes were the highlight for me. You were able to get up close to the gowns to see the exquisite details ... and some of the mannequins were on rotation.

Vivienne Westwood 2011 silk satin & tulle  ©V&A

Craig Lawrence 2010-11 ©V&A

Designers on show included Alexander McQueen, Vivienne Westwood, Gareth Pugh, Mary Katrantzou, Giles Deacon, Roksanda Ilincic, Craig Lawrence, Mark Fast, Hussein Chalayan and Stella McCartney to name a few.

Unfortunately photography was not allowed in the exhibition, but I did manage to take photos of the revamped fashion gallery around the exhibition below. This part of the exhibition is free.

Images of the gowns were projected on the ceiling alcoves around the exhibition

Christian Dior

Ossie Clark

images 7-15 belong to Iced VoVos

If you can't get enough and would like to see more of the Ballgown exhibition, head on over to Fashionista Barbie's Facebook pages for lots more images.

Or better still, if you can get your hands on Ballgowns British Glamour since 1950 by Oriole Cullen and Sonnet Stanfill ... the photographs by David Hughes are spectacular!

I also picked up Twentieth Century fashion in Detail by Claire Wilcox and Valerie D. Mendes ... a must for any fashion enthusiast, showing lovely close-up photos of detailed seams, gathers, pleats, bows, applied decoration etc.

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

xx

A (w)hole lot of furniture ...

If you think this commode is old fashioned or dated,

then take another look!

It's the '(W)hole' commode, designed by Ferruccio Laviani for Fratelli Boffi

Bang on trend with the current neon fashion, but that aside, this is one striking piece!
I love the way the fuschia-coloured lacquered wood accentuates the curves of the dresser... and boy is it a conversation starter!

Laviani was commissioned by the Italian furniture company to design a show stopping piece for the 2012 Milan Design Week.
This is a perfect piece for any eclectic design lover.

I also love these neon topped tables with the paint dripping on the base also from Fratelli Boffi.

What do you think?

xx

HAPPY DIAMOND JUBILEE, YOUR MAJESTY ...

via Livingetc

I love this image of the smiling, younger Queen Elizabeth II

and how easy is it to replicate this artwork ... hanging straight off a bulldog clip!

(great styling)

Happy Diamond Jubilee!

xx

Lovely Photography ...

all images © Petrina Tinslay

I'm loving these dreamy images from the ever so talented Australian photographer petrina tinslay

With a client list longer than her arm and the winner of numerous awards, whenever I flick through magazines and I'm captured by a brilliant image .... it's usually petrina's!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone,

It's so exciting to be living in London at the moment with the momentum of the Queens diamond jubilee!

xx