Displaying posts from September, 2008

Everyone loves a contest. Especially one involving amazing prizes. Ed and Doug of Swank Lighting have signed on as a sponsor of Material Girls blog virtual design contest. Inspired by Metropolitan Home Magazine’s collaboration with SHOWTIME on Met Home’s SHOWTIME House Contest, Material Girls have launched a wonderful competition that you can all be part of. Swank Lighting is pleased to provide promotional assistance and the prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners.

So check out Swank Lighting’s post or Material Girls’ post for all the details about the contest. Looks like alot of fun!

I LOVE the following home that was featured on New York Social Diary a few weeks ago. It’s the townhouse of Lisa Mahar, a mother of three and owner of a toy store. I think it’s so great that she’s got toys and photos of her kids and their artwork scattered all over, and mixed in with all sorts of mid-century classic furniture. It’s a space that is perfectly comfortable and perfectly lived in. And cool.

I cannot believe that I have found the image above. That’s the vintage clothes rack I saw just last weekend at my “secret” source (see below). It is however a far more beautiful image than my humble snap. We’ve featured the amazingly talented Australian photographer Derek Swalwell before. I just dropped by his site to see if he had updated his images and he has! And they are gorgeous. He’s a man with a truly prodigious talent and an artist’s eye.

There is something earthy, ethnic and tactile in the eclectic designs of Michael Del Piero. The rustic and well worn mix with natural fabrics and carefully curated treasures whether ancient or finds from nature. It’s an aesthetic that I’m really drawn to. Beautiful calm and sophisticated interiors surrounded by tactile treasures. See more of her amazing portfolio here.

Regular readers will know that Kim and I cannot resist the hunt for secondhand bargains. We love thrift stores and junk shops, secondhand dealers and antique stores. I visited my new favourite secondhand haunt in Brisbane on the weekend and even though I want to keep it secret I just have to share. The 2 Peters run a treasure trove of a store. Stuffed to the ceilings with everything you never thought you had to have, it’s an ever changing source of those finishing touches for your home. It’s the sort of place that stylists and decorators love. Here are just some of the things that caught my eye.

OK so I bought the chinese garden stools, some fabulous oriental brass trays and a West German bowl but was seriously tempted by the cast iron dress rack from early last century. Wouldn’t it look great in a shop window or a sewing room? I have a thing for rusty and industrial and an old hand trolley also caught my eye. I was imaging it stacked haphazardly with a couple of the old timber crates I saw filled with overflowing pots of spring flowers. Alas no room in my courtyard though. No online site yet but coming soon (and we’ll let you know when). If something has caught your eye and you want to be let into the secret contact Peter here.