Ideas Blog
Choosing the Right Rug – Part 1 – Purpose
Rugs have long been used to add a touch of individuality to a space, turning minimalist and neutral backgrounds into more homely places to live. The vast range of sizes, shapes and designs makes it easy to find one that's perfect for creating the look and feel you're...
Renovation Value Adds: Flooring
I have been known to say that cat's pee smells like money to me. Which does tend to raise a few eyebrows in polite society! Along with some very strange looks. But if you want to renovate and flip houses, paying less when you buy and making the biggest impact with...
What’s on Trend Right Now? Warm Neutrals
When it first arrived on the scene, the trend for greys was new and exciting. But as the 2010s rolled on, it seemed like everything was grey. And maybe its time has come, or maybe there's enough in life to feel grey about already right now, but warm neutrals are...
Controlling Kitchen Chaos Part 8 – Location! Location! Location!
For this series, I've concentrated a lot on controlling chaos in your kitchen by maximising storage opportunities. But this time I'm going to take a slightly different approach and look at where you store things in your kitchen, rather than how. One thing that comes...
Colour and Interior Design – Black
While black is classed as a neutral colour, it tends to sit apart from other neutral colours as it's not a colour that fades into the background in the way many neutrals do. Instead, it tends to err on the side of dramatic and powerful. There are many positive...
Caring For Your Pillow
Caring For Your Pillow You can spend anything from a few dollars to a big chunk of cash on a pillow, but either way, it's important to take care of it. If you spent a lot, of course you want to help your investment last as long as possible. But more importantly,...
Renovation Decision Fatigue – How to Overcome It – Part 2
We've already taken a look at some ideas for overcoming renovation decision fatigue, but the good news is there's plenty more ideas on the list. You'll be over the hump in no time! Have the Conversation Maybe you're one of the 'lucky' ones who has an awesome bunch of...
Vignettes – Odd is Good!
When you're putting together a vignette as part of your interior styling, remembering that "Odd is Good!" is an important part of the process. You can take that to mean that unusual or interesting items are great in vignettes, and that's quite often true. But here...
Controlling Kitchen Chaos Part 7 – The Highs and the Lows
Whether your kitchen is large or small, there's a good chance there's wasted space that could be used for storage. We've already investigated quite a few of these in the first 6 instalments of Controlling Kitchen Chaos, and this time around we're looking at the highs...
Colour and Interior Design – White
For a long time white has been viewed mostly as a background colour. It's a neutral backdrop that allows other colours to be highlighted. It's regarded as clean and simple, and is a staple colour of minimalist and Hamptons design. In terms of meaning, white is...
Choosing the Perfect Pillow – Fill
Choosing the Perfect Pillow - Fill In a recent article, Choosing the Perfect Pillow, I took a brief look at some fill options. And although pillow manufacturers might try to convince you that their pillow's fill is the "best", reality is that different fills suit...
Renovation Decision Fatigue – How to Overcome It – Part 1
We've recently taken a look at identifying renovation decision fatigue and if possible how to avoid getting it in the first place. But what do you do if you're already suffering from it? How can you overcome it? When you get the feeling that you just want to walk out...
Vignettes – Bring Your ‘A’ Game
You've collected your objects. You have a place to put them. And now comes the fun part - how do you group them in a way that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye of the beholder? Now it's time to bring your 'A' game - or more specifically, think about the shape of...
Controlling Kitchen Chaos Part 6 – Corner Cupboards
If you've got a kitchen with a corner in it, chances are you've got a corner cupboard. Also known as the place where kitchen junk goes to die - or at least to vanish into impossibly dark places where you have trouble finding them again. I know I've spent my share of...
Renovation Decision Fatigue – How to Avoid It
Recently I talked about renovation decision fatigue, and how to identify it when it happens. Which leads to two obvious questions - how do you avoid getting it in the first place, and if you already have it, what can you do to overcome it? Today we're going to look at...