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Tuesday, 6 October 2015

Creating a Calm Space in Your Home

This week (5th - 11th October) marks the first Graham & Brown Wallpaper Week. Wallpaper has made a comeback in the design world in a big way, and I can't wait for our build to be finished so I can start decorating walls and spaces and making our house feel like a home. Wallpaper can bring life to a corner of your home, and can set a mood depending on the texture, colour and print it displays.

I think it it is very important to create a space in your home that feels like a retreat. Yes - it is great to go on a resort holiday where you can relax, but wouldn't it be amazing if you could recreate this feeling in your own home? I have been pinning like a mad woman during the build, and plan on making a focus of our Master Bedroom a quiet little reading nook.
Everyone has different ways of relaxing and setting themselves up for a successful week. I like to start my week off with a planning session in my Pelledori Traveler's Notebook, and having a calm little space to do so is very important to me. Other ways I like to relax by are reading books, magazines or blogs with a cup of coffee (or wine, depending on the time of day!), having a Pinterest pinning session or watching a few of my favourite shows.

{source : Better Homes & Gardens}

Creating Holiday Memories for Little Ones

Upon being invited to become a Brand Ambassador for Graham & Brown, I took some time to get to know all products that they have on offer, be they related to my needs or not. As a teacher of Little Ones, I always like to have my finger on the pulse in regards to products that are child related - be it to share with my Parents or to be able to engage in the Children's conversations throughout the day.

I was happily surprised to see that Graham & Brown have many different Disney and Marvel themed products to help make Children's spaces both stylish and child-orientated (a match made in heaven, am I right?!). What Little One doesn't dream of taking a trip to Disney (and the lucky ones that have, surely reminisce often about their magical vacation!). So with that in mind, I decided to create a Horizon Trend inspirational post for Little Ones, and the spaces in your home dedicated to them (as well as the child in all of us).

Subtle Memories
Some people may just want to add a touch of magic to a child's space, and not make any permanent changes. Graham & Brown offer a range of tasteful Disney artwork, some of which would look as much at home in a child-free home, as they would in a Kids Room.

Gorgeous Peter Pan and Cinderella Movie stills

Bambi, Arisocats and Tinkerbell Artwork - To die for!

Wallpaper Choices

As with any wallpaper options - the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some are loud and over the top, others are more subdued and classic. Whatever your little Prince or Princess's taste may be, there is definitely a little something for everyone!

Creating Holiday Memories at Home

I have some very exciting news to share with you all! I was recently invited to become a Brand Ambassador for the gorgeous UK wall interiors group, Graham & Brown. Of course I said yes straight away - as I am building a house, I had already stumbled across some of the gorgeous Wallpaper Graham & Brown has on offer in my many hours spent researching decor for our new home. So I am super thrilled to be working with the talented team and be able to share with you my favourite designs and decorating inspirations on a monthly basis.

Some background on the company - Founded in 1948 by Harold Graham and Henry Brown, the brand has grown with it's customers and offers fashion-forward designs across 4 continents and 65 countries throughout the world. Wallpaper, Kids Decor, Wall Art, Paint and Home Accessories are items that Graham and Brown specialise in and everything they do, they do it well!

Each month I will be sharing my ideas and thoughts on a particular design trend, as a part of Graham & Brown's Year in Design initiative. This month, I am exploring the 'Horizon' trend. Nature is a big influencer in a lot of people's decor, and personally, I love to create subtle reminders of special vacations and trips within our home.

As we were married in Hawaii at the beginning of the year, the Hawaiian Islands hold a very special place in our hearts. If I ever find a Hawaiian scented body wash, candle, soap - you name it - I will most likely purchase it as a little daily reminder of our magical trip.

When I spied the Honolulu Palm Wallpaper by designer Julien MacDonald, I was in love.

"This ultra hip palm leaf wallpaper design hits the tropical fashion trend of the moment, this gorgeous design is very versatile allowing you to create real drama with the darker colourways or a more subtle effect with the neutrals. With a glittering background and metallic embellishments to the leaf it's got to be the hottest look of the season. This statement wallpaper design in palm green, white and metallic looks fabulous on all four walls, or if you prefer you can use as a feature or parallel wall utilising the Disco white design as the coordinate. This design would look perfect in any room of your home, and better still so you can spend less time decorating and more time relaxing we've produced the collection using our paste the wall technology which means it's far easier to hang and remove, so what are you waiting for embrace your inner glitter"

Given that our new house is still a month or two away from being finished, I am going to create a mood board based around this amazing wallpaper. I could see this statement wallpaper as a feature in a guest bedroom or even to make a Home Office feel fun, cheerful and inviting.

{from top left and clockwise}

Honolulu Palm Green Wallpaper, Graham & Brown

Map Printed Canvas, Graham & Brown

The World Wall Art, Graham & Brown

MAP Shaped Letters, Graham & Brown

Our Wedding, Kualoa Ranch, Ashley Goodwin Photography

Aloha Pillow (already owned), Target

Oahu Candle, Glasshouse Fragrances

My Hawaiian Memories...

White Leather Love

As our house build is moving along quickly, we have started to look at purchasing feature items such as our bed, couches and a dining suite. We made the decision on our new bed last weekend (we are upgrading to a king size, our current queen bed will become the guest bed), and we are very close to making the call on our main living area couch and theatre room couch.

The couch we are looking at for the main living area is a white leather modular. Up until Sunday, I had pictured a cool grey, fabric covered modular couch to give the area a comfy and inviting look. The leather gorgeousness that we saw on Sunday however, threw a spanner in the works. I loved the couch itself, but wasn't sure if it would give our space the inviting look I desired.

{source : Caitlin Wilson via Made by Girl}

So to help me make a decision, I called on a gal's best friend in a situation like this - Pinterest. I created a board and after pinning just a few images, I knew that the white leather couch we found on the weekend was going to be ours. Our floors are a dark brown-grey wood, the the white on top of the darkness will take away any 'clinical' look a white couch could give.
We will still run with a cool grey fabric couch for the theatre room, but I am now excited to start planning the styling of the living area.
Below are the images that helped me to make the decision (not my own, sources noted under each photo). Enjoy!

Small Space Living

I currently reside a in small space.

There will be blog posts to come about how we have managed to make our spaces functional, but here are some 'must haves' for living in a small space.

. A small couch with chaise. a couch with chaise can act as a bit of a room divider for those in a studio.

. A bar table. having a bar table instead of a standard sized table creates the illusion of space. This is what we are after in a small apartment!

. A moveable island bench.

. An ikea expedit bookshelf. This item is very multifunctional and a must have for storage.

. Extra storage for the bathroom. most smaller apartments have limited shelving space. a fun trolley can help to create more storage as well as brighten up the space.

. A luxury candle.

B & F xx