Homewares trends for 2017

I've become a little homewares-obsessed lately. Maybe it's because we've been living in this home for three or so years, and have started personalising it and trying to add value with small renovations and upgrades. Maybe it's because my husband is working all the way through Christmas, and we're not taking a trip anywhere, so I'm pottering around the house trying to make it feel a little fresher.

Whatever the reason, I've been cruising and perusing home and interiors magazines for a while now and would like a large influx of cash into my bank account, please. Some of those renovations are not cheap! Failing bank robbery or an unknown great-aunt leaving me her ill-gotten fortune, I've resorted to smaller additions to our home decor, which surprisingly still pack a big punch.

Since I buy those home and interior magazines for research purposes of course, I thought I'd share some of the top homewares trends I'm seeing for the next year. They're all easy enough to adopt in either small or large doses, and you could even mix and match a few!

There's a one-stop-shop for all homewares in Australia, and that's Reed Gift Fairs. Celebrating the latest in the homewares and gift space,they bring together the people and the products behind everything that’s hot in the design and gift space. With the next one to be held in Sydney in February next year, this fair gives exhibitors the chance to showcase all their new and exciting products, and retailers head there to pick and choose upcoming stock. Sounds like an interiors dream, right? I just need to find a way to nab a ticket!

Top Homeware Trends for 2017

Trend forecasters have started planning for the new season, which will bring with it a change in mood – one that will see earthy tones, hints of mixed metals, and the return of natural materials. I've sussed out some of Reed Gift Fairs' exhibitors to see what they'll be bringing to the table (literally to the table, in the case of some tableware designers LOL) next year.

Terracotta

The earthy tone of terracotta will become a key element in many homes, and a leading trend in the New Year. No longer will you find terracotta restricted to pots in the garden! Unique Australian homewares and jewellery company Jones & Co provides plenty of inspiration on how to incorporate hints of earthy tones to the home. 

Selection of gorgeous pots and planters

Cato Marsala Necklace

Indoor Plants

Succulents have become so popular lately, with groups popping up on Facebook dedicated to growing and swapping succulents - and no hipster cafe is worth it's salt without succulents in unconventional containers on each table! I'm sure we'll see this trend grow even more, bringing the outdoors inside with indoor plants. Displayed in classic concrete pots, woven bags or a glass vase, Reed Gift Fairs will leave you feeling inspired, with exhibitors such as Florabelle, who will show off beautiful displays of indoor planting. I've actually got a few Florabelle artificial plants in my guest rooms, and they always get compliments from visitors!

Florabelle

Green Appeal

Despite seeing an abundance of pastel shades of pink and blue this year, dark shades of green will become a leading trend in 2017 - and I'm thrilled about it! Expect to see this colour incorporated into lots of soft furnishings. Kelly Lane have a great range of statement pieces from cushions to wall art, which will help add a hint of green to any room. 

I love the idea of pairing a rich dark green with lighter aquas, and adding plenty of plants for a really lush tropical look.

Kelly Lane bedroom decor

There are few things better than coming home to a beautifully decorated home. Keep an eye out at your local homewares stores in the New Year and snap up some quick additions to transform your space into the sanctuary you’ve always wanted!

Keen on any of these trends? One step ahead and already featuring indoor plants in your home?

Turning your home into a tropical paradise, just in time for Summer

This post is brought to you by Jason Agustina.

I just spent the past weekend Spring Cleaning (my efforts are totally worthy of capitalising those words) with my husband, and while the result is lovely - we're still not quite Summer-ready. You know, where everything is fresh and clean, and looks entertainment-ready for any unexpected drop-ins. (Please note, I will not accept unexpected drop-ins. You are required to call or text your intention to visit at least 45 mins in advance. I need time to freshen myself AND my home up!)

There’s no better way to freshen up your home in Summer than with tropical statement homewares. Not only is it easy to incorporate, but this vibrant trend creates a refreshing vibe indoors and outdoors - and has been my go-to interior decorating trend since I was a young teenager, living directly across the road from the Big Pineapple. Having that fruity view really affected me!

To create a classy look with this trend, think luscious jungle and bright animal prints paired with casual, natural materials like warm wood and bamboo. I like to add some greenery (fake, if the occasion or your black thumbs call for it - no judgement) to 'lush up' the space and really compliment tropical touches. Like most trends, the key is to work from a good base - pieces that are well-made with great simple designs will stand the test of time. I love the range from Jason Agustina, it's a small collection with something for every type of living area, made from gorgeous timbers and fabrics.

1. Jason Agustina Volt Sofa in Blue 2. Blue Thumb Sticky Beak limited edition print by Emma Ward 3. Drunk on Water Monstera and Pineapple cushion 4. Jason Agustina Beholm Coffee Table in Oak 5. Annabel Trends artificial banana bunch and cockatoo

Some of my favourite colours for the tropical trend this year are yellow, green and all the shades of citrus - I love seeing these combined with a soft blue or crisp white for an elegant finish. If you already have some blues in your home decor, you can still adopt a tropical vibe, just pick sea-green and deep-ocean hues, and make sure you add plenty of greenery.

1. Jason Agustina Locke Sideboard in Natural 2. Kmart belly basket 3. Kmart Anthurium plant 4. Drunk on Water Watermelon print 5. KMart succulent in concrete pot 6. Annabel Trends artificial large pineapple

So make sure your key furniture pieces are classic, simple and beautifully made (check out Jason Agustina's story for their wonderful commitment to customer care), choose some tropical pieces and create your own slice of paradise this Summer. I promise you that it'll help your summer cocktail vibe for sure!

Is it possible to have too many pineapples in your home, if you live in an estate that was once pineapple and sugar cane farms?

Homewares favourites - I carried a watermelon?

It's so ok to break the 'seasonal' rules. I mean, yeah I put a very Summery watermelon print doona cover on our bed this morning, and yes, I know Autumn is well and truly here. But whatever. We snapped up the doona cover from Target for under $20, and I am NOT waiting until December to throw a summer vibe around my bedroom again.

Target Watermelon doona cover - fruity as a Christmas cake, and on sale now

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All the other styling pieces (knit cushion, orchid, frames, etc) are from Home Secret at Kawana. The books on my bedside are Watermelon by Marian Keyes (of course) and Green Sparkly Earrings by Melanie Shankle (of The Big Mama Blog).

In other homewares news, here are a few things I've found around the interwebs and am loving right now.

Etc and Co's gorgeous copper candlewick trimmers come in matte black and copper, and are such a perfect gift for the woman who has everything - including designer candles!

Zanui have an awesome-sauce 50% off sale on Florence Broadhurst homewares right now -  you said 50% off WHAT? Yeah, just gimme all the Florence cushions and be done with it. #loveflorence

For the barest wall in our house - the hallway - I'm contemplating a big ol' canvas with a simple but strong statement. This May and Belle Wander print is probably perfect, and large enough at 50x70cm to make a decent impact in a small space.

This tray from Hunting for George would suit literally every room in my home... Fruit, jewellery, candles, or I could actually use it to carry coffee and tea things, how novel!

Now, I never really got into our Adairs purchasing debacle on the blog, because my mother always told me that if I have nothing nice to write, don't write anything at all. But I'm almost willing to forgive their poor customer service of 2014 just because some of their new stuff is fantastic. In other news, what's the official age when you start obsessing over words like 'microplush' when you're shopping for bath mats? I think I've hit it. 

Have you discovered anything that I HAVE TO HAVE in my house right now? And is it just me, or are there SO MANY fantastic homewares stores popping up? #ineedabiggerhouse

Guest room makeover: from vile violet to green goodness

It has come as quite the surprise to me that completely changing a room’s look in our home gives me such a great feeling. Living in a few rental houses as a kid meant that I never really got into decorating my bedroom and personalising it beyond putting a few band posters on the walls with blu-tak.

Now that BB and I are living in what we hope will be our home for more than a few years (at least until Stevie is old and grey), we're really loving taking the time to transform it into 'our place'. Now don't misunderstand, there's no renovating required, one of our provisos when we bought was that it could be comfortably lived in straight away; but there were definitely places where we could see that we'd need to add our own touches.

The guest bedroom was always going to be the first room we painted. (Let it be known that when I say 'we' in the context of painting, I invariably mean BB.) When we took our first spin through the house at an inspection, I got quite a shock when faced with a neon purple feature wall in one of the bedrooms, when the rest of the house was entirely beige and white.

The purple feature wall was such an eyesore, and didn't suit any of the other rooms or furnishings in our home.

The guest room is a great size, perfect for a decent queen bed and bedside tables, with a fantastic white plantation shutters like the rest of the house, and a large built-in wardrobe with heinous beige sliding doors (but they're a project for another day). We decided early on that we wanted to paint most of the house Dulux Natural White, which would keep the polished concrete floors from making our house feel too dark; but I knew that choosing a feature wall colour would drive me insane. I'm a naturally indecisive and anxious person, and decisions like choosing paint colours always make me very uncomfortable - even thought I know paint can be changed! Here is where BB was a champ: after three days of me trying to decide on a great green, he went to the paint store while I was at work, chose a colour, bought a tin, and came home to paint the wall! I arrived home that night expecting to go through more options with him, and he'd already done it. More reasons I love him... he chose Dulux Banana Palm, partly because the colour is fun and light and bright, and partly because he knew I'd love the name!

By changing the feature wall to the wall visible from the hallway, it gives this wing of a the house a really light Summery vibe instead of hiding the feature wall away.

The rest of the guest bedroom came together so easily, once I'd played around on Pinterest and Polyvore and decided on some styles I liked. I know we don't live in a giant mansion in the Hamptons, but I really love that fresh feeling that those sorts of home have - simple and summery all year round.

Polyvore was a great place to find and collate inspiration and start to 'see' the room come together.

The beautiful Summery 'This is the Life' print by local designer Hark Home is already a favourite, and looks great with the green wall, but I think I want to move it into my lounge room so I can see it more often!

I'm thrilled that we ended up able to find and use so many of the pieces that I was hoping would work in this room, especially the three Escape to Paradise cushions in teal watercolour and classic palmtree print. 

Hark Home print, Escape to Paradise cushions, Glasshouse Montego Bay candle, Dulux Banana Palm Wash & Wear 101 paint, Sheridan cotton waffle quilt cover

Walking past or into this room now is such a delight, and because we've made this effort and it looks gorgeous, it's less likely to be turned into an unused space or that old standard of guest rooms... the junk room! Next on my list for that room is to think about a few little comforts that guests might like handy - think a basket filled with phone chargers, spare toothbrushes, our WiFi password (I love this printable from Tomfo!), refreshing face wipes, local magazines, anything that makes them feel comfortable to lounge in there for as long as they like.

Do you have a specific guest room in your home, and how have you styled it? When you're a houseguest, what sort of little touches make you feel more comfortable?

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Layering for Winter - Air Wick Life Scents review

We all know that Winter is about layering. I just got back from a week-long camping adventure with BB and Stevie, and the quantity of clothing I was wearing... well, let's just say that I'm surprised nobody hauled me back to be the statue in front of the Michelin building.

I'll share more about that trip soon, but in the meantime, I've been busy wearing pyjamas all day, drinking coffee and hot chocolate, and doing ALL THE LAUNDRY THAT EVER EXISTED. Have you ever tried to wash that campfire smell out of a cashmere sweater? HAVE YOU?

So, my laundry stinks. It smells like campfire and bush, and wet dog, and wet wool (I'm not sure which is worse). Quite good timing then to receive a sweet package of new Air Wick Life Scents products to review, don't you think? Definitely time to address the stank with some serious odour control systems, and Air Wick came to the rescue.

I do love a candle, but some of my candles are 'too fancy' to burn just because I'm having a big laundry day. Air freshening sprays are great and always work, but I'm always forgetting to actually SPRAY them! Trying Air Wick's new Life Scents Freshmatic could be the answer, particularly in often-musty rooms like our laundry.

The Freshmatic Kit came complete with everything you'll need; two AA batteries and a canister of scent are included along with the unit itself. I've gotta say, the first thing I liked about this air freshener was that it didn't look clinical, and the neutral stone-looking surface was much more appealing than typical white air fresheners which look like they belong in a railway station bathroom.

So... the smell? Well, I gave the Winter Moments fragrance a go, and it was absolutely perfect for the grey and overcast day. They say it smells like baked pear, pie crust and vanilla; and they aren't far off. It was warm and rich, and smelt just like BB was baking a big buttery pear crumble in the kitchen. (Hint hint BB, feel free to actually do that.) That's where the layering of this blog post title comes in - the layering of the three scents was just so lovely, and stops the fragrance being cloying or smelling overwhelmingly artificial.

I actually loved this scent so much that I took the Freshmatic thingo out of the laundry and put it in the media room on the bookshelf, it completely blended in and I don't have to worry about burning candles on our beautiful mangowood bookshelf.

See it up there on the top right shelf? No? Perfect.

Since I took the Freshmatic out of the laundry, I needed something decent happening in the laundry fragrance-wise, something crisp and bright and not as edible-smelling. Something I can leave in here all the time to preempt smelly laundry day. Enter the Air Wick Life Scents Scented Oil Plug In thingo in Turquoise Oasis. And if the name Turquoise Oasis isn't enough to get you over the line, what about if I tell you that it smells like driftwood, sea spray and warm breeze? 

Again, you can hardly notice it plugged in the laundry above our washing machine.

BB (who has a nose like a bloodhound and isn't backwards in coming forwards if he hates a smell) didn't complain once about this fresher fragrance, and I noticed after less than 12 hours that the musty and campfire smell that was lingering in the laundry was completely gone!

Would I buy these Air Wick products? As usual, my review is all my own opinions. I received products to sample, but would purchase this product without hesitation, and am looking forward to trying more of the Life Scents range.

At any rate when you are in need of a way to freshen up your home quickly, or get rid of manky smells, I'm all for using Air Wick Life Scents products. I am planning to keep a supply on hand at all times that way I can grab them and plug them in whenever I am planning to entertain or have company over but don't have time to clean from top to bottom. Plug in, straighten the house and nobody will know the difference, they will think you spent the day cleaning. I won't tell if you won't!

Weekends don't need to be fancy to be excellent

How does that saying go? A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content? Well, how about a long weekend spent doing not much around the house brings a week of overdue laundry?

I've been lucky enough to enjoy two long weekends in a row - well, last weekend was a regular two day weekend, but due to my dropping a shift a week at Lorna Jane, I now get both Saturdays and Sundays off, like regular working people! And this past weekend was a divine three-day weekend that I got to spend with BB, doing lovely Wintery things, thanks to the Sunshine Coast Show holiday.

To be honest, the long weekend started pretty poorly. I wasn't feeling at all well when I got home from work on Thursday evening, even though BB text me this photo:

How I wasn't excited about receiving this text from BB as I counted down the last hour of work

before heading home on Thursday evening, I'll never know!

After a delicious dinner of spaghetti bolognaise and an early night, Friday dawned grey and cool. We shmoozed around with Stevie in the house for the morning before heading out for a coffee and perhaps a stroll around the local Homemaker Centre, looking for bedroom furniture inspiration. As often happens, we got pretty sidetracked and ended up buying an entire room for furniture... for the family room!

I've taken some before shots, and will blog about this room's transformation as we go - it's going to be quite the change. (On a sidenote, if you're near the Sunshine Coast and interested in buying a chocolate leather three-seater recliner couch and two recliners in excellent condition, shoot me an email - we'll need them out of the family room soon!)

The buying process at Oz Design Furniture actually took two days, with the whole 'must head home and measure up' thing; but both BB and I love the direction we've chosen for that room. It's currently a room with a big TV on one wall and a couch facing it, but we really want to make it more social and welcoming, more of a place for conversations and interactions, so we're getting two couches to face each other instead. We have a cosy media room as well, so it's going to be nice to have the family room less about the TV.

Sunday was another very relaxed day, but slightly more social - we met up with Trainee Mama and family for Australia's Biggest Morning Tea before heading up the range to enjoy a hearty lunch together at the Mary Cairncross Reserve Cafe - thank goodness there was a were blankets at each table and a large fireplace burning when we arrived, the cafe literally sits in the clouds!

I chose the toasted lamb wrap with shredded braised lamb shanks, sweet potato and beetroot ($14.95);

while BB decided on the chicken fajita ($17.95) - it was the largest fajita I've ever seen, he could hardly get his big man-hands around it!

Now, this ain't a restaurant review blog, but it must be said that the meals were incredibly filling and good value for money, and pretty darn tasty. It's a great space for a family get-together, and the blankets to tuck over your legs were a nice touch.

Peta and I obviously couldn't leave without an outfit photo, although a flat grey background was about all we could muster - remember, we were in the clouds!

I wore Dotti long-sleeve tee, French Connection vest and jeans, and brightened it all up with my Tangerine Louenhide Baby Switch and coral Oroton brolly. 

I was pretty toasty in my furry vest; I've had it a few years now but only pull it out once or twice a Winter. Peta was rocking a fluffy vest as well, and the husbos thought it was funny to joke that they had tweeted each other prior to meeting up this morning to arrange to wear matching hoodies. In hindsight, open-ish ballet flats were a bad idea, my feet were frozen and I was jealous of Peta in her Hunter wellies. (Note to self, keep an eye out for coral Hunters ever going on sale!)

Good times with these two, although I confess I was really only hugging Ned because he's like a little soft squidgy radiator, emanating heat. 

I think I've got back into the swing of having two days off with my husband pretty well, we're hoping more short camping trips are on the cards  over the next few months as well as more more local Sunday drives and exploring.

How was your weekend? Was it long? And did you manage to avoid all household chores like me?