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Wow what a year! It has easily been the biggest year of my life with so many important things happening.

At the beginning of 2013, Robin and I were living in Brisbane having moved over from London to Australia. Robin was looking for work and got a job in Melbourne which is awesome because Melbourne is the coolest (fact). So we moved to Melbs, found a rental in Fitzroy North and built a nest. I got to decorate the whole place pretty much from scratch which was immensely satisfying.

Then it was head down, bum up and working on launching my Homely Creatures range. It has been my dream ever since I can remember to start my own product range so finally getting around to doing it was by no means a small deal. But all the action happened in the last quadrant of 2013 with a holiday to South Africa which was awesome beyond words, and then finally launching Homely Creatures product range and online shop at the end of November.

How could this year getting any bigger? I'll tell you how... Off to the French Alps we went to spend Christmas skiing with my family and my brother's wife's family. Robin and I nipped up to Paris for new years celebrations with friends and then just before 2013 came to a close Robin popped the question... And I said yes!!

I really can't dream up five things more wonderful than these key events of the past 12 months. Followers, old friends, new friends, family and especially Robin have all given me so much encouragement and support through one of the most important years of my life and I thank you one and all. I honestly couldn't have done any of it without you.

Bring on an equally epic 2014!!!

Hi! Come in, come in. Come through to my lounge. Take a seat. Can I make you a cuppa? :)

A couple of weeks ago I showed you inside my guest room/office. Today its the living area. Although it isn't where I'm supposed to be working (given such a great office) it is where I spend most of my time. I love this room! A lovely open space with white walls, an awesome couch and sliding glass doors that let the sun pour in. There is a great view of our courtyard and easy access to the open plan kitchen, which I will show you soon enough. Also easy on the eyes is the lounge chair that I found at a garage sale, stripped back and restored with black and white geometric fabric.

I fell in love with the white, salmon pink and green (plants) colour palette after I saw this pin from weekday carnival. But wanted to be adventurous with bold black and white pattern and recently added the hints of neon yellow - just cause!!

Because we moved to Melbourne from London with no furniture I essentially had a blank canvas which made it very easy for me to plan what I wanted each space to look like and just go for it. Mind you there was nothing 'easy' about putting together Ikea furniture, restoring old garage sale finds, or sourcing the perfect couch and cushions... But I'm so pleased with the result that its 'easy' to forget the sore back and splinters.

Random fact - the salmon cushion is actually a jumper (aka a 'sweater' to my American readers) that I bought online for myself. It looked so much better wrapped around a cushion than wrapped around me, and so it was adapted to its new purpose in life - to compliment my favourite chair. I just love the soft wool texture.

Also bringing life and texture to my lounge is the constant stream of fresh flowers I like to decorate with. Australian native flowers and leaves go especially well with dusty greens complimenting the salmon pinks perfectly.

When planning the look for this room, I gathered ideas on my Pinterest board with no style in mind - just choosing things that I liked. Due to my lack of interior knowledge, I only discovered that I had been heavily influenced by Scandinavian design after the room was complete. I like to think that I have put both a personal and Aussie twist on it though.

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

Hello lovelies. How are we this happy hump day?

Recently I have been attempting to balance launching the Homely Creatures product range with freelance work and getting our place ready for visitors. I can't tell you how much I enjoy having guests over, especially when they are friends from London who I haven't seen in ages. My inner house wife comes out and I transform my disaster-zone-esk office into a welcoming guest room.

The office/guest-bedroom has a different character to the rest of the house because this is where I keep a lot of my fun, colourful and quirky homewares. In this room, I explore my love of bright colours and craft with my handmade wire fox bust and neon dipped tassel garland cheering up the wall and centring the room.

To accommodate guests as well as my sprawling craft projects, we wanted to get a couch that doubled as a comfy bed and didn't take up too much room. Easier said than done when most sofa beds don't fit through the bedroom doorway, as we found out the hard way. Thank goodness a friend suggested we check out the Futon Factory for custom made and affordable futons made in Australia from quality materials. We also got our beautiful timber bed base from them, which I'll have to rave about in another post about our bedroom.

Stay tuned for sneak peeks into the other rooms of my house.

 

Do you ever get your heart set on something for your home, only to spend hours and hours searching in vein for somewhere you could buy it from? This seems to be happening to me weekly at the moment. Think I can find just an ordinary, affordable, timber bed base with no bed head attached? Think I can find some outdoor string lights that aren't in primary colours? Think again. I can waste DAYS trawling through Ebay, Gumtree, and online shops looking for that one specific thing that I just don't want to compromise on... and this time it was a beautiful indoor plant know as the 'Fiddle Leaf Fig' or 'Ficus Lyrata'. I have seen it appearing more and more in lovely interiors and I just adore its huge fan (or fiddle) shaped, dark green leaves. I decided I simply had to get myself at least one for my living area, and by the time I discovered it was impossible to get one in Melbourne at the moment it was already too late. Upon turning to Gumtree as my last hope, I noticed loads of 'wanted' ads for these beauteous plants but the only supplier that was advertised as having them in stock was far away in sunny Queensland. I decided to call anyway, and I had a lovely chat with the nursery owner who didn't fully understand my obsession but was willing to feed it. In the end she posted me 2 Fiddle Leaf Figs in normal snail mail, wrapped up in newspaper and plastic bags. I followed helpful instructions to pot them in a good quality potting mix with a built in plant food, water them well and keep them out of the cold but with plenty of light. Its been a few days since I carefully unwrapped them and they seem to be doing okay! So far so good... but 'touch wood' as I am usually a serial plant killer. I'm hoping this time, with a lot of care and a little research my two cute Fiddle Leaf Figs will grow to be a big and beautiful as those seen in the Inspired Room Blog and the Design Files. Wish me luck!

As I patiently await to see what house we will end up living in, I spend hours online creating a wish list for furniture and homewares to full it with. Perhaps one of the most important pieces, I have put a lot of thought into what couch I would want. The colour, size and comfort of the couch need to be considered but also the look, and how versatile this look is to be a backdrop for my ever changing taste in colours and décor style. One inspirational image I keep on going back to and drooling over is this interior with a grey couch with pink and black added for a homely but still chic look. I included it in my blog article talking about my requirements while 'Searching for my Dream Home.' Photographed by the Klein for Alt Interiors Magazine, the gorgeous Major Sofa has been used in the same room to create three different looks. The sofa is not sold in Australia to my knowledge, but even if it was, it's so far out of my budget that I could only justify buying it if I could also live in it and it washed my dishes for me. So I'll do my best to find a more affordable compromise. Although I do like the busy walls and gold lamp of the last room, and am spotting a 'smoky greys' trend in the second image that I really like, the first room is my definite favourite. What's yours?  

So, I've done it. I've made the move to Melbourne! But all this packaging and digging out coats and scarves has made me reminisce of days in London. I have never missed her more than I do right now, so I thought it fitting to post about the perfect place I used to live in East London - a safe oasis of lush living called 'Bow Quarter'.



My boyfriend and I couldn't believe our luck when a good friend invited us to rent his small but amazing flat after he flew away to Australia. Bow quarter used to be a match factory before it got converted into seven hundred and something flats. When taking us on the tour of the historic gated community, he had barley made it past the duck pond and into the mini grocery store before I decided that I wanted to live there. So you can imagine my excitement when I laid my eyes on the stunning high ceilings and huge window in the original exposed brick wall.



Sure it was small. The bedroom looked over the living area (mezzanine style) with the open plan kitchen below and the small bathroom behind it. But it's not the size that matters, its what you DO with it that counts! ;) And with a bar and gym in our very own building (yes they cancel each other out) I felt like our home extended far beyond our little front door.

I tried my best to work with the furniture that was already there which included a brown corner couch, glass coffee table and some light pine tables and desks. Lots of natural colours, soft textures and plants helped me make the place feel cosy and homely. We got a really affordable shaggy rug from Argos which really helped, and a floral quilt my mum painstakingly made just for me was one of the final touches.



The kitchen had a lot of stainless steel industrial looking appliances which I really liked so I put them on display. Everything had to have a place because of our lack of space, but we quickly got used to this and attempted to keep everything tidy, cause as soon as you mess one area up, the whole space is affected because it's practically one big room.



There was nothing nicer than coming home to Bow Quarter, having a key to big iron gates that let me through castle-like brick walls, walking past the pretty manicured gardens, collecting parcels from the post room next to the iconic red telephone box and saying hello to all of the resident's pet cats that wander the grounds. As a freelancer who works from home, having a constant supply of affectionate kitties to play with just outside my building was invaluable!



In the spring time the trees bloomed with white flowers. Autumn brought stunning red and orange leaves that would fall leaving gorgeous red cherry-like bunches on the branches. Even in the depths of seemingly never-ending winters, Bow Quarter made it okay. The heated pool and spa was there if we could ever be bothered to use it, and we often didn't even need to use our heating as the flats either side of us gave our flat a big warm hug. London snow became less of a pain and more of a treat, turning Bow Quarter into a winter wonderland.



Okay well I have successfully made my self even more homesick for London now, which doesn't help when I've just had to say goodbye to awesome Brisbane friends. Now on a mission to find a cool place to live in Melbourne, I regret being spoilt by beautiful Bow, as I doubt that anywhere could hold a candle to 327 Manhattan Building, Bow Quarter.

A little surprise for you today - that's right, I'm giving away my trade secrets! The Homely Creatures fawn cushion is one of our most popular products but today I am walking you through how to make your very own cute creature cushion!

You will need:
At least 60 x 110 cm piece of cotton canvas material
A pencil and some A3 paper
A black Sharpie pen or fabric paint
Fabric scissors
10-20 safety pins
A sewing machine, complete with white cotton
Stuffing / wadding
Needle and white cotton thread



DIY Instructions:
1. On an A3 sheet of paper, sketch out your character. It might not be a fawn - maybe your favourite animal is a cat.
Tip: If you aren't the best drawer in the world then maybe you could trace a photograph of your pet and then blow it up to A3 using a photocopier. The other option you have is to find some fabric that already has a large animal printed onto it that you can simply cut out. Or if you are really serious, you can get your design digitally printed onto some fabric.
2. Using pencil, transfer the drawing onto half of your fabric, making sure there is at least 8cm of room between the edge of your character and the edge of the fabric.
3. On the other half of your fabric you will need to transfer the design as a mirror image. You could do this by tracing the design on the opposite side of the paper your original sketch was on.
4. Once your design is on the fabric in pencil you can trace over it with a black Sharpie pen (which doesn't fade or come off) or paint it on with fabric paint.
5. Arrange your two pieces of fabric with the outside designs facing in and line them up perfectly. It helps to hold the fabric up to the light so you can see if the two characters are perfectly lined up.
6. Pin the two pieces of fabric together using about 10 safety pins so that the design stays lined up and won't slip. Put the pins in the middle so they don't interfere with sewing.
7. Use a pencil to lightly draw a shape around the character about 2-3cm offset from the edge of the character.
8. Using a sewing machine set to a normal straight stitch, sew along this line but be sure to leave a hand-sized hole so you can stuff your creature later.
9. Cut around the creature shape about 1cm away from the sewing line.
10. Turn the cushion cover inside-out so the design is on the outside. You might need to use a long, thin implement to make sure the ears are right.
11. Stuff with hobby stuffing or be green and stuff with recycled materials like fabric scraps or plastic bags. Don't over-stuff!
12. Sew the hole closed by hand, being as neat as possible. Maybe you want to add a label at this stage?
13. Welcome your newly adopted creature to the world and introduce it to your couch!

I'd love to see a photo of your DIY creature cushion result on the Homely Creatures Facebook Page.

If you aren't into delayed gratification, you can buy yourself a fawn cushion for $25 AUD (postage varies on your location) by getting into contact. Normally there would be some for sale in the Homely Creatures Etsy Shop but everyone keeps buying them before they even make it online! So get in quick.

 

Big news! Robin got the job so we are MOVING TO MELBOURNE!! Finally a chance to nest, but how to find the perfect home? We will be renting for the next year or so but have been travelling around so long that we don't want to live in just any old house or apartment. In this competitive rental market its going to be tough, but I am going to try my hardest to get us somewhere awesome that doesn't break the budget. While I would LOVE to find a converted warehouse with original brick walls or a loft apartment with a wall full of windows, I am trying to be realistic and only setting a few guidelines for my ideal home... 1. Character Maybe it doesn't have exposed brick walls, but maybe it does! Or maybe it has an interesting ceiling, unusual deck, Victorian details or wood panelling. Is it too much to ask for a little charm or character? I don't think so. I would even settle for a rooftop apartment like the one above by Boris via Lhaos and Lhaos. 2. Lots of natural light Maybe more important than character is natural light. A lot of the apartments and terrace houses in Melbourne are long and thin so I'm going to be very lucky to find an abode flooded with light like the above gorgeous interior by Alt Interiors Magazine (via San Francisco Girl by Bay). Loads of natural light is the key to a nice interior atmosphere, but also helps with interior photography. I want to photograph Homely Creatures products in context and you can't beat natural light in a photo shoot, I don't care how fancy your professional photography lights are! 3. Wooden flooring Okay so this one isn't a deal breaker, but I do love wooden floors. I just don't want ugly old, dark carpet bringing the rooms down. Even if just the main living area had floorboards or even a light concrete warehouse floor would be workable. 4. White walls Again, if the place was perfect but had cream or blue walls, I wouldn't turn my nose up (much!), but if I had the choice then white is nice! It's good to have a completely neutral canvas to work with where pretty colours and bold black and white patterns can pop. 5. Room to create Last but not least, I need room to create. I work from home and often have what my boyfriend not-so-affectionately calls 'craft explosions' so I need more than just a humble desk in the corner. I also feel that I need to be in a space that is inspiring and relaxing, not cramped and depressing. Just LOOK at the stunning office Erin Hiemstra from Apartment 34 (via Rue Magazine) has designed for herself. Not THAT is what I call inspirational. And did you notice this room ticks pretty much all the boxes of the afore mentioned guidelines? So I'm hoping the universe will notice my 'vision board' and I will get lucky enough to make this dream home a reality. I tell you, when I move in to my new home, whatever it looks like, I am going to nest in it so hard it won't even remember it's a rental!  

Homely Creatures is proud to present an original artwork for this week, a fun and fresh pattern 'Cockatoo Geometric'.

You only have to visit Etsy or read the Design Files to figure out that parrots are the next big thing, and that cockatoos rule the roost. You have to agree that these triangles in black and teal with a peach background makes this Polly pattern pop. Visit our Homely Creatures shop on Society6 or the Homely Creatures shop on RedBubble to grab yourself a print, a cushion or an iPhone case splashed with this fun and colourful pattern.

I simply can't WAIT to get this pattern on some cushions!

About a year ago, I threw caution to the wind and became somewhat of a drifter. Ever since, I have had more opportunities to live in some amazing temporary dwellings, than I ever would have dreamed of! The latest abode-tunity leads me to pinch myself, as I have everything a girl could ever want including wood panelling, tasteful decorating, a lovable black Labrador called 'Darrell' and even a kitchen sink (the last place I lived in didn't actually have one.) And best of all, the house owner actually thinks I'm doing her a favour by house-sitting! This beautiful house in Kangaroo Point, Brisbane reminds me a lot of the Queenslander I grew up in from it's front bedrooms with French doors to its polished hardwood floors. And how could anyone go past the above-door breeze-ways detailed with the Australian coat of arms reminiscent of the 1908-1912 version (the shield had the cross of Saint George). You can almost hear the national anthem echoing down the hallway! All nostalgia considered, all of the credit needs to go to Lee the clever lady who has thoughtfully transformed each room into it's own little stylish haven. I'm not sure which room I like more, the playfully colourful study or the French vintage styled spare bedroom! I can only hope that my luck will continue and I will be renting or even own a house a little like this one day soon, complete with adorable Labrador.

From Studio Pepe comes this refreshingly simple interior inspired by an 'endless summer'.