Chelsea Hing Design Consultants are Melbourne based interior designers with a strong architectural focus. Their design philosophy is based on interiors taking their cue from the architecture, making sense with the surrounding environment. Mix that with clever planning and a practical understanding of how people use space to live & work and you get sensational spaces. Young, fresh and colourful. First off we have an apartment in South Yarra, Melbourne. Carly Chisholm from CHDC explains. “This client had long wished to own a Neo Metro apartment and commissioned CHDC to select all of the furniture, rugs & lamps and consult on placement of artworks. Referencing from the artwork, we selected bold colours and pieces to work with the strong architectural envelope yet still hold their own. All elements were lifted up off the floor to maximise the compact spaces.”

Colour your thing? Then you’re going to love this hospitality fitout  for Aqua Fish & Chippery, Hawthorn. Well known in the wholesale seafood business, Aquanas Seafood initially opened AQUA as a retail store for fresh fish. Six months after opening, CHDC were asked to update the store fitout to incorporate a new fish & chippery. The store was completely replanned to address the separation between the fresh fish & cooked product and a new concept developed to give the shop a more nostalgic and friendly feel. I love it and while I’m here I’ll have a salt and pepper calamari and minimum chips and maybe a battered sausage…. maybe. Check out more on the CHDC website.

… right? When it’s good it is so good, when it’s bad it brings a smile to my face….  shag pile carpet under the treads anyone? So glad that one is long forgotten (I hope). Enjoy today’s retro scans from one of my all time favourite “vintage” design books Better Homes and Gardens New Decorating Book, Gerald M. Knox Editor, Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, Iowa, 1981. Can’t really call it vintage because I am so much older than it.

… drinking coffee reading magazines

WINKS – weekend links. Here we list what has come in during the week, things we’ve found and things we think you’ll want to see. If you’d like to see your blog or website featured email us and if we think it fits with our readers we’ll link you. So what’s in this week?

• Ecostasy – handcrafted beauty, inspired design, high quality, natural and renewable, productive conservation, social preservation, accessibility, contextualization and collaboration. Buzz words or beliefs? Katherine Ponte, founder of Ecostasy believes we can all make a difference. You’ll see what she means when you visit the website. Beautiful homewares, accessories and children’s clothing. Earthy and tactile.

• Meet Pierre & Charlotte. Transplanted from Paris to Melbourne they design the most gorgeous contemporary furniture and lighting. Earthy and modern, beautifully crafted and finished. I have lusted after the Big Tree Light for some time now.

• Discarded books have never looked so fabulous. Individual and handmade from discarded hardbacks each piece is a unique exploration of colour and traditional bookbinding techniques. As much a piece of art as a functional screen. By Samantha Parsons and Studio Sam.

• I want to run my hands all over this schnapps flask and glasses by Fenke Gabriel-Schwan. Made from dyed porcelain with a transparent glaze and the most tactile of squirrel imprints. (Deer available as well.) Head to her Etsy shop fnk for more loveliness.

• Zuster, Dutch for sister and Australian for stunning contemporary furniture design. Four sisters based in Melbourne and a company that has become known for beautifully crafted furniture. Simple clean lines, unadorned and of the highest quality. Every order is a unique and special project. Head online for more.

It’s difficult to put Japanese design firm Jamo associates into the usual pigeon holes we use. Interior designer, stylist, product designer. Their work encompasses all areas. It’s collaboration. Think concept styling, magazines, catalogues, shop co-ordination and display, space design and everything in between.  It’s marie clair and Real Simple, Elle Décor and Sony, Cibone and Laura Ashley. It’s a little quirky but always inspiring.

Speechless! Want, need, want, can’t have. I love this Paddington terrace. LOVE. From the exterior colour to the quirky touches inside, the white and the colour, the artwork and those Achille Castiglioni Diablo Rise and Fall Lamps. Don’t get me started on the furniture! Love. Way out of my price range but this girl will be having pleasant dreams tonight of a make believe life in this beauty. Here while the link lasts.