The incredible 1970′s Doncaster home of Melissa Webb and family.  All furniture and glassware second-hand / vintage sourced by Melissa Webb. All Photographs - Sean Fennessy, Styling – Lucy Feagins + Marni Kornhauser.

Furniture, lamp and glassware second-hand / vintage sourced by Melissa Webb. All Photographs - Sean Fennessy, Styling – Lucy Feagins + Marni Kornhauser.

Living room.  All furniture and flokati rug second-hand / vintage sourced by Melissa Webb.  Cushions are Missoni from Safari Living.  Photographs – Sean Fennessy, Styling – Lucy Feagins + Marni Kornhauser.

Ok so today’s Melbourne Home is certainly in a league of it’s own – not to mention an era of it’s own!  This incredible 1970′s stone house, overlooking a nature reserve in Melbourne’s Doncaster is such a truly unique building… it’s a little different from the homes we usually feature, but I just couldn’t  pass up the opportunity to photograph and share this amazing place!

Illustrator / graphic designer Melissa Webb is currently the custodian, passionate caretaker and DIY stylist of this incredible home, on behalf of her Mother, Lois Webb, who now lives in aged care.  Lois bought the house around 13 years ago – Melissa says her Mum was an artist and ‘enjoyed eccentric and beautiful things – so this house really hit the mark!’

The origins of the house are a little sketchy.  Melissa says the story goes that it was originally built by a stone mason (figures!), who apparently spent seven years constructing it.   The original building plans are dated 1979.  Melissa says it would be fantastic if anyone could shed any extra light on the origins of the house – if someone out there magically has any more info she would love to hear from you!  (As far as we know it was built for a ‘Mr Cern’, she says).

The really exceptional feature of this house is, of course, the materials used to build it – in particular the incredible variety of stone used in the interior surfaces.  Melissa says what she loves most about the home is that it was clearly built as a labour of love – ‘the materials used have been chosen and placed so carefully with an artistic eye, and an obvious desire to build something special’ she says. There are black, grey, pink, cream and green marble walls and floors, sandstone  and travertine walls and even featured sections of stone that contain unique fossils.  There is also an INDOOR WATER FEATURE – echoing the sound of trickling water throughout the house!  I kid you not.

This very special home has recently undergone a few minor renovations – Melissa took on this challenge late last year, and has since been clearing out and restoring each corner of the house with gusto!  ’We tamed and replanted the garden, which had become an unruly jungle, re-carpeted the whole house, fixed barge boards and roofing and generally spruced it up’ she says.  Melissa and her family also replaced all the lighting in the house, except for the grand chandelier in the from room.  ’The light fittings had suffered from some novelty problem solving through the years!’ Melissa says.

But the most exciting challenge for Melissa has been hunting for furnishings and decorative pieces to dress up the house, to create an atmosphere to complement it’s quirky character and breathe a little life into the place.  ’Everything had to be found with virtually no money, so ebay, op shops and gumtree have become my best friends’ says Melissa. ‘This last bit has been tremendous fun and I wish I could continue doing it!’

Unfortunately, as you may have guessed if you’ve read this far, Melissa and her family sadly are not able to hold on to this spectacular 70′s masterpiece much longer, and it will soon be on the market.  Melissa is committed to finding a new owner who will love this home for it’s quirky character and hopefully retain it’s original features… fingers crossed!   (Enquiries – email Melissa direct).

MASSIVE thanks to Melissa for sharing this truly one-of-a-kind Melbourne home with us today!  Thanks also to Sean Fennessy for the stunning pics, and Marni Kornhauser for last minute styling assistance (so grateful!) and Safari Living for kindly loaning us a few colourful pieces to help to make these pictures pop!

Sitting room with vintage record player (in perfect working order!) found by Melissa’s partner Phillip!  Chandelier is original, Missoni rug from Safari Living.

Records belonging to Melissa and partner Phillip, vintage glassware (pink) sourced by Melissa, Marrimekko glass (amber) and Missoni rug from Safari Living.

Kitchen!  All original- including brass pole.  Madness.  Love it.  Chairs sourced by Melissa (ebay I think!).

Stone details and some of Melissa’s extensive glass collection

Dining room framed by a stone arch.  Travertine walls – amazing.  Vintage table and chairs sourced by Melissa.  Glassware and ceramic jug from Safari Living

Dining / bar details.  Glassware and ceramic jug from Safari Living.  Tiki collection fromn Melissa’s partner Phillip!

Master bedroom with incredible stone walls and adjacent courtyard.  Bedspread and cushion - Safari Living.

Child’s bedroom (one of 4 bedrooms in total) spruced up with some vintage pieces from Melissa (bedside, lamp, vintage ceramic lion) and a few brighter  pieces (Donna Wilson cat, purple velvet cushion, yellow radio) from Safari Living.  Patchwork quilt by Marni’s Mum!

Outdoor courtyard.  You can get those butterfly chairs and covers in any colour you want from Angelucci Twentieth Century (just pre-empting a few emails later!).

Exterior!  Amazing sloping roof!

TDF hearts Rooftop Cinema

Have you ever stopped to think how incredibly AWESOME it is to have a CINEMA on a ROOFTOP amongst the twinkling city lights!?  We are so LUCKY Melbournites.  There is so much amazing in this town, I think we sometimes take these things for granted.

SO I was a bit excited recently when the lovely Rooftop Cinema peeps invited me to choose one of my fave films to screen for a special TDF Film Appreciation Night!   How completely brilliant is that!?  After much thought I selected a oldie but a goodie – The September Issue, featuring scary Anna Wintour and fabulous Grace Coddington amongst a cast of anxious fashionistas!

The night in question is next Tuesday February 21st – screening starts at 9.30pm.  If you are SUPER KEEN to come, you should totally nab a ticket asap over here.  If you are like ‘meh, I would kind of like to come but I will not die of disappointment if I miss out’ then perhaps you should enter today’s giveaway!  The Rooftop Cinema have generously offered 10 x tickets for you guys… but I figure no one likes to go anywhere on their own so we’ll be drawing 5 x double passes for 5 lucky readers!

To be in the running, simply leave your comment on this post before 10.00pm tonight.  5 winners will be selected and random and notified by email tomorrow.

* UPDATE – The 5 lucky winners have been drawn at random and emailed with the details. Congratulations to Carla (comment #106), Emily (comment #29), Jenna (comment #43), Spencer (comment #127) and Maddy (comment #82)! Thank you to everyone who entered, there are still a few tickets available but be quick!

Please do buy a ticket or enter the giveaway or both – I would LOVE if we can fill every rooftop deckchair with lovely TDF people!

AND there is one more reason I would love to see some friendly faces next Tuesday -before the movie starts we will have the big-screen premiere of a super cute short film documenting The Design Files Open House!  This 3 minute doco was made by my dear and very talented pal Jess Leski, and is such a sweet little round-up of the Open House event and associated madness. You might even spot yourself in there (if so, please don’t sue us).

Come come please come!

THANKYOU lovelies.

TDF presents ‘The September Issue’ at the Rooftop Cinema
Curtin House rooftop
252 Swanston st
Melbourne CBD

Tickets here.

Facebook event thingo here.

Rooftop Cinema – seriously, what could be cooler than watching your fave film with the sparkling city lights in the background!?

New paintings by Julie Paterson for her solo show Everyday at Edwina Corlette Gallery in Brisbane

Sydney-based designer Julie Paterson is well known for her textile label Cloth, but it’s a lesser known fact that Julie also creates beautiful paintings from time to time. These striking one-off artworks echo the graphic, organic style of Julie’s popular textile range – they’re created using layers of household paint and gouache in beautiful colours, on irregular-shaped pieces of masonite and plywood off cuts.

Julie’s first solo exhibition of paintings opens in Brisbane this week at Edwina Corlette Gallery in New Farm.  Entitled ‘Everyday‘, the show takes inspiration from humble household vessels such as bottles, bowls and beakers – even a stylised jar of vegemite makes an appearance!  (If you hunt through the archives of Julie’s excellent blog you will see a few super cute shots of these works in progress!)

Julie explains that making time to draw and paint greatly influences her design practice – ‘I have been drawing, painting and designing things for over 20 years, and I find that the more time I spend in the studio, the more fluid my creative flow and the richer my design practice. The simple, mindful habit of drawing and painting, taking note of the small things, the everyday detail, quietly and daily is a ritual I aspire to. It makes me feel good and balanced.’

Everyday is a body of work that represents this meditative, creative process.  The works spring from a simple appreciation of the shapes and forms of things that Julie uses every day – nothing more than that!  All works are pictured here – such a beautiful (and well priced!) collection!

Everyday – Paintings by Julie Paterson
Exhibition opens tomorrow Feb 14th until March 4th

Official opening and artist’s reception this Thursday Feb 16th 6pm-8pm

Edwina Corlette Gallery
555 Brunswick St
New Farm
Queensland

Tel. (07) 3358 6555

Eat + Drink by Julie Paterson, acrylic on plywood, 70cm x 49cm cm

This week Amy of Melbourne floral studio Wunderplant joins us with a few cheerful flower arrangement ideas!

Ok ok so we KNOW no one cares much about the fact that it’s Valentines’ Day tomorrow, so we promise no cheesy heart-shaped gift ideas or pink product round-ups…!   Instead, we thought it would be the perfect week to admire some beautiful summertime blooms, so we invited Amy Wright of Melbourne floral studio Wunderplant to join us with a few cheerful flower arrangement ideas!

You may remember we shared some of Amy’s stunning work a little while ago over here.  Amy has a special affection for hand-picked, unstructured floral arrangements, so this week she’ll share 5 sweet and super easy posy ideas which we hope might spark your imagination for a little home-grown floristry!

We figure everyone deserves a gorgeous, floppy, hand-assembled bunch of flowers occasionally, Valentine or no Valentine!

Big thanks to Amy for the floral frivolity this week!   Don’t forget to visit her website and blog too!

Ziggy Bag – from the Nancybird Winter 2012 collection

The beautiful Evie Tote in Nougat - from the Nancybird Winter 2012 collection

A beautifully styled selection of pieces from the Nancybird Winter 2012 range

NANCYBIRD PRINTED CUSHIONS!  Who knew?!

Today’s interview has been a long time in coming… I have been meaning to interview Emily Wright of Nancybird for seriously about 2 years but you know, I am secretly a tad disorganised (sshhh) and easily distracted by things like email and for whatever silly reason it has taken me a ridiculously long time to finally make contact! Luckily Ms Wright has been graciously waiting in the wings… but we’re thrilled to shine the spotlight on her today!

Nancybird really is such an inspiring creative Melbourne success story.  After studying art and printmaking  at RMIT, Emily undertook the government’s New Enterprise Initiative Scheme (NEIS), and in 2001 plunged head first into the launch of her accessories label – Nancybird.  10 years on, Nancybird has grown an impressive list of boutique stockists both here and internationally, her team now consist of 3 fulltime staff, and Emily has acquired a little factory in Northcote from which to base her business.  (Her workspace is SO cute – pics below!).  Emily has also made a successful leap from local production to a careful balance of local textile printing and offshore manufacturing.  It’s refreshing to hear Emily speak so candidly about why this decision was important to her business, and how she balances this with her committment to working with fantastic local collaborators, such as Ink and Spindle, who print many of Nancybird’s distinctive fabrics!

Emily is one of those rare people whose skill and passion for design and the creative side of her business is equally matched by her business acumen!  Her insights below are so generous and will provide any budding Australian creative start-up with invaluable advice and such fantastic optimistic encouragement!

Massive thanks to Emily for her wonderful responses to our questions and all the stunning pics. AND Emily is Dux of the class around here this week because she provided her own HTML HYPERLINKS in her interview responses!  The perfect interviewee!

Do check out Emily’s brand new Winter range in stores and online now!

Tell us a little about your background – what  did you study and what path led you to founding Nancybird in 2001?

I started out studying Fashion Design at RMIT back in 1996, but only lasted a year!  I needed to get some travel out of my system and spent a couple of years away in Europe, the Middle East and India. I came back ready to put my roots down again, and did the Diploma of Visual Arts at RMIT TAFE, and then completed a degree in Fine Art, majoring in Printmaking, again at RMIT.

While I was doing printmaking, I learnt screenprinting from the lovely Rebecca Mayo, and really fell for this process. I did quite a bit of extra printing at home, experimenting with fabrics and other surfaces. I started using my patternmaking and sewing skills from fashion design, and made a little range of purses, and then eventually bags. It was a funny time, there weren’t many stores that sold small local labels, but two that did were FAT and Alice Euphemia, where I started selling my range. It has changed so much now, there are a million design markets and stores and online places, so many options! After uni finished, I just jumped straight into the business, I did the NEIS course, and was on my way.

Nancybird has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years – these days you have so many stockists Australia wide (and a few international), and a loyal customer base.  Can you give us a little insight into how the business has grown and changed over the past 10 years?  Has the growth been gradual or have there been key landmark moments along the way?

The business has grown gradually over 10 years, which is the way I like it, but there have certainly been some big moments along the way that have marked a new phase. Until about 4 years ago I’d been working from home – and the boxes were literally taking over the entire house. I took the leap and bought a little windowless warehouse shell. That was a big milestone. We grew into that pretty quickly! And the second phase of that was building a little mezzanine studio inside, which we completed a couple of years ago. What a luxury to finally have windows and see the sky!

Emily’s recent addition to Nancybird HQ in Northcote!  Photo -Tony Owczarek

Emily’s studio.  Photo – Tony Owczarek

Emily’s studio.  LOVE this shot!  Photo – Tony Owczarek

Another one might be moving part of our production offshore. It’s one that I wish people talked about more – the realities of making things, whether it be here or overseas. My reality is that making locally works for some products (and scales of operation) and not for others. Obviously, the preference is to make locally, if you can find people to make those things and still have a viable product at the end of it. We’ve always kept most of the printing here (which I’m proud to have done – yay Ink and Spindle), but the stitching of leathergoods on the scale that we are at, which isn’t really that big, was an impossibility locally.

The entire 10 years has been a huge learning curve. Every season we are dealing with new issues, new exciting things to try, better ways of doing things.

And I guess I still see us as a pretty small operation. It has changed considerably, we have much better systems in place, we’ve learnt from a million mistakes along the way, and we do stock a good number of stores in Australia. But it’s essentially a small niche label that is not on every shop corner, with a great following of (I think) like minded people who enjoy what we are creating.

A couple more printed beauties from the current Winter 2012 range

Can you give us a little insight into the inner workings of Nancybird day to day? Where are you based, how many people do you employ, do you still play a very hands on role in the design and day to day running of the business, and what significant tasks do you outsource?

We are based in Northcote, right next to Merri Creek, and opposite Ceres (who make the best sausage rolls in Melbourne by the way!) I employ 3 people which covers packing/stock control, admin and part of the design. We probably need another person to take over the sales side of things, as I always tend to neglect this area!

Up until very recently, I was the sole designer of the range, but happily I have some very capable eyes and hands to help with this area now.

I’m very much involved in every aspect of the business, I answer the phone and chat with customers every day, we all unload a shipment together when it arrives… I am now banned from packing orders as I invariably get the numbers wrong, but other than that, I’m there…

We outsource all production. Our printers, both digital and screen printed, are in Melbourne, and I really enjoy working with them.

We’ve recently started working with some other local manufacturers, making some textile based products like cushions and knitted scarves, and will hopefully be expanding this side of things in future ranges.

Our leathergoods manufacturer is based in HK/China, and we produce some digitally printed silk scarves out of India.

Printed scarves by Nancybird

What does a typical day at work involve for you?

Answering a bunch of emails from our stockists, manufacturers and suppliers happens first thing with a cup of Earl Grey. I seem to communicate all day via email, so am sitting at a computer screen more than I’d like…

We have a six month cycle here, so depending on what point we are at, I could be sketching new ideas for a future range, choosing yarn or ink colours, amending a bag sample that needs some work, putting together the final edit of the range, location scouting, choosing the clothes for a shoot, putting together our catalogue… Or, less fun things like invoicing or book work!  It can’t all be fun you know!

Another stunning shot from the current Winter campaign – this is the Millie Charcoal bag

Can you name for us 5 resources across any media which you turn to regularly for creative inspiration?

I like looking at a couple of colour blogs like Color Collective and Wear Color.

TDF is a great inspiration (but not good for my reno budget!) The Sartorialist and Garance Dore I seem to read, if only for their cute references to each other – it’s a bit of a soap opera, but I like it!

Other than online, I have a collection of reference books like African Textiles by John Gillow, Art of Nature by Judith Magee or Insects of Surinam by Katharina Schmidt-Loske that I come back to time and time again.

Maya Bags produced in collaboration with local artist Clare James

Which other designers or other creative people do you admire?

I really admire anyone who is creating something with a clear aesthetic and with integrity, as I know how hard that is to do!

Locally, I admire a couple of other labels that started out around the same time or a little before me, who have just grown incredibly – Gorman and elk. They are both just rocking along and it’s good to see.

I also admire my printers – Tegan and Lara from Ink and Spindle. They are doing great things, have bucketloads of integrity and I hope will keep carving out a niche for their beautiful, hand printed wares.

And my neighbour, Damien Wright, who has been working away as a furniture designer and maker for 15 years or so. He made the Victorian Koori Court table with 10,000 year old red gum which was partially fossilised. He makes really incredible stuff and is just so focussed on that.

Nancybird Orange Grevillea fabric, printed by Ink & Spindle!

What would be your dream creative project?

Exactly what I’m doing but with five times the amount of time to design it and five times the budget! Ooooh, the things we could make!

New Winter Nancybird Cushions!

Otherwise, designing a capsule range for another label would be fun (that means you Marni or Cacharel!) We did this last year for the National Gallery of Victoria, which was super interesting and a great learning experience working with such a large institution.

What are you looking forward to?

Right now I am looking forward to finishing the SS13 range that we are in the thick of at the moment! It has been so refreshing working with another designer, and wonderful to be able to concentrate on parts of the range rather than the whole thing.

And after that, I’m looking forward to moving into my house in 3 months which is getting renovated. We dealt with no real bathroom and an outside toilet for WAAAY too long…

Bags from the Nancybird Winter 2012 collection

Melbourne Questions

Your favourite Melbourne neighbourhood and why?

I have a few favourite pockets – I like the galleries and shops around Collingwood, I like walking along the Yarra in Fairfield, I like living in Northcote because I have friendly neighbours and big gum trees along our street.

Your favourite local bookshop for great reference material / books / magazines?

I think the NGV bookshop at Fed Square. They have a great range of art books, the other day I bought The Place For A Village by Gary Presland, which I highly recommend!

Brunswick St Books and Artisan Books are a couple of other locals I head to when in need of a little book inspiration.

What/where was the last great meal you ate in Melbourne?

Next Door Diner is at the end of my street and I love them for that! Every meal there has been pretty special. Enoteca is pretty ace too.

Where would be find you on a typical Saturday morning?

Hopefully out for breakfast or out of Melbourne somewhere. But lately at somewhere slightly unpleasant looking at fridges or tiles or something. Renovation fun…

Melbourne’s best kept secret?

Bend of Islands. It’s only about 50 minutes out of Melbourne, is right on the Yarra, where there are minimal fences, no cats or dogs, only indigenous plants and some pretty interesting creative types living there. My partner has some land there, and is building a little weekender for us to hang out in and watch the kayakers float by.

And this isn’t in Melbourne and not really a secret anymore, but Walkerville in South Gippsland is magic. There’s an old lime kiln ruins on the beach made out of local stone, and backed by the Cape Liptrap National Park, and facing the Prom… Nice.

Cute shot!  From the Winter 2012 campaign

Various details from the work of Melbourne artist Elizabeth Gower

Respected Melbourne artist Elizabeth Gower makes amazing geometric paper-cut artworks using collected printed ephemera, packaging and magazine pages.  By re-purposing these remnants of popular culture, Elizabeth explores ideas of consumerism and consumption – a topic she has been inspired by since the 1970′s.

In an impressive career spanning over 30 years, Elizabeth has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including grants from the Australia Council and Victorian Ministry for the Arts.  Her work has been commissioned for many high profile public buildings including the Melbourne World Trade Centre, MCG and the Sydney Olympics Superdome, and has been acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra!

Elizabeth says her works over the past few years have all had different starting points, and are heavily influenced by her surroundings and by travel.  ’My last show was Cuttings from New York, made exclusively from papers collected in New York while I had the residency at the Australia Council studio in 2009. The format or design was derived from the gridded layout of Manhattan. Other shows have been Savings, using up all the papers I had saved for over 20 years, or Cuttings from Paris referencing wallpapers from the Musee Carnalvalet on papers collected while at the Cité International des Arts.’

Elizabeth’s newest show opens tomorrow at Sutton Gallery in Fitzroy.  The exhibition, entitled ‘Monochrome’, showcases a striking new body of work created entirely from black and white pages sliced from glossy magazines and advertising imagery – well worth a look if you’re in Fitzroy this weekend!

Elizabeth Gower – Monochrome
Opens Saturday 10th Feb until March 10th 2012.

Sutton Gallery
254 Brunswick st
Fitzroy

Gallery Hours – Tuesday to Saturday, 11.00am – 5.00pm

Artwork by Elizabeth Gower for her new show at Sutton Gallery – Monochrome

Artwork by Elizabeth Gower for her new show – Monochrome

The Orchard Keepers Cottage at the Red Hill property of Lucy Hill and family – all photos Lucy Feagins.

Orchard Keepers Cottage interior – beautiful muslin-draped bed, bedlinen from Scarlet Jones

Bedside details

Okaaaayyy get ready for some serious home/life envy.  Today I have the great pleasure of sharing a home I would DIE to own.  This is the Red Hill weekender of Lucy Hill and family. Deep breaths people.

You may remember Lucy Hill’s beautiful Victorian home in Prahran which we posted here a little while ago.  At the time Lucy was keen to share her holiday home in Red Hill with us too – so of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay her family a little visit during school holidays a few weeks ago!  What I discovered was the truly most idyllic family getaway… complete with rambling hills, vineyards in the distance, horseriding, and a couple of donkeys!   Aghhh – too perfect!

Lucy and husband Tony purchased this beautiful property on the Mornington Pensinsula 5 years ago.  Lucy says they had been looking for a while and fell in love with this farm and it’s three sweet cottages, surrounded by vineyards and green hills.   Being an avid gardener, Lucy was particularly drawn to the generous grounds and beautiful old Sequoia tree pictured below (the tallest species on earth apparently!).

Of course when Lucy and Tony first acquired the farm there was a lot of work to be done! ‘Firstly we spent weekends painting the cottages – anyone who stayed was given a paintbrush’ says Lucy.  Lucy’s special project though, and the subject for most of the shots you see here, is the Orchard Keeper’s Cottage – a tiny, self contained weatherboard cottage expertly renovated in Lucy’s classic, romantic style.

‘We restored the Old Orchard Keepers cottage for guests to stay in’ says Lucy.  ’It was a labour of love. Everything we acquired fitted in so perfectly – including an old sink from Montreux and a beautiful bench top from a friends old butlers’ pantry.  I worked once a week with a neighbour who was an absolute craftsman restoring it.  When it was completed we decided to start renting it out as a romantic getaway – we have already had a couple of bridal parties and proposals!  It makes all the hard work worthwhile and it has been so lovely to be able to share this cottage with others’.

With teenage kids Sam, Julia and Celia in tow, Lucy spends as many weekends and school holidays as she can here, when the cottage isn’t rented out.  ’The girls horse ride and I love gardening – luckily we inherited a garden with 50 year old trees so we built a kitchen garden which is still evolving.  I wanted my children to have a childhood of simplicity away on the weekends surrounded by nature’ says Lucy.  I think you’ve succeeded Lucy!  A truly magical home-away-from-home has been created here.

Massive thanks to Lucy for her incredible generosity during my visit, and for sharing her beautiful home with us (again!).  I was so lucky she allowed me to stay in the Orchard Keepers Cottage overnight during my visit and it really was such a serene, calming space to sleep and wake up in the morning – I definitely recommend a stay here if you’re looking for a romantic weekender!  (The Orchard Keepers Cottage is listed here for holiday rentals!)

Lucy loves the local produce and handcrafted product in Red Hill and wanted to make a special mention of the pottery and handmade pieces throughout the cottage, mostly bought at The Red Hill Market.

Another shot of that stunning muslin-draped bed (super comfy too I must say!)

Basin and sweet vintage bathroom accessories

Kitchenette – with beautiful rustic handcrafted pottery purchased from The Red Hill Market.

Kitchen details –  vintage sink from Montreux and bench top salvaged from a friends’ pantry

Dining table details.  Linen curtains dyed by hand by Lucy!

Looking across entrance hall to bathroom.  Rug from Market Import.  Dream Catcher from the Byron Bay Artisan’s Market.

Entrance to the cottage.   Rug from Market Import.

Cottage details – love the rusted barrel side table and sweet vintage details!  Rug from Market Import.  Dream Catcher from the Byron Bay Artisan’s Market.

Outdoor bath with sweet handmade linen curtains!

Kitchen Garden detail

Garden details including that stunning Sequoia tree!

Lucy’s daughters’ handsome horse Melody, and views to neighbouring vineyard

OK I know it’s just getting ridiculous now, but how could I resist getting a few shots of Lucy’s beautiful daughters Celia and Julia with friend India, roaming the property with pet donkeys (Harriet and Twinkie!), and showing off their vintage TENT they love to sleep in when staying at the farm!?  SO CUTE!  The girls’ pretty dresses are from India’s Mum’s label - Willow and Finn.

Childhood doesn’t get sweeter than this!  And besides, who needs Facebook when you’ve got donkeys?  Girls’ dresses by Willow and Finn.

Stunning soft furnishings and accessories by Sydney textile designers Sixhands

How outrageously fabulous are these textile designs by Sydney based creative trio Sixhands!?  I am wondering how on earth I did not know about them earlier. Aghhh I HATE when I am not first off the mark!  Ha ha.  No, seriously, I really hate it.

ANYWAY.  Better late than never!

First launched in 2006 by designers Alecia Jensen, Anna Harves and Brianna Pike, Sixhands originally found their calling specialising in printed textiles for the fashion industry. Their stunning work was quickly picked up by many of Australia’s best known fashion brands – including Sportsgirl, Alannah Hill, Wayne Cooper and Bianca Spender.

In recent years this talented team have turned their attention to an incredible in-house range of  soft furnishings and home accessories – including cushions, lampshades, rugs and wallpapers.   It is SUCH a truly stunning collection, and incorporates an immense variety of layered visual elements – from soft painterly splashes to strong linework and graphic photo prints.  The range is available to buy through new Australian online store Inadesignerhome and also from Sixhands’ own website.  It could just be me, but I reckon they could do with a few more interstate retail stockists.  *hint hint*.

AMAZINGLY, all Sixhands textiles are designed and printed right here in Australia.  Mucho impressivo.

I’m gonna go out with an extravagant simile and say these prints really are just like the Australian version of Missoni!  Who’s with me!?

Textiles and rugs by Sixhands

New Homewares from the Country Road Autumn 2012 collection

I have a confession to make.  Whilst you know I do love and support with all my heart the immense talent of Australia’s independent design community, there is also just one high street store that I am a MASSIVE, die-hard fan of.

You guessed it.  I am a closet Country Road groupie.

I can’t help it!  CR just do such a consistently great job – particularly when it comes to homewares and accessories.  Country Road were the first Australian ‘lifestyle’ brand, and you gotta hand it to them – as a company, over the past 20 years Country Road really have defined a quintessentially ‘Australian’ sense of style.

Having said that, the brand new Country Road Autumn 2012 range does have a refreshingly Scandi look going on.  The campaign, of course, is styled to perfection – all rustic blonde timber, chunky textures and faux fur.  As usual I am wishing all the kids clothes came in grown-up sizes… but the pieces that really sing to me are the stunning ceramics and tableware, pictured above. OH my. GREY AND YELLOW!?  My fave colour combo – how did they know!?  Beautiful.

There is one cute fun fact I have to share too.  My dear pal Simone Elder is one of the extremely talented designers at studio Ortolan, and she works on all Country Road’s catalogues and beautiful promotional material.  After our TDF Open House event in December, Sim asked what we were doing with the cute little timber pegs we had made for display in the house. Turns out she was after some for this Country Road shoot!  And so, if you have an eagle eye you will spot one lonely little timber peg, sitting pride of place on the wall in the image below!   It was made by my dear fella Gordon for TDF Open House, and thanks to Sim it’s now gracing the front of the current Country Road catalogue!  I am weirdly chuffed about that. Thanks Sim and thankyou Country Road!

Country Road Autumn 2012 collection

This week Jenna and Simon of The Hungry Workshop join us on the Guest Blog

This week Jenny and I are super PUMPED to welcome another brilliant creative partnership to the Guest Blog – say hello to Jenna and Simon of The Hungry Workshop!

As I am sure many of you know, Simon and Jenna relocated from Brisbane to Melbourne last year, and have set up their busy little letterpress studio in Northcote.  (And I must say… relocation is no mean feat when your key equipment weighs in at 1.5 tonnes!).  Since setting up shop here, Simon and Jenna have certainly hit the ground running – they’ve been busier than ever designing lots of beautiful businesscards, invitations, greetings cards and custom stationary which you can check out on their excellent website and blog. (You might remember their gorgeous Beci Orpin collab we mentioned recently over here).

This week Simon and Jenna invite us to share a week in their world – documenting step-by-step the process of creating a new greeting card – from inspiration to design, letterpress printing and final product.   The final product in this case is particularly special I must say .. Jenny and I were super chuffed to learn that in creating this new card, Simon and Jenna were inspired by ‘the constant stream of awesomeness that is The Design Files‘ !! (Their words not mine!)

SO this week on the Guest Blog you will see Jenna and Simon create this new card design from scratch, and on Friday – the big reveal!  A brand new greeting card inspired by TDF!

ALSO we’re very lucky that Jenna and Simon have offered a fab giveaway for one lucky reader – a greeting card pack containing 3 x Valentines day cards and 4 x our favourite
‘Flanno’ cards (some of which are pictured below), as well as their brand new TDF-inspired card which we’ll see on Friday!

To be in the running, simply leave a comment on any of The Hungry Workshop Guest Blog posts this week before 10.00pm Thursday.  A winner will be drawn at random and announced on Friday.

Massive thanks to the lovely Jenna and Simon for joining us this week – do pop over to see what they get up to!

Leaving your comment on The Guest Blog between now and 10.00pm Thursday to be in the running to win this Hungry Workshop giftcard pack!

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