Many years ago as I was perusing the impressively crammed shelf dedicated to interior decorating at my favourite local bookstore (which is Bookoccino’s in Avalon, Sydney, Australia), I came across India Hicks Island Life. And i felt ‘the buzz’. You know the feeling, as you open a book for the first time at a random page and are immediately struck by the structure and style and composition of an interior setting. Then you slowly lift to the next page, and the next and the next and your belly flips and you simply must have this book. Back then the book had just arrived on bookshelves around the world, so it was at top dollar. But I could not walk out without it…

images courtesy of india hicks, island living

Sure it’s fantastical, after all it is a book about a home (or rather a series of houses) dotted along the shoreline of a Caribbean island, nestled amongst coconut palms and pineapple trees, with ocean views from every window (dream on!!). BUT India’s style is so relaxed and natural that her settings can be translated into the simplest and most ordinary of abodes. So how does she do this? Well, let me tell you! It’s because her focus is on the found, collected, and loved (as opposed to new, flashy, and trendy). None of her spaces reflect the ostentatious inclination that you’d expect, and I have no doubt this is why her book has become so popular over the years.

One of my favourite pieces among her incredible collection of homewares is this desk which sits inconspicuously at the top of a staircase between doorways…

photography by David Loftus

Glorious, non? Writing away the hours at this desk would be rather marvelous. Certainly after having taken a wander along the shoreline, sand between the toes and lungs full of fresh sea air.

I’ve always been inspired by nature as you know, so it’s only natural that my interior impulses lean toward island living. As a result I thought I’d moodboard my interior inspiration, island style, in the next post. But first, here is a song that will surely get you in the mood… mojito, anyone?

I wrote a brief review about this fab book over a year ago, and I still adore it just as much, so I thought I’d repost the review for you here in the library! Here it is…

Based on Mark and Sally Bailey’s farm property in the Herefordshire countryside of the UK, Recycled Home, pour moi, is love at first sight with a staircase and an old giant’s scissors hanging on a worn out wall on the front cover. Their intro exposes perfectly their decorating philosophy: “Use what you’ve got, be true to the structure of your house and the materials it is made from… think of your home as a delicious experiment.”

The book is filled with the most delectable photographs by South African Debi Treloar: One of my favourites being a tiny copper-sailed boat resting serenely on top of an old-fashioned door knob. And if you love wood, warm whites and textures you will love this book. Be warned though – you will end up wanting to buy everything at your next antique & flea market visit as this book guides you to seeing the beauty in things you would never have looked twice at.

I love the textile section where you will find an old otherwise boring chest of drawers with wrapped handles in different wild vintage fabrics, stairs covered with a patchwork of mini persian rugs, and the fabric of an old bathing tent made into stunning curtains. But as I flick through the pages, my added tip as a stylist to make this style work in your own home is organisation. Without organisation, this look can quickly design itself into a display of useless scraps.

WHAT I LOVE:

WHAT I’M ‘OVER’:

Mark and Sally have included a fabulous resource section from across Europe at the back of their book. And what more could you want? What about a website where you can buy their awesome finds and creations? Wouldn’t that be great? Yes it would and here it is!

Enhance The Everyday rating for Recycled Home by Mark and Sally Bailey: 4 outta 5

(original post here)

I just had to start this special nesting series by taking you straight to baileys newly renovated website, complete with an illustrated layout of the store, information and beautiful photographs of their art cafe, and of course, the book. Which I reviewed way back when. and which I still love flicking through for inspiration. I love Mark and Sally’s rustic yet utterly sophisticated style. It’s recycled living, at it’s best.

I hope to be able to visit their incredible store in Whitecross Farm in the UK one day. If you’ve been, do let me know what it’s like in a comment below!

For me Spring is all about nesting – this is the time of year that I naturally dedicate my spare time to working on my home, and it seems I’m not the only one – the canal birds are at it again, working feverishly on their elaborate nest outside my kitchen window. While they are busy bringing leaves and all sorts of goodies into their nest, I’m pottering around the houseboat, planning, designing, and re-interpreting the space.

On the weekend I whipped up some fresh new cushion covers from a vintage blue striped piece of fabric I found at the markets a little while back (it was only 3 euro!). It was lots of fun, and I have plenty more to do. Ideas are circling around my mind, inspiration abounds, and I find myself obsessed with making this space just right for the coming months.

So for the next few weeks, the (blog)house will be dedicated to nesting. Yay I hear you say! I know, even though I work as an interior stylist I tend not to overload this space with interiors. So I know many of you will be thrilled that I have a truckload of interior-related posts up my sleeve, just for you!

So sit back, relax and enjoy the coming posts. I even have one on it’s way in a few hours…

xx

PS Do you like these photos? I had fun shooting them especially for this post.

PPS Thank you for all your comments and emails about my new blog design! I am so so glad you like it. I can’t wait to play around in all the rooms!

Last year [2008] I came up with the idea of creating soundscapes – little impromptu sound recordings captured during my travels, and around my home, accompanied by my photographs. I created 3 series, the first was set in amsterdam, my then-new home; the second in Paris while I was photographing my upcoming book; and the third in Sydney while I was there visiting my family in August 2008.

The soundscapes were a roaring success, with the finale for series 3, getting a whopping 90 incredibly moving comments, including many emails for CD requests!

I love making the soundscapes so I will begin posting a new series soon, but in the meantime, I just wanted to re-post one of my personal favourites below: this is what it sounds like on our houseboat. Now that Spring has arrived, I have some windows open to let in the beautiful light, and I am so pleased to notice that this soundscape is exactly what it sounds and looks like to be in here – birds singing in the trees high above, swans visiting through the window, and the odd city noise.

Please enjoy…

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repost: soundscape series finale: living on a houseboat, part two – the end…

well folks, this little sound project has been alot of fun. There is certainly something special about looking at still images and listening to sound, isn’t there? It’s quite different to watching a moving picture. While I’ve been making these posts, I’ve been thinking – how would this differ if I used a video camera? It just wouldn’t be the same. It has taken me back to my Uni days when I was studying time based art, although then my focus was making short films with the now vintage technology of 16mm, however I did experiment a little with still images in film-style sequences and I really enjoyed it – so here I am again it seems, rekindling an old flame.

If you have enjoyed this series do not fret, I will be back with more, albeit spontaneously, over the months to come – this week’s series was just a taste to see how you liked it & to see how it might work on the blog medium. And I think it is unanimous that we all love the idea, is that right? so I’ll be sure to keep it as a regular feature. I can think of so many wonderful soundscapes to capture – living in a foreign land, listening to foreign voices, befriending foreign water creatures… the creative possibilities are endless.

But today, on our series finale, I thought you might like to hear what life sounds like for me on the houseboat. While part one was a glimpse of life on the canal when it rains, this little piece captures the essence of my days here – I feel a bit like I am living on noah’s ark, except that instead of the animals living on the boat, they live around the boat and come to visit me regularly. Can you believe this is in the middle of a city? I cannot.

So come on in and follow me…

let’s open a window…

and have a listen. Enjoy…

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

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Thank you everyone for visiting. It is such a pleasure to share my creative endeavors with you on a daily basis. You have become my muse. Thanks to you, who knows what I shall create next…

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(to listen to more soundscapes, please click here)