We Are Moving

June 30, 2016

Dael and I wanted to let you all know, especially you local Hawke's Bay peeps, that we are moving. We loved our first little office at 3 Ossian Street, Ahuriri, it served us well for the last year and a half. But we were bursting at the seams and the time had come to find a bigger space. We love Ahuriri so are super excited to be staying here, and from Monday you can find us down the road at 50 Ossian Street, Ahuriri. We will be sharing with a number of other cool and creative people, including our new landlords - design and marketing gurus - Band.

Here are a couple of old pics to give you an idea of the space and how great it is. The entrance is a large blue shipping container and we will be positioned to the right of that. A few structural changes are in the pipeline, so I will bring you updates as our space starts to come together.

Here I am, awkwardly clutching my cushions (Dael knows I hate photos!) and contemplating how we will fill this space. It's considerably bigger than our last office and opens up so many more opportunities for us - we're thinking the occasional styling evening and workshop may be called for, who's interested?

The larger space means we are able to set up a showroom to show off some of our favourite furniture, fabric, wallpaper, rugs, art and accessories. We've also taken this opportunity to update our logo and branding, which you'll see here on our website. If you live in Hawke's Bay and have an interior project you want help with, make a time to come and visit us, or just call in. Remember, if you live outside of Hawke's Bay we can still work together. A lot of our clients are from all over New Zealand and we can successfully work with you using our e-design service. Exciting times, big things are to come!

The Block Guest Bedroom | Girls vs Boys

June 27, 2016

Pulling the guest bedroom together whilst also having the Dinner Wars challenge on proved to be a busy and stressful week for all of the teams. Eating out and being entertained in the evening, although fun, took away valuable painting time, and inevitably meant less sleep too. But once again everyone completed their room, and here are the results...

Niki and Tiff: 1st place - 18 points (9 from Fiona and 9 from Paul)

This win means Niki and Tiff have won every room except the kid's bedroom, which they deliberately threw so that they could stay consistent with their overall style. The other teams are all feeling a bit at a loss as to what they can do to beat the girls. The girls stayed true to their style and worked with a monochromatic palette and lots of texture. It's all pretty gorgeous, but I will share my thoughts about how I think it could be even more so...

Curtains would've added a softness to the room, which I think it needs. In a soft white linen they would've sat quietly with a subtle sophistication. I would love to see just a hint of colour, perhaps earthy greens and blues with slightly muddy pinks. I also would've pulled the styling together into tighter groups creating a stronger focal point rather than having them spread out and floating. But I'm being picky, these girls are amazing, and on the whole, I love what they do.

Part of the brief was that each team had to have a hand in making a custom headboard. Niki has become quite the apprentice, and she helped their builder create the built-in headboard, which also acts as a shelf, and includes a long floating bedside. I love this, it looks fantastic, and the other thing I love is the large 2x3m rug under the bed, it's an excellent size.

Sam and Emmett: 2nd place - 16 points (8 from Fiona and 8 from Paul)

The boys are sick of being the bridesmaids and never the bride. They really wanted this win, and they presented a great room. Their woven leather headboard was a-ma-zing, I like it a lot, and I was really impressed with their styling too (except not loving the throw placement or the curtain tieback - but minor details).

Although the large striped rug is really cool, it is quite a strong and striking element which pulls your eye away from the headboard, which is the hero of the room. I would've moved the two art prints a bit closer together, but that's also a minor detail, it was a great effort by Sam and Emmett.

Dyls and Dylz: 3rd place - 12.5 points (6.5 from Fiona and 6 from Paul)

Dyls and Dylz have also stayed consistent with their rustic style, and it was great to see them take onboard some of the judges comments from last week, and pare it back a bit. Their macrcocarpa headboard was really well executed and I like the inset shelf, although I don't think it needed to be lit, the bedside lights are enough.

It's a nice room, but I'm not 'wowed'. The boys are putting their heart and soul into each room, so it's hard to watch them at the judging each week, but that's what all the teams signed up for with The Block. It can be a tough process.

Emma and Courtney: Last place - 10 points (5 from Fiona and 5 from Paul)

This week was particularly hard on Courtney. Her lack of sleep, and the room not turning out the way she had hoped caused a few tears. The girls took a risk by installing a glass brick feature wall behind their bed, but the result was too cold and hard for a bedroom and took away from their headboard. By the end of the week both Emma and Courtney had fallen out of love with their headboard, but I really like it, and agree with Fiona that a plain white painted wall behind would've looked better (not to mention been cheaper and easier).

Despite the outcome, the judges applauded the girls' choice to try something bold, and didn't want this setback to discourage them in future rooms. The throw doesn't do much for me and the art is too small, but the inky blue bedding looks fantastic against the warmth of the parquet headboard. I also would've made the curtains pull right back to the walls for a fuller, more sophisticated look. On a positive note, Emma won the game changing challenge, so the girls have the "+1" to play when the right opportunity arises.

It's been great getting some comments and feedback from you guys, keep it coming. What are your highlights so far? I have to say I love Sunday's show when I get to see what Fiona McLeod is wearing - love her style :) Pop over to the TV3 website for much more, and tune in tonight when 'big' Dyls has everyone worried when he experiences chest pains - hope he's OK!

Favourite Space | Stacey Bancroft

June 22, 2016

I'm really pleased to be able to share with you another 'favourite space', this time it belongs to Stacey Bancroft, graphic designer and co-owner of Darcy the Caravan Bar. It's no surprise then that Stacey's favourite space is in fact Darcy. It's easy to see why, he is super cute, and he's a bar! :)

Stacey and her husband, Mark, were living in Melbourne and on holiday in Cambodia when the idea for Darcy was conceived. With time to relax and switch off from their normally busy lives, it was Stacey who started brainstorming the idea, and draughtsman Mark immediately jumped onboard. Once back in New Zealand, he threw himself into the project and started trawling TradeMe for the perfect caravan.

They found Darcy and began renovating him in March 2015. That required gutting the caravan, putting in a new floor and bringing him back to life. With the help of CedarVille Joinery & Building they added the pine bench and cedar window. Mark and Stacey lined the walls themselves in ply, and they then got Darcy professionally painted. Keeping the colour scheme neutral means Darcy will suit any event, whether it be vintage, sophisticated, bohemian, country or town.

By the end of November 2015 Darcy was ready to go to his first party and is available to hire for your special occasion - a wedding, birthday, work or any private function. Pop over to his website to find out more.

As always, I had a few questions for Stacey so we could get to know her a bit better...

What do you love most about Darcy the Caravan Bar?

I love the clean Scandinavian feel of Darcy. He is such a great blank canvas for any kind of style. It is so much fun dressing him up for events. It's my favourite part of the job.

Were there any hiccups along the way with the renovation?

Once he was all finished, we went to get his Warrant of Fitness and he failed!!! But after a new drawbar and some rust proofing he passed with flying colours.

Do you have any advice for others renovating a caravan?

It takes longer than you think, so make sure you have plenty of wriggle room if you need it finished by a specific date.

What’s your favourite time of the day?

Gin o'clock.

Who or what inspires you?

All of the wonderful creative people we have here in the Hawke's Bay. After living overseas in large cities I am loving being back and involved in such a great community of creative people. I enjoy meeting up with, or bumping into people and finding out what is happening around here. It's so nice having that network. And for a business like Darcy it is the perfect way to get his name out there.

What are your reading at the moment?

I have had the 5th book 'A Dance with Dragons' from the Game of Thrones series on my kindle for over a year now. Whenever I manage to get a minute to read it, I love it! After living overseas for 8 years and having to take public transport all the time, I read so much. But now that we are back in New Zealand I miss my compulsory reading time on the tram or tube.

Sweet or savoury?

Sweet!! I am particularly partial to any kind of french pastry.

Favourite drink?

Champagne. Especially when there is something to celebrate.

Favourite thing you own?

My husband's nana's spoon collection. When she passed away a few years ago I went around her house and took photos of all her amazing bits and pieces. I was particularly taken with her spoon collection she had on the wall. She had made the wooden case that they sat in. That year Mark's mum gave me the collection for my birthday. I felt very honoured to receive it. It now features in our living room where everyone can see it. There are spoons from all over the place including, Bonnie Doon, Australia (made famous in the movie The Castle) and Fantasyland, Hawke's Bay.

Top of your wish list for your home?

We just bought our house in January and I cannot wait to put in some french doors off the dining room. Once we have done that we can buy a new dining table with money we were gifted for our wedding over two years ago. I cannot wait!!

As you can imagine, Darcy is very social. If you want to follow him and see what he's getting up to, he has his own Facebook and Instagram page. You can also follow Stacey's graphic design and styling business, The Blushing Teacup on Facebook and Instagram.

A wee thanks to Lushka Flowers for the beautiful foliage in the shoot. Last, but definitely not least, many thanks to the incredible photography skills of Florence Charvin.