WELCOME BACK + BEHIND THE SCENES

I am really happy to announce that I will be back to blogging every week, which is something that has been weighing on me for some time now. It is really difficult to balance all aspects of a business when you are flowing with significantly sized projects, which is something that I aim to learn and get better at as we continue to grow and grow.

Having a business is a serious juggling act and even though I do have to say I am organised and a good at multi tasking, there are major flaws in my organisational skills and getting them sorted is something I want to re focus on now that I am winding down before my big trip.

That's right, have you heard? I am heading overseas for a month to travel and learn about all the new trends in August and I cannot wait. Lots of new and exciting experiences will broaden my mind for what is going to be another huge year for JDZ Designs. We are also in the process of re branding, so yes the website and the blog will change and evolve again. That is taking a lot more time then I had anticipated so it won't be ready for our 1st birthday, which yes is in fact tomorrow.


In the meantime to celebrate the beginning of the blog again, which I aim to have three posts per week going up and more, I have added some behind the scenes images of what we have been designing lately. A series of display suites for multi residential projects that will begin development in Hornsby.

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I designed the kitchens and bathrooms, developed all renders, designed the display suites, picked all the finishes and managed it all to life.

INSPIRATION IS EVERYWHERE

Today has been a day that has been a bit all over the place, waiting forever this morning to try and get my mac book looked at because of course I am having a few technical issues... even though it is pretty much brand new. Sometimes you can't just cut a break with these things! Oh well, it meant I got a few hours to myself and could walk around looking at fashion which I definitely needed to catch up on. I had a lovely conversation with a girl this morning which has inspired this post today, so I wanted to share a little inspiration for all those who are struggling with the ever popular modern open planned space.

Open planning has a whole heap of benefits but at the same time you get left with a huge space that is meant to "house" several different purposes. What does one do? How do we go about making a space that has a kitchen, dining and living area work all in harmony? Well, it is all about zoning the space and utilising furniture pieces to create those zones so the space doesn't look empty as well as allowing you to create some sectioning off or partitions. A great way to also achieve this in a simply is also through the use of wall space, artwork and large mirrors work wonders in grounding a space as well as opening it up even more. Adding these elements assists to make the space look useful, complete and all the elements work together. It is also important to layer things and when I say layer, I mean you may have a book shelf, but think about different elements to showcase on it as well as adding a chair, which instantly becomes a reading area. I searched through Pinterest today to get some inspiring imagery to help get the creative juices flowing when it comes to thinking about how you can zone your open plan as well as giving certain areas purpose in smart and easy ways.

Have you had trouble with your open plan space? How did you solve your styling dilemma? I'd love to hear from you.

All these images have been sourced from Pinterest.

You can follow me HERE! 

FEATURE FRIDAY: WHAT WE INTERIORS PEOPLE DO!

Yesterday I was completely inspired to share this with you and all because of Darren Palmer. Yes, you all know who he is, Block Judge, regular all round nice guy who always favours my tweets... which I really appreciate by the way and to top it off a great Australian Interior Designer. He shared with the world something that really inspired him, which in turn inspired me to write this post today.

Often it isn't very well understood what Interior Designers actually do with space and I often find myself saying that I am an Interior Architect ( All my girlfriends do it too ) because otherwise it just gets very confusing and we often get called Interior Decorators. NOT that there is anything wrong with that... I love styling and I love decorating, it a huge part of the job and it is a lot of fun, but I didn't really go to University for ... lets just say a long time, work my absolute arse off, get slammed and stress just for style. There is so much construction content that we have to know and understand, as well as knowing how to organise space and inform how people inhabit that space. It is all about documentation, space planning, electrical plans, lighting, specifications, materials, style and then decoration. There is a hell of a lot of work that goes into it and that is not even talking about decoding the brief, coming up with the concept ( or program ), considering use of space, details AND the surrounding environment, sun, shadows, east west, north south... yes! It is all VERY important!

Which is why I often find that sometimes us Interior Designers are a little under valued because lines between Stylist and Designer are very blurred. We are stylists yes but even if it is just style or decoration it is never just easy or something that happens over night ( unless you are on The Block, but it still isn't easy ) which is why I wanted to share this today. Us Designers, Stylers and Decorators all have a very strong mutual respect for each other in our community and it is very important to realise that what we do is VERY hard work. We are not just finger pointers by any means... far out I HATE that term... and yes I have been called it and no I do not appreciate it. So let me just get the record straight... everyone should watch this very inspiring video that really captures what Interior Designers do as a job, especially the ones that have been doing it for a very long time and are good at it. When I watched this video I remembered why I decided to become an Interior Designer... and yes there are days where I think... why? Why did I pick this?!

Apart from getting insight, 432 Park Avenue is an amazing development in New York that will just blow your mind!

Head on over to Designbloom and watch it now by clicking here. All images below are sourced directly from Design Bloom which were put together for 432 Park Avenue by Deborah Berke and her team.

BTS: COW PRINT EVERYWHERE

Here are some more behind the scenes look into what has been happening at JDZ HQ! Lots and lots, small and large... and am very much looking forward to the Christmas and New Year break.
My desk is very messy and will be getting a complete makeover during the holiday season. Lots planned for 2014 already so cannot wait to get started and see what the new year will bring!

PS: Do you like my Aqua Isola print? In the process of getting these pattern designs sorted for next year!

LET'S TALK MORE ABOUT FLOORS

Seeming as I was rattling on about custom rugs yesterday and I have a rug guide on my blog, which you can quickly find by clicking here, I decided to continue the talk about floors today AND tomorrow.

Are you familiar with Carpet Court? They have recently over the last year had some great ads and marketing campaigns centred around the concept that every good design begins with the flooring. And to be honest, it is pretty true because floors are like shoes, if you do not have good shoes on with your outfit or shoes that match, it is not a very good look. Floors are a very important surface, as just like walls they run right throughout any given space. It is a surface that we use for sitting, walking, running and cleaning... it is the surface that separates us from our slab in a home and it is what allows us to be comfortable or create a really unified unique look in any given interior. Different floors are often required for different types of interior spaces and environments, which can be a great way to create amazing spaces but most importantly you have to get it right so it is always handy to know about your options.

One of Carpet Court's design Ambassadors is one my favourite Australian Designers, Darren Palmer, who I have had the pleasure of meeting in person and I can tell you he is every bit as lovely in person as he is on television. Darren Palmer in collaboration with Carpet Court have just announced his new flooring range Provincial Lane, which I have to say I am pretty excited about. It is a great range that is going to be cost effective and elegant for residential interiors. The collection is made up of stylish laminates, 100% wool, bamboo and a vinyl that looks like european planks of timber. What I really like about this is that it these products become so accessible to everyone and assists them to achieve a designer look in their home without it blowing the budget.

There are six different flooring options available currently in the Provincial Lane range by Darren Palmer, each with many different colour options. I cannot wait to see some samples of it in person! There is also a huge promotion running at the moment where you can win $15,000 worth of new flooring for your space but entering online at the Carpet Court website, so make sure you do.

You can find out more about Carpet Court and Darren Palmer's new collection by visiting the website by clicking here. You can enter the competition via this link or via their Facebook page.

Image sourced from the Carpet Court Facebook page.

JDZ x

BEHIND THE SCENES - COOLEST BRIEF

I am working on the biggest project I have ever tackled by myself, but it is extremely rewarding already and liberating because the brief is anything but conventional. It is fun, wacky and completely out there with complete instructions to make sure things actually do not really match. Complement of course but match? Why would we do that?! It is to be bright, vibrant and completely left of centre. Some of you may not know, sometimes well majority of the times, depending on circumstance and brief the design process takes lots of time and refining as you go by. Refinement is key and completely essential... you should have seen our first meeting... like 10 different books of fabrics and patterns AND ideas.

I am not revealing where and for what this project is for because it will reveal itself in due time but here are some behind the scenes action on the progress. Also, I have featured an amazing chair that was re upholstered for absolutely nothing! It is not for this project but it looks beyond amazing and would be so funky in the right context.

Not for this project but loved the result of the new upholstered seat, which inspired the fabric choice
for the project I am working on. 

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

BRICKS EXPOSED

Something else I was reading over the weekend was that exposed bricks are coming back in. I thought this was a very interesting statement so thought I would investigate it a little further. Well...looks like it is true and according to my local western sydney newspaper it was named the new decor pick for 2013, especially with the new introduction of glazed bricks. Glazed bricks are just that... bricks that are finished with a glazing that allows them to be completely flat and gives them a polished look. Seems like this new fad has made the trend of using sand stock bricks back from way back when ( Im talking 1800's) which became re fashionable in the 1970s BACK AGAIN in 2013. Woah... talk about a timeline. 

I personally do not mind exposed brick, especially if it is an old terrace or warehouse, it makes such a great combination with iron and metal finishes and makes for a great industrial, raw look. Whitewashed, or just exposed with some old remnants of plasterboard and paint can really add some character and texture to a home. Let's face it, painted walls can be really boring sometimes, so it isn't so bad if you can have a bit of a texture thrown into the mix. The only thing with the rough exposed brick look is that it does give off that very strong industrial feel majority of the time, which means some may feel that it really only suits a certain style. You know me though, I do not believe design should be constrained to any given "style" and believe that you can make it work in other ways too, like for example my home. We have a complete formal dining room that is double brick and exposed. The bricks are a lighter colour and have speckles of brown and aggregate running through them so some have a really nice darker stone colour to them. Combine with very dark solid timber finishes and semi nice orange and cream ( yes a little 1970s but not at all hideous ) drapes thrown in with modern artworks, makes for a warm, elegant rustic-ish interior space. Mixed textures from the brick work to timber to fabrics can really make such a huge statement and either make the interior scheme move from one extreme to another. If you had bricks that were exposed and had a nice render or paint applied to them that allowed for the brick pattern to still show through, then again you could have a completely different interior space, one that could lend to more of a contemporary look, or what ever your heart desired. 

Here are some images below as well as a nominated residential design from QLD Interior Design firm Wrightson Stewart with exposed glazed bricks used for a kitchen splash back, which I really love, especially as it is complimented with lots and lots of timber. This example shows a really elegant use of brick and makes for a very modern warm environment that still has an industrial but yet modern feel.

Residential project nominated for a 2013 Interior Design Award.
Wrightson Stewart. Image sourced from their website.

Over sized pendants,  light timber, olive black, metals
makes for a nice industrial feel.
Image sourced from Pinterest

This is a very popular image around social media at the moment and I
am pretty sure it is because of the new thing mud bead chandeliers.
Source from Pinterest.

Great juxtaposition between textures and old vs new.
Sourced from Pinterest. 

I am looking forward to tomorrow's post! It is going to be another interesting one. 

Happy Monday, 

JDZ x

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE FLOOR

This was a while ago on site whilst furnishing a residential property. You will notice apart from my very bright yellow jumper that the artwork and the mirror are not fixed to the wall.

Over sized and large scale floor standing mirrors can be a great statement piece for any room, particularly a bedroom. 

This one was a beautiful oversized mirror with a chunky black frame which supported itself against the wall in the dressing room of a walk in robe. Not only did the mirror help to open up the narrow space but it added elegance and a point of difference. So naturally I thought why NOT hang the art as well, but place it against the wall on an ottoman. It worked perfectly and made the space look warm and intricate. It also helped to draw your attention to the finer details, like the lovely fabric on the ottoman. Who knew it could provide more purpose than just for something to sit on.

I really think it is important to think about how you frame art, position it and hang it, even if it is by layering it on a console or ottoman against on the wall instead of on it. ( This applies to mirrors too ) Framing or not framing can really impact the way the piece and space is perceived by it's audience. Same goes for the height you hang the image from or wether it is off centre or a pair that are completely two different sizes. 

In the last image below I used a small mirror that too was not hung on the wall and acted more as an accessory more than anything else. It's size and shape completely contrasted the console it was placed on but it just worked! 

In my books there are really no "rules" it is all about just taking some time to really consider your feature art piece or mirror and deciding what you want it to say in your space. 

Dont be afraid to think outside the frame.