Starting afresh

New home pics

Decorating the new house

Rosa's House

Reworking a space at Rosa's house.

Plans for the new look

Ice Goddess in situ

Ice Goddess

My latest painting in the Gaia series.
For Uliana.

Candles and Diffusers

Candles and diffusers adds the finishing touch to every decor by creating ambience and making the space smell divine.  

Diffusers and candles perform a different function and together they form a partnership. Think of them as you would your all over body lotion and then adding the finishing touch with a light spray of the matching perfume. Sell them as companions.

Diffusers have a lighter scent that continuously wafts through the room. They are best situated near entrances, however do not place them near heater vents as heat will evaporate the liquid and may also change the chemical balance in the mixture. If you are going away for an extended period of time then you may choose to place the sticks in a ziplock bag and screw the top back on the bottle. If there is no lid then place a small piece of glad wrap around the top and secure with a rubber band. When the diffuser is finished don’t throw away your dried sticks, just sticky tape them onto the lid of your rubbish bin or place them in your linen closet (make sure they are dry so you don’t leave stains on your linen).

Candles create ambience and add a romantic flavour, people just gravitate to a flame, especially a beautifully scented one. They have a much stronger scent than a diffuser and are fantastic to light up as a booster to your diffuser. Burning them for two-four hours is usually recommended for a big room, less for a smaller room. Burning time differs from candle to candle. Candles encased in glass are not to be left burning longer than 2-4 hours at any given time, the glass should not reach the point where it is too hot to handle as it may crack. Always place candles on a level surface that is heat resistant and avoid draughty areas. In draughty areas the candle must be secured in a glass container.

Efficient use of candles

Wicks should be trimmed to 1/8 inch above the wax before lighting including the initial light. Most wicks will form a mushroom after burning for some time, when this happens just snip the mushroom off before relighting. The reason for a shorter wick is so that the candle does not create a high flame. A high flame will not only burn faster, therefore not lasting as long, but it will also begin to smoke causing soot marks on your walls and ceiling. To trim the wick use either a candle trimmer, a small pair of scissors or a nail clipper.

Due to health warnings, all wicks must be lead and cadmium free, the wax is to be paraffin free and scented candles should be free of/or have low VOC’s. VOCs are volatile organic compounds and are generally to be avoided in products used in the home in the interests of a healthy atmosphere. A braided or twisted fibre wick is considered safer to use. If anyone suffers from severe asthma then a diffuser is the way to go over candles, provided they can tolerate even that.

Tunnelling is when a deep dip in the candle surface appears around the wick. For tunnelling not to appear, don’t blow candles out before the entire surface area has melted. This will ensure that the next time you relight the candle will burn evenly. If tunnelling has occurred then you can simply use the trick of wrapping a piece of foil around the glass when lit, this will heat up the surface area evenly.

A safe method of cleaning candle jars with paraffin or beeswax is to place them in the freezer for a couple of hours. When the wax is frozen then carefully use a knife to crack and pry bits of wax away. Wait until the glass has reached room temperature and then fill the jar with hot soapy water. Leave for a few minutes before washing away all the remaining wax. With Soy wax there is no need to place in the freezer, just fill the container with hot soapy water and scrub. Candle jars can then be used to hold anything and can be very decorative holding something colourful, like jellybeans.

Earthy and masculine

Creating a look for a study. Warm and relaxing.

Revisiting the tropics

Just add a hammock

Deck to impress

Choosing something tropical for an undercover outside space.

There is an art to pulling off an eclectic interior style or simply integrating a period home with modern appliances. For a great seamless look a few rules must be followed.

Keep in mind that a space must always flow, and in order to design this unity and harmony, the objective aim is to strategically place complimentary objects around the room.  Here are some of the many examples; the grouping of colours and items of similar weight, style, age, value, shape, theme, texture or finishes. The emphasis is on constructing a theme or story. Another method is to follow and repeat the organic curves from one element to another, or by mimicking a geometric motif or pattern.

It is equally important to ensure that there is sufficient space and relief between each focus of attention. If there is more than one focal point intended, then, scatter your focal points around the room with the intention of making sure that the line of sight comes to rest at differing levels eg. a painting on the wall and a sculpture on the floor, this will draw the eye up and then down. Importance and hierarchy is achieved by creating ample areas of distance between each point of convergence. This process is reached by avoiding clutter, only selecting and displaying objects of meaning and beauty, grouping these together, keeping the number of items to a minimum and placing them at a distance of each group. All awhile ensuring to create levels in height between each object, this formation will support your focal points. Of course the exception to the rule is if you intentionally want the focus to be all at one level leading the eye down a tunnel or along a line. No group of objects should overwhelm or overpower another.

Take the viewer on a journey by keeping the eye roving around the room in an easy manner.

Today's displays at Maison Est

The entrance to the Preston store. Left side has a modern Scandi feel.

The right entrance of the store. An Asian exotic vibe.

Sprucing up a corner with a touch of the Hamptons

Warming up a space with splashes of pink and spearmint.

Visual Merchandising the Abbotsford store

Let's hot up the place with vibrant oranges. Bring out the brights for Summer.

Colour blocking the different sections.

A touch of class. Complimenting the Chevron patterns with gold.

It is all about layering and repeating patterns.

Love these chunky servers. Something different.

Loved this mirrored tray so much that I couldn't resist and bought one for home.

This rustic table is made from very old Chinese doors. In parts you can still see where the bolts and door handles once were.

Fresh Hampton's look. Coastal blue and crisp white.

Continuing the Coastal feel.

Quote of the day - author unknown

The world is evolving into a different state where we have a better understanding that the design of a space thoroughly impacts on a human behaviour and attitude.

What defines a "Hampton Style"?

What defines a “Hampton Style”.

North of New York is where you will find the wealthy beach holiday destination of the Hamptons.

Sophisticated, fresh, rustic and up market, the interiors are drenched in plenty of natural daylight and filled with white on white, neutral or light finishes. It is relaxed, casual, comfortable and has a breezy easy feel. Lots of wood finishes preferably bleached, faux furs, touches of beachy ornaments displayed in clear glass jars and bowls, a little wicker, linen and cotton fabrics, big soft couches and then finished with scatter cushions. A perfect recipe.

The psychology of the four primary colours - red, yellow, blue and green

Colour plays an important role in relating to the mind, body and the emotional state of the viewer. The influence of colour has a huge impact on the human behaviour and responses, it drives many factors from personal emotional growth through to latest fashions and primarily sets the schemes for present interiors. Colour responses are subjective and we all relate and gravitate to our favourite hues depending on how it makes us feel. Below are examples of images that I have photoshopped and their meanings.

RED. Physical

Positive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, 'fight or flight', stimulation, masculinity, excitement. 
Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.

YELLOW. Emotional

Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity. 
Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide.

BLUE. Intellectual.
Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm.
Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness.

GREEN. Balance
Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace. 
Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation.