Inspiration Profile - Meg McMillan

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Well, I know that a whole lot of new colourful and exciting stock has arrived at Tea Pea just in time for your Christmas shopping. And they do free shipping for all orders over $150 - excellent!
Tea Pea has recently opened a new brick and mortar store in Khandallah, Wellington and I was grateful that Meg McMillan, owner and creative mind behind Tea Pea, managed to find some time in her busy schedule to do the Inspiration Profile for this week. Enjoy!

Meg McMillan

 

Name: Meg McMillan

 

What do you do: Owner, buyer and designer for Tea Pea, our store in Wellington and online. Also mother to three, Griffin, Coco and baby Rosie. And wife to Scott who works in advertising as a day job, and Tea Pea as an evening job.

Where do you live: Wellington, NZ

What are you working on:Juggling all of the above! It helps that home, the store, our local deli and the kids school is all within walking distance.

Little Lamb felt garland

Colour: Oh I love colour. Primary colours and pastels. And there are so many amazing colour combinations I adore too. Then mixing patterns and colours - oh my! If I had to choose just one colour it would definitely be pink.

Plant/Flowers: Peonies, and thank goodness they only have a short season or I'd be broke. And dahlias too, and as luck would have it we have the most incredible dahlias growing in our garden through summer. Also have a growing collection of indoor plants.

Food: Yes, I love food. French and hearty would be my favourite I think. I'm a 'good ingredients and keep it simple' sort of cook.

Smell: Flowers, especially Jasmine and Daphne, my baby Rosie, a delicious meal.

Style: Surround yourself in what you really love. That's my style, and what I suggest to clients.

The new Tea Pea Store

Who/what inspires me: Enthusiastic, clever, and hard working people.

I work best:  in the morning. Evenings are for wine and dancing.

What I do when I’m stuck for inspiration: Get away from my laptop! Go outside, hang out with the kids, catch up with a friend.

The best advice I have been given is: Well, it's from Pinterest - does that count? 'Start each day like it's your birthday'. However I also tend to live by 'Bite off more than you can chew'.

My latest discovery is:Armadillo & Co rugs. I'd like one in every room in the house.

Armadillo & Co rug in New Zealand wool.

Books that I get inspiration from:A good novel - a lovely escape.

Magazines that inspire me: There's so many - if only I had the time to leisurely read them all.

Blogs that I enjoy: There's loads of great NZ blogs - Cush & Nooks, Design Chaser, Studio Home, Milo& Mitzy, re:address, Beautiful Bedlam, Alex Fulton Design.

My favourite room at home is:Our living room. Family, food & fun all happens there.

My office is: a mess!!!

What am I looking forward to: Summer

Feliz Love and Happiness pillow cases

 

Stockholm Stitch by Laura Thomas Linens

Stockholm Stitch bed linen from Laura Thomas Linens

 

When I received an email from Laura Thomas Linens about their new bed linen called Stockholm Stitch, I knew I had to share (as well as add to my 'to buy' list).

This new range is in crisp white organic cotton with a smart pin stitched detailing along all the edges (and such a good price too!), it's so simple and lovely - this linen would look great in any bedroom.

Laura Thomas is an expat Scot, who on her move to New Zealand, found a lack of mid-priced good quality bed linen, compared to the UK where white bed linen could be easily found. Hence Laura Thomas Linens was created and their mission is to be leading online New Zealand bedding brand. Sounds good to me.





LTL also have 100% soy wax candles that are handmade in New Zealand.

Photographs provided by Laura Thomas Linens.

New Zealand Holiday Home in Dwell Magazine

A New Zealand holiday home has made an appearance in the latest issue of US magazine, Dwell. Located at Onemana Beach, this compact prefab house was a collaborative effort between the clients, the builder and a group of architecture students. Read all about the unique process here.

 

 

Photographs by Simon Devitt via Dwell.

Scandi Style Kitchen

 

Here is a great Scandinavian style kitchen that has been designed for a Swedish-American family in Brooklyn, New York. I like how the dividers create the spaces without having to build walls - it keeps the overall interior spacious and creates a flow throughout. Read more about it here.

Stainless steel bench top with exposed plywood edge.

This freestanding unit houses the fridge and kitchen storage. It also acts as a dividing wall between spaces.

The divider becomes a bookshelf on the other side towards the living room.

Another built in divider, which houses the coat cupboard, defines the entrance and the living spaces.

 Photographs by Matthew Williams via Remodelista.

Seaside Family House

 

 

I enjoyed looking at this beach house which is in (and on the cover of) the latest Inside Out magazine (November/December 2013). The house was decorated as a Christmas feature, however I liked looking at it as it would be on a daily basis - a relaxed and stylish seaside family home. See more here.

 

Photographs by Armelle Habib via Homelife

Armadillo & Co Junior Collection

Nest Weave - Awning Stripe in Celadon/Natural and made in hemp.

I had the pleasure of being introduced to Armadillo & Co rugs last week. While I was already aware of this range and had recommended these rugs to several clients, it wasn't until last week where I met with Jackie, state manager for New Zealand and parts of Australia, that I really 'got' Armadillo & Co. I am now a fan.

There are three main collections - Junior, Earth and Designer (there are more collections on the way next year - I managed to squeeze a few secrets out of Jackie!) and all rugs are woven from sustainable natural fibres, mainly hemp or New Zealand wool, by artisans in India.

Armadillo & Co was founded four years ago by friends Jodie Fried and Sally Pottharst and this company has gone from strength to strength within a short time. What I like is the philosophy of Armadillo & Co - they believe in combining aesthetics with ethics, so every rug embraces Fair Trade practices and all purchases benefit the local schools in the weavers' villages. "We aim for our rugs to lie lightly on this earth." Top marks.

Here are some rugs from the Junior collection - beautifully styled from the Armadillo & Co catalogues.

 

Flower Weave - Daisy

Flower Weave - Marigold

Stratum Weave - Carnival Stripe in Pirate/Eggshell made in wool.

Stratum Weave - Carnival Stripe in Frog/Eggshell

Photographs via Armadillo & Co.

Moments from a Photo Shoot

Thonet chairs on display - the cl

Today I was out of the office and being an interior stylist on a photo shoot. We were located at the Thonet showroom in Wellington - a great space to work with and surrounded by great furniture to admire in between photo takes. Nice.

The stunning Artek 901 Trolley designed by Alvar Aalto. One day...

An awesome photo shoot perk - taking home the gorgeous flowers.

Another perk - finding awesome objects while you source products. This time it was a Cardinal Bird Whistle - you know you want one.

Photographs by Charlotte Minty.

House by the Sea

This stylish and homely Welsh beach cottage recently caught my eye. Owned and designed by Welsh-born interior architect, Caryl Terlezki, the house has a great nautical feel by using touches of the classic red, blue, white combination.

 

 

 

Photographs by Kristin Perers via Remodelista.

Living with Kids II - Kate Oppenhius in New Zealand

Here is another New Zealand home featured in 'Living with Kids' series on Design Mom. The previous featured New Zealand home was in Auckland and it has been a popular reference by my clients who read this blog. This time we are in Wellington and it belongs to interior stylist, Kate Oppenhius. Read all about it here.

 

 

Photography by Paul McCredie via Design Mom.