Friday 24 February 2012

Try a night on these tiles ....

Happy Friday one and all.  How's your week been? 

I've been here and there and around and about this week, and on my travels, both virtual and otherwise, I've been sourcing all sorts of essential items for the impending (and I say that with a suitable amount of dread) bathroom renovation.

One of the fun parts for me though (what do you mean you don't find cisterns and associated plumbing fun, I hear you say) is looking at tiles.  You may have noticed, I'd pretty much put colour and pattern on anything, and everything, and oh my goodness, are there some STUNNING tiles out there to get my creative juices flowing. 

Little Diamond Mix in Tropics Blue from the Dwell Patterns collection - a superb collaboration between Heath Ceramics and Dwell Media
This one is slap bang in the middle of my inspiration board for the bathroom.  I love it's mid-century feel and the colour is exactly the same as the pool that you can see from the bathroom window, so it's perfect.  A real classic from the ever splendid Heath Ceramics.

Not quite bathroom material (I wouldn't want to try and keep it clean), but what about this slice of loveliness from the prolific and amazing Patricia Urquiola ....

Bas Relief brilliance from Patricia Urquiola - buy Patchwork Cipria here

Is there anything this woman can't design beautifully?  This tile is even better in real life - it's totally touchable and looks amazing as a wall feature.

Fired Earth are always worth a look for some inspiration - Kevin McCloud does paint colours for them, so they must be awesome.  Here's one of my fave tile shots from their website ....

Granada by Fired Earth
I love the Moroccan feel of these tiles, but they're sharp and modern enough to go anywhere without feeling too ethnic. 

There's even a tile out there for art lovers - check out these baby mosaics from Via Arkadia and see if you can spot the Pop Art pics ....

MultiColor Mosaic from Via Arkadia

Yes, that's Andy Warhol you've spotted.  I saw these in a magazine a few years ago now and fell instantly in lust.  Outrageously expensive, but if you had the cash, why wouldn't you?  And of course I can't leave the outrageously expensive mosaic topic without a Bisazza shot ....

Shaded blends by Bisazza - buy here

There's a lot more experimentation with texture happening in the tile world right now, which I'm really liking the look (and feel) of ....

Klolo - seen at Academy Tiles, Sydney

And when is a tile not a tile?  When it's a screen, of course ....


Bamboo Screen - also Academy Tiles

To finish off our tile tour, let's go out and out glam, shall we?  These Karim Rashid tiles are just crazy beautiful ....


Revolution ceramic tiles by Karim Rashid - buy here - photo via here

And finally let's add some glitz to the glam ....


Rumi - also Academy Tiles



And that pretty much covers the sheer loveliness I've been stumbling across on my search for the perfect tile.

Ah no, not quite, I nearly forgot!  Too much effort to tile?  Worried you'll get tired of your tile?  Not to worry, just wallpaper instead ....


Paper Tiles wallpaper by Louise Body

That's it from me this week.  May your weekend be delicious and may it please please please stop raining .... !


Til next time,
Nx

Wednesday 15 February 2012

My picks from Decoration & Design show - Sydney Feb 2012

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

As promised, though a little later than planned, here are some snapshots and thoughts from the recent Decoration & Design show down in Sydney in early Feb.  Being new to this interiors game, I wasn't sure what to expect from this show, but what I hoped for was to wander about in my own little world - as I can often be found doing when there are lovely and interesting design-y things to be found - being inspired at every turn. 

Hmmm, as Yoda would say, "Blown away was I not" .... Look, it was good and I learnt some things (one of which is to save my money for the flight to Sydney and go to Designex instead - drats).  And I did see some pretty cool and colourful stuff.  But just not enough of it and I have to say I didn't see anything I hadn't already seen before.  So if you haven't stopped reading yet, here's what I saw/picked up on/liked so much I bought ...



No secret that Tangerine Tango is Pantone's colour of the year for 2012 (welcome back, oranges - we've missed you!), but it's looking HOT teamed up with pink.  The wallpaper is Flot by Intrade according to this website, but I'm not 100% on that.  Stumbled across the combo again in Vogue Living's ad for Designex (pure coincidence of course), and the lovely and interesting Genty Marshall of New Black Global Trends flicked up a pic of a coat something like this (and sorry, don't know whose it is) during her trend seminar, The Collector, The Creator and The Connoisseur.  This combo is hot, bold and loads of fun (hmmm, remind me of anyone ....?)  Wherever I see it, I'm loving it!


The Tribal trend is nothing new, but it was out in force at the show -  plenty of colour & texture, with my pick being the amazing range of things made from beads, like the kooky animals on the top left (I mean right, of course - does anyone else do that thing where you mean to say one and always say the other?)  These animals are from my out-and-out fave stand, Emily Ziz Style Studio.

I've been coveting the amazing array of patterns and colours that can be found in wax block fabrics for a good while now, so I finally got my hands on some from the folks at (Byron Bay's) Inside Africa ....


Gorgeous!  There are so many different colours and patterns of Dutch Wax fabric, it makes your head spin - just check out Vlisco for a sneek peak at a few.  Of course these are normally made into clothing, but they look fantastic as cushions, or even as an upholstery fabric.  I'm a huge fan.

Also from the Emily Ziz Style Studio and just a little bit clever, here's a cool recycling option for all you soft-drinkers out there ....


On the craftsmanship front, I loved these stools from the student exhibition (will have to trawl through my brochures to find out who did these, but shout out if you need the name) ..... 


And I am ever so thrilled to see so many new, yet respectful, interpretations of an old standard, the Windsor chair, so much so I could write a post just about the Windsor revival - maybe I will!



Finally, I stumbled across some outrageously covetable fabrics - again at Emily Ziz - from a previously unknown (to me) designer from South Africa called Sarah Ord.  Stunning, stunning, stunning ...


I've fallen in love with this Ravello Campari fabric (towards the top right), part of Sarah's Tesserae range.  I now have samples of all 3 colourways in my hot little hand and they are even more gorgeous in reality.  Check out her site - it's just bloomin' lovely.

So that's my report of my first design trade show - how did I do?  Designex beckons (May 14-16), so I might just shake the dust off my stovetop coffee maker and save up my $4.50 a day (coffee with soy milk is SO expensive in Brisbane ...) to get myself on that plane!

Til next time, Nx