COOL KIDS // THE FAMILY LOVE TREE

It's funny how trends come and go. Cane furniture and macrame reminds me of holidays at my nan & pop's house back in the late eighties/early nineties so I can't really imagine wanting to incorporate it into my own interiors style... until I saw this.

Melbournian Katie Graham has taken all the wild bohemian spirit of rattan furniture, handcrafted screens and macrame hangers and eclectically blended them with the contemporary edge of modern screen printed fabrics bursting in colour to give birth to The Family Love Tree.

And it's not hard to believe Katie credits her inspiration for The Family Love Tree to her tropical second honeymoon in Bali. I mean who doesn't come home from Bali bursting with inspiration (and a suitcase full of Bintang singlets and fisherman pants).

www.thefamilylovetree.com.au/

TRUE BLUE

Can you believe that in the last 6 weeks I've been to Ikea three times??? And although always a draw card, it wasn't the swedish meatballs that had me back again over the weekend. On Friday Ikea launched their new limited edition Simply Blue collection (or True Blue for the rest of the world) - an exclusive mix of Swedish design with Indian craft and colour.

Inspired by the very fabric of Indian culture the collection includes glassware, rugs, cushions and paper decorations. I easily could have loaded each and every piece into my trolley but I restrained myself to just the Bladspinnare and Barrspinarre cushions as well as the gold tasselled Broaryd pendant lamp shade. But there's always next weekend to go back for more...

Here's some of the range as well as some amazing inspirational images from the Ikea pinterest board.

urban tribal

Image by the amazing Alexandra Valenti

Urban Tribal... is everywhere right now. The eclectic combination of Ikat, Aztec and Navajo is invading wardrobes and homes, capturing the spirit that was once reserved for the global traveller.

This exotic yet laid-back bohemian style is created with a concoction of amazing colour combinations, geometric patterns and mixed textiles. I'm definitely a fan of this style trend, especially because you really can mix and match without fear of getting it completely wrong.

I bought back a few great pieces from Mexico including an amazingly hand painted sugar skull, a leather drum and some beautiful patterned paper lanterns... add in my next purchase; that set of 9 Ikat cushions below from Etsy retailer Ikat and Batik and I think i'm on my way.

Framed antique Ikat via Elle Decor

Ikat fabrics by Madeline Weinrib | Ikat art print by Amy Sia on Society6

From LF Stores lookbook

Bohemian Aztec styling via Honestly WTF

Romantic living room tent via Design Sponge

Sequined Aztec Mini from AllSaints

Aztec inspired nail art from The Illustrated Nail

Super cute Sass & Bide shorts via Tuula

Bold Ikat wallpaper via Camille Styles

From LF Stores lookbook

Set of 9 Ikat Cushion Covers from Etsy

Ikat Quilt Cover from West Elm

Crisp and clean blue and white Ikat via Driftwood Interiors

casa dos chicos

The countdown for next year's trip to Mexico has well an truly started, but when I stumbled across this post over at design tripper it actually made me a little depressed. Why? Because I wish I had of known about Casa dos Chicos earlier so I could have booked it for myself.

A designer holiday rental perched on a hill in the surf town of Sayulita on the pacific coast of Mexico, Casa dos Chicos is right out of the pages of a luxury travel magazine. Decorated with colourful furniture and textiles from the local market, Patrizio Fradiani's newly renovated villa features four private suites, a swimming pool, a tree-top plunge pool with ocean views and a mexican-style open air living area which includes a rooftop living room and kitchen/dining dramatically linked by a bridge.

I can just picture myself rocking in that hammock with mojito in hand.