On My Desk & On My Walls...

I love my letters - I have always loved typography
 now in 3D.'V'& 'S' - Very Special!
Or for Verandah & Sarah...

A bit tidier than usual... frames hung on
'my side' of the office. Wall colour in Dulux
'Linseed' full tint - one of my fave hues to use.

Hope you had a Palatial weekend! Welcome back to Monday at Palatial Living.... I had an awe inspiring day today at the ISCD campus [located in North Sydney] it was great to be [trying to be] a fly on the wall to see what happens through educator's eyes to a class of adult learners on a creative design path within the Surface Design diploma. Even more so it was lovely that the students seemed to ingratiate themselves to me and their fabulous educator [and my new mentor] Sharon Gage be so gracious as to have me sit in, and pass on her tips & tricks. 

'My side' & the 'top shelf' of the home office!

So now I am back at my [design] desk finishing off a flyer & proposal [very exciting - will share with you when it's all concrete], which got me to think 'What's On my Desk right now...'! You might remember I mentioned a little while ago that I have recently updated our home office space - that my husband & I share, here's a sneak snoop of my desk & boards! Sometimes I feel the urge to style it other times it's just a pile of to-do's and get-through's!

I have a collection of photos, swing tags, art gallery postcards & invites, a photo of my darling baby girl Isabelle, a few pics of Babushkas, the Vogue Milano '10 trend show cd and some wallpaper swatches from Signature Prints, and and a T2 French Earl Grey tea bag I keep meaning to drink! Oh and here's a fun wooden letter' &' and an over sized black wooden peg I just bought at fab store 'Typo' - definitely worth a look.

Promise to post more pics when I have finished labelling the folders and hung the frames on my husbands' side of the office wall! Enjoy!

One of my absolute favourite Australian artists,
Sidney Nolan and his 'Ned Kelly' series.
This particular painting 'Ned Kelly' 1946 is my favourite.

Uber cute Babushka card I bought today for my
mood board from Typo.

images by Sarah Verity - Verandah Home+Garden Living Solutions

Check out these fab office design books from Amazon...

Look Familiar...So Chic!

Does this 'So Chic' Living Room look familiar?

It should - it's Candice Bushnell's living room and also the cover of the Elle Decor 'So Chic - Glamorous Lives.Stylish Places.' decor book....

[above - image/caption via Elle Decor] In the living room, Caio Fonseca’s Fifth Street Painting C04.13 overlooks a 19th-century tufted bustle chair from Bijan Royal, a vintage brass floor lamp from Retro-Modern, Moroccan poufs from John Derian Co., and an Oushak rug from ABC Carpet & Home. The couple purchased the Louis XVI sofa from writer Jay McInerney, and the ivory-and-ebony box is from Amy Perlin Antiques.

Here's some other great images of Bushnell's tres chic home she shares with dancer Charles Askegard, and was decorated with the help of Susan Forristal.....

[above] A 19th-century Venetian chaise is dressed up with a pillow from Geminola; the palm-leaf lamp from Le Décor Français dates from the 1800s.

[above] A pair of gold-leafed sheaf sconces from Downtown flank the living room mantel, which is original to the apartment.

[above] In the den, ebonized campaign chairs with white cowhide seats from Gray Gardens face a velvet upholstered sofa with a pillow made of vintage fabric from Geminola; the rug is by Madeline Weinrib from ABC Carpet & Home.

Photographer: William Waldron

Images via Elle Decor & Amazon.com

Flowers for Friday...

Happy Friday - Welcome Weekend! I am so happy that this week - here in Sydney- is finishing up on Sunny, Beautiful, Cool weather. We had almost 2 weeks of constant rain - great for the garden and those inside jobs I kept putting off - but not so for getting out & about with a newborn! I am so happy to have launched 'The Palatial Living Store' an e-store powered by Amazon where I have listed many of mine/ Palatial's favourite design & art books, movies & music - I hope that you will drop by and find something that you love!

This weekend here in Australia we have the June Long Weekend - Queen's Birthday [even though the Queen's actual birthday falls in April!] but all the more a great a excuse for a long weekend... which we all love!  

A BIG Welcome to the newest Palatial Living followers this week - Thank You for joining & dropping by Palatial Living... your kind comments & wishes mean so much to me! Hope you have a fabulous Friday & a wonderful Weekend - a long one or not! Enjoy... S xxx

Image from Country Living

Fab New Book... Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces.

You know how much I love books here's another to my 'Palatial Living' collection - Take a look at this fab 'new' book released in May this year - by Apartment Therapy [we love them] aptly titled Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces.  Apartment Therapy is considered THE go-to for small space solutions and they have achieved this with gorgeous images of vignettes in this book - by showing you how you can have your personal objects in your living space - whilst trying to not look cluttered, but more so 'layered with meaning'. I've got this one on order! For more of Apartment Therapy visit their website.

Please Visit 'The Palatial Living Store' [powered through Amazon] if you'd like to purchase any of these great books.

Image from Visualize.us & Amazon.com for more info go to - Apartment Therapy's Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces

Other fantastic Apartment Therapy books are - Apartment Therapy: The Eight-Step Home Cure & Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Design Solutions

Fab New Book...'Room for Children - Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play'.

Many of you know that books are one of my all time weaknesses... and with the imminent arrival of our 1st baby [Baby Verity] is drawing closer each day with approx. 2- 4.5 weeks to go - I am drawing on many avenues of Nursery/ Children's Room decorating inspiration and this fab new book from Susanna Salk 'Room For Children - Stylish Places for Sleep & Play' is no exception!

If you loved Susanna's book 'A Privileged Life - Celebrating Wasp Style' [I bought it through Amazon & just fell in love with it - see my Palatial Reading List] then this new one from her, is definitely one to pre-order for your design library and with a special foreword by fashion decor stylista Kelly Wearstler - there's true design clout here! You can find Susanna's new book through this link on Amazon.com, it's due for release on 20th April. I've added it to my 'Wish List' with a few more book treats to add - my order will processed very soon! x

images from Amazon.com

Colour, Books & BookShelf Love...

[image 1] Betsy Morgan's colour blocked book stacks and objects make for beautiful vignettes within the shelf.

click on image to enlarge
[image 2] Australian Vogue Living March /April 2010 - book suggestions. Check out Amazon.com to add them to your wish list, or to buy!
click on image to enlarge



[image 3] Betsy Morgan's home office & living area - shows these white shelves are not only for storage but colourful display too!
click on image to enlarge

I love books, always have, but what else do I love that goes with books is housing & shelving books! Here - I love these White book shelves with painted [bitter mocha] wall colour behind, appears to frame the books and objects within the shelf. And the darker shade used makes for an illusion-ary depth. Taken from Betsey Morgan's family home in Chelsea New York - from Vogue Living March/ April 2010 issue, I especially love all books sorted and stacked by spine/ cover colour - I have all my books presented like this in my shelves at home - it helps to create a clean, organised & colour blocked presentation that is much easier on the eye to follow through the space...

Images from Australian Vogue Living March/ April 2010 issue.

Early Christmas Gift Arrived!

[Image Above] 'A Passion for Blue & White' by Carolyn Roehm
[Above Image] 'Decorating with Blue & White' by Gail Abbott

I'm so excited - I have to share this with you - last week I received a delivery of an early Christmas gift from my sister, Felic & [soon-to-be] brother-in-law, Alex who are based in London - two wonderful books I have been coveting for a little bit now... 'A Passion for Blue & White' by Carolyn Roehm and 'Decorating with Blue & White' by Gail Abbott Gosh my sister knows me well & sending out my wish lists a little while ago also helps!!

The early delivery surprised both myself and my sister - thanks to Amazon they got here before Christmas! I order most of my art, style & design books from Amazon and always have a several page long wish list running - so when the Aussie dollar is strong I jump on and order several at a time! So if you're thinking of sending presents OS or ordering online & shipping think about getting it crossed off your 'to-do' list sooner than later!

Images from Amazon.com

[New] Book - Handmade Home... Soule Mama

I have just received an email from my Amazon wish list recommendations and this wonderful book - Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule -was part of the list! What a lovely surprise to find a book that stylishly shows you how you can re-purpose - recycle - reuse items within your home into other functional aesthetically pleasing items that are fabulous for adults and safe for children... after finding this book and looking a little more into it I further delved and 'googled' about the author - Amanda Blake Soule and found that she has an amazing blog Soule Mama that inspires a following [of course] of creatives of a green influence, a mother influence and a design influence - and some fall into all 3 groups!

I found a wonderfully concise blurb about Amanda & her published jewels, written up on the gorgeous blog Inspiring Mama - by Ericka Taylor (check her out also on JuBella.com - beautiful work) -

Amanda lives in Portland, Maine with her husband Steve and their four children. At her exceedingly popular blog, soulemama.com, Amanda shares details of her daily life as a homeschooling mama intermixed with a range of creative projects that include knitting, sewing, cooking, re purposing fabrics, and much more. Of course, add in her stunning photography and engaging writing style and you'll know why her site has such a devoted and admiring fan base. And that's not all . . . Amidst all of that productive activity, Amanda also managed to write not one, but two fabulous books: The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections (Trumpeter Books/Shambhala Publications, April 2008) and Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Re purpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures - which is release now August 2009.

I feel compelled to thank Amanda, for her beautiful book Handmade Home [& Erika for her book review] for which I have now pre-ordered on Amazon [it is due out August 09 - maybe towards the end of August] and further inspiring me to look around my home - in my wardrobe and sewing cabinet to make stylish beautiful things for living and the little ones [esp. my god daughter's Ella & Charlotte] in my life. Thank you so much Soule Mama [aka Amanda] !

Images from Amazon.com