Live and let dry

This little work of genius is pick of the week at Howard's Storage World and it is testament to my extreme home-related nerdiness that I got very excited when it appeared in my inbox. It's the Brabantia wall fixed clothes line, a nifty little number that means you can have breezy, fresh smelling laundry without having an unattractive long yoke strung from one end of your garden to the other 365 days a year, as when you're not using it it can be tucked neatly away. Now, it's €139.95, but given the quality of Brabantia products I expect that it would outlive most of us.

Travels from my computer screen

I always think that hotels are a wonderful source of inspiration, there are so many beautiful designs out there. I set out to find some bathrooms and ended up going on many, many tangents. I'm going to share the fruits of these tangents with you! Clearly, my home is not hotel-sized and my budget is not five star-sized, but there are details here and there that I would love to incorporate into my own home. From the top: Hotel Signum is on the island of Salina in the Aeolian Islands off the north east coast of Sicily; we had a fab holiday in Sicily last summer and while we visited Salina we didn't stay here - it's kinda pricey! But this crisp white room set against the stunning blue seas and skies of the island is so invitingly idyllic that I plan, some day, to return and treat myself to a stay in Signum. This bedroom in Casa Angelina on Italy's Amalfi Coast looks like a serene spot for a good nights sleep - I absolutely love the bedside lamps, it adds an industrial feel, and the downlighters under that desk add a warm glow. The Bleibtreu in Berlin has a lovely, airy vibe - a kind of simple getaway chic, that touch of colour and mix of simple patterns is pretty without being fussy.

Oh my

Since the plumber came over to go through the house and discuss what needs to be done, I've been paying even more attention to what I need for my kitchen and bathroom than I was before (we're talking serious overdrive: more books and magazines than usual, and hardcore weekend visits to tile, sanitaryware, appliance and DIY super stores). I am getting a bit boring, but, as with any addict, I really don't care. Anyhow - I have finally twigged that I have some very distinctive styles in mind for my kitchen and bathroom. For the bathroom, I really want to feel like I'm on holidays in a little Mediterranean hotel, like Hotel Gutkowski that we treated ourselves to a stay in when we were in Sicily last September. I just want to start the day with that breezy, wholesome feel. And I'm looking for the same vibe when I come home to cook dinner in the evenings, or have friends over. I think it's the proliferation of pretty tiles in little hotels like this that makes me want to nab a bit of the look for my kitchen and bathroom in particular. Anyhow, I was having a hunt around for particular tiles in blue and white, and I was having no luck whatsoever, when I stumbled across a link that I had obviously missed on the Fired Earth website. These beautiful tiles are just what I'm after; I'm going for either a splashback in the kitchen or perhaps even a feature detail behind the mirror in the bathroom?...I don't know yet but I somehow suspect that the price of the tiles will dictate how I choose to use them! Plus, I can't get too carried away with myself, as I want to make sure that the rooms all flow nicely, with a relatively cohesive style that isn't too matchy matchy. Anyhow, this find has made me very happy - a very pleasant end to a grey old Monday.

Ceadogan on discount

I am a huge fan of Ceadogan Rugs. An Irish company designing a home essential of luxurious quality - where's the flaw?! They can be pricey (though I hasten to add that you get what you pay for with these beauties), which is why I was very excited to hear of their Cut Pile, a selection of design prototypes and end of line rugs on offer at a discount. My favourite is the Tranquil Sea style, which we featured in the March/April issue of H&H (above), now available for €933. Hmmm...but there are so many things to pay for before I splash out on a lovely rug - agh!

Plumb job

The plumber came around yesterday evening, and since I've decided against an extension this is going to be the most extensive part of my renovation. We were chatting about rads and boilers and all that stuff, but I'm dying to get stuck into the bathroom. The bathroom is ickle wickle in the extreme - you should see the sink, it's hilarious, I can just about fit both hands in it. Though the fact that it's so small is proving useful right now - I don't have a shower, so I need to use one of those attachment thingies from Homebase that you put on to the taps. The taps on the bath are these mental huge old things though, and I couldn't fit it on. I was panicking about having to have a bath every morning and then I figured that I could actually attach it to the sink taps and stretch it into the bath. And that is how I shower every day - VERY glamorous!!! Anyhow, the most sensible thing seems to me to be to take out the bath and create a wet room. I need to figure out the layout, and the above pic looks absolutely perfect to me - the shower and sink area would be where the bath currently is (on the left hand side), and then the toilet is where it is now, so I could put the rad on the wall where the sink is (on the right hand side). Can't remember where I got this pic from, so if anyone recognises it please do let me know...

Great value wooden hangers!

Ok, this is a bit boringly practical, but I feel the need to share what I believe to be quite a bargain. I was grabbing some groceries in Dunnes Stores on Georges Street (Dublin 2) yesterday evening when I saw that they have sets of eight chunky wooden hangers for €6 - great value, especially if, like me, you have tons of those lame wire hangers that don't really give a nice shape to your clothes.

Tasty tableware

I had to exercise a great deal of self-restraint when we paid a visit to the Blackrock market this weekend. It was full of the most delightful teacups and saucers, cake stands, teapots and plates, and I'm a total sucker for a pretty, chintzy teacup or a funky retro cake stand. But I really must limit my purchase of such lovely items, as the impending house move is already full of breakables to bubble wrap - and I also must save my shekels for ever so slightly more important items, like, eh, rewiring...insulation...the list goes on! In the meantime, I'll indulge my tableware-buying tendencies by feasting my eyes on this drool-worthy shoot that we featured in our March/April 2007 issue.

Great Danes!

I'm off to Copenhagen on Monday for three days to research a feature on Danish design, and I can't wait! It's somewhere that I've always wanted to visit - out of all the stylish Scandi nations I think that the Danes really have nailed design in an incomparable way, and it's actually their biggest export. I've been planning and researching my trip and I intend on gathering tons of essential info for any House and Home readers who may fancy a trip to this accessible design Mecca. I suspect I may also 'gather' some little treats for myself too (in spite of the no spending ban that I have imposed on myself in an attempt to be a responsible new home owner) - I may even come back with that elusive green leather mid-century sofa tucked under my arm *cough*. So, here's a taster of how the Danes just get it so very, very right when it comes to design, with a selection of fab hotel designs. From top to bottom: two serene and classy bedrooms in Hotel Front; bedrooms 302 and 414 in Hotel Fox; Avenue Hotel bedroom (mmmm, Missoni throw) and garden.

Paint and pianos

As I am in the process of purchasing a house that needs some serious love (I am currently calling it 'the hovel') I spend many of my waking hours daydreaming about paint schemes. Sad, but true. As this is my first house, I also have no major pieces of furniture apart from a piano and a bed. Anytime I see a picture of a piano in a room I get a bit excited, so when the Farrow and Ball 2009 product catalogue came in the other day I was sighing wistfully over this lovely pic. I would like to stress that my wee palace-to-be is a fraction of what the size of this house must be and, trust me, my own grand piano exists only in my dreams (my parents have very kindly said that I can have the trusty old upright piano that me and my four brothers learned to play on), but hey, it's inspiration more than aspiration. The colour on the walls is Mouse's Back No.40 Estate Emulsion (€48 per 2.5 litres, €84 per litre), and the colour on the woodwork and ceiling is White Tie No.2002 Estate Eggshell (€29 per 750ml and €66 per litre). And how cool is that wood and stainless steel coffee table? I reckon that you could easily get a smart handyman to make one of those without too much palaver. Get Farrow and Ball paints from Cornmarket, Dublin 8. Tel: 01 677 0111.

Style stealing

As I said in my last post, I have tons and tons of ideas for my new home, and most of these come from my work and the gorgeous homes of our readers. There's a notebook at my desk that is crammed with pics torn from magazines, and, naturally enough, many of these are from House and Home. So I thought I'd grab a few to share the loveliness that I hope to eventually bring to my own home (that's after the rewiring and the plumbing and the insulating and the endless list of other essentials has been ticked off).  Sad but true: what really sold me the house was the lovely original fireplaces, so the ones in the top two shots are the kind of beauty that I hope to achieve with my own (both from the Jan/Feb issue, the top one is Susan McEvoy's and the second is Ciara Dowling's). The third pic is a most elegant and comfy-looking chair, many of which I hope to have throughout my house whenever I get to that stage. Perfect for making a guest bedroom look homely, I think (from Iseult White's house in the March/April issue). I also need to work on the bathroom, and I love the colour of these tiles, which is making me re-think my fixed ideas about an all-white bathroom (pic also from the home of Ciara Dowling). And finally, I am determined to be extremely organised in my new home, and that involves good storage solutions - so where better to look for inspiration than the home of Olive Donavan of Howard's Storage World? I like these stacking shoe boxes (from the Jan/Feb issue).

Love. Envy. Want.

Sixx Design has crossed my radar before, via various blogs, magazine features, etc. But when I read a piece on the utterly fabulous New York-based Novogratz family in the latest Grazia magazine, that's when I got a full-on blast of envy on so many levels. In fact, I am well and truly sickened. They describe themselves as property developers, but they are a far cry from your average property developer stereotype - I mean, if any Irish property developers were remotely on the same level as these guys there would be at least we would be left with something aesthetically pleasing after the lunacy of the last ten years *mini rant over*. They have taste and style that is bright, modern and desirable, without being inaccessible. They also have eight children and the entire family is signed up to the Ford modelling agency. Somebody, somewhere, please find me a flaw?! The pics above are from a hotel that they designed called the Bungalow Hotel on the Jersey Shore in the US. I can't think of any reason not to get their book Downtown Chic, so I may have to break my Amazon ban. Dammit, I am so weak!!!

Eager & impatient

I'm eagerly and impatiently awaiting the arrival of the May/June issue in from the printers, can't wait to see it in the (papery) flesh. 'Twill be on shelves shortly so keep your eyes peeled!

I heart Target

I am a great appreciator of the prosaic and the mundane. Which is why when I visit New York I always anticipate a visit to Target. It is magic, I love it - I saw someone describe it as a huge Dunnes Stores once, but it's soooooo much better than that - they do EVERYthing (food, clothes, stationery, cosmetics...), and their homewares rock. They have the best designer collaborations - I nabbed a load of Orla Kiely for Target gear when I was over there in March. And then when my big bro was home a couple of weeks ago he brought me this great retro clock designed by Dror for Target. It's so cool, those arms fold up like a fan, and it's the perfect style for my house. Per - Fect. I have never heard of this designer before, so I set out to investigate and discovered that he also designed this set of Stack shelves for Target. It's kinda like a nest of tables, only it's a nest of bookcases - genius!