Hi dear friends. How are you? I’m going to take a little “Summer Pause” for the month of August but don’t worry because I’ll be popping in to visit you on decor8 from time to time to share my inspirations and favorite finds as I go…
I’m taking a break so that I can relax a bit before I get back to serious business in September because as you know, Summer is too short and the Autumn and Winter is often so, so long!
I’ll see you in a few days or so. xo, Holly
(lovely print from yny, with permission)
Hello decor8 readers! This is Jillian with another Shopgirl Visits column. Today I’m taking you with me on a market visit that you’re bound to love. Have you heard about The Finders Keepers?
This design and art market supports emerging designers, artists & musicians. The markets, which were started 3 years ago by Sarah Thornton and Brooke Johnston, are held bi-annually in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and are a huge hit.
My own introduction to the markets was a bit circuitous. I saw some of Kylie Johnson’s ceramics on Pia’s blog a few years ago and I was enchanted. I bought some of her work and soon started following her blog, Instinct and Grace. Kylie mentioned on the blog that she’d be in Sydney attending the Finders Keepers. I’d not been to Finders Keepers before so I decided to have a look see and whilst there, I found the Paperboat Press stall. I summoned up the courage to approach Kylie and I’ve been an annual visitor to the market since then, camera always in hand. You can see some of my earlier Finders Keepers images here on decor8 from 2010.
The Sydney Winter Finders Keepers were held on a cold, wet windy day in Sydney. I put on my boots, picked up my camera and firmly placed my ‘Shopgirl visits for decor8’ hat on my head and made my way over to the lovely Carriageworks building in Eveleigh.
The Sydney Finders Keepers is always a bustling event. What a better way to wile a way a wet Saturday than with a spot of shopping? The beauty of the markets is their ever changing nature. The line-up of stall holders varies with every market so you never quite know what to expect.
What did I find there? A beguiling mix of old favourites and some new discoveries. Some of my old favourites were there – Paperboat Press, Attia, the Storybook Rabbit and Bespoke Press.
And my new discoveries? The spare ceramics designed by Haydn Youlley, the funky Las Vegas style lighting from Fromage La Rue, some beautiful furniture from Ply Candy and a great pop up stationery shop, the Super Cool.
Did you see anything in my photos that caught your eye?
To check for upcoming markets and stallholder line-up you can check the Finders Keepers website.
See you again later this month with another Shopgirl Visits! – Jillian
(images/text: jillian leiboff)
I thought that today I’d share a peek from my own workspace of a corner that I’ve created where I clip my inspirations. While I have a mood board in the space and a bulletin board, I find this corner a refreshing space because I’ve hung 9 patterned clipboards that look neat and organized yet hold my inspirations of the moment.
First, I asked my husband to hang a simple white shelf from IKEA and below it, I placed a few wooden stools so the shelf didn’t look quite so lonely. I intentionally hung the shelf lower because I knew that above it I wanted to hang clipboards and after measuring them (length x width), I knew how much space I needed to begin my project. I measured carefully to insure the shelf was at the correct level. The best thing is that the shelf doubles as a guest work space so when my students are here they can use this nook to jump on their laptop or to take notes while I’m teaching. The shelf is about the same height as a desk for this purpose.
These clipboards came with patterns, so I selected 3 patterns and opted for 3 each for a total of 9 to fit the space. For your wall, you may need less (or more). My clipboards are from House Doctor in Denmark via Agentur Pedersen (their German rep) but if you cannot find their products in your country, you can always use clipboards from an office supply store and add your own patterns with wallpaper or you can paint them in a favorite color or colors. You could even be a bit subtle yet playful and paint them solid gray and if they have sides that are visible, you could paint only the sides neon colors like yellow or pink. You could also use chalkboard paint so that you can jot down notes or quotes using chalk on some and one others, clip what inspires you at the moment.
Using a leveler, pencil and a measuring tape, my husband and I pulled together this little nook in about 20 minutes. I rent my apartment, so I’m stuck with the wallpaper in the bumpy white for now (oh well) but I still love my home and do what I can to distract the eye from the things that I do not like and in this case, the clipboards really work well and help me to better organize my office.
I hope that this idea inspires you to try this in your own workspace. Would you experiment with this idea? What do you think? Any other ways you can think of to organize an office wall easily?
(photos: holly becker)
Hello friends! I came across this stunning page in the August 2012 issue of Country Living (UK) and simply had to share it with hopes to inspire you today. Country Living produces some lovely DIY projects in their issues and online (here) so I invite you to check them out if you haven’t already.
See that clever and easy wall hanging? This caught my eye because it’s an idea I’ve thought of many times but have not yet tried it. Does that ever happen to you? You have this really good idea but you sit on it, then it pops up in a book or magazine? Yeah, it happens to me all of the time too. I guess it’s a reminder that 1) our ideas are good ones and 2) that we need to put our ideas into motion more often! Seeing this idea in-situ vs. trapped in my brain only encourages me even more to try it out.
Country Living suggests using large-scale bold patterns when you decide to suspend fabric in this way above a bed. They also suggest hanging the fabric from a bamboo pole (most likely because it is hollow and lightweight but sturdy). It reminds me of those old-fashioned German and French charts from school, particularly with the fabric cord, don’t you think? To hang it, you could use ribbon that is sturdy, rope or leather, too. It is also suggested to change up the fabric to suit your mood or seasonal color theme.
I’d like to add that you’ll need to use fabric with a good weight to it so opt for upholstery fabrics and stitch in a simple pocket along the top to slip onto your piece of bamboo as you would secure a curtain to a rod. I suggest a clean pocket vs. ruffled for a look that is clean and modern. If it looks too much like a curtain it may not look nearly as good and even a bit misplaced. I think this look works so well because it is hung close to the top of the headboard, then the headboard is used as a little shelf for placing things (which works for a magazine shoot but not for real living, right?). This is why I suggest hanging your fabric a bit higher, then install a shelf to run beneath it in the exact same width of the fabric or a bit wider (not smaller) so you can then display a vase of flowers and some other pretty bits to add dimension and life to the overall display that you’ve created as a focal point above you bed.
For more wonderful crafty ideas, visit Country Living to see if you can find anything that clicks with your taste.
(photo: holly becker)
Hello everyone! I’m so excited to finally get to share with you the covers from both my US and UK versions of my next book, Decorate Workshop! First, the US cover is shown below which is now in pre-order mode over on Amazon.com for half off the cover price so you’ll want to scoop this one up now – what a great offer!
Next is the beautiful UK cover which is also being offered at a terrific pre-sale discount on Amazon UK.
Decorate Workshop was written, styled, shot and produced between February and July of this year so it kept me very busy between scouting, traveling, styling, working with the fabulous Debi Treloar again, writing (and writing and writing!), amongst the other things that keep a girl very busy when producing a book. My team in London at Jacqui Small Publishing was amazing and I cannot thank my editor, Sian Parkhouse, or the book designer, Sarah Rock, enough. I am so happy that my team was so dedicated and to have Chronicle Books and Jacqui Small publishing my second book to follow Decorate after they took such good care of me for my first book. It’s an honor beyond my wildest dreams to be able to write another and this time, I’ve gone solo and wrote it in the same voice as my blog which makes it an even more personal project for me.
I’ll tell you more about the book in the months to come and once it is printed, I’ll show you a copy, but I want to thank you all for your endless love and support and hope that you will love it. In it, I explain 8 creative steps to decorating and I show my own home, lots of mood boards and things I’ve pulled together to inspire you and of course, a bunch of gorgeous homes that we photographed in the US, UK and Europe.
Today is a happy day!
xo, Holly
It was such a treat to hear from Lyndsey Mayhew, who heads up Marketing for UK crafty mag, Mollie Makes. Lyndsey is currently a student of mine in my online course, Blogging Your Way, and wrote in to thank me for the class which was such an honor to know that she enjoyed it so much.
Lyndsey then told me about a new venture in addition to Mollie Makes… A magazine called The Simple Things that will soon be published in print as a sister title beginning in the UK on September 6th.
About the magazine, “The Simple Things is a new monthly print magazine celebrating the things that matter most. It’s about knowing the greatest rewards come from the simplest things, that there’s no satisfaction like that at the end of a long muddy walk, no pink so pretty as freshly-cut rhubarb, no perfume to compare with your own home-grown flowers. It’s about making warm inviting homes – big or small – sharing food with friends, growing your own vegetables. It’s about shopping for a coffee table only to find you’re happy with a tea chest. It’s keeping your dad’s old typewriter just because it’s beautiful. It’s an empty beach on a Sunday morning. It’s backpedaling.” So many sweet thoughts!
Lyndsey wanted to show decor8 readers a glimpse of the pre-launch mag cover and some views of the inside of the magazine, which you can also view online here. Congrats to Lyndsey and her crew on their latest adventure!
(images: the simple things)
When I woke up this morning and stumbled upon this video from the UK Anthropologie team that was filmed in their London shop on Regents Street, I felt inclined to share as it’s so inspiring to begin a week by seeing something so imaginative.
This video shows the result of a collaborative project between Anthro and the London College of Fashion. It’s what happens when you match them with two brilliant design students. Bliss overload! If you want to see this installation live, simply visit them in London this summer – it will be there until sometime this Autumn.
I am currently working with the London team to pull together something nice for Fall between Anthro and decor8 so once plans are ironed out I will definitely be posting about it here and you will be invited. :) In the meantime, please enjoy this lovely video.
Hope that you had a great weekend. I’ll be back in a moment with some pretty posts.
xo,
Holly
Love London? Visiting soon? This post is for you! Last night I stumbled across a most curious travel book while perusing Amazon called the London Style Guide authored by Londoner Saska Graville and published by Murdoch with photography by Jessica Reftel Evans & Martin Reftel of Amorfo Photography. It looked like such a lovely guide and definitely not ‘typical’ so I snapped it up in jiffy, ordering before retiring to bed.
To my surprise, this lovely guide arrived a few moments ago and as I flipped through it I couldn’t contain my excitement. Finally someone wrote a shopping, eating and sleeping guide for London that speaks 100% to my aesthetic and is free of blah blah tourist-y stops and those all too familiar recommendations that every book suggests. This guide is stylishly laid out (props to the book designer!), meticulously curated and beautifully, and I mean beautifully, shot. I love the “Meet the Londoner section” with 18 interviews of shop and cafe owners, showcasing their favorite things to see in London.
I highly suggest picking up a copy because if you intend to go to London anytime soon, you simply MUST own this guide. Even if you don’t intend to go, this book is still a lovely one to own because through it you can feel like you’ve traveled and there are all sorts of lovely things to see and read along with links to places you can look up online. It is available for download here or you can buy a hard copy in the UK here or in the US here. There is even a digital version available on iTunes which I’m going to investigate because having this guide on my iPhone would totally rock for my next trip back to London. Would you like to take a quick look with me?
About the author: Saska Graville has worked as a writer and editor for magazines and newspapers for 20+ years in London and Sydney. She was former editor of New Woman magazine in Australia then the features editor of The Sun-Herald newspaper in Sydney. Later, she relocated back to her native London as deputy editor of Red magazine and currently is a UK travel correspondent for The Sun-Herald.
Now I’m more excited than ever to return to London this Fall!
(images: holly becker for decor8)
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