Favourite Finds

Many years ago when I was a full-time interior blogger I had a series of posts called Favourite Finds. When you’re constantly searching and sourcing beautiful products it’s hard to not want to buy one of everything for yourself! So I started a private Pinterest “wish list” board where I save all the beautiful things I’m coveting, not just furniture and homeware, but favourite fashion pieces, makeup, jewellery, books, appliances even. Anytime I want to treat myself I go straight to this board. We’ve decided to bring back this blog series so we can share with you a few of the favourite things we’ve found.

V I C ’ S P I C K S : : the first piece I want to share with you is a gorgeous ottoman we had custom made using one of my favourite fabrics. I love furniture pieces that are multi-purpose and this ottoman is a perfect example. Place it in front of your sofa so you can put your feet up, and it also works beautifully as a coffee table. Add a tray and/or a large coffee table book and layer with some favourite decor pieces. Alternatively pop it at the end of your bed to ‘anchor’ the bed. Handy for putting your shoes on and off, and to throw your clothes at the end of the day.

Pattern and colour are two things that make me happy, so this fabric by Catherine Martin for Mokum is my pick. But we can have these ottomans made up in a wide range of fabrics that will look stunning with the matt black powder coated metal legs. Measuring 1300mm wide x 650mm deep x 360mm high, the cost is $1890, which we think is a great price for such a special, custom piece of furniture. Get in touch if you’d like to buy this baby, or talk to us about getting one custom made in another fabric.

I’m wearing my second favourite find in the pic above. The Mazzy ankle boot from La Tribe has been on regular rotation in my wardrobe the last few months. In our job we can go from a client meeting, to moving furniture, to an on-site visit at a construction site, all in a matter of hours. We like to look good, but also need to be comfortable and practical, and these boots tick all the boxes. Bonus - they look great with jeans as well as skirts and dresses, I love the caramel suede and the cute Western cowgirl vibe.

You know you’re getting old when you get excited by a piece of cleaning equipment - sheesh! But my last pick, the Karcher Window Vac, has been a game changer for us. Cleaning windows is one of those jobs that no one likes, but boy does it make a difference to have sparkling clean glass to look out. The Karcher Window Vac is so awesome because it vacuums up the excess window as you clean, which I love. No more old towels along the bottom of the sills to catch the dirty drips. It almost makes cleaning windows fun - almost.

But what we’ve found this product really handy for is to clean our tiles at the end of every shower. When you spend a small fortune on gorgeous Italian tiles for your new ensuite, you really want to look after them. It only takes a couple of minutes to suck up all the water left on the tiles after a shower leaving them looking sparkling new. Come on now, you know you want one too ;)

Now moving onto Dael’s favourite finds…

D A E L ’ S P I C K S : : In my downtime I love to read (among other things), and “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine” is a recent fave. I love this charming, quirky and enduring book. Eleanor has the ability to make you feel protective of her plus enjoy her company, even with her totally inappropriate social skills. Recommended by Reece Witherspoon as part of her book club, if it’s good enough for Reese… :)

As Vic said above, we need to look good in our job, but there are days when we might be climbing on ladders to hang art, or moving sofas around a room, and on those days a dress just isn’t going to cut it. These trackie pants are super comfy while still looking smart. The only problem is - I have to be stern and force myself to stop wearing them everyday!

I’ve recently finished renovating our kitchen and dining area and my last item is now top of my wish list. In fact, these chairs have been on the top of my wish list for far too long. I can't wait to have these stunning and comfortable chairs around my dining room table. If you share my love of green velvet these chairs can be yours too for $695 each. Drop us a line and we’ll make that happen.

As a part time member of our team, our friend Sally has contributed her three favourite finds as well. Let’s check out her choices…

S A L L Y ’ S P I C K S : : At no. 1 is The Beauty Chef Glow Inner Beauty Powder. It supports gut health and skin rejuvenation. An award winning delicious powder that contains more than 20 organic bio-fermented and probiotic superfoods to enhance your skin luminosity, clarity, hydration and texture. Mix it into filtered water, pop it in your smoothie, or sprinkle over your breakfast. Who doesn’t want luminous skin and inner health?

Next up, I love these Elho plant pots. Made from recycled plastic, they’re manufactured using 100% wind energy - how cool is that?! They come in a range of sizes and are great to pop a store-bought plant straight into. A great way to bring life and texture into your home.

Last but certainly not least, I’m definitely coveting this super pretty Society of Wanderers Euro Pillowslip Set in the Winifred Floral print. I love this beautiful print on 100% French flax linen, it’s perfect for adding a bit of colour to a plain linen bed setup. Now, with three daughters I just have to decide which bed they’ll go on, or maybe I’ll keep them for myself.

Well there you go folks, a bit of a medley, I hope we’ve inspired you with our favourite finds. If you have any questions about any of them, leave us a comment below or get in touch with us through our website, and look out for more of our faves coming to you soon.

Exhibit your personality with GIB-Cove®

Dael and I wanted to share a project with you that we've had so much fun with and are very proud to have worked on. It's a campaign for GIB® to promote their new range of GIB-Cove®. With five different cove profiles available, you can choose the one which best suits your style and your personality, whether that is modern and minimal, more traditional, or something in between. Coving is an important architectural detail in your home and deserves as much consideration as any other piece you'd choose for your room. We worked with the amazing team at justONE in Auckland who created the campaign and the five different personalities to represent each cove. We designed a living room for each personality that we felt worked beautifully with the chosen GIB-Cove®.

Behind the scenes

We were able to fly up to Auckland to create one of the rooms we designed, and it was amazing to see the room come to life. We designed the room for Mason (and his dog Rusty) to suit his laid back lifestyle and personality. The contemporary lines of the Mezzo GIB-Cove® complimented the room beautifully.

The other four rooms we designed have been turned into fabulous illustrations. Make sure you check them all out on the Gib® website and click on each style to see how to 'get the look'.

A special thanks to all our suppliers whose products we've used in our room designs, but especially to those who allowed us to use their products for Mason's photo shoot - Soren Liv, The Ivy House, Maytime, The Poi Room, Bianca Lorenne, Torpedo7, Carpet Court, and Black Bridge Nurseries. If you're interested in any of the amazing products we've featured you can also purchase through us, just give us a call or fire through an email. And if you're interested in using the GIB-Cove® in your home talk to your local, architect, interior designer, or builder about the range.

The Block Outdoor Areas | Girls vs Boys

Last night saw the final room reveal on The Block Girls vs Boys - can you believe it's finished already?! It looks like something else might get thrown at the teams in tonight's episode, as it didn't feel like Mark was quite finished with them, but essentially their houses are finished and nearly ready for auction. Niki and Tiff finished on a high and in spectacular style with a win for their outdoor area.

Niki and Tiff: 1st place - 17 points (9 from Fiona and 9 from Paul and a -1 from D+D)

The girls gamble to spend big bucks ($20 odd grand I think) on their built-in outdoor fireplace really paid off. It looks amazing!!! I want one, complete with marble tiles, although I'd quite like a pizza oven in the mix too. The white with touches of black is totally in keeping with their indoors, and a touch of blue in the cushions links back to their laundry tiles.

The rainwater tank with vertical vege garden is really cool, and kids and animals will love the pocket of grass. The only thing I didn't like was the choice and the placement of the outdoor furniture. It is so impractical and will not stand up to the elements, and impossible to mow around. I think it would've made more sense to put the table and chairs on the tiled area. It's all very well making a space look pretty, but if it's not functional it's just a waste.

But, back to the built-in fire and bench seat... it's amazing, and Niki and Tiff absolutely deserve this win.

Dyls and Dylz: 2nd place - 16.5 points (8.5 from Fiona and 8 from Paul)

Sam and Emmett had the "-1" to play, but realised after the judge's comments that it wouldn't be enough to help them this week. Rather than not play it at all, Big Dyls offered them $1,000 for it. It was a gamble that didn't quite pay off as D+D were still half a point behind. Theirs was definitely my second favourite space, I really like the indoor/outdoor flow and the Louvretec roof that can be open or closed.

It was a shame the boys couldn't use their building skills to build in their BBQ, it would've looked a lot smarter. But I know they were flat out doing other jobs, and I do love the curved wooden walkway they built. I guess there is only so much they can achieve in the time frame.

Junior did a great job around the side of the house, I love the little river stone walkway and the boxed herb garden.

Emma and Courtney: 3rd place - 13 points (6 from Fiona and 7 from Paul)

The girls have some nice elements in their space like the slatted wall and the retractable awning, but there was nothing that really 'wowed' me.

The glass balustrade doesn't allow a lot of privacy, and I wonder if repeating the wooden slatted wall and carrying it up a bit higher might've helped with this. I like the frame behind the table, it will look lovely once the plants become more established and start covering it.

Sam and Emmett: last place - 12 points (6 from Fiona and 6 from Paul)

It was another tough week for the boys with sooo much to finish off inside and out. Unfortunately I found their outdoor space a bit busy with the checkerboard pavers in two different greys and the brown furniture.

There's not much more to say other than this last photo is my favourite of theirs. I really like the materials used on the house - the large blocks of dark weatherboard and light brick, and the vertical wood cladding.

With everything finished in the houses, what will this week bring? Stay tuned to TV3 to see all the drama. With auction day looming, who is your pick to win this year? Did any of you make it to the open homes? I'd love to hear what you thought.