Planning my new house: Room no 1 - lounge

Wallpapers by the great Amy Butler; green shag cushion with tutorial from V and Co; white plantation shutters; modular corner sofas in browns (here from Freedom); white lacquered furniture; artwork by Gretchen Albrecht; factory and topography inspired artworks; antique photo frames; lily pad fabrics as cushions.

The lily pad household is on the move, and the excitement at nesting in a new place is mounting. Every spare second (of which there are really none) is spent thinking about what items of our furniture to take, and what to start fresh with.

Room One taking up most of my dreaming and planning is the lounge, mostly because I am going to relegate my current black couches to the family room and buy new sand/brown ones for the big 'adults' lounge. While I still love my black-white-red theme in the kitchen and family areas, rather than creating yet another room in the same style, I've dedicated to be brave and expand my colour palette and bring in browns, navy and teal greens.


The colour combo was initially inspired by my favourite designer of all time, Amy Butler, and her new wallpaper ranges (see above), as well as my research in new season colour influences from colour expert Pantone, as well as a spread in Homestyle magazine. But it has also allowed me to incorporate my love of pattern, and so I'm going to use my highly decorative, damask navy and green lily pad fabric on some cushions for a personal touch and make a shaggy green cushion. I'm also loving all these cool accent pieces below from http://www.felt.co.nz/ - oopsey daisy, I might have already bought the decorative mounted deer head even before we move!

tinch

$109.00

studiok

$65.00

snowfawn

$150.00

snowfawn

$45.00

elowezil

$40.00

unhinged

$45.00

I'm also brainstorming my own large scale canvas multi-media artwork for the lounge wall - more on that later. Clue One: Hessian coffee sacks from NZ company Avalanche thanks to a friend of a friend (thanks, Paul). Seriously such good coffee, have you bought some yet? Clue Two: Sewing and layering. Clue Three: Pattern and shape. Clue Four: oil paint?

But for up on the stunning wall with an original plaster fireplace mantle built in, I'm looking at purchasing this gorgeous 'Winged Spill" print by New Zealand artist Gretchen Albrecht pictured above. I love the mix of deep, mulled wine and forest colours - and it reminds me too strangely, of my daugher's love of rainbows. A little bit of playfulness in my otherwise seriously 'adults' retreat' style room.

Next up: ideas for my girls' new shared room.

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Poll: Babies wearing black clothes, do you like it?

Black clothes for baby are now easy to find in chic baby shops, style guides, on celebrity children and even in the mall... but we would like to know what you think!

I have some tiny black shirts that will be the new colour option on www.topography.co.nz, and they are so cute, but I know dressing babies (or children for that matter) in black is not for everybody...

So how do I feel about it? I confess that apart from an occasional polka dot, I have never dressed my daughter in black (and she is almost 4), but have adored it on my son from birth. And to further confuse things, I have always loved her in grey, blue denim, navy and dark purple, it is just black that I can not get my head around (I remember reading this discussion on the Everybody Community boards if you are interested in some more opinions).

(Pic: People.com)

Of course a few years ago we wouldn't have had the luxury of choosing, as baby clothes were pink or blue, with perhaps lemon and green for unisex options. Angelina Jolie dressing her first child, Maddox, in black was unusual in 2002, but would go unnoticed now. In fact Angelina usually wears black or white herself - do you think women dress their kids in colours they wear themselves?

We would LOVE your feedback on this topic, please take a second to vote in our poll ( in the left column of this blog) and let us know your thoughts with a comment below (or on my Facebook page).

I do admire black on little girls sometimes as it can look very smart, and to prove I am not a complete Nana, here are some gorgeous black girls clothes (from NZ labels Warnout and five6)... I think the key is to keep it looking young and fun.

p.s. Let's not forget that in New Zealand (all) black clothing has extra significance - I think there will be quite a few babies dressed in black in 2011!

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