Loves & Inspiration

There is something utterly divine and totally indulgent about sleeping on beautiful bed linen - and boy is there some gorgeous linen out this season!  From dreamy organic cotton to lovely pure linen, we are really spoilt for choice – inky blues, soft pastels, quirky vintage as well as patterns that are just, well...fun (wait until you see the pics below!). 

Fresh designs and all completely swoon-worthy (all home grown too - clever lot we are) we've picked out some of our favs that are definitely worth a look.  A word of warning though, these gorgeous bed linens will make it very hard to get out of bed….

I Love Linen creator Lauren Roe has just released her own linen range - The Bedroom Society.  The

Maybe it was the burst of warm weather over Easter but my head has gone all Palm Beach.  I’m thinking tropical foliage, pink flamingos and pineapples - “Old Florida” in all its retro splendour.

It’s a bright, bold (and dare I say kitsch) look.  Lots of lacquered bamboo (cane or rattan) teamed with soft furnishings in tropical themed motifs - think pink flamingos, banana leaf, exotic flowers and tropical birds.  You can add a dash of gold for some old world regency glamour (i.e. palm tree candlesticks or a pineapple lamp) and throw in a bamboo mirror (a la Billy Baldwin) for a touch of chinoiserie.

Lilly Pulitzer’s signature pink and green is pure Palm Beach glamour.  Below is a gorgeous upholstered bedhead in a bold palm frond fabric with fuchsia pink piping - 

While there is no doubt that I am a 100% passionate and committed lover and follower of all things interior and certainly feel right at home in the world of bedheads, beds and anything upholstery, exteriors are not my strongest point. Flowers I love, greenery in a vase is totally my thing but I have to confess that plants (inside or out) I find ever so slightly scary. Green-fingered I am not and, while I love to admire gardens and anything nature has to offer, this means I am often stumped when offering BedNest customers advice on how to bring greenery into their homes.

There are 3 friends from the plant world that I fall back on every time and they ALWAYS work if the space is right......

Mondo grass (especially the black ones)

Have you seen the work of the incredibly talented Swedish Photographer Anders Jungermark before?

Well - here's a sample... Just sublime...

Thanks so much Desire to Inspire for "introducing" me to him....

Yup, we admit it. It's so easy to work with white walls - we love this blank canvas as it gives us a chance to work with BedNesters to add colour or texture or pattern (or even all 3) with the fabrics we use on their bedhead, cushions etc.

We're also long-standing fans of a nice stoney neutral (NOT too yellow-based) - Hogs Bristle from Dulux we love.

Over the last year, however, we've been brave and bold and daring (well, by our standards) and working so much with grey walls. Not life-changingly different certainly, but that shift from "always light" so "sometimes dark" on a wall colour is not nearly as scary as it seems. Dark walls are NOT just for the northern hemisphere, libraries, studies and sheds - they can work so well in this beautiful sunny climate of ours and especially in a bedroom. What they create is a cozy, intimate space with instant personality and appeal and dark grey is definitely the way to go.

One of my utter gurus

Ahhh  - this image is just perfection.

The colour combo, the gorgeous sheen of the ceramics, that perfect green painted cabinet, the way you get a kind of polka-dot happy feel but it's totally elegant.

All good inspiration for our BedNest photoshoot coming up this week. From ceramics to upholstered bedheads!

Image from Toast

How I wish there was room in my home for a room to be lined with a wall of books. I'm not after a separate library or anything posh - just the beauty and personality that comes from showcasing everything you've read, would like to read and will never read but like the cover of!!

These two rooms by the amazing Diane Bergeron both inspire me....

The first because this is what my dining area wants to look like when it grows up

and the second because it's spaces like these that really make a home for me - areas that have no specific purpose but are just areas for "a bit of quiet". How I wish I ever had physical or mental space for one of those in my life!

We're often asked where we get our inspiration for new designs, photoshoots, interiors projects etc. The answer is, of course, anywhere and everywhere but one definite source of ideas and utter joy (how we LOVE perusing the hotel websites) is the world of hotels. What greater spot to see incredible BedNests could there be? From the luxuriously over-the-top to pared back minimal or sublime eco-chic, there's a hotel to cover every look and it's amazing how many use upholstered bedheads to create innovative and gorgeous spaces for their guests.

Just thought we'd share a few favourites with you - purely for the "ahhhh, sigh" factor and maybe to give you a little inspiration....

Well now BedNesters, never let it be said that all we do here at HQ is create bedheads - we want to help make your whole BedNest perfect, a sanctuary, an escape and somewhere that just shouts RELAX! So today we're talking paint colours.

Dulux recently received details of the Top 10 favourite paint colours in Australia - a list that includes classic whites and neutrals to suit any BedNest. Number 1 and number 3 are absolute favourites of mine and have been used time and again in various projects. No 3 is the colour of my very own BedNest pictured below!

No 1 is Antique White USA - the ultimate ivory tone - not a warm cream or stark white but right in-between.

No 2 is Natural White - a truly versatile white that works indoors and out.

No 3 Hogs Bristle

Now once in a while we do like to share some of our BedNest secrets with you, we're not just about bedheads here, and the secret for today is pretty special.

Nest time you need a gift, any kind of gift, have a look at this gorgeous site www.oneforyouoneforme.com.au.

Not only is the range of fabulous gifts utterly fantastic but they also stock fashion and homewares so you can buy yourself a gift too! It's a beautifully designed website which has all those things that I think are so crucial when buying online...

• a simple uncluttered feel - tick
• easy navigation - tick
• top notch photography - tick
• an "inspiration" factor - tick
• a fabulously accessible style - tick
• a product range that hits the spot and more - tick