You and Me

Well, tomorrow is Valentines Day and lately there has been a whole lotta of lovin' goin' on around me. I attended a wedding in Christchurch in the weekend - which was a great celebration of love; a year ago my brother married his love and five years ago I brought 292 and gave that a whole lot of love too! Tomorrow night I'll be hanging with another love of mine, my divine niece Billie. So whoever 'you & me' may be, have a great loving day.
Photograph and print available via Castle.

Inspiration Profile: Claudia Zinzan

We come to the end of another week and I'm especially looking forward to this weekend - I am attending a wedding in Christchurch that was cancelled last year because of the earthquake. It will be great to see my friends get married after waiting for an extra whole year to do so.
Welcome to this week's Inspiration Profile. We have the clever and busy Claudia Zinzan, an interior designer who is possibly more well known as her alter ego, Father Rabbit. Enjoy.

Claudia Zinzan

A selection of homewares available from Father Rabbit.

Name:  Claudia Zinzan

What do you do: I am an Interior Designer and I also own an online homewares store, Father Rabbit Limited.

Where do you live: I live in Auckland, New Zealand.

What are you working on: I am currently working on residential bathrooms and homes, as well as marketing, buying and sales (and everything else!) for Father Rabbit.

Who/what inspires me: I often can’t work out what drives or inspires me. I do love spending hours looking at interiors in magazines and online, colours and products, and am always searching for things that appeal to Father Rabbit’s aesthetics.  It is so helpful to have such a strict philosophy with Father Rabbit, helping to say no to lots of crap out there! But clever colour palettes and different aesthetic tastes come out in my interiors business. 

I think the majority of people in the world are inspired (of course!), but whether it manifests in film, science or being a social worker. It is more about if you are driven or motivated enough, and can do something with that inspiration!  When I am stuck I look to art, pinterest (hours!) international designers, magazines, blogs or just switch off and wait for clarity.

I work best: I work best in the morning with a cup of tea - often I love getting up early when the house is asleep and quietly answer emails before the busyness kicks in.  I don’t do any serious work at night (and that is wine time anyhow), it is more about Father Rabbit, which doesn’t feel like work.

What I do when I’m stuck for inspiration: Not much! Those are the lazy times and I think just as valid as long as you meet the deadline in the end. For me it just happens - get going or else!

The best advice I have been given: 'Fake it till you make it'. In the sense that you need to just get stuck in even if you are not sure of how good you are going to be. Because practice makes perfect, especially if you have studied or have a passion. University doesn’t teach you much about the real world.

My latest discovery is: Bridgets cheese straws/biscuits at the Parnell Markets. I ate them all in one go.

Books that I get inspiration from:

• Simple Home by Mark and Sally Bailey - beautiful ideas for Father Rabbit
• Pale and Interesting by Atlanta Bartlett, Dave Coote and Polly Wreford.

Magazines that inspire me: My favourite magazines are Inside Out, Vogue Living, Belle and ELLE Decoration.

Blogs that I enjoy:

• The Design Files – no problem receiving that email everyday - I love it.
• Follow Studio - my dream life!
• Kara Rosenlund – so clever and such a perfectionist - love her!

My favourite room at home is: My bathroom - which is still unfinished, however we splashed out on small white butchers brick tiles, and we were stylish on a budget with antique mirrors and vintage lights. We built our own vanity and it almost looks stunning, just a couple of cupboard doors to go!

My office is: In my living room and constantly a changing space and can get into a bit of a shambles if we are not careful (with a 2 year old as well). We live in half a villa so its small anyway – so we are really bursting at the seams! Have to have regular big sort outs but things happen in busyness and chaos!

What am I looking forward to: A big industrial warehouse that will solve all of my problems and be a home for Father Rabbit one day. And the world’s biggest garage sale to get rid of everything that doesn’t match my ideal white interior (yeah right! I wish!)

Want to know more about Claudia Zinzan or Father Rabbit? Check out Claudia's website here and Father Rabbit's web shop here. They both have Facebook pages too!

Photographs used with permission from Claudia Zinzan and Father Rabbit.

Simon Doonan's Guide to Shelter Island

Jonathan Adler and Simon Doonan with Liberace the dog.

Getting away from it all Shelter Island style.

Vanity Fair has a great regular feature called 'Where I Go' and the latest is by author Simon Doonan. Where he goes to get away from it all is Shelter Island with his husband Jonathan Adler and their dog, Liberace. Read his entertaining profile here.
Photographs by Melanie Acevedo via Vanity Fair.

I Like...

I like...this Scandinavian apartment by interior designer Daniel Bergman. I especially like the collections and arrangements found throughout the apartment. As for those two side by side Snow dressers by Asplund in the bedroom - yes please.

Photographs from Skona Hem and spotted on Emma's Blog.

Movie Inspiration - Sense and Sensibility

Scenes from Sense and Sensibility - the Dashwood family at Barton Cottage.

I have been watching old films of late and one I saw recently was Sense and Sensibility (1995), with Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson as the Dashwood sisters.
I've always enjoyed Jane Austen movies and this film has some great interiors - some very grand and others more simpler. I liked 'Barton Cottage' the most - it has great details yet still simple and homely. I'd be happy to get my hands on a place like this. What about you - do you notice the interiors when you're watching a film?
Photographs via Hooked on Houses.

Place by the Sea

Last week my flatmate moved out and relocated to a new place with her boyfriend. I had dinner with them tonight and they have a sweet spot by the sea. There is something rather special about living by water - especially tonight when the sea is calm and the (almost) full moon is out. Ah, bliss.
Photograph source unknown - if you know, please let me know!

Inspiration Profile: Amanda Holland

Welcome to this week's Inspiration Profile - we have the delightful Amanda Holland of Small Acorns.
For those Wellington born and bred, like myself, you will know that Small Acorns has been a mainstay on the interior and retail scene for as long as I can remember. Small Acorns stock a great range of products (Designers Guild, Orla Kiely, Tivoli, Kartell, Minti to name a few) and to visit is always an enjoyable shopping experience. I proudly brought my first serious home purchase from here with my savings in my late teens - a Designer Guild blanket which I still have and use. So it is a pleasure to have Amanda featured here today. Enjoy.

Amanda Holland

Name: Amanda Holland

What do you do: I am the owner of Small Acorns, a boutique lifestyle store which specialises in everything I love about homes and interiors  - personal treasures, beautiful fabrics and contemporary design, infused with colour, pattern and a touch of eclectic whimsy. I don’t believe in following trends. I believe in personal style, designs that stand the test of time and a room that tells a story. Interiors which evolve organically and have soul. Quite unbelievably, Small Acorns will be 20 years old next year.

Where do you live: Wellington, New Zealand.

What are you working on: The retailer in me is always thinking about ways to improve the store, my next store display and keeping an eye out for treasures and ideas that will hopefully keep our customers as excited as we are. We also have some plans for another online magazine and some more workshops.
The designer in me is working on some lovely client projects as well as things for the store which might provide more of an instant interior quick fix, such as cushions and some fun upcycled furniture pieces. A little of the past updated into the present.

Who/what inspires me: Tricia Guild and the Designers Guild ethos has always been a huge inspiration. Personally I couldn’t live without colour, texture and pattern in my home, as I find it hugely invigorating, uplifting and no-one, but no-one does colour like Designers Guild. Colour doesn’t have to be about bright intense colours either. You have to be selective to make it work. Amongst the jewel bright shades you will always find pale greys, duck egg, lots of white and always a little black. I just can't get my head around what I call, a 'porridge' interior - bland, dull, and uninteresting.
Other inspirations are stylists Liza Giles and Sibella Court, my family, flowers (I love a little florabundance), typography and old signage, vintage modern, clothes, great retailers like Anthropologie, and amazing women like Estee Lauder who have the courage to pursue their dreams and vision.

I work best: Well, it’s a longstanding joke in my family that no-one should try and talk to me before 9am, or at least not until I’ve had my first cup of coffee, so I guess I’m not known as a morning person. I’ve always been a bit of a night owl I think.

What I do when I’m stuck for inspiration: Look blankly at the computer screen as I’m doing right now. I’ll head for one of my favourite interior books, or magazines, or even immerse myself in a Designers Guild brochure. Just looking at all the little styling details in any of these is usually enough to get things flowing again. I’m a detail person so it’s the little things that I notice first and that often captivate me the most.

The best advice I have been given is: Anyone is capable of achieving whatever they want in life, so long as you are prepared to work hard for it.

My latest discovery is: Realising that my love of old vintage pieces and junk stores, which I have honestly had since I was a teenager at school, is bordering on the obsessive. Actually I’ve probably known this for some time. 

Books that I get inspiration from: I return to Tricia Guild’s books over and over, in particular, Flowers and Inspiration. I also read and re-read Sibella Court’s etcetera etc, and am enjoying her latest book, Nomad very much also. As a fellow magpie collector I love looking at other people’s collections and ideas for displaying them.

Magazines that inspire me: Inside Out, Elle Decoration (UK) and Living etc are three I never miss an issue of.

Blogs that I enjoy: How does one narrow it down? What Katie Ate, The Design Files, Vintage, Pia Jane Bijkerk are all so visually inspiring, and then I have so many other blogs that I enjoy and never miss because I’ve become friends with the blog authors.

My favourite room at home is: Having just lived through and (almost) completed a major home renovation throughout most of 2011, every room at home is a favourite just now, but if I had to single out just one, then ooh, this is hard, maybe my bedroom, or the bathroom, or maybe the living room? The kitchen? I guess this is a sign that I just love it all!

My office is: Sadly neglected because I just don’t get to spend enough time there. (It’s offsite from both the store and home) It’s a shame because I love the space and have filled it with so many personal treasures and inspirations. It’s the ideal ‘room of one’s own’ and I love it.

What am I looking forward to: I always love and look forward to new beginnings and the opportunities that a new year brings. On a personal note I’m looking forward to enjoying my new ‘old’ home, armfuls of dahlias from the garden, the girls going back to school (!!) and helping my clients see their homes afresh. I’m also aiming for a little work life balance this year!

Want to know more about Small Acorns? Check out their website here and Amanda's blog here.

Photographs used with permission from Amanda Holland.