I really love this courtyard surrounded by the winding path to the spa….very earthy but still contemporary. The water would need to be a whole lot clearer before I climbed in though. These images are from the Jeffery Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture portfolio, where there are some great pictures to inspire your backyard design.

We have been looking at buying a home for a while since our return from Australia, and so the hunting continues.  While clicking my way through quite a few pics, I saw this beauty in Devonport on the North Shore in Auckland.  It is sooo me.  The colour, the furniture, the kitchen, all of it.  It’s for sale if you like it and to view more images click here.  The current owner and renovater is an interior designer, so it’s no wonder the place rocks! It’s also been in a couple of home magazines, so enjoy.

UK company Purlfrost has a large selection of window film for many applications; Decorative, Stained, Reflective and even a kids range.  My favourite would have to be their Stained Glass range that can be applied anywhere.  When the sun shines on it, it would show the best colour onto the wall and ground. Great for a yoga room.

You can apply it easily yourself and they have an installation guide online.  Purlfrost will happily ship worldwide, just contact them first and advise what you are intending to order.

These two photos are from a great home renovation in Redondo Beach – see the slideshow here.

The first image caught my eye as the many many tiles make it feel spa like, plus their colour is very calming, they are from Ann Sacks, a US company with a huge selection of ceramic and glass tiles for any area of the home.

I had to show you what a feminine fireplace looks like.  And the glass underneath is so much more chic that a tiled, built-up hearth.  Wittus, a US company has a large range of very hip fireplaces that they can ship to your door.  This one, called the Shaker is made in Germany and designed by Antonio Citterio – of course, something will always catch my eye when it’s near the Woods wallpaper by Cole and Son.  The kicker (always one when a designer is involved; it weighs nearly 140kgs and costs US$4,280 – that’s NZ$6000)!  Those long lovely legs almost makes it worth the price, but then there’s all that wood to put on…

For those folks out there who are lucky enough to own the iPhone 4 – even if there’s a bit of a glitch, here’s the fix for it.  Antenn-aid sells cool looking bandaids that attach to the edge of the phone to stop it dropping your call.  Get them right here at Etsy  - a multi-colored 6pk for only US$4.99 plus shipping, or you can buy a bulk lot and umm, sell them to your mates!  Or get the software update apparently, but that’s not fun looking!

via [Not-Cot]

I want the word ‘Bliss’ right above my yoga mat….the yellow is such a joyful colour scheme.  Mooza Designs in Sydney Australia use gorgeous japanese and retro paper to paste onto WC (Toilet) signs or make words, names and numbers.  Take a look at their shop, you’ll have trouble choosing your colour scheme from the custom range it’s all so joyous!

Holy toledo!  Mr Bohaute and I are Apple lovers and covet the iPad.  We know it’s cool, we know it would be used alot…but we had no idea you could do this on it.  Artist David Kassan paints a model over about three hours on the iPad.  The movie is 7 minutes long – you don’t have to watch the entire clip, but it’s worth it. Finger Painting for anyone, anytime, anywhere.

We have a bunch of boat sheds on the Orakei basin looking rather dilapidated and in need of a good spruce up, so when I spied these over at Inhabitat, I thought they would be a fantastic replacement.

The Crib prefab can be used anywhere – from your backyard, to a spot on the water to house the boat and chill-out upstairs. It’s inspired by the traditional American architecture of corn cribs, a common farm building used to store and dry corn. The smallest is 175 sq feet upstairs with an ideal garage style front opening (for those water views). Then there’s the additional 125 sq feet of exterior deck space. The larger of the two has 250 sq ft upstairs!. Of course, it’s only in the US, which would make these super exey to ship out and there are no prices on the website. And I should not forget to add, the Orakei boatsheds are privately owned – so perhaps the owners are happy with them just as they are.

Last weekend, I took Mum and Dad up to Matakana Markets outside Auckland so we could eat some great food and enjoy the crisp cool morning outdoors.  While we wandered around, Miss 15mths steered me into the shop Red Letter Day.  No, she is not a stationery nut – she saw a large poster of a camel and wanted to go and say ‘baa’ (like a sheep)…hehe.

Well, I fell head over heels for the Cavallini & Co products, (of which there were many) – among a lot of other lovely writing accessories.  Flora, fauna and geographic notebooks…box sets of divine stamps…flashcards and even decorative wrap – that you just couldn’t use because it’s too beautiful.  You can buy from Red Letter’s website, though really it is worth a drive to Matakana for the food, and the bunch of specialty shops tucked around the market area.

AT posted a while back about designing and printing on different mediums, and it’s not all that expensive. Often I have wanted to take a great image and put in on a plate, or a handtowel, but never got around to investigating further.  Below is a list of places where you can make it happen…..so what are you waiting for!

1. Spoonflower – design your own fabric
2. Teeny Tile – custom print tiles
3. The Wallpaper Maker – print your own designs on wallpaper
4. Ponoko – laser cut materials like felt, plastic and wood
5. Absorbent, Ink – screen printing onto glasses, coasters and handtowels plus more

Always at this time of the year, I go looking for options for heating your home – (in fact as I write, it’s supposed to drop to ZERO degrees tonight) ARGH!

Radiators now are becoming part of your decor and like this option, a piece of art.  This wall hung radiator is called ‘Splash’ and was designed by Chritian Ghion for Runtal.  It has a cool ripple effect across the front and looks fantastic in this bathroom.  Would like the whole ensemble thanks!

It’s Mr Bohaute’s birthday next month so I am looking around for a gift.  As he’s quite a – ahem, shall we say, ‘computer enthusiast’, I thought these would be fun.   Designed by Ravi Ratan, they hold 2GB each and can be engraved with up to 8 characters, available in gunmetal and gold finishes.

However, I am wondering if he will laugh as to the ridiculously small memory they have.  Hmmm, perhaps I have already talked myself out of them…..cool though!  Oh yeah, and they are only NZ$281.00 per pair…ouch!  Probably could get about 32GB or more on a regular flashdrive for the same price.

Now winter has arrived, it’s skiing time again, so I went hunting to find property in the ski area of Queenstown in New Zealand.  This beauty sits on 3.2 hectares of land, and has wide views of Coronet Peak ski-field, the Crown Range, the Shotover River and The Remarkables mountain range.  Wow, those alps will have snow all over them now.

I love the amount of land to run around on with family and friends on those crisp clear days, and no one would get sick of that view. Plus, the living areas look really inviting after those long days on the hill.   Click here to see more of the property or to contact the real estate agent.

As I try to find clever ways to store ‘stuff’, I had to go through my library for these images to inspire you in your home reno. Clever systems that utilise space that we often don’t think of.  The top left image shows how the top of the steps open up to use the deep cavity underneath.  It’s not often I wish we had stairs, but these would be cool.

second images via [AT]

Oh dear, we have fish!  And a sea snail!  It was not the plan.  Now we have moved back to NZ (yes that’s 4 moves in 17 months) – Master Nearly 6 was desperate for a pet, and how perfect was the timing when a friend needed to give hers away, as her new cats were fishing!

These tanks above are totally cool for a fish, though I am probably guessing they are for the ‘fighting fish’ rather than the common goldfish due to their size.  How hip are these for a kids room, or even your kitchen.  The white ‘Fish Hotel’ is by Teddy Luong and it can stack on top of each other to make an apartment building for fish.  Measuring 7.5″ x 7.5″ x 8″, you can buy it here for US$25 (about NZ$37) plus shipping internationally.

The other called the ‘Retro Room Aquarium’ can be bought here for US$20.  It measures 6″ H x 7″ W x 5″ D, and takes only 1 litre of water.   Happy fish shopping!

While we are still in temporary accommodation, I did not bring books for bedtime.  And so each night either myself or Mr Bohaute makes up a story for Master 5 & 3/4.  He absolutely loves them and I think they just might be more fun than us reading from a book, as he gets to imagine the story in his mind! I am quite surprised how fun it is, and have started typing them out after I’ve told the story as it’s impromptu all the way.

So I smiled when I came across this great bowl from Ayda Anlagan, the designer of this and other great story bowls. They can be purchased through her website or, here for about AU$29, plus shipping. What a great way to add another story to a child’s world.

via [If it's Hip It's Here]

Time I posted about music huh?  Usually other than nursery rhymes or the lovely Baby Einstein, I don’t get to listen to grown up music, however, while reading my RSS feeds, I chanced upon this little ditty by She & Him.  The dancing makes me smile and remember the good ole days when I loved to ‘modern dance’; in my blue leotard in my parents room in front of the old dresser that had the biggest mirror in the house. [hehe]. I think you’ll love this one too….enjoy.

If there is something that frustrates me in the morning when I am running out the door, is a flat mobile phone battery. Either I forgot to plug it in, or Miss 9 mths flicked the switch off at the wall.

This solar charger would be perfect and would live in my car or be charging my phone while on the top of the stroller. The P-Flip, by Dexim can be flipped vertically or horizontally for hands-free use and can extend your talk time up to eight hours, 15 hours for video or gaming and 60 hours of music.  The best part is you can buy it very soon and will be priced at about US$80.

[via]

This stuff rocks!  All those things around the house that need fixing and you can’t find stuff to fix it.  Well, SUGRU is silicone clay that you whip out of the packet, roll it in your hand to soften, mould into or onto what your ‘fixin’, then it starts to cure within 30 minutes, leaving it overnight to fully cure (or about 24hrs).  Click here for their website, to buy and to watch the video.

PS – this stuff is so popular it sold out…you may have to keep checking back for the next shipment.

I like the look of this glass benchtop, and even better, hot pots can be placed anywhere.

The Californian company behind these is Jockimo, and their ColorFuse™ products include color and air bubbles captured inside of the glass creating a three dimensional aspect to the panels. Texture, color, finish, laminating, edge polishing and back lighting are available.  Unfortunately, there does not seem to be a distributor or dealers for down-under installation.