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THE DESIGN CHASER

Mybuckett | Online Store with a Difference

11.29.2013

I'm really excited to introduce you to a new online shopping experience today called Mybuckett, founded by well known kiwi business owner, designer and TV personality Peter Reid. Officially set to launch on Monday, I just got the inside word that the website is now live, so you can all get in early and check it out! Just make sure you allow a bit of time, because as you will discover, there is an abundance of beautiful products on offer, including homeware, apparel, beauty products and more.


A 'global nomad' and design guru, you may remember Peter from his days with Auckland design store Republic and The Warehouse, where he sold his 'Republic Revolution' range. Passionate about design and fashion-forward products, he has an eye for vintage, exotic and contemporary style of exceptional quality, and has personally hand-picked each item for Mybuckett.




The result is a uniquely curated collection, inspired by his adventures travelling the world. What makes Mybuckett even more compelling is its truly original method of sharing. Every purchase is granted a 10% giftback which can be kept in the customer's 'buckett' for future purchases. Or, if they choose, it can be donated to a selection of New Zealand based charities. What's more, another 10% is then available for the customer to share with their Facebook friends. How cool is that?


Not only can you take the stress out of Christmas shopping by doing it online, you get to be the first to try out a truly unique shopping experience. With so many gorgeous products on offer, I think it's inevitable you'll be sneaking in a few for yourself! To get started, pop over here where you'll find easy to follow steps, information on choosing a charity and a video of Peter talking about his exciting new venture. Keep up to date with store news by following Mybuckett on Facebook

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DIY Inspiration | MyDubio

11.28.2013

I recently discovered the blog MyDubio, written by Joyce Croonen, a lovely young Dutch psychologist, who loves to share her passion for interior design, fashion and photography. She juggles blogging alongside her consultancy job, running her business, and writing a book, admitting to being more of a "workaholic and computer addict than a let’s-party-and-sleep-all-day kinda girl." Well good for her, I say! Especially with all the cool content she posts on her blog, including an impressive line up of DIY projects. If you love a clean, monochrome Scandi-style but struggle to find (or afford) homewares that you love, then you should follow along. You're bound to pick up some great ideas to help add those finishing touches to your home.

First up, I want to show you Joyce's walk in wardrobe. I have to admit that since moving into our new home, and unpacking the wardrobe, I haven't done very much at all to our walk-in, but this has inspired me! I'm adding it to my bookmarks, along with my Wardrobe Inspiration post I wrote earlier this year.


As much as I try to colour code my clothes, they always end up getting mixed up. This is perfection! I also love the Small Talk Print, marble paper covered storage boxes (see the DIY below), vintage industrial cabinet and hanging light cluster (also a DIY, seen here).

Simple and affordable, Joyce made this Magazine Holder from a rack that she bought for €10 from Gamma, a Dutch home improvement retailer. 


Any mention of diamond-inspired homewares gets me excited, and these Clay Diamonds that Joyce made are awesome! See how to make them here.


Being that marble is another one of my obsessions, I've been lapping up all of the marble objects Joyce has cleverly created. Perfect for the home office or wardrobe (as shown above) these Marble Boxes are so easy to make. The DIY Marble Cage Lamp is another favourite. 


These DIY Coasters would definitely come in handy over the festive season. 


I think Joyce needs to make and sell these Painted Ombre Candles. I'd be her first customer! For her DIY on how to make your own candles, take a look hereThe second image shows the Ombre Candles alongside her DIY Concrete Pyramid and Thrift-shop side table that she partly painted white.



For more of this DIY goodness, as well as interior design and fashion inspo, sign up to MyDubio on Bloglovin. I also recommend following Joyce on Instagram.

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Girls Room Inspiration | Babies & Beyond

11.27.2013

I have baby girls on the brain right now. One has just entered the world, and belongs to my gorgeous cousin. She has two big brothers who are very close to my boys, and we cannot wait to meet her! Another dear friend whose baby shower I'm going to this weekend has her first child, a girl due early next year. Both of these ladies have great style and are opposed to dressing their daughters in pink, which makes me smile. I think I would be same, at least until they were old enough to choose for themselves! When it comes to decorating a girl's nursery, I like the idea of white and soft greys, and while a touch of soft pink is okay, I prefer yellow, pale blue and coral tones. Here are some girls rooms I'm loving right now. 

A gorgeous interior design project by My Deer who I introduced you to last week, I love the white canvas, yellow accents, cosy sheepskin and polka dot wall stickers. 



I love everything about this Nursery Project by The Animal Print Shop. Featuring the beautiful Baby Elephant fine art photography print, it is part of a series of Baby Animals by the hugely talented photographer Sharon Montrose, created especially for nurseries. Showcased perfectly here, the white walls, addition of natural materials such as wood and sheepskin, together with pops of yellow and coral compliment the print beautifully. 




This last room belongs to Kenzie, the daughter of blogger and La Petite magazine editor Rachelle Francey. Kenzie is the inspiration behind Rachelle's blog Kenziepoo. I love the colour scheme and Scandi-style. There's loads of inspiration here for little princesses, whether they are babies, toddlers or big five year-olds like Kenzie!


 For more ideas and inspiration, take a look at my Pinterest Kidsrooms board.

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Interior Styling | Plant Storage Ideas

11.26.2013

As you know, I'm slowly growing my indoor plant collection. While I'd love to buy more and more, I hesitate to do so because with each new plant comes the need for a new pot, and of course the bigger the plant, the bigger the pot. It all starts to get very expensive, which is why I've started looking for more affordable alternatives. One idea is using a natural woven basket. You may even have one lying around home you hadn't though of using. We got given a lovely big hamper from our building company, and straight away I thought of ways of how I could re-use the basket it came in. While it's currently storing toilet paper in the ensuite, I may try housing a plant in it one day soon!




The use of paper bags is becoming more and more popular for plants. Brands such as UASHMAMA make them in different sizes and a range of colours including black, white, grey, neutral, and even metallics. I have a gold one but I'd love to own more! 


I love this idea for the Christmas Tree!


Big fabric bags or laundry hampers also make great alternatives to the traditional pot.


How about this easy DIY project? Made from hessian sacks, I stole this idea from a friend on Instagram. Jodie of Little Design Studio made these for her daughter's Fete, and later used them as pots for her plants. Genius! If like me sewing is not your forte, you can buy ready-made hessian sacks from places like this.  


Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

For more ideas and inspiration, here are some examples from around the web. 

Links below images 

1 Basket by Albano Ghizzoni from Merci 
2 Lampsi Silverwash Storage Baskets from Citta Design 
3 Sac En Papier from Merci
4 Basket from Albano Ghizzoni from Merci 
5 Natural Basket from Bodie and Fou
6 UASHMAMA Large Metallic Washable Bag from MintSix
7 Lefko Basket Set from Citta Design

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Pinterest | Picks & Peeks

11.25.2013

Having recently interviewed Superette founder Rickie Dee, I was excited to see her stylish home featured in the latest issue of Homestyle. With a sneak peek over at Fancy I also saw these awesome images by photographer Duncan Innes popping up on Pinterest over the weekend. 


Rickie showcases her cool style with pieces from the Superette Home range and pops of bright colour. I especially love the office moodboard and reindeer hide in the bedroom.


When I came across this next image of a hanging planter I had to find out more. The result of a collaboration between one of my favourite designers, Brooklyn-based Doug Johnston and Michigan-based photographer Debbie Carlos, the pair spent the summer creating a series of objects under the name 'Material Material'. By simply shipping each other raw materials for each other to use, they came up with some very cool designs, later shown at the San Francisco shop Little Paper Planes. The Hanging Planter which I love, was made out of a sheet of rubber sent from Doug to Debbie! See more of their creations over at Sight Unseen


I frequently pin the work of Swedish interior stylist and photographer Daniella Witte, who I featured in this post. Her newly decorated courtyard apartment caught my eye with its bright and airy interior, and signature pared-back Scandi style. Located in the country, but still close to both Malmö and Copenhagen, it would make a lovely weekend escape. See more photos over on Daniella's blog.


Lighting is definitely one of my favourite elements of interior design and styling, and I love pinning new finds to my Lighting board. The unique range of Helix lights by Brooklyn-based lighting designer Bec Brittain is exquisite. Made from custom brass hardware and LED tubes, I love the ellipse white marble and cravat granite counterweights.


Finishing off with a couple of Pinterest moodboards, I can't resist using this first colour combination again and again. Featuring soft pinks and blush tones together with muted greys, the effect is so calming. Perfectly suited to my mood at the time, I was thankful when Friday came around last week, after a busy few days.


Summer appears to have arrived early here, and I was so excited to see the first signs of red appearing on our Pohutukawa tree and the sun shining all weekend. I also made sure I got in some much needed rest and relaxation, with a moodboard inspired by the adorable photo of a toddler and puppy sleeping, which I pinned straight to my Moments board.

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Black & White Prints | Friday Favourites

11.22.2013

Yesterday I was working with one of my lovely clients, helping to get her home ready to put on the market. Home styling is a really important step to consider pre-sale, and I'm excited to be adding this Auckland-based service to TDC Style. If you or anyone you know is needing help in that area, please get in touch! 

Another fun job I had recently was helping a client source some black and white prints for her home in Australia. Something that was right up my alley, it also led me to finding many more prints that I'd love to buy! Even if you're not as monochrome-mad as I am, a black and white print will mix in beautifully with colour, either on a picture wall, layered and leaning against a wall, on a shelf or hung solo. There are some standout posters that keep re-appearing in the gorgeous Scandi-style interiors that I'm constantly pinning, posting to Facebook, blogging about or adding to my moodboards. As such, I get a lot of readers asking where to buy them, so I thought I'd put those clear favourites into one post for easy reference. 

The Andy Warhol posters are simple, bold and feature quirky phrases to add fun and whimsy to any interior. While they can be purchased from the Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Malmö, sadly they are not available online. If I ever have the pleasure of visiting Sweden, I will definitely be bringing home at least one, starting with the 'All Is Pretty' poster - my favourite!



I haven't yet acquired the Playtype G Poster that I put on my Home Build Living Room Wishlist earlier this year, but I will one day. Even though I go by my maiden name on the blog, my husband and kids' surname (and my married name) actually starts with a 'G' so I think this poster is a must for our family home! Take a look at the full range of Playtype Posters and shipping info here.


La Maison D'Anna G, a gorgeous online shop in France has a great range of posters, and they ship worldwide. As well as the Playtype G, and other Playtype Posters, Anna sells the beautiful range of black and white typography prints by Swedish designer Ylva Skarp who I wrote about here. I love both the Personality and Creativity posters, shown below. 




Poster No Five is available from Wall Stuff in Sweden, but the good news is they ship worldwide. Judging by the fact that this is their best seller - I've also been asked on several occasions where to get it - five must be a popular number. My lucky number is eight, so I've got my eye on this one! You'll also find some cool number prints here.


Next up is the Cocao Eyes Poster, featuring the Mazetti Ögon logo, by Swedish graphic designer Olle Eksell. Printed in 1999 for his exhibition at the Form Design Center in Malmö, Sweden, take a look here and here for some options on how to buy.



Bodie and Fou has a great selection of black and white prints. The Bat Girl Poster is another popular one. A cute idea for a girl's bedroom, it would add quirky fun to any room of the home.


Images01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 |10 | 11 | 12 

Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg! Over time I've built up a good directory of places to source affordable online prints, so if you need help or advice, I'd love to hear from you. I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I'm hoping this glorious sunny weather in Auckland stays put! 

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