Up in the Alps...

Although yes I love Switzerland [hello Swiss Palatial Living visitors!],and adore this Swiss Chalet perched up in the mountains of ski resort - Verbier [Switzerland] - built by scratch in the past decade & owned by Belgian collector, designer & aesthete Axel Vervoordt.  It's peering out of the pages of my recently delivered Vogue Living Australia - which I have been 'breathing in' for a week or so now! This post is really for my sister & brother-in-law who really really love all things Swiss! Even though they are based in London - they find any and all excuse to get there...mys sister l studied international law & lived at the University of  Bern for 6months, they have skied there [lucky ducks!] and my brother-in-law proposed there! So it's very close to there hearts as you can imagine.

Well maybe this post it is a little for me too - we all love to ski in our family and as it's warming up here in Sydney [again after the wild weather we've had] somehow when it's the season you're in - sometime you tend to think about the opposite season - a bit of 'grass greener' or 'snow whiter'!

Do you have a favourite season, why? Drop me a line I'd love to hear from you x

images via Vogue Living Australia Nov/Dec 2010 issue

Love This - CR's Christmas '09 Catalogue...

I just received the Country Road Christmas 2009 catalogue in the mail and just love the locale, styling and products in their catalogue - it really sums up the essence of an Australian [Sydney] summer for me...

I adore the Havaelson [style] timber boat - this is one of dreams to own one of these, along with a small weekender on the water [I saw a spread in Inside Out magazine sometime last year with furniture designer & craftsman Mark Tuckey & his family in their gorgeous Havelson - so wonderful!].
The location of the shoot looks very familiar - like somewhere down at Sydney's Pittwater, maybe Church Point, or could be Cottage Point, or even at Clareville where we often go for a Sunday afternoon lunch or coffee down by the water... of which - ALL - are favourite spots of mine - here they lead up North to Jerusalem Bay, on towards Dangar Island & Brooklyn . Needless to say I have already marked what I like from the catalogue for these 'missing' summer pieces, and a few other gifts to get yet!

Images from Country Road Christmas 2009 catalogue

Palatial News - '...Get out and renovate, urge architects...'

News on on the Economic Front - it's great news for Architects > which has an indirect flow on to Interior Designers - Stylists/Decorators & Colour Consultants....

With the Australian econmoy taking an econmic down turn, people/ consumers are being more cautious with discreationary spending, in the hope that they don't lose their jobs and ultimately becoming very cost conscious and value driven. And with this in mind sometime the first areas of goods and services to suffer are the areas that many people believe to be on their 'wish list' menaning the non-essential, adding to aethetics can just mean adding to spending where it's not essential to do so. Not so we say, and so backed up it is with several new reports

Get out and renovate, urge architects...
Australians could help kick start the economy out of recession by getting out and renovating, architects say.
Robert Caulfield, managing director of Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, said interest rates could hit an all-time low this week, tradesmen were looking for work in a highly competitive market and the Australian dollar was down.
"There has never been a better time to renovate and use Australian products," he said in a statement.
"We believe it is important for the federal government to consider the renovation factor - especially encouraging the use of Australian products which are first quality." Mr Caulfield said the renovation industry was worth $20 billion a year and could be a major key in kick starting the economy. He said the important factor about renovation projects was that they could be started far more quickly than new housing. Renovations presented an opportunity to invest in the family home, improving both its value and the quality of life, without spending up to $60,000 in taxes and charges on another home.
"Renovations range in size, providing jobs for smaller to larger builders and flow onto many areas, apart from building materials, such as furniture, electrical goods, carpets, fixtures and fittings and landscaping," he said.
Mr Caulfield said renovating could also improve a home's environmental quality through use of energy and water-saving devices. As part of its J For Jobs program, Archicentre has launched a series of 100 free seminars across Australia to encourage renovation, environmental design and informed property buying, he says.

Article source - SMH.com.au

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/get-out-and-renovate-urge-architects-20090201-7um4.html