*Reminder

So true and yet sometimes we can lose sight of who are our nearest and most dearest...

Image 1 - via vi.sualize.us, Image 2- via lolitta

Bed of Flowers B & B

My other truly amazing friend, Carolyn told me about this site, Bed of Flowers B&B. You have to click on the site and browse their picture gallery to get the full effect. It is the cutest thing I have seen in a while, and yes, I am putting little fake (faux) birds in my chandeliers after seeing what they did. Enjoy, Heidi

Image via Bed of Flowers.

Image via Bed of Flowers.

Image via Bed of Flowers.

A Passion for Beach Hats

India Hicks has stacked a collection of beach hats on a shelf in her house in the Bahamas above.



Another trait my mother has passed onto me is collecting beach hats. She has always had a passion for beautiful straw/raffia beach hats. I remember her often popping on a new hat ready to head to the beach. Over the years she has collected many, many hats...favouring the designs of Helen Kaminski, Annabel Ingall & most recently Axel Mano.

In a similar way to using baskets as decoration, stacks of hats can also be a great look in a beach house. I often stack my hats on old hat blocks on tables and sideboards. I love the way India Hicks has placed her hats on a shelf in her bookcase as pictured above!!

If you look closely at the picture above you can see my small stack of hats on my sideboard at Straddie.

By incorporating usable, everyday things like hats and baskets into the decoration of our homes, whether they are at the beach, in the country or in the city, we are able to achieve a very personal, simple, cost effective yet stylish look.

Image 1 - via Shelter Blog, Image 2 - via Style Court, Image 3 - via Cote de Texas

Ralph just does it for me.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, He did it again. That Ralph, I tell you, he is the best in my book for creating decorating porn. Everything is so sexy, even this Summer House. Check out the Ralph Lauren Home site, because there is lots more. Enjoy, Heidi

Image via Ralph Lauren Home.

Image via Ralph Lauren Home.

Image via Ralph Lauren Home.

Memories & Family Traditions

Interior Designer Sister Parish once said...

"Even the simplest wicker basket can become priceless when it is loved and cared for through the generations of a family."

As well as being a fashionable accessory to carry to the beach, a basket can be very useful as decoration in a beach house as shown above & below.

Brisbane Artist Claire Stening's painting of a wicker basket.

This is such a simple yet beautiful tradition to begin. I know one day I will have a barrage of wicker baskets to love which my mother has collected over the years. Ever since I can remember, she has carted her goods and chattels, groceries and clothing to and from our family beach house in wicker baskets - big and small, much to my fathers annoyance. He always insisted that they were such a pain to pack in the car.

Always finding an excuse to use a basket my mother {during our childhood} was often seen traipsing down to the beach from the house with the three of us in tow, a beach umbrella under one arm and a wicker basket over the other arm filled with sunscreen, magazines, buckets and spades, towels, hats, drinks and enough spare change for when the ice cream man turned up.

The life-long obsession my mother has had with baskets has rubbed off on me. Gosh, I hope Harry will be prepared for all the wicker baskets he will inherit one day...

Image 1 - Elle Decor, Image 2 - Toast, Image 3 - Clair Stening

Hello

Nothing extraordinary happening. We have been extremely busy at the restaurant and blowing chandelier parts for a commissioned chandelier. Busy, Busy, Busy.

Lets play outside in my outside room.

This is what I think of when playing outside. Enjoy, Heidi

I found this image in the middle of an inspiration page off the wonderful site, Style Me Pretty. I have had it saved away and loved it and kept it safe until now and when I tried to find it's origin, well now the image is no where to be found at the Style Me Pretty's site. Lesson learned. But it is a wonderful pic.

Image via Forbes.

I do not know the origin of this image.