This picture inspired my post this afternoon.  I stumbled into Bloesem kids and found delightful wallpaper on the back of the closet. Usually the very beautiful wallpapers cost loads, so this is a brilliant way to use a little bit and not go bankrupt.  Stores often have left over rolls or off-cuts and sell them cheaply, so it’s worth checking.   The wallpaper on the back of this Ikea shelf is by Boras Tapeter in Sweden, called Linne 3308.  Sim Wallcoverings in Auckland may stock it, or they could order it in for you. Go get your DIY gloves on and get papering – it makes such a difference to a dull area.

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Water colour is beautiful.  I have tried my hand at watercolor before with a disastrous outcome, so I stick with acrylic.  While bouncing around on Etsy I popped up on this shop. Irene is an Italian artist and she has a large and gorgeous assortment of watercolour creatures to choose from.  They would make a great collection for a sewing room, or a child’s bedroom.  Each piece is about NZ$35, plus NZ$8 shipping.  Go take a look right here.

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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

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I can’t tell you much about this house as I don’t speak spanish and the website is well..spanish.   It is in Gandario, Galicia, Spain and the architect is Carlos Quintáns.  It’s a stunningly simple home blending the new form with old stone – striking and visible from inside the home.  In one of the photos, I love how the wooden floor vents are not in metal, but are seamless with the wooden flooring.  Of course the glass across the entire front is always a winner for me, and check out the view!

via [Materialicious]

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Mum loves owls;  she always notices them in books, on cards or fabric and so I have caught that same bug.  Decoylab has a great range of clocks to choose from, but of course this mod bamboo owl is my choice.  A little soft light mounted just out of sight behind the eyes would also light up a little one’s room as their night light.  They do two sizes – large 10″ x 8″ is NZ$94 and the smaller 5″ x 7″ version is NZ$66, plus only NZ$10 shipping.

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Ok, I got a little carried away looking at all the houses at Sagaponac and only because I wanted to show you this one. Now there are several I like that are totally cool….go take a look sometime.  This home is the Ban + Maltz Furniture House inspired by Mies Van der Rohe’s unbuilt Brick Country House.  It has 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms over 3800 square feet.  What’s clever about it is the primary structure – the house is made of modular cabinet units providing loads of storage, supports the roof, and encloses heating and cooling systems. What I would give for that much storage!

via [Apartment Therapy]

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If you think you’ve chosen the tiles for the kitchen or bathroom, think again!  Moving Color is the company behind these temperature sensitive tiles.  The base colour can match almost any colour you desire;  they change colour based on body or water temperature or whatever they are touching!   The temperature change point can be requested by you, so the dynamic colour change begins at the selected temperature and changes over three phases, each one is a 6 – 10° rise in temperature. Once the temperature peak is passed, the base colour returns and remains the same until the temperature drops.

The tiles can be used on floors, walls and counters and they are a green product, because they use glass that is 20 – 80% recycled. Also they come in eleven different glass textures.  How much you ask?….about US$15 for a tile 4 x 4 inches, so US$180 a square foot and they also do larger 18 x 18 inch tiles.  Nice and expensive way to make sure the shower isn’t too hot for the kids!

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This Penguin Wallpaper from ISAK in the UK is intense and cute and busy all at once, but I love it. Perfect for one wall or inside a closet.  You can buy it here for NZ$77 and they ship internationally.  

via [Decor8]

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Orange Beautiful has this print for sale for US$10 in their etsy shop. I would love it on the wall where I practice my yoga, and I think it would make a great gift for a yogi or yogini.

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Over at The Scoop I spied this collection of beautiful alphabet prints.  The mixture of pattern and colour makes me want to spread them all around my daughters room…already she is staring at anything bright so perhaps these would have her laying happily in her bed so I can get some chores done! Jennifer is the girl behind JHill Design and she also has a great range of calendars and cards worth taking a look at.

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Marimekko have come out with some of their most popular prints on wallpaper.  At this stage they have 11 prints for sale but will be adding all 56 patterns.  It you love their designs as much as I do, click here for a look.  They are US$89 a roll (NZ$140) and ship worldwide.  My favourite are the Stilla leaves and Bo Boo kids cars.

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I love alphabet cards, stickers and posters for kids walls…and these are the latest I have discovered. Jenn Ski is a graphic designer who has done a great range called Actopus to Zelephant for K&Company. You can buy her alphabet range in anything from rub on stickers, cards and silhouettes to scrapbooks from Michaels. Take a look here at the collection.  To get the same look as the room above, click here for the tutorial.

via [Ohdeedoh]

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Yes, I have an addiction – it is the store Anthropologie, and although we don’t have it down-under, I still swoon over the seasonal ranges online.  They do ship across Europe and North America, but sadly, down here in Oz and NZ we are forgotten once again; which is actually a good thing or I would really give the credit card a beating!  If you aren’t familiar with their store (everything from clothes and shoes to kitchen and bedroom) go take a look and fall in love with….well…..everything!

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Ok, this guy is handsome and handy in the garden….what a catch!  My sister Kathryn use to know him when he lived in Queensland in the ole days, and yes, she confirmed, he’s handsome…oh and really nice too. Anyway to the punchline. Other than having a great book selection, tv shows, outdoor furniture range, an award winning landscape company etc etc (see here for more), Jamie now has a new paint range through Porters Paints.  Contact your local Porters for info on his paint range.

via [Real Living]

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Decals are so popular these days to decorate a kids room, so I went hunting on etsy and found Mae’s store. It has decals full of colour, lines, spots, dots and flowers.  They are quite exey if buying in NZ$, but they ship anywhere in the world.  My fave are the dress up dolls.

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This house was designed and built by Bevk Perović Arhitekti’s in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  I really like the simplicity of this from the street.  And although I wouldn’t choose to live in it, as it looks just a little to cold for me, it would be a perfect office space for Mr Bohaute and I.  Just adding some colour and comfy furniture would make this quite an inspiring working space.  

via [NotCot.org]

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If you are after something a little different for your wall, then how about Oar art.  The lady behind these great pieces is Leanne Culy, a New Zealand woman living in the beautiful Bay of Islands.  Take a look at her About page and scroll down to see more of her oar art.  There are several galleries here that may have her pieces for sale.

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I posted a while back about the great little birds made from vintage wallpaper, (that you can now get at Allium Interiors here in Auckland) and still I love the other pieces in the range for children’s rooms.  The folks over at the online store Romp have a great selection of the Inke silhouettes, and down-under here and here stock a selection as well.  Quite expensive but if you own your home or know the rooms going to be the kid’s for a while then they are a great way to brighten a room without the standard one-wall-painted-different-colour-theme. 

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This Remuera, Auckland house recently sold around the NZ$5.5m mark.  Whoever ‘snapped’ it up must be pretty chuffed, and have a load of wine!  I have cellar envy.  We don’t even have wine in the house right now, so could not imagine what this would look like full.  I love that you can see part of the cellar from the dining area as well (image second row left).  This mighty home has 5 double bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, 4 living areas, a home theatre, a games room, a gymnasium, a 1000 bottle wine cellar, a state of the art kitchen with huge butler’s pantry, 3 car garaging, a pool house, an 18 metre gas heated pool, a spa and dedicated utility rooms covering about 800m2.  The house is fully automated to control everything from lighting to irrigation.  Oh, and last – beautiful views through beautiful native trees.  To view more images go here.

images [Open2view.com]

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Chalk boards in adhesive vinyl are everywhere at present, or is it just that I’ve noticed them because I’m browsing kids websites for the imminent arrival of baby no. 2.  Anyway, this one caught my eye – the Rock Star by Chalkals would be perfect for Master Four.  He would be beside himself with happiness if this arrived on his bedroom wall for his 5th birthday; (in-fact Mr Bohaute wouldn’t mind one for his office too!). It sticks on the wall and is re-positionable, plus it doesn’t ruin the paint work.  It costs US$65 (NZ$116 – a bit exey),  and Spunky Sprout ship internationally.

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