ombre ombre

Are you embracing the ombre or dip-dyed look that is so big in the interiors world right now?

Like anything new and a little challenging, I think it sometimes takes a little while before it feels comfortable.

Last year when we wallpapered our huge wall at the store in one of Designers Guild's ombre wallpapers I could tell that many of our customers were unconvinced.

Six months on, and suddenly everyone thinks it is sensational, and they tell us so.

Of course, we agree, but then we always did think it was amazing, and we knew it was only a matter of time before everyone else felt the same.

I thought you might like to see some images from the newest Designers Guild collections.

They've upped the ombre ante once again.

A little shibori or tie-dye features also, and linen is still the texture of the moment.

I just love those softly billowing linens, and desperately fancy a sofa that fades from light to dark, but if this is a little too much for you, the cushions and throws may be easier to get your head around.

Beautiful don't you think?

Amanda xx

(all images copyright, & used with the permission of Designers Guild)

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quick fix - paper bag flowers

At our Flowers & Frippery workshop instore last week, one of Sarah's fabulous little ideas involved the humble paper bag.

I thought the idea so inspired that I would reproduce it here, and pass it on.

Ever so cute if the only vessel you have at hand really wont pass muster in the style stakes, but also if you have a bit of a natural aesthetic going on for a display, then I think it works beautifully.

All you do is take a paper bag, with a block bottom if possible, and gently roll it down, like a stocking, from the top.

Then pop your jar or yoghurt pot or whatever the vessel is that holds water, but is not for public view, into the bag, arrange your flowers, and voila.

Lovely with a hydrangea flower head like this, but it would also look great with succulents or big chrysanthemums.

Imagine a row of these on a dining table. It would look ever so sweet.

Amanda xx

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quick fix ~ a flower garland

Well it certainly has been an eventful start to the week!

Those who follow Small Acorns on Facebook will perhaps already know that yesterday was the day of the flood (lapping at our doorstep in the midst of the storm), the fire (someone in an apartment above the store left something on the stove which caught fire) which meant the building was evacuated while we stood outside in the torrential rain, and then, just to top it off and prove that things come in threes, there was a small earthquake.

What did I do in between natural & un-natural disasters?

Make a little flower garland.

As you do.

It was just a little idea I had, seemed like a good idea at the time for an upcoming store display & a photo or two, and before I knew it one metre had turned in to five.

But as you can see, this garland involves only upcycling.

The flowers are all cut out from old magazines, and then, nothing fancy, they are stapled onto twine at roughly 10cm intervals.

 The result is surprisingly pretty & quite fun draped en masse or tumbled over a hook or picture frame.

And the perfect way to calm ones nerves while waiting for a plague of locusts, or whatever comes next after flood, fire & earthquake. 

Amanda xx

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have you met cyril?

Have you met Cyril?

He is the Third Lord of Brunnel, and his photo hangs in our bathroom.

I see the look on people's faces when they see Cyril for the first time.

Lord, they think, (literally), no wonder she hangs you in the toilet/bathroom.

Poor girl has inherited you from her husband's family, and she has to put you somewhere.

Confession time then.

I don't actually know Cyril.

I certainly can't be sure that is his real name, and I doubt that he is a relation, even if he does bear a striking resemblance to Fauntleroy, current Lord of Brunnel, who of course, does live here.

The truth is, Cyril came from an auction.

I paid him to come and live with us.

Why!!!??? I hear you ask.

Well - he is a lot less trouble than the other Lord, he never leaves the toilet seat up, he has an attractive disposition, and a nice frame...

It was love at first sight!

... AND I like interiors that are all mixed up, layered, and have that touch of whimsy.

Just because it's a bathroom, why should it be any different?

Bathrooms, by their very practical nature, can be cold spaces.

Which is why, if you can add in some warmth by way of a textural change or some colour or quirks, then you should.

The cute old stool, the lovely old wooden ladder, the Ball jar light fitting, the rug, the wallpaper - these all share Cyril's space, along of course with the more usual bathroom accoutrements - bath, shower, etc.

Mostly, they all get along together pretty well.

Although I can assure you that Eva's hair & makeup collection, (yes, I know she is only 9), and Milly's array of shampoo bottles, and the towels that get left everywhere, & the empty toilet roll syndrome, do test Cyril's patience much of the time.

Amanda xx

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small things

I can't believe that another month has almost been and gone.

It gives you a fright when you realise that something that seems only yesterday, was in fact almost

last month.

So, just a few of the snapshots from this month's visual diary...

a multitude of small delights

constitutes happiness'

         c. baudelaire

The images are in no particular chronological order, but you can see that despite the flower foraging, it has been quite a floral month really.

What with Zana's gift of some beautiful pom-pom dahlias from her garden, the first of the hyacinths in flower here at home, and once again, we're giving away lots of beautiful daffodil bulbs to all our customers at the store, so that they can plant a little love in readiness for spring.

The girls and I have had some great fun junk-shopping and jumble-saling.

Eva was in her element trying on all the old hats, and Milly was in hysterics amongst the old bathing costumes. (And I say costumes, because they really were that era.) 

We had a ball, and came home very pleased with our treasures.

What did I buy? Well, when I told Brunnel I had bought an old school uniform his imagination went into St Trinnian-style overdrive.

If only!!

Obviously the reality was considerably less exciting... and that's a story for another day!

Amanda xx

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friday (chalk) frippery

 When I was 5 years old I came 2nd in a pavement chalk drawing competition.

The talent is obvious! 

As is the fact that my sister will never forgive me for posting this elegant image of her.

In defence of my talent, or lack of it, please note the subject matter is a house. It is obviously colourful, and there are dahlias in the garden.

Life was mapping itself out!

 The competition was obviously tough! (Or maybe there were only 2 entrants in the 5 year old age group.) But such were the joys of school holiday activities back in medieval times. 

No electronic wizardry for entertainment back then.

Look at everyone. I'm entrant number 248, so there were a fair few kids on Marine Parade, Napier that day.

The joke amongst my family has always been that I cannot draw to save myself. I did a watercolour course a few years back to try and prove them wrong, and they are all afraid of inheriting the masterpiece still life that I painted... it's only fair that it be left to my sister!

I concede that things haven't progressed much since that fateful winning day way back when.

A little chalk drawing is the best I can muster.

This time it's a chalk rug.

Frippery at its best surely. 

(Ah the things you do late on a wet, grey day at the store to avoid whatever it is you should really be doing!)

Amanda xx

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lessons in perseverance

 

Last week I posted a version of this image on my store's facebook page and it prompted a few comments about the butterflies, specifically along the lines of 'where can I find something like this'.

I wish I could give the easy answer, and say that you can get them at XYZ or that fabulous store called Small Acorns (ha!), but there is no easy answer, or not one that I know of anyway.

They used to hang on display at World Beauty here in Wellington. The key word here being 'display'. They were used as a prop, belonged to a collector (Meredith) in Auckland, and weren't for sale.

The latent lepidopterist in me was secretly fascinated by the collection - the fact that despite the obvious 100+ years age and the fragility of the butterflies, these were perfectly preserved, and held in place with a pin. The frame is also a drawer - a sign they were once part of a much larger collection perhaps. They are beautiful, but not pretty, and I can't help but try and imagine the garden they once fluttered around. It obviously wasn't in this part of the world.

Perseverance won me my butterflies. Every time I had reason to talk to Meredith, (which wasn't often, but I found an excuse) I would mention them. Find out more about them, tell her if ever she tired of them I'd be keen etc etc.

Finally, I swear at least 18 months later, when I'd stopped mentioning them, she asked if I was still interested. I forgot about being nonchalent when I said yes!

When I went into the store to collect them the team there could not believe that Meredith had agreed to sell them - telling me that if they'd had a dollar for everyone who wanted to buy them but couldn't because they weren't supposedly for sale, that they could stop buying lotto tickets.

What is the point to this long-winded story I hear you ask?

Sometimes finding that 'one special thing' takes time, and patience.

The best interiors aren't made overnight, and they are never, ever, finished, so you can keep adding and looking and layering.

And if you do find that special thing that you absolutely love, even if you haven't a clue where it might go or what you might do with it, don't let an opportunity pass you by! Carpe diem.

And as a total aside, don't you just love it when hydrangeas dry like this in the vase? These look as good as the day I plonked them in the jar, and all I do is add some fresh leaves each week.

Perfect!

Amanda xx

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flower foraging

With the demise of my beloved dahlias for the season I'm left with the most depressing sight in my garden.

It looks terrible to say the least. That plague of mites sure did some damage to almost everything growing, and if I'm lucky the deck alongside will also be sporting some dog poo.

Oh yes - it's real Living etc stuff! Thank goodness they're not visiting this week.

What to do then for a girl who can't be without something fresh in her mix of vessels?

Get resourceful of course.

Even amongst a seemingly 'dead' garden, there are still some pickings, albeit slim ones.

The rosemary still abounds, and the mint is bravely regenerating.

Sometimes you just need to open your eyes it seems.

I'm inspired by the most beautiful book.

Called Bringing Nature Home, by photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo & florist Nicolette Owen, it is a self-described 'sonnet to the seasons' and it revels in paying homage to the beauty particular to each, and the floral arrangements thus inspired. The styling and imagery are absolutely beautiful.

I can look at it for hours taking in every little detail.

Although I'm an impatient gardener, even I can see that with a little more planning, and some strategic planting, I could reap a little more of what I sow.

Sorry about the cliche!

So, my other resource is a little surreptitious foraging from around the neighbourhood.

No trespassing I promise. And nothing that looks remotely as if it would be noticed or missed.

But a little ivy here, a little scented geranium there, a wee succulent or two.

No flowers as such, but lovely zesty greenery.

Dog walking can be good cover for such foraging!

And the results are quite pretty don't you think?

Amanda x

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zzZZZZzzz

Our house is being used as the location for a television commercial today.

Apparently it is for a new super duper something for those who snore.

Naturally when I heard this I knew immediately that not only could we provide the location for the shoot, but that this could be Brunnel's star turn as the snoring model, something he could literally do in his sleep, and something he does so very well.

Watch this space...

Amanda xx

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friday frippery

Frippery - how I love this word. It is on my list of favourite words for good reason.

The dictionary defines frippery as showy but useless ornamentation. 

As I've said before, I think this is a little harsh.

You know, for various reasons this week, there have been moments when I have doubted that what I am doing is really what I should be doing. I guess we all have those moments, but sometimes we wallow in them for longer than we should.

I think even Brunnel, usually my most loyal cheerleader, sometimes thinks Small Acorns is frippery at its best! And when he gives me the old pep talk about 'the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over and expecting a different result', then I really know that I may be overstepping the mark. Oh yes, the pillow talk in this house is indeed this exciting!

So, I just wanted to say thank you for such lovely comments on my last post. When someone takes the time to write a few uplifting words, or sends a quick email, it really means a lot to me, and this week the timing couldn't have been better. Thanks!

So what do I think of frippery?  I couldn't live without it.

A little frippery is good for the soul.

Fripperies to me are those little details that make me smile. The all important, sometimes slightly over the top finishing touches, that in the words of Abigail Ahern, 'turn a space from ordinaire to extraordinaire'. The pompom on your cushion or the trim on your lampshade. The umbrella in your drink and borage flower in your ice cube. The truck tassel that you brought home from India and the bunting at the window. Your collection of kokeshis or your box of ribbons. The tulips in the teapot, and the dahlia in the mason jar.

The bangle on your wrist and feather in your cap.

Useless ornamentation? Depends on how you view it.

Cherry on top kind of delicious detail that lifts your spirits?

Absolutely!

Amanda x

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