Family Haven

I discovered a fabulous blog last week all about Emily and her beautiful young family.
The Beetle Shack is a fun and honest look into Emily's home and life. She shares stories of motherhood, recipes and glimpses into her home. It's a home full of colour and life, with a relaxed and welcoming vibe. The bedrooms are delicious, see what I mean...

Beautiful layers of colour and pattern, I bet there are a lot of fun times had in this home. Make sure you visit The Beetle Shack yourself to see lots more.

Small Spaces

Decorating in small areas can be tricky, but if you're clever there are lots of ways you can make them work. Bunk and loft beds are a brilliant way to utilise available space, and if need be, you can have them made especially to fit. The built-in storage in the bunk below is genius, and the down lights on the top cupboards are a nice touch.

Having a loft bed allows you to use the space below in a number of ways - another bed, drawers and shelving, a sofa, or a desk. This works really well in a child's bedroom.

Talking of desks, we often need one at home to work at, but if you can't spare a whole room for an office, a little nook can do the job. The table below couldn't fit this space any better. Having a stool means it can be tucked away underneath when not in use without taking up precious space (this one is a little bit low to be used at a desk, but you get the idea).

You can use a cupboard to house your little office, which you can then close up out of sight. I love this one below with a fold down shelf and a door-hung magazine rack.

One of my favourite space savers is the kitchen/dining nook. If you don't have a lot of room for a large dining table, a booth seat against the wall is a great solution.

And these examples below show you how you can rock a wall mounted table. Small, but clever, the lack of legs gives the illusion of space in a small area.

One of the smallest spaces in our home is the laundry. Not many of us have the luxury of an entire room, it's more likely to be hidden behind a cupboard. That can be totally functional as you can see below. Having a front loading washer and dryer side by side gives you a handy surface for folding washing. Wall mounted shelves hold all the necessities.

Or if you stack the washer and dryer on top of each other you could have room for a sink to the side. This example below is an excellent use of space with pretty good storage for such a tiny area.

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Don't let size matter, think creatively, you can make that small space work. If you need any help with yours, contact us at Bibby + Brady, Dael & I would love to help.

Favourite Finds

This is the first of another new blog series - Favourite Finds. Once every week or two I'll be bringing you a selection of favourite things I've discovered - maybe a new website I've found, or a movie I've seen, a delicious recipe, or cool product... an eclectic collection. Hopefully there'll be something in there to inspire you to.

I've recently taken the Meat Free Monday pledge. The concept to cut meat out of your diet for one day a week is taking the world by storm, and little ole New Zealand is jumping on board. I quite regularly cook vegetarian meals for our family, so it won't be a hard concept for me at all, but I'm most excited to try the yummy recipes you can find on the website. Pop over and read all about why you should take the pledge with me.

Autumn fashion is hitting the shops already and my favourite label, Moochi, has lots of cool new stock to entice me. I have a long list, of course, but at the top are these awesome Lead Pants. Tapered at the ankle and with an elasticised waist they look really smart and super comfy - a brilliant combination!

I've just discovered the TV programme Offspring. I know what you're saying... "Where've you been?! Offspring has been around for ages!". Yes, I know we're about to start season 4 here in NZ, but before a few days ago I'd never watched an episode. Thanks to the wonder of TVNZ On Demand, I was able to watch the last three episodes of season 3 back-to-back on my iPad in bed. Now I can't wait for the new season to start so I can see more of the craziness and of course, Patrick - sigh!

I'm always happy to add another interior book to my collection, and I love the look of Creative Family Home. It addresses both the practical and decorative issues involved in creating a stylish home for your family, whether you've got one tiny baby, or a tribe of teenagers.

And last, but certainly not least, my favourite new find... get ready to have your heart wrenched! I follow an incredible instagram account called mommasgonecity. Owned by Jessica Shyba, her blog by the same name was initially started as a way to keep in touch with family when they moved from California to Manhattan. Jessica moved back to Santa Cruz, California with her husband, three adorable children, and their latest addition, a rescue puppy called Theo.

A very special bond has formed between Theo and Jessica's youngest child, Beau - there is nothing quite like the love between a boy and his dog. Read Jessica's full story here about how the pair became such close buddies, and how nap time is no longer Jessica's most productive time of day! She spends most of it watching this remarkable love story with her heart bursting. As a massive dog lover, this just makes me want to cry with joy! I'm a bit of a sook when it comes to animals, if you are too make sure you follow Theo and Beau's journey, as well as the rest of the family, on instagram.