Stormy Seas

January 20, 2016

I spent many hours and days of my childhood playing in the surf at Wainui Beach. As I grew older I became a little intimidated by the ocean and it's strength, but I've never stopped admiring it's beauty. I am drawn to the colours - the glittering turquoise of a calm sea, and the emerald greens and deep teals of a stormy sea.

It's this rich, dark, and moody palette that I'm really loving right now. I love the drama and the sophistication it brings to a room. I would recommend using these colours in a room with plenty of natural light, because you get the most beautiful effect as the light moves and changes in the room. If the room lacks natural light the colour may just appear a bit flat.

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Despite the fact that my school uniform was green and blue, I still love this combination in an outfit. Choose shades with some depth for maximum impact.

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If you're not sure about using these deeper colours on your wall, start by introducing them in smaller doses. Whenever you're working with colour, whether it's in your home or your wardrobe, make sure it moves you (in a good way). What colours are you drawn to when you enter a shop? What pages stop you in your tracks in a magazine? These are the colours you should be surrounding yourself with.

Messervy House For Sale

January 18, 2016

Matt and Kate Arnold discovered the Messervy House whilst on a walk down a quiet cul-de-sac in their hometown of Christchurch. After talking to it's owner, they learnt that it had been designed for her family in 1964 by architect Allan Mitchener, and she'd lived happily in it ever since. Matt and Kate kept in touch with Biddy Messervy, and when the time came for her to move out, they bought the house off her.

As only the second owners, Matt and Kate spent last year restoring Messervy House back to her former glory. They painted inside and out in the original colours, replaced the cork flooring and cracked windows, had new linen curtains made, re-wallpapered, and replaced the kitchen benchtop. Everything was carried out with the intention of maintaining the original design of the house, and using the original materials where possible.

Now that she's finished, Messervy House is on the market, and it's very important to Matt and Kate that her new owners are design enthusiasts who will fully appreciate her. Not only the highly imaginative design, but also the effort that has gone into her restoration. The house has a stream at the back with a footbridge connecting to Ilam fields and gardens, and it's a nice walk across the park to the University of Canterbury.

For more information about the house and how you can view and/or buy it, click here. I asked Matt a few questions about the restoration process, read on for his answers.

What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?
Finding cork tiles. We hit a national shortage, nobody had them. Kate called almost every Bunnings in New Zealand and sniffed out anybody who had cork tiles stashed away. We scrounged together just enough by buying them in small packets from all over the country. We almost went down the route of parquet floors, but finally got the cork.

Tell me more about the wallpaper you used?
The house originally had wallpaper, which is slightly unusual for a modernist house, but it seemed to work. The old wallpaper was done for, it was torn, faded and stained, but finding a replacement was surprisingly difficult. Have you ever shopped for wallpaper? It's bewildering. We finally settled on a seagrass, but at the last minute we spotted the green arches designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune (architects we really admire) and we were away.

Do you have any advice to help people find the right architect or draftsman for their project?
Go straight to Michael O'Sullivan.

You've done such a fantastic job with this home, will you be taking on another restoration or renovation in the future?
I think we will. There are lots of these wonderful little houses in and around Christchurch designed in the 50s and 60s that are perhaps a little bit under-appreciated. And when they're made of concrete, like this one, they don't rot or leak, and all you need is some white paint and enthusiasm. I think with these types of places, the less you do the better, really.

photography: Sam Hartnett

I wish you luck Matt and Kate, and to all my readers... if you are interested in buying this beautiful home, or know someone who might be, get cracking! I have a feeling it may be snapped up quickly.

What Will This Year Bring?...

January 11, 2016

Are you a 'New Year resolution' kind of gal (or guy), or do you roll your eyes at the very idea? I totally understand why people set goals at this time of year when they feel refreshed and ready to kick butt. Just make sure your goals are realistic, and if you want something badly enough, make it happen no matter how hard it is. Focus!

2015 was a big year for Bibby + Brady. It was this time last year that we moved from our home office into our wee studio/office in Ahuriri, Napier. A lot of the year was focussed on growing the business, getting our name know, and building relationships with a lot of other amazing creatives and suppliers in our industry. We were thrilled to have the home of our clients, Angie and Ryan, in the September issue of Your Home & Garden magazine, not only as a feature, but on the cover too (photos by Helen Bankers). We hope to feature more of our work in 2016 issues, and will start by styling and writing the story for another cool Hawke's Bay home next week.

In October last year Dael & I were part of a fabulous fundraiser for Te Awanga Kindy. The venue was the incredibly rustic backdrop of a working shearing station, which was filled with flowers, fairy lights and 100 beautiful ladies. They came to watch as Dael & I styled a console table three different ways while we talked them through the process.

We also demonstrated how to mix colour and pattern with the use of cushions, and shared our top tips on developing your own interior style. It was a great evening with local wine, delicious canapés, spot prizes, goodie bags, and products for sale at the end of the night. We also shared the stage with the talented Chloe from Peggy Lane who gave tips and a demonstration on creating a floral display. The night was such a success and Dael & I hope to hold similar evenings throughout 2016 (photos by Under the Kowhai Tree - Christall Lowe).

Another of our goals for this year is to find a way to showcase more of the incredible furniture and homewares available to purchase through Bibby + Brady. Of course our interior clients have access to them, but we want you to know that you can all come to us to source and buy furniture, whether you're a client of ours or not. We love working on complete room designs, but if you're happy with your room and are just trying to find that killer coffee table, or the perfect dining chairs to finish the look, we can help.

I'm also really keen to source one-off vintage or antique pieces to add to our shop. I love mixing older pieces with more contemporary ones, so if we find a beautiful old table, or a great chair that we can have re-covered, then that will help our clients and customers to create the unique spaces that we adore.

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As well as furniture, I love to hunt down gorgeous and quirky decorative items for my own home. There's only so many I can fit on my coffee table and shelves, so I will be adding future finds into the shop for you to buy.

Last year a lot of you followed me on my kitchen reno adventure. Our home is a work in progress, and this year I hope to finish off a few projects before I put it forward for a magazine feature. Be sure to keep following the blog to get some sneak peeks. We're also working with some lovely clients on exciting new interior projects, and can't wait to see what else 2016 will bring.

One more thing that will be happening is we're going to change this blog and the Facebook page into the Bibby + Brady name. Those were the first things I started all those years ago when I was still a graphic designer trying to express my love of interior design. Now they're the last of my social media to hold onto that name. We keep hearing time and again that people are confused by the two names and don't realise that Cush & Nooks is a part of the Bibby + Brady brand. It's a little sad for me as Cush & Nooks was my baby, but I'm so excited about the future of Bibby + Brady, we have so much more to offer, so it makes sense to unite everything. I have such a fabulous and loyal following, so I want you to know that other than the name, everything else will remain the same. Our Facebook page and Pinterest boards will continue to be a place of inspiration; our Instagram feed will show behind the scene sneak peeks and snippets of my life; and this blog will bring you inspirational and informative interior design content. We have some great new ideas for the blog this year, including a new series where we will share the favourite space of some of our favourite creatives.

Please come and visit us as often as you like and remember we love to hear your feedback. In this busy world we live in it's much easier to click on a "like" button than sign into your Google account to leave a comment. But we do love hearing from you. What do you think about our ideas for 2016? If there's anything you would like to see on the blog, run it past us; if you want to collaborate with Dael & I on something, get in touch. Let's make 2016 the best year ever!