Creating Your Style...Helps with an Interior Professional!

I am often asked what does a interior stylist/ decorator do and how can you help me? The conversation often starts like '...I can't seem to put things together - I know what I like but I don't know how to do it, how do you put together a look that will work for me, but not cost a fortune?...'  I met a lovely lady today whilst I was shopping in a fab children's store [Lots 4 Tots, Concord NSW] for Isabelle today,  who sounded like she has some really great foundations but just needs a helping hand & an objective view in putting a few looks [seasonal or not] together for her home...well this is where I come in [or a professional colour consultant & interior stylist]!

So aside from calling me [Verandah Home+Garden Living Solutions to help solve this dilemma], really the first thing is that often those who know what they like already have the best foundation to solve a colour or decorating problem! Those who don't know what they like - often just need the confidence to narrow it down & then - wham - they've got it! Both types of people become fabulous Verandah clients & successful, happy lovers of their homes!  Often your best place to start is find your favourite interiors magazine and tear out the looks and colours you love... then try to find the similarities between these pictures. Sometimes there are often several different looks you have come up with and it may be a matter of working out which looks you like best and first up. Sometimes this can be agonising as often we like anything at once but this is also a major pitfall as we can end up having it all and really it looks like nothing at all! That's why I loved these images image from Home Beautiful July 2010 issue, where it really can be a matter of creating a look or style at home - that doesn't have to be expensive! It can be the best purchase in hiring the right design professional to come in, and help you use what you've got, or to inexpensively add, to the great foundation that you may already have - but might not yet know it!

If this sounds like you and need a friendly, yet objective hand, with creating a look through decorating - styling, or  a colour problem please drop me a line at sarah@verandahhomeliving.biz  or verandahhomeliving@gmail.com , for both e-consults and Sydney-based appointments . We'd love to help you in any way we can to make your home more enjoyable to live within! enjoy. S x

Images via Home Beautiful - July 2010

More Fabulous Vintage & Recent House Beautiful Blue& White Rooms - Part II...

Following from my previous post yesterday on the fantastic vintage House Beautiful interior spaces dedicated to Blue & White decorating - here is part II - that takes us through the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's with this classic decorating colour combination. Proving that 'Blue & White' can be applied in both contemporary & traditional styles that still looks fresh - even upon years of reflection!

Enjoy x

[image 1] Charlotte Moss Canopy Bed, August 2006
[image 2] Blue White Stairs, December 1993

[image 3] Simple Bedroom, February 1991

[image 4] Blue Sitting Room, December 1984

[Image 5] Bed Canopy, January 1977


images from House Beautiful U.S magazine

Interior Shades of Red... Colour Styling With Red.

[image 1] A Front Door with Real Street Appeal
[image 2] Kitchen Surprise - Simple Splash of Red for Cabinetry Sides & Underneath a White Bench Top, combined with Stainless steel accessories & furniture.

[image 3] Incite the senses in the dining room with these raspberry red walls teamed with white trim & wainscoting

[image 4] A Cherry Red dining table creates a sensual modern eating experience

[image 5] For the classicists - here accents of lipstick [blue] red are used in soft furnishings - cushions & curtains, as well as accessories with a black / french navy & off white/ ivory palette.

[image 6] For the modern retro/ contemporary tastes here's a great way to bring a red-orange [vermilion] into your living space with some mi century style furniture paired back with a pale blue wall and floor rug - makes for a quirky fresh take on a tricky colour.

[image 7] A red wall in a living room can be easily broken up with wall shelving, neutral tones & white for a softer effect.

[image 8] Crimson Pink Red Feature Wall - play with Valentine's heart messages & decorate with fresh flowers family pictures in black & white as small vignette to the ones you love.

[image 9] Ruby Red bedroom walls paired back with white soft furnishings and mid tone timber stains. If you're not sure about colouring your whole room why not just paint the wall behind your bed. That wall you can see & enjoy the colour as you are in the room but once in bed it's not looking at you!

Colour Inspiration - with upcoming St Valentine's Day I have been inspired to find spaces coloured with Red! Following from my post yesterday on up Colour Styling with Red for outdoor [garden] spaces... Here are some wonderful examples I found in my image files & wanted to share with you on how you can colour style your home or office interior with a varying shades of red - whichever your style & taste. Enjoy x

Images from My Home Ideas & Point Click Home

All About Red.. Outdoor Valentine's Day Decor Colour Inspriation.

[image 1] no need to paint - add red into your outdoor palette with accessories or furniture - as shown here.
[image 2] A small side gate / fence is painted a raspberry red that accents the blue charcoal colour of the main house.

[image 3] A garden path leading to a welcoming red gate

Taking my colour inspiration from upcoming St. Valentine's Day [Sun 14 Feb] - Red - in all shades, I find is not used enough, or if it is used sometimes then from experience have found it's not used appropriately, and therefore [poor old 'Red'] is sometimes subject to being tossed away - discarded and deemed as a 'too hard colour' to work with or live with... Here in this post, and following posts I found some great images to share with you on how easy it is to bring some 'passion' red into your colour life whether you're a classicist or a contemporary at heart.

There's isn't a reason why you can't add an unexpected 'pop' of colour in your outdoor [garden] areas - it's all about placement - be it through your accessories, furniture, & painted walls or gates there are so many avenues. Here are some great ways to incorporate 'red' or a similar high chroma/ value colour [such as orange or bold canary yellows - teamed back with a neutral or darker colour palette] into your exterior styling & decorating! The main point it to have fun - and remember it can always be changed when you're ready for something new! Enjoy x

Images from My Home Ideas

Have A Happy Trick-aTreat Weekend!

It's Friday & you know what that means... it's the weekend again! Wow - did we just have one? My week has gone unexpectedly super fast... but it has been a fabulous week with some great news along the way, and I delivered part 2 of a project to my lovely client last night for their styling & decorating needs, which I am am happy to say she was really excited & pleased with it all - so much so she ordered some of the hall way & dining furniture recommendations today!

I also got to see all the efforts she had put in to implementing the colour consulting - with all the rooms & trim newly painted, a kitchen splash back with updated tile colour - it looks so very hot, and new cabinetry hardware! Wow - with these changes it looks like a new contemporary -sophisticated- family friendly home... by seeing these parts of the project implemented it really helps me feel like I [Verandah H&G LS] has been able to contribute positively to this client & her family's life - aesthetically & practically. Hopefully in the next couple of months I will have some photos of this project that I can share with you on Palatial Living & Verandah H& LS...

So if you have some Halloween plans for Saturday I hope that you have a ghoulishly good time! If not I am sure you'll have a fabulous time over the weekend... Here in Sydney it's supposed to be amazing weather which I am very grateful for all my 'outdoor' Birthday plans!

Here's to your weekend - thanks for stopping by again this week at Palatial Living...Enjoy & Take Care. S xxx

Images from Country Living & Southern Living.

Styling on a Shoestring!

Dining Room credenza & a selection of existing objects

Fresh Flowers - usually in white, make a big difference.

Clutter free table top surfaces make for a fresh clean approach.

Flowers don't always have to be store bought - these verigated camellias are fresh from the garden.

Vintage pieces - cleaned up and newly presented.

Art work when hung over an area is best left if filling & painting cannot be done - a quick clean of frames and the works, and a small gallery is had.

Fabulous paintings - these work well because the imagery is themed [subconsciously] around foliage, landscape and flora.

A quick was of existing cushion covers and repositioning can make them come alive again.

De cluttering is the key word - allow people who are viewing your home to imagine where they would like to mentally put their things.

Vintage & timber furniture requires polishing - use good furniture oil with a soft cloth, some furniture will drink it up if it hasn't been polished in a while.

[Vintage] Photos in well maintained frames add a small touch of personality, and familiarityy.

When it comes to selling & moving house sometimes the budget just won't stretch far enough to accommodate a pre-sale makeover that includes paint, new carpet or hiring furniture - so what to do? In this this home I helped my grandmother-in-law make sure the auction sale of her home went as far as it could.

Here's How....

• De clutter - store all unnecessary furniture and objects - the more you can move out of your home (within reason) the more the potential buyers can see the entirety of the space
  sort out what you have - 3 rules toss - keep and undecided
  the undecided pile can't exceed the the keep pile and must be dealt with at the end of all three piles
  from the the toss pile if these items are saleable think about eBay, or trading post, or your giving to your local charity or church sale to help them out. Remember just because you don't want it think if does have another life elsewhere if not throw it out to the bin!
• If you can't paint then clean - some sugar soap, warm water, white vinegar, bicarb soda and vanilla essence with some elbow grease can go a long way.
• Using what you've got - after decluttering & packing away pick key pieces that are worthy to display - this doesn't mean knick knacks or porcelain figurines, or the fake flowers that still need dusting! This means a beautiful vase; glass objects or objects from overseas travels - themed if possible i.e Asian or African artifacts - not your Mickey ears from Disney land! Or working clocks that also double as standalone objects; 1 or 2 photographs - not the glamour ones or the family pixie photos, any desirable framed art work - not the Metallica poster still blue tacked!
  but do not clutter!

Lastly the one thing I would spend money on when getting your home ready to sale (other than professional advice such as this!) is fresh flowers. depending on the home and the targeted potential buyer sometimes a mixture of freshly picked garden flowers & foliage combined with store bought flowers can be successful as in these images. But if you don't have garden and are not too confident with flowers in general then you will always win with White Flowers - mostly Oriental Lilies, or Peonies, or Tea Roses - no quirky supermarket or petrol station mixes!

Images by Verandah Home & Garden Living Solutions

Friday Fruit...

With warm weather upon us this weekend [in Sydney up to 30 degrees Celsius] I was feeling a little conscious of bearing arms - literally ! I am a little partial the pear is one of my favourite fruits - to eat, for it's silhouette and variations of colour, and also to use for styling props.

In one of my final year exhibitions at Uni I explored the pear, it's shape and symbolisms, the works were titled ' Belonging'. My inspiration was from years as a little girl visiting the Australian National Gallery, Canberra [A.C.T] where at the entrance to it there is a magnificent sculptural work of bronzed pears that I covet to this day, titled “The Final Pear Version” by George Baldessin[b.1939 -d.1978]. Several years ago I was over-the-moon as I finally was able to get my hands on an official NGA photo release of it - where it lives framed in my upstairs gallery frame montage. The pear [speckled brown Bartlett's] was even present at our wedding reception[some 5 years ago now] as a sculptural piece placed next to clear slumped glass candle votives & offsetting the urns filled with vine, berries, and magnolias & roses posed a fabulous natural mix [I'll post an image of it shortly].

So here's a colourful, textural, healthy option to the weekend... For a safe dose of Vitamin D in the onset of Spring Summer weather, and a crunchy few pears!! Enjoy x

Image from House Beautiful

Happy Weekend... helping move & organise over 50 years of Living

I'm spending a good part of the weekend helping to organise & style my lovely Grandmother-in-law, Elaine's home & garden to get ready for sale & for the estate agents to organise viewings... Elaine has loved in her home for over 50 years now so there will be a lot to do and lot connected with sentimental moments with this house - her home. The good news is that she has found a lovely new home that is both smaller & much more manageable with a 2 bedroom villa in a fantastic village that will service all her needs for many more years to come...
Have you recently helped someone right-size and move home ?
Happy Weekend - Enjoy! S x

Image from BHG