I’m a sucker for good design… my eye is drawn to it, it grabs my attention and makes me excited and peaceful at the same time. I’m often told I have ‘expensive tastes’ because I usually pick the most expensive thing… but I don’t believe good design should cost an arm and a leg, because good design is a reflection of taste, intellect, and understanding.

Geo Triangles

Chevron is here to stay for a while, and so are bold, chunky geometric prints featuring the ever stable triangle. While big and bold is definitely a winner here, the key to pulling this off is to keep it to touches/accents and complimentary colours and patterns. This will infuse your space with some order and energy without overpowering or giving you a headache.

Incorporate this look easily into your bedroom with a bedspread, cover a corkboard with chevron fabric for practical yet beautifully on-trend decor in your home office, get some funky statement mugs for the kitchen…

Copper Accents

Trio Pear In Copper

I personally LOVE this one. I’m a sucker for anything shiny, and copper says to me ‘unpretentious bling’ as well as being a good, sturdy material. You’ve probably noticed the little gold and copper dipped asymmetrical glass wear, copper coloured desk lamps and other small home accessories. This trend also expands to gold and silver accents, but copper tends to bring a more homely feel to a space when used in this way and helps bring all the other on-trend elements together.

Why not DIY with some gold paint, or gold sharpies? Use painter’s tape to mark off an area to leave plain, and simply brush/spray on some metallic style in copper. Try it on wooden kitchen utensils, ceramic dishes and cups (using Pebeo Porcelaine 150), on your teracotta pots, use a bronze sharpie and a $2 geometric shape stencil to add some triangular style to plain white furniture or plain white cushion covers… so many possibilities!

Eco-Greenery

via Etsy

Eco-friendly is no longer just a buzz word or meaningless marketing hype, you can help the planet and your health with some simple gardening. Permaculture (sustainable & self sufficient agricultural ecosystems) is slowly making it’s way into the main stream, and mini indoor gardens are a great start. Grow herbs easily right in your kitchen, clean your air with a beautiful plant, turn your balcony into an edible oasis with vertical gardening and get excited about plants! Plants not only bring the outdoors inside and have great environmental and personal health benefits, they also look great and lend a touch of calm sophistication to a space.

You can easily bring some environmentally friendly greenery into your home, even if you don’t have a green thumb. If you never seem to keep your plants alive, take advantage of self watering pot plants and select plants that are suitable for the growing conditions. If your cat keeps eating your plants (like mine does), get classy and get a cloche.

Raw Timber

via Etsy

Yes, raw timber. Not necessarily the Ikea unstained type, but rounds of natural looking trunk slices with the bark still on, and timber furniture that’s been carefully finished to bring out it’s natural beauty. While these finishes aren’t actually raw branches just thrown together (the timber should be dried and finished for longevity) the end result is one of bringing the outdoors inside in a whimsical yet solid way.

Wood slice coasters are a simple yet effective way to use raw timber in your home. If you’re feeling adventurous, why not up-cycle an old timber dresser; stripping off the paint or varnish and finishing it with beeswax? Or, you can use an old timber ladder to store your scarves or cuddly blankets in the living room on.

Upscale Industrial

via Etsy

This trend reminds me of Eames in many ways, however I’m pretty sure some of the products would have made them shudder at how impractical they are, while admiring the efficient use of materials and high quality of others. Think trusses, raw concrete, steel, and simple yet sturdy furniture.

In my opinion, the best way to make this trend work is to be honest about your materials and uses – wire made to look like a truss kind of looks funny unless it is actually holding something up/acting like a truss in some way. But this trend is an awesome opportunity to up-cycle things!

Natural Textiles

via Etsy

Thick chunky woolen throws, fur, hemp/burlap & leather. None of this ‘polyester’ stuff, thank you very much! Think quality, comfort and oversized statement pieces. While burlap has been around for a while, it’s eco-friendly cousin hemp is even cooler when done right. Leather will always be a sign of quality, but it also says sophistication and comfort in this trend. Fur (or feux fur/second hand fur) and lambskin is so soft and comfortable, and wool will always symbolise comfort.

Obviously, the easiest way to incorporate this trend would be with a rug and/or cushions. But think creatively here! If you have a leather couch, you may want to keep the cushions to bring in geometric triangles rather than overloading the space aesthetically. Why not try a hemp apron and shopper bag hanging on a wooden peg in your kitchen? Or a giant sweater for your bed, with cable-knitted wool? A lambswool rug by your bed is super soft on your feet in the morning, or if you’re into spoiling your cat it would be an amazing material to line their bed with.

These interior trends if done right will help evoke a sense of light and airy calm balanced with a down to earth high quality feel. This is much easier to achieve if you’re lucky enough to have white/off-white walls. Keep your colour pallette simple if possible, pick out your current colours (e.g. grey carpet, white walls & green curtains? These are great neutral base colours!) and go with it, adding an accent colour of your choice.

copper paint for porcelain

DIY tutorial by Emily

Geo fabric for your DIY project

Indoor herbs tutorial

DIY tutorial by Mandy

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via Etsy

The images in this post are both for your inspiration and if you want to either buy this style ready made or DIY it yourself Just click the images to follow the links! All the Etsy items can be found in this treasury. Please note I’m not endorsing or getting paid by any of these products/people, I just happen to love the style. Lol.
Will you be incorporating any of these elements into your home or office? Or do you have another favorite trend? Please share your story in the comments!

To hang artworks, it’s generally recommended to hang the top about 1.8 – 2.2m from the floor level. But really, you want to hang them where they fit in with your furniture and more importantly where/at the height you interact with the artwork best. After all, artwork is a very personal thing, just like your home, so you should personalise how you hang it!

I highly recommend chatting with your local hardware store about masonry bits/screws, studs and other things if you haven’t done anything like this before…

Step 1
I pick my spot…. choosing a spot where it will look great but also where it’s not in direct sunlight all day, or over somewhere steamy/where there are lots of temperature changes.

Step 2
If it’s a masonry wall, I make sure I have the right picture hooks with the little plastic sleeves to sit over them, and an impact drill. I also want to make sure I’m not going to hammer any nails into any electrical wires…. so, use common sense & a small nail and if in doubt, ALWAYS get a pro to check it out! Better safe than sorry.

Step 3
When I’ve picked my ideal spot, I measure roughly how far the picture wire is from the top of the canvas. I then measure how high I want the top to sit on the wall, and subtract the amount from the first measurement to get the height where it will hang. I make a tiny pencil mark there. It’s useful if you stretch out the wire/string when you take the first measurement so you it’s more accurate with the weight of the actual painting.

Step 4
If I’m using a picture hook, I carefully place the outer part so the hole sits over the pencil mark, and using a hammer and the nail, gently hammer it in making sure it goes in on the right angle. This is easy to do as the outer part guides the nail.
If I’m using a commend hook (which I don’t recommend for larger artworks or medium sized works with glass) then I’ll clean the area, push the bottom part on and press against it for a minute. Then I’ll add the outer hook part and leave it for at least an hour. If you’re using these, make sure you get a hook that’s designed to carry at least twice the weight of the artwork! And don’t use it on flaky paint or in an area that has big temperature changes. I generally steer clear of them through bad experiences… they tend to work only in the short term for me,

Step 5
Sticking the art on the hook…. pretty simple really, but I always use a little spirit level to make sure it’s actually level. If it’s a particularly large or awkward piece, I usually enlist the help of my hubby to lift it on, they will lift it and I’ll climb underneath and guide the wire onto the picture hook then we will both move it to the right/left so it’s sitting kind of in the middle.

D Hooks instead of wire
If you’re hanging a work with 2 x D hooks, follow the steps above but measure the distance between the top of the two hooks, and mark the same height on the wall twice, that distance apart. You will want to make sure this is level before hammering in the picture hooks. If this is all too hard, you can always string picture wire between the two D hooks (just make sure you get the heavy gauge stuff )

Notes
All of my artworks are sold ready to hang, unless specified (e.g. to be framed).
It’s always best to check that the picture hook you’re using is the right type and can handle the weight, the last thing you want is it coming off the wall in the middle of the night!
As an ex-real estate person, I highly recommend emailing your property manager and getting their permission before sticking holes in the wall, They will usually have their own advice and/or procedures.