FUN CHRISTMAS DIY IDEAS

Are you a lover of Kikki K? Well I am and I especially love all the motivational stationary that they have on offer at the moment. To make it even better they have recently had a series of fantastic blog posts that are dedicated to do it yourself fun Christmas ideas that will make your home look amazing and unique for Christmas.

Here are the top four that I love:

Do it yourself Paper wreath- Have you ever thought of making a paper wreath for your home? I never have and think it is a very easy and great idea!

Funky wrapping paper- Make your presents look amazing under your christmas tree! There is nothing better than a huge bunch of presents that look amazing wrapped under the tree.

Paper Christmas Tree- Not everyone has the ability or even likes your traditional christmas tree, so why not try something a little different? 

Stylish table setting with amazing native Australian flora- making a beautiful table setting for your christmas day sets a really great mood and setting to make some beautiful memories with your family and friends. 

Hope you are having a lovely day,
JDZ x

FEATURE FRIDAY: RADIANT ORCHID

It is nearing the end of 2013 and with that comes the new prediction and nomination for colour of the year from none other than Pantone. Do you know what Pantone is? Well, it is the universal colour chart of all colours for designers and printers alike, it just makes sure that we all have a reference to every colour combination around and it just makes it so easy knowing that we can reference the colour and everyone/anyone you are working with will know the exact combination to achieve the  exact colouring you are after. There is a real art to the printing process and understanding colours and how they transform from digital to print, from screen to paper etc. It really isn't so black and white, as what you may understand to be black, may not be black at all, it may be a really dark brown or blue, so you have to be very careful. Colour variation occurs all the time and it also just doesn't happen from screen to screen it happens when it is applied to different materials and paper weights as well.

It is an exciting time of year to know the Pantone colour prediction for 2014 is here and we know what will be very popular over the next year. I think it is a very good prediction as for the last couple of months leading into the new summer season, the bright as well as pastel colour combination have been very prominent. Just as the name suggests it is very vibrant/radiant and warming... What do you think of the new colour of the year?

Ps: Orchids are my favourite flower!

SUMMER LOVIN'

I just had to post quickly about the first day of summer, because it not only marks the true beginning of the festive season but it means those hot days and long summer nights I always rant on about and dream about are coming our way! Lots and LOTS of awesome stuff coming up over this december and just because it is almost Christmas does not mean in anyway we are slowing down... if anything we are busier than ever and loving it. Look out for lots of fun things including my own wish list and gift guide this month.

To mark the beginning of Summer, I am talking all about preparing for your festive season on The Men Behaving Handy blog... so make sure you go and check it out. It is full of tips you will never find anywhere else.

Happy Monday!
JDZ x

STRIKING COLOUR

Ali McNabey- Stevens is my new favourite artist, it is as simple as that. Her bold use of colour, striking combinations and compositions have really captured my attention and the likes of many around the world. She was trained in Britain but now lives in Melbourne Australia and will be one of the featured artists on Offsprings Season 4, which is pretty huge in itself. I find the bold use of colour very brave and even though they are abstract you can still get a sense of style and the concept behind the pieces, especially in her peonies series. I am not surprised at all that I am in love with her pieces, especially because I love peonies, which are up there on the favourite flower list. Don't you think Ali's pieces would make for such a great entry artwork in a hallway or on a blank white wall? The bold colours and patterns are pretty perfect.

Find out a lot more about Ali and her pieces by visiting her website. 
All images sourced directly from her website.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Here is to taking this week by storm!

JDZ x

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR GREAT OUTDOORS PART 2

At the beginning of the week I was talking about how to embrace your outdoor space during this Summer. It is such a shame not to take advantage of it especially if we have some amazing weather, which I really hope we do because there is nothing like a good dose of the sun. Add friends, food, music and cocktails to the list and you have yourself one amazing outdoor experience. Interiors wether they be indoors or outdoors are spaces which offer a specific type of experience, the thing that makes space so great, especially outdoor ones, is the ability to adapt it and style it in such a way to enhance or generate a particular experience. Currently I am assisting to style a party for a very special occasion, with a summer nights theme and concept, which we are aiming to re create. There are many different elements that are going to contribute to enhancing and making that experience... which by the way, I cannot wait to share with you. The party which I have been giving style advice for has inspired these outdoor posts, especially because you do not need to do a lot to make an exterior outdoor space look and feel amazing, so there is really no better way to embrace them and make them your own, especially as the Christmas season is just around the corner... ahhhh!! ( Who else is freaking out? )

Ikea currently has a great promotion happening at the moment where they are really focusing on the outdoor space and what you can use to achieve a unique and exciting entertaining area that will surely be a great place to enjoy those still summer nights. Here are some images from the Ikea promotion sourced from the Ikea website where you can see how you can create a great outdoor space.

How do you plan on enjoying your summer outdoor space? Hope you have all been having a good week!

All images sourced from the Ikea Outdoor Inspirations page.


JDZ x

ENJOYING THE GREAT OUTDOORS

One of the best parts about Summer is those late nights where the air is completely still, the temperature has dropped from being really hot and unbearable to a temp that is just perfect, where you do not need a jumper at any hour and it is so relaxing. That emotion and feeling is what lots of us crave and really desire to get something out of their outdoor spaces. Your outdoor space should really become an extension of the inside and have some serious zones that can assist it in being utilised from all aspects. It can however, like everything, become really expensive, but with some motivation, some inspiration and some great products you can really love to jazz up your space without burning a whole in the pocket. Today I wanted to inspire you with some inspirational imagery and then tomorrow introduce some great pieces that can really help to have you loving your great outdoor spaces.

All images sourced from Pinterest. You can follow me here. 

Have a great Wednesday,

JDZ x

FEATURE FRIDAY: GET READY FOR SUMMER WITH KAS

With such beautiful weather and summer just around the corner there has been a lot of talk through my blog and others about getting your home ready for the hot weather. Spring cleaning, de cluttering and brining the summer vibe right through your home are topics which are really hot right now. KAS a leading Australian contemporary and youthful homewares brand has hit this brief right on the head with their new summer campaign. Tropics, Island Escapes, Pineapples, cocktails, travels... it is all the rage this spring summer 2013/2014, which KAS captures without a doubt in their very vibrant new collection. It makes me want to jump on plane en route to somewhere tropical, when looking at the images because clearly it evokes the real need to be hiding away on a beach in the sun! Thankfully it is the long weekend down here in Sydney and we are expecting beautiful weather.

What I really love about this KAS collection is the vibrant colour combinations as well as mix matching of different patterns on the one cushion or bedding range. That is very clever and usually we do not see that type of attention to detail on a retail level,  but more so when the designer has the control over upholstery and knows that mixing two different prints or colours on the one surface will work beautifully. I also like that along with the vibrant range they have interpreted the ever so popular grey and made it a little more fancy and earthy to match the summer theme. Which I think is a great idea, as it gives you the ability to differentiate between casual vs more fancy homewares/accessories. We are also seeing geometric again, which I love but an introduction to the ever so popular water colour prints this season, which are a nice contrast and softer in colour and pattern.

Take a look and be inspired by the beautiful colour combinations and patterns. Images have been sourced from the KAS Summer Catalogue and can be found here. For more information on KAS or to buy any of their beautiful products make sure to visit the website by clicking here.

I'd also like to say, their styling team and design team have done an absolutely amazing job creating these beautiful images. They are very very well done!

Enjoy the long weekend! We hope this inspires you.

JDZ x

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE

Living a good and happy life is all we want to achieve and I believe this is not just achieved through material things but can be complemented by beautiful homewares and accessories that assist in creating your 'perfect' lifestyle. Have any of you ever been to Greece? I am dying to go and it is on my list of places I must visit, along with all of Europe again. Europeans seem to know how to live the life and are always striving for fun, happiness and a life that is good. This brings me to my new online homewares discovery of CITTA Designs, a New Zealand based design house that specialises in textile & homewares design.

Their 2013/2014 summer range is based on the inspirational life and culture of Greece. The designs are to captivate the culture and good feelings that are associated and cultivated around summer, lying in the sun and living in the present moment. A philosophy I believe so strongly in, so you can only imagine my love for this collection, 'Greece Under The Sun.' It is a really tough thing sometimes to translate emotions that we associate with a certain belief or inspiration and them communicate them successfully through your designs so they are able to connect with your clients. When it is achieved and achieved well, it makes for great design. This is what I felt immediately when I started sorting through the CITTA Designs catalogue, I immediately got it! It communicated to me the love of colour, Mediterranean, life and summer. The designs have meaning as well as purpose, which I really love. The colours are exciting and beautiful too, blues, oranges, yellow, white, reds all connecting us back to those days in the sun and the sense of living the good life.

To find out more make sure to head over to their online store and website by clicking here. Take some time to watch their video too, it really explains what they are about and how they go about giving you the opportunity to live the good life through their designs.

Check out some images from their 2013/2014 Greece, Under The Sun collection.

All images sourced from their website. 


Happy Wednesday,

JDZ x

TOP FAVOURITE PICKS

Freedom just recently launched their new Summer collection for 2013/2014, which is super exciting because it is full of fun, bright, vibrant, neon, citrus bits and pieces. I feel it is really playing on the feeling and look that is summer and all the typical things associated with that wonderful feeling that summer brings everyone. Long days at the beach, cocktails, sitting outdoors, entertaining, sand, ocean and sun. These crisp colour combos are a breath of fresh air and for your summer interior; water painted cushions, contrasting colours prints, pineapples and bright furniture is the way to go.

Here are my top picks from the new range which I think are going to be an absolute hit for this summer. One of my girlfriends is moving into her new place in a couple of weeks and we were just talking about how amazing the pineapples are and how it is on her "must have" list. It also looks like YELLOW and mustard are sticking around for another season and making for bight and happy interiors.


All images sourced from Freedom Australia Website and can be found by looking through their website and online store.

Happy viewing,

JDZ x

COLOUR SPLASH & COCKTAILS - COUNT DOWN TO SPRING

Where are my Pina Colada's?! Spring is now two full days away and that means we are still counting down and sharing with you all what we think is going to be huge this spring. Apart from those hexagons that are popping up everywhere, florals are going to be huge this summer as well as bright colours, pastels, new take on tribal with lots of pineapples. Well, pineapples are not very new if you ask me because they were huge last summer too, but I think they are here to stay a little bit longer which is totally fine by me. I feel as though there will be a lot of reinterpretation and reinvention of the these similar prints and textiles. If you have had a chance to take a look in Freedom lately and even Ikea, you would notice that the new 2014 and summer campaigns are all centred around light colours, citrus prints ( freedom have some killer pineapple cushions at the moment!! ) fresh, lively, vibrant and happy. I think everyone has really had enough of winter and ringing in the spirit of summer in an exciting way.

Sparkk one of my favourite OZ made textiles and wall coverings are reinterpreting the pineapple and the vibrant colours with a bit of a tropical and aztec theme happening with some of their latest designs. What a great way to add some series colour and theme to particular spaces to liven them up for spring and summer. I am not lucky enough yet to own my very own Camilla piece and I am not one usually for very bright and loud colour in clothing, however I really can never NOT love Camilla's designs and the vibrance that are her prints. They are and would make you feel very special, flowing and really capture that feeling of summer, when it is so hot, coming from a long day at the beach, or heading out for some cocktails and the air is so still, stars are shinning and you do not need a jacket, even at 1am in the morning. I love that the prints and the style is reinvented and developed time and time again so that they look different but are in keeping with the identity of the brand itself. The aztec and tropical prints are all making me feel like I need to head over to the Caribbean!

I think that this spring and summer you all need to inject some floral into your space as well as lots and lots of colour. Reinvent your furniture if you have to, add a new artwork, create those funky vignettes with lots of colour and contrast, make some ice tea with lots of fruit, have a colourful fruit bowl and most importantly do not be afraid to make a change, spring is coming, shed all the winter blues, make some new goals for the end of the year and make them happen by doing!

Can you tell I am excited for SPRING? I have my very own new goal list and my very own list of things that need to get done by the end of the year so that I can enjoy my summer. What is on your list? Is it to finally paint that spare room? Is it to finally take that step into renovating? Is it just to buy some fresh flowers? Is it to spend more time enjoying the garden or being grateful for all that you have?
Let me know, I would love to hear from you all!

Here are some of the images and Sparkk prints that are inspiring me at the moment as well as being specified in an interior project! Hope they get the tick of approval!

Camilla runway looks for the MBFW 2013 Fashion Week.

You can find all of Camilla's beautiful clothes and even homewares on her website and online shop by clicking here. You can find all of Sparkk's designs on their great website by clicking here and heading under the design tab.


( Images sourced from the Camilla and Sparkk websites )

JDZ x