Back To The Wall

Today I wanted to share with you the most amazing design company, Back To The Wall. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they produce custom designed wallpaper murals for your home, office or commercial space.

With over 30 years experience in the print industry, owners and designers, Relda Frogley (below left) and Joanne Gray (below right) are passionate about all of their work. They design and print their murals on site, allowing them full control every step of the way.

The beauty of Back To The Wall is that you can tell Joanne and Relda the size of your wall and they will print your mural to fit exactly, so you're not paying for any excess. Printing their paper at 100cm widths (as opposed to standard wallpaper widths of 50-60cm) means you don't have as many joins, and they specialise in beautiful oversized images rather than repeat patterns.

There's a huge range of pre-designed murals and art prints to choose from. Email Joanne and Relda with your design choice and size requirements and they will provide you with a quote. The murals are easy to install yourself, or you can hire a professional wallpaper hanger to do the job.

If you want to customise a mural, that's not a problem. Jo is incredibly clever working with Photoshop, and she can tweak their existing designs, and alter colours to suit. Or perhaps you have a completely different vision in mind, discuss your ideas with the girls and they can help you with your own unique design.

There's something for everyone including a gorgeous range of kids' murals...

And beautiful work by contributing artists, Helen Bankers and Diana Watson.

Lastly, just in case you're not already totally inspired (I know I am!), your wallpaper doesn't need to be confined to the wall. Relda and Jo can create smaller pieces of art for the back of shelves, the front of your stairs, cabinet doors... let your imagination run wild!

The Block Villa Wars | Bathroom Reveal

The teams on The Block Villa Wars stepped it up on bathroom week. Renovating a bathroom from scratch in one week is absolutely crazy, but that's The Block! Knowing how much work, and how many trades go into a bathroom design, I'm impressed. But there was a bit of controversy as early leaders, Cat and Jeremy, scored the same as Sarah and Minanne despite not finishing their bathroom.

Brooke and Mitch: 1st place | 18.5 points

Being a plumber was a definite plus for Mitch on bathroom week. It meant he was only too aware of the process and could put his tradie skills to good use. They came away with the win producing a bright white, contemporary bathroom, and it also helped that they won $10,000 of bathroom appliances the week before.

As well as the bathroom appliances, Mitch had won an extra point in the "guess the child" challenge. But a breach in the rules, where they took work off-site to finish after tools down, meant they had the point taken off them as punishment. A further challenge saw Brooke win the point back in the "guess what's in the bucket". The couple used their point to boost the judge's scores, but it turns out they didn't need it as they won by two points.

I like Brooke and Mitch's tile choices with some lovely texture in the Tessere Bianco tiles from Tile Space, in contrast to the large matt Blendstone Grey tiles on the floor and opposite walls. Brooke's styling is improving too, don't you think?

Sarah and Minanne: 2nd equal place | 16.5 points

After a truly rocky start on The Block and lots of indecision, the sisters did a great job to complete their bathroom. The Frozen Garden tiles, once again, added lovely texture, and although the Marvel Pro Noir tiles were pretty cool, I would've loved some rich colours to contrast all that black - perhaps in some beautiful towels and/or accessories.

The judges criticised the simple wooden shelves, saying they took away from the glamour of the room. It's really important to nail all those smaller details as they have such an impact on the overall feel of the room.

Cat and Jeremy: 2nd equal place | 16.5 points

Cat and Jeremy's secret weapon in bathroom week was a wall of moss tiles shipped from Scandinavia and never seen in New Zealand before. It definitely added a "wow" factor and impressed the judges. Despite the fact that living green walls have been used a lot in recent Block series, I really like the look of the wall, and admire the risk. But I would be interested to know how it lasts, and if it's easy to clean and maintain.

The matt black tapware and accessories  are lovely, and the subtle Cementia Grey tiles allow the moss to be the hero. With the tight deadline, and the fact that you can't install the glass shower screens onto wet tiles, Cat and Jeremy failed to finish their shower. This is what caused a wee stir when they got the same score as the girls who had managed to finish in time. What are your thoughts on this?

Jamie and Hayden: 4th place | 13 points

It was more than just the shower screen that caused Jamie and Hayden to reveal an unfinished bathroom. Their ambitious design with a suspended ceiling, floor to ceiling tiles, and plenty of custom wood details meant they also failed to finish their tiling or install their toilet before tools down.

The suspended ceiling is a great feature, and I love the hexagonal Firenze Nero tiles and the towel rail from Mico. The slatted divider is cool, but I would've liked to have seen it carry on a bit further, and I question whether the raised bath platform was a good move. I know what they were trying to achieve here, but I feel that the bath should be moved away from the window, and the platform should be larger for practicality and looks.

Remembering all of these teams are amateur designers, I think they're doing a pretty good job. I notice that a lot of people are quick to criticise on social media, and I guess if you put yourself forward for a reality TV show you have to be prepared for that. But be kind people - constructive criticism is much better than pure nastiness.

Styling a Long Shelf

On Friday night we took part in a fantastic Design + Style evening. It was a fundraiser for the Te Awanga Kindy, and Dael and I demonstrated how we work with colour and pattern, and also styled a console table with three different looks. We wanted to give the women who attended some simple tips that they could take home and try in their own home. Our main advice is to work with groupings of objects; vary your scale and texture for interest; and layer, layer, layer!

At the end of the evening somebody asked me how to style a really long shelf as she was having trouble with one in her home, so I thought it might be helpful to show you all some examples. Stick with adding pieces of varying heights, and create smaller groupings along the shelf. Break up the smaller objects with larger pieces to add weight - pictures hung on the wall behind can help to achieve this.

As well as wall hung art, you can also lean artwork or mirrors against the wall for a more casual feel. If you have a window this will act the same as art, contrasting with the smaller objects.

It's nice to keep some areas empty on the shelf to give your eye a little breather. Remember, when it comes to styling your home it's that last 15% - the vases, the candles, the little curiosities - that turn a house into a home. Display pieces that you love, and have meaning to you, and your home will always make you happy.

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