Orange You Glad Orange Is In?

I adore orange. The scent. The drink. The idea of a walled orchard with nothing but Citrus × ​sinensis trees, blooming white in spring. And I love the colour on some people. And in some places. Marrakech medinas, for example. And Palm Beach in summer. (See Elle's gorgeously sexy frock below.) Orange is tropical. Fresh. Flirty. Romantic. It's the colour of candlelight. And sorbet. And the Palm Springs sun. It brings to mind summer nights and sun-kissed skin and cocktails with giant paper umbrellas balancing on top.

In saying this, it's something of a perennial colour.  It comes and goes, and then comes and goes again. It's not an evergreen, like white, or blue. As such, I don't know how much media saturation (if you'll forgive the colour pun) Pantone is going to get out of its Tangerine Tango forecast this year. Just how much blood can we squeeze out of this design orange? I mean, how much tangerine tango IS there in fashion and interior design. Or perhaps a more pertinent question is: How much tangerine tango can we take for twelve months?

The thing is, orange is one of those colours that sneaks up and seduces you with its wit, charm, and humorous take on life. It's like Hugh Grant. It's a colour cad that's never around for long but it's fun when it does appear. So I suspect tangerine might take us all by surprise this year. I was watching that poignant Parisian episode of Sex and the City last night (An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux), and there was a fabulous bright orange panelled wall in one of the scenes with Aleksandr Petrovsky. It immediately made me want to repaint our summer library in a cheeky mandarin shade.

Orange as a decorating refresher ... This is Windsor Smith's master bathroom, where she has given a gilt Louis XVI console an injection of modernity with orange Hermès boxes, a vintage Gucci bag and a fabulous 1950's fashion photograph. The orange doesn't overwhelm or dominate the scene but enhances it and lifts it up from being a purely all-white place. {Via House Beautiful}

Punch drunk... A striped orange banquette in the corner of The Dunmore's dining room on Harbour Island (formerly The Dunmore Beach Club) looks immediately inviting – ready for a Bloody Mary breakfast to counteract the big night you had at The Landing restaurant the evening before! The picture frames really pull this whole scene together and make it whimsical, fresh and fun. Very Harbour Island. {Via The Dunmore}

Orange with a twist... A bathroom in the Vernon Pantone suite of the Maidstone Hotel in the Hamptons is full of punch and glamour, although it's toned down by the layers of white. Some of the orange touches in this room include an orange blanket on the bed, Torbogen print paper by Wohnzimmer, and Benjamin Moore’s Outrageous Orange paint in the ensuite. {Via Maidstone}

Slices of orange... A corner of one of our guest bedrooms is an ode to orange, or  more correctly – to Penguin classics. It's such an unusual colour for a series, isn't it? I wonder if Penguin has trademarked it like Tiffany has done with its pale blue shade? The vintage French garden chair was spray painted to match and the taffeta fabric was bought in Paris for some incredibly cheap price – 10 euros/metre, I think? I simply sewed some tangerine bobbles on the edge to tie it all together. 

Mango glow... Pumpkin-coloured towels in a country bathroom make this space warm and engaging. {Via Sunset}

Bright with white... The sublime saffron-and-white palette of the Mondrian Hotel in LA. Like Liza Minelli, the Mondrian LA is still great after all these years. {Via Mondrian}

A desert orange... The Parker Meridien Palm Springs uses splashes of desert orange liberally throughout the interior, including the famous front door. Top image is also from the Parker Meridien. {Via Parker Meridien}

Champagne as decorating inspiration... Designer Maureen Footer painted the inside of her client's kitchen cabinets in Veuve Clicquot orange because he was a bit of a bon vivant whose signature pour was Champagne. What a fantastic idea. She suggesting coating the paint with beeswax for an antique look, but I think high gloss would be just as glamorous. {Image via House Beautiful}

Exotic orange... I always thought orange looked beautiful with something unexpected, such as zebra stripes. The top image was a small Hermès box I bought in Paris (I couldn't afford a big one!), and loved the colour so much I photographed it before I opened it. My handbag just happened to be behind it, and as it turned out, I loved the combination as much as the box. Other people seem to like it too. Look at how glam it looks here, in the image below. {Via Domino}

More Hermès orange here:... Hermès' gorgeous orange pencil shaving pillows {Via Decorati}

A corner of our orange-and-pink guestroom. My partner complained that there wasn't enough colour in our black-and-white-themed house. So I cobbled this together one day, thinking he would hate it and we could happily return to our monochromatic lives. But instead he loved it, and now sneaks down here for his afternoon siesta. Sometimes, when I'm not around, he'll even put mismatching sheets on the bed, just to add more colour. I think he was born in a circus??

Orange as stripes... Paul Smith's signature stripes are usually seen inside his suits but here they look surprisingly stylish as a wallpaper decorating the hall of a Hague apartment. Doesn't it remind you of sweet bon-bons? I once saw this wallpaper stretched over a five-storey staircase in a tiny boutique hotel called the Hotel d'Angleterre in Versailles. It made the staircase fantastically dramatic and also a little cheeky and upbeat. You couldn't help but feel happy when you walked up it. {Image via www.beinteriordecorator.com}

Designers Guild's boldly striped wallpaper in Arafura geranium. Imagine this in a powder room Or a craft room?

And Les Toiles du Soleil's French canvas fabric in Mogador-Rouge, a beautiful orange-and-pink stripe  for a beautifully bright armchair or deckchair.

And some more orange inspiration...

 Carrie in Sex and the City 2

Elle in Sydney this summer...

And a Marrakech mediana, where we hope to be next year...

Extraordinary Homes of 2011

I should have perhaps said 2010 and 2011, as these were all homes I've come across in the last 2 years. These were all extraordinary places for many reasons, but I've chosen them because – unlike some professionally decorated places that can see slightly "staged" – they all felt very much like cosy, comfortable, put-your-feet-up-and-read-the-Sunday-papers type homes. I like houses that aren't too pretentious: houses that allow for the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life – kids, dogs, stressed-out partners, people traipsing in and out with gardening wellies, in-laws dropping by. And these were very much wonderfully practical, family-friendly places.

Furthermore, they all showed that you don't need a big budget to create an inviting home. Sure, some of the houses may have been expensive, but the interiors weren't jammed with pieces from Sotheby's or the Attic Sale at Chatsworth. They weren't from the Hearst Castle School of Decorating. They were full of elegance, sophistication, imagination, a little whimsy and a whole lot of creativity. Just the kind of homes I love.

THE GATSBY MANSION, LONG ISLAND

(Designer: Jeffrey Bilhuber)

Interior designer Jeffrery Bilhuber's house at Oyster Bay is a grand affair, it has to be said. It's a mansion that would rival Jay Gatsby's. Inside, however, it's far from being a Rothschild-esque mish-mash. Bilhuber (who is Anna Wintour's designer) has used startling colour to create a glamorous but gorgeously cosy home out of this old boarding school. Plum, tangerine, pale turquoise,  lime, pink, granny-smith-apple green... Who would have thought these colours would all go so beautifully together? Yellow umbrellas for the guests? Inspiring. A kitchen and laundry in black and tiffany blue? Unexpectedly elegant. And look at the kitchen garden! Just stunning. The house is as lovely as its owner.

THE BOAT HOUSE, NANTUCKET ISLAND

(Designer: Gary McBournie)

This was a tiny home; a boat house that was converted to an waterside escape for a client and his family. Interior designer Gary McBournie (another lovely man) took his cues from the harbour setting and designed a space that was unusual but quietly inviting. The kitchen floor was painted in marine blue and then splattered with tiny dots of other colours, so it didn't show the sandy footsteps and salt flecks, and its roof was left in its beautifully aged state. The chaise lounges were made to resemble ship's bunks. And the living room was decked out with marine-inspired items, from flags to vintage ships. Just sublime.

THE FARMHOUSE, SHELTER ISLAND

(Designers: Steven Schappacher and Rhea White)

Now these two are a designing duo to watch. Steve Schappacher and his wife Rhea White took a run-down old farmhouse on Shelter Island (now being dubbed "the new Hamptons") and with nothing more than some clever designing and some great flea-shop finds turned it into a chic island hideaway. Look at what a simple coat of black and white paint can do. Rhea found the old French garden chairs in a secondhand barn on the island, the sofas are simple, white slipcovered ones, the poolhouse bedroom was given a lift with some imaginative fabric styling, and the rest of the house is a gallery of whimsical finds. The pool was perhaps the most expensive addition. The house is now worth over a $1M. What a clever couple.

THE BARN-STYLE BEACH HOUSE, LONG ISLAND

(Designer: Rick Livingston)

A truly extraordinary place, this barn-style beach house sits right on the sand at Long Island's charming village of Quogue  and is the weekend escape of New York designer Rick Livingston and his partner. They rented it for 10 summers before deciding to finally buy it. But instead of knocking it down, they simply updated the simple timber dwelling with some imaginative decorating. Vintage ladders, white shutters for wardrobe doors, a fabulous rope chandelier from Mexico, inspiring artwork, cosy seating, a restrained colour scheme, and of course the all-important deck for luncheons overlooking the sea. Down to earth decorating, indeed.

THE FAMILY HOME, MARTHA'S VINEYARD

(Designer: Paula Perlini)

From the outside, this house seems enormous – intimidating even. On the inside, however, interior designer Paula Perlini has worked magic to create cosy, intimate, human-scaled rooms out of enormously-proportioned spaces. And surprisingly, much of it has been achieved with oversized pieces, which seem to draw the rooms in while providing eye-catching focal points. The folk art mermaid on the stairs, the vintage Orangina poster, the antique bird houses and the Bloody Mary-red library (which elegantly showcases the owner's photographs of Africa) are just a few of the dazzling ways Perlini has carved an intriguing home out of a beachfront mansion. I always love red in a beach house, and this shows why it looks so fabulous.{Image at the very top is also from this residence}

[Images from my book Coast: Lifestyle Architecture]

Decorating on a Dime, Part 2

If you watched the fantastic Renovators show last year you may remember that they banged on (if you'll forgive the building pun) about the 20-Per-Cent Renovating Budget Rule. For example: If you buy a property for $1M, then you shouldn't be spending any more than $200,000 renovating it.

With all due respect to the judges, I can't imagine how any renovator could make a profit margin using this rule. We bought our house for $400,000 a little over a year ago. (An incredibly cheap price for Melbourne property.) If we'd spent $80,000 on renovations, we wouldn't be looking at much profit at sale time!

I suggest you try to stick to a 2-Per-Cent Renovating Budget. It's a painful prospect, I know, but it's the ONLY way to renovate. In the past 12 months, we've spent no more than $10,000 on renovations, and that includes: paint, tradesmen, new carpet, a new deck, a new ducted heating system, new curtains/drapes for 10 rooms, new exterior window awnings, updated fittings and even all landscaping. (Excludes furniture and mortgage repayments.) We've updated a five-bedroom, two-story, 16-room house on half an acre of gardens on a meagre 2-per-cent budget, rather than a 20-per-cent one.

It takes a LOT of DIY, but you can do it too. I promise!

BEFORE: THE ORIGINAL BACK DOOR

The deck was so rotten it was a wonder we didn't all fall through on Inspection Day. The furniture belonged to the former owners. Lovely. I think this paint colour is called "Baby Vomit Pink". I may be wrong. But it looks suspiciously like it.

As you can see, our real estate agent Michael is high-tailing it outta there!

AFTER: THE NEW BACK DOOR 

With a slap of French grey and cream paint, some greenery (hydrangeas, wisteria and jasmine), a vintage wicker chaise and some leftover charcoal fabric whipped up into drapes (which need to be ironed, sorry!), this is now a cute entertaining courtyard.

BEFORE: THE ORIGINAL FORMAL ENTRANCE HALL (DOWNSTAIRS)

There were 9 rooms of this pine panelling. I kid you not. NINE! I hadn't seen this much pine since I lived on the edge of a Scandinavian forest.

AFTER: THE NEW FORMAL ENTRANCE HALL (DOWNSTAIRS)

Some Kate Spade-inspired colour, some hand-made ottomans covered in black-and-white Ralph Lauren houndstooth, two vintage Belgium posters featuring leaves (from one of my favourite Melbourne stores Izzi & Popo) and a cheap Ikea striped mat...

So easy!

BEFORE: THE ORIGINAL BACK ENTRANCE HALL

The layout is confusing, I know, but this is the entrance from the deck and the carport, and we use it all the time as it's easier.

Look at that – more pine! I think I have a pine headache coming on...

AFTER: THE NEW BACK ENTRANCE HALL

More Kelly-green colour (inspired by our garden), a colonial style table and chair, another cheap Ikea mat, and a few metres of black-and-white lino at $44/m thrown down on some masonite base.  (If we'd followed the 20-Per-Cent rule, we could have afforded black-and-white checkerboard tiles. But lino it was... )
Note: Some people think checkerboard lino should be laid on the diagonal. But you don't have to. In this case, it would have clashed with the diagonals on the walls.)

BEFORE: THE GARDEN LIBRARY (DOWNSTAIRS)

Oh my, look at that. More pine. 

The old owners had teenage boys and they used this room as a gym/car-repair workshop. 

It STUNK of car grease, sweat and teenage boys.

AFTER: THE GARDEN LIBRARY (DOWNSTAIRS)

After four coats of paint and a LOT of air freshener, this is now the garden library and my office.

(Sorry about the blurry pix; had puppies jumping around my feet. This was not a very professional shoot!)

BEFORE: THE OLD TOP BEDROOM

The furniture belongs to the former owners. (I think they'd already moved a lot of stuff out when we bought it, and these were camping lilos.) Those at those vertical blinds. Mm-mmm.

AFTER: THE OLD TOP BEDROOM

– New paint (Barrister White – a softer white than Antique White USA, and less cold on the eye).

– A newly painted set of drawers (semi-gloss black, which is a better finish than full gloss).

– Some vintage bits (a black folding screen made from old shutters bought from an old French chateau).

– And some favourite photographs, including some from one of my most-loved fashion photographers, Bruno Benini.

{Will post photos of the front of the house, the living areas, the kitchen/dining and the garden later this month. Promise I won't post any more photos of pine! Or, indeed, of these spaces.}

The (Difficult) Art of Being Utterly Hip

Okay. To kick-start this glorious, shimmering, shining new year we're going to talk about something we all struggle with. How to be stylish.

Okay, so perhaps not all of us struggle with this, as some of seem to be born with an innate knowledge of glamour and gorgeousness. But a great many of us do worry that our homes are not quite up to the standard of, say, the pages of Elle Decor. We worry that they're not even up to the standard of the homes in The Block – before the renovations.

Nervous that our house was sitting on the wrong side of hip (although I think that even this word is passé now), I started to investigate what's stylish and what's, well, undesirable in the design world.

This is what I discovered.

Rule Number One: Arrange Collections in a Creative Manner

If, like me, you're unsure of how to decorate your hall or side table, try this: 

Collect bits of wood and then nail them together in an artful way. Once you've hammered them into some kind of creative form, arrange them in an artistically messy manner alongside a vintage timber table. (If you can't find a vintage one, an old one will do. Nobody will know the difference.) Don't worry if the objects fall down. It will look intentional. Then just toss a paper globe on the heap and call it a day!

 Congratulations. You've just created a splendid vignette of form, texture, natural elements and organised chaos. A metaphor for modernity. Magazine editors will love it.

Rule Number Two: Create Architecture with Interior Objects

Don't put your cushions on your sofa. This is a no-no now, it seems. Instead, layer them in an architectural fashion by piling them high on an industrial-style chair. 

If you feel the vignette is incomplete, simply pop a handbag on top. 

A roll of paper towels also looks very chic. 

Finish the arrangement by scattering some books on the floor.

Beautiful.

Rule Number Three: Remember That White is Always Right

If you're nervous of colour and want to look stylish, try this trick:

Paint your entire house white. This is a very Scandinavian thing to do. It 'lightens' the space in the long, dark winters. 

Start with your floorboards, then continue the brushstrokes on your supporting beams, your ceiling, your armoire, your ottoman, your chaise, your unusual sculpture in the corner and even your picture frames and cushions. When you reach your books, stop. Now that everything is completely white, you've succeeded in creating a Stylish Space.

Then – just to be TRULY edgy – hang some bird cages from the ceiling and dismember a lamp to place atop the book pile. 

Lean the lampshade artfully against a chair. 

That's it. Now you're learning. 

Rule Number Four: Remember That Chairs Are Not Made For Derrieres but Design Still Lifes

Chairs are one of the best statement pieces you can use to spruce up a room. (If you don't know what a statement piece is, don't worry. Just sprinkle the phrase liberally in your vocabulary.) Some of the most fashionable chairs around at the moment are those done in a kind of sanded-back, slightly dirty Gustavian grey shade and then upholstered in hessian or burlap. Yes, burlap is scratchy and yes it will leave nasty sisal threads all over your new Martin Margiela, but that's the pain you have to endure to be stylish, I'm afraid. 

In any case, you won't be sitting on your Statement Piece Chair. You'll be using it in an elegant arrangement. 

Like this one, where a plant and a straw basket have been used to create an arty still life. (Note: The slightly off-centre, leaning-to-one-side look is intentional.)

Sublime, n'est-ce pas?

Rule Number Five. Buy Chic Soap. Preferably in Adorable Little Paper Packaging Tied Up With String

Use these soaps as design displays. 

Encourage the family not to wash so you can pile them up on a rustic timber shelf. 

Like this.

Well done!

Now you're ready to take some photos and pitch your new interior to Vogue Living.

{All images via Tine K Home – which is actually a beautiful and incredibly sophisticated collection of homewares. Visit the Tine K blog for images – and descriptions – that are FAR more evocative and elegant than those above! 

tinekhome.blogspot.com.

Seriously. It really is very stylish.}

Emerald City

Many of you design-savvy readers will know that emerald has been one of the key colours in decorating this year. (Elle Decor chose it as one of the Top 11 Trends of 2011.) And hasn't it just come out of the colour gates like Black Caviar at the Spring Racing Carnival? Green has not only shot to the front of the design stakes but shown its colours in a magnificent way.

Now I have to confess that I have never really been a green girl. Until now. I have always admired Ladurée's sugary shade whenever I visit their tea salons in Paris, and love Kate Spade's signature emerald whenever I pop into her store near the Flatiron in New York. But it took the burst of fresh, bold greens that appeared in decorating and design this year to really make me a paid-up convert.

Here, in a colour tribute to Christmas (surely the most beautiful green event of the year?) are some of the images that have helped persuade me that I should be joining the green brigade. (Some are a few years old, but their originality hasn't dated.) Forget the old regal greens. The new greens are dramatic, daring, sassy and oh so seductive.

Chanel's much-talked-about Spring 2011 RTW show at the Grand Palais, which was heavily influenced by the highly stylised film Last Year at Marienbad. One of the most beautifully staged fashion shows ever, according to many leading editors and fashion writers, Karl's formal, monochrome garden, complete with fountains and black box hedges, wowed those who saw it live. However, I was more enamoured with the architectural elegance of the Grand Palais. Isn't that building just incredible?

Keira Knightly's famous gown in Atonement – which was colour posing as seduction. Atonement costume designer Jacqueline Durran chose emerald for Keira Knightley’s character because she felt the hue symbolised temptation. Oh – and the library stepladder helped things along a little, too...

The exquisite shoes of Manolo Blahnik. If they did a modern remake of The Wizard of Oz, I think Dorothy should be wearing a pair of emerald Manolos like this, rather than sequined ruby slippers. And if they clashed with the Wicked Witch's costume, well the Wicked Witch can wear tangerine.

One of the most beautiful country houses I've ever seen. The sweep of lawn, the ivy, the charming setting, the romantic roofline, even the pretty terrace... It's all enchanting. Just enchanting. {Image via theenchantedhome.blogspot.com}

Tricia Guild's London home. The head of Designer Guild certainly has a head for colour and her London residence proves it. The dining room and stairs are painted in the most vivid spring-leaf green. It's so eye-catching and bright she often uses it as a backdrop for photo shoots. It shows that green can look gorgeous with anything – hot pink, white, even turquoise. {Image via December issue of Living etc magazine}

Green damask with pink taffeta. I'm not sure where this image has come from (please let me know if you do), but isn't it sublime? The lipstick-pink drapes, the wallpaper, the fashion illustration, the modern glass desk and the pink bouquet all combine to create a fresh, feminine and thoroughly sophisticated space.

The perfect party setting for either summer or Christmas, this table immediately looks inviting, thanks to the swaying lanterns, the cute cakes and the incredible floral displays. {Image via manolobrides.com}

Hermés has always done colour well and this lovely silk scarf shows just how good this famous French  company is at design. {Via Hermés}

Ladurée's signature green. Many people have tried to replicate this delicate shade but it's difficult to do. One of the closest paint shades is Fine Paints of Europe P11130. {Image via writeonthyme.blogspot.com/Kirsten Steen}

Kate Spade's Style book. Still one of the best books I've ever purchased, full of wit, whimsy and the most divine illustrations.

 Kate Spade cruisers. Simply irresistible. Shutters on the Beach hotel in Santa Monica and Kate Spade have partnered up to offer guests these cheeky little cruisers custom-made by Adeline Adeline for Kate Spade. The perfect vehicle for meandering along the Santa Monica boardwalk, they come complete with a chic bag to store your hat, camera, book and sunscreen, and a customised neighbourhood map showing suggestions for all the best stores and sights in the area. It would be hard to give back...

An image from the Ralph Lauren Home collection. If this is a typical tack room, I'm taking up riding again! {Image via Ralph Lauren}

A lovely green library, which looks like it belongs to a writer, architect or artist. I love spaces that are a little surprising. Look how the blue door leads the way to yet more books? Bliss. It just needs a comfy chaise there and you could be happy here for hours. {Image via apartment therapy}

Another green library, this time from an old Pottery Barn ad. I've always loved this ad. I think I wanted to marry that gentleman when I was younger. I think I wanted to marry him just for that library.

Kate Spade's iconic bathroom with the now-famous Zebras wallpaper by Scalamandre. {Image via World of Interiors}

Our home on the front cover of Yarra Valley & Ranges Country Life magazine this month.

The intimate dining room at George Washington's house, Mt Vernon. ({Image via jenningsandgates.blogspot.com}