Heatherly Design

Inspiring designs and bubbles

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:18:43 +0000

Our favourite fair is coming to Melbourne town and we are thrilled to be involved. Come and say hello, see our latest bedhead designs and shop in this dreamy environment filled with unique and inspiring designs. My list of designers that are a must see for me personally this year include – Ellis Benson for personalised stationary. Can never keep the supply up of their charming notecards for both business and personal use. Finally getting around to ordering a stirling silver necklace with my children’s names engraved on the pendant from Koolaman Designs. Now that is one very special Mothers Day present! It’s Cashmere – I think we all know what I will be wearing this winter! Regretted not buying one of their pieces last year. A decorator client showed me some gorgeous prints she had purchased from Vintage Prints from the Mag Square Fair in March for a ski lodge she was fitting out. Can’t wait to go through their gallery of images for my son’s bedroom which still has the tractors stencils on the wall from when he was a toddler. Given he is now 8, I think it times high time for an upgrade! Georgina Nelson from Myrtle and Moss was recently featured in House and Garden as one very entrepreneurial mum. Her range of hand and body lotions are just perfect for my present drawer. So that’s my list and I can assure you, it will not be limited to just that! Champagne served after 5 Thursday night. Now that is a tempting way to shop! Look forward to seeing you too. Cheers

“Tablescapes”

admin — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 04:05:35 +0000

“Tablescapes” was a term I was first introduced to by David Hicks, a renowned interior designer from England. In short it is the art of collating pieces on a table that tell a story either on their own or as a whole, each piece perfectly proportioned and placed. David was so famous for his tablescapes that they were regularly auctioned off for charity. His work was featured on cover after cover of Sotheby’s auction house catalogues and English House and Garden for his renowned take on arranging pieces on a table. When I saw the below tablescape in a magazine recently, it connected with me and I analysed why it was so appealing. I loved the tray grouping the China dishes, roses filling two of the dishes added perfume and colour, beautiful hard covered books which encourage you to ponder, a collection of wooden boxes that tell a story of where they have come from and whilst all of this is going on, the colours all tie back beautifully with the interiors of the room.

I am forever remerchandising my tablescapes at home. Three very important tablescapes I will be styling over the next few weeks are for our bedside tables for the next heatherly photoshoot . Whilst I dont have as much room to play with on a side table, I love the story that can be told from the few pieces placed ever so carefully. I look forward to sharing a heatherly tablescape or two with you shortly!

By special request – my bedroom

admin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 03:03:22 +0000

I am constantly asked “so what bedhead do you have?”

Working with such beautiful fabrics can become a little overwhelming even for an interior decorator. I am a blue girl, if you had not already noticed with the colours I have chosen for photoshoots and branding!! So with a lick of Porters Periwinkle paint on an old wicker table and a great find of the same blue for linen, I opted for my all time favourite the Chelsea bedhead in vintage blanc Belgian linen with a co-ordinating valance. Finished with a Bianca Lorenne quilt, I was a little tickled pink if I don’t mind saying so myself when it finally all came together.

I know I know I am married to a farmer so how do you keep it clean?? Suffice to say Will is very well trained these days!! Although he still struggles with how many pillows need to be removed each night to get into bed. I keep telling him it’s a girl thing!

Leisurley Summer Days

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:30:05 +0000

Looking forward to long leisurely days of summer holidays and our girls seem to sense they’re nearly here. After a hectic day’s riding at our local gymkhana, we wondered why everyone was so quiet and this is what we found.

Here they were practising their plaiting skills with balls of wool in the garden. Reminiscent of Jane Austen oh just a little!! What a perfect way to finish the day!

What to do with a fireplace that is never used!

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:18:41 +0000

Fireplaces are often dark and of no interest other than when they are roaring on a winter’s evening.

I always knew our in house decorating consultant Michelle Pennington was full of bright ideas.

With not knowing how to add light and interest to this south walled fireplace that we never use, her quick thinking of cutting up a fallen limb from a silver poplar tree and filling it high with beautiful pieces of timber resonated the soul! Your eye is instantly taken to the textures of the timber. The children loved stacking the different pieces (bit like a leggo tower really!) and my husband loved the fact that this decorating trick was free! So for all those disused fireplaces, be creative and think outside the square with how you too can create interest with a touch a something so simple as a branch from a tree!

A timber versus upholstered bedhead

admin — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 06:59:26 +0000

We look after many clients who are wanting to soften the look of their bedroom from a timber bed with an upholstered one. I personally am struck by the number of “hard finished” beds available when really the majority of us want a bed to be our nest, something soft and inviting to retreat to. I subscribe to velvet & linen a gorgeous blog out of the States whose latest posting really brought home the difference an upholstered bedhead can make to a room. Here she shows what she started with and finished with. The fabric is very similar to our vintage flax, loving the shape of the bedhead too, ever so subtle and tasteful.

Trust it inspires you too to consider the possibilities! For more fantastic design ideas visit: Velvet and Linen

Take Tea at Heatherly

admin — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:06:58 +0000

As some of you might know, the Heatherly Design office is located on our family’s farming property 90 minutes north east of Melbourne. One of my other passions is gardening and through the Australian Open Garden Scheme we are opening our garden the weekend of November 12^th and 13th. A perfect excuse to come and say hello, wander our 3 acres of perennial and rose borders, see my husband’s fountain he personally designed and built in our forecourt and admire the vistas in our beautiful valley through to the Cathedral Ranges. Our local school is “going all out” with a local produce stall and devonshire teas will be served on the verandah. Another beautiful Paul Bangay garden is open down the road so lots to admire including the opportunity to visit our Heatherly Green Tea Plantation.

My gorgeous husband has agreed to extend our open garden offering to include his 30 acres of green tea which is actually a camelia plant (all 170,000 of them!). We will be in the midst of harvesting so it will be a stunning sight. So for all those green tea drinkers, here is your chance to see how it is grown and harvested so close to Melbourne. Go to www.tworiversgreentea.com.au for further details. For garden lovers and those that just want to have a sticky on where Heatherly Design Bedheads began all those years ago in our woolshed, this is your chance. We look forward to seeing you here at Heatherly and sharing a cup of green tea on the verandah with you.

Two minds create better than one

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 07:11:26 +0000

It’s that time of year again and we’ve been designing new pieces for our collection. This is the fun bit! Fabulous having gorgeous Michelle on our team who is even more passionate about fabrics than me and that is saying something!! We feel so flattered that our competitors are taking our lead so we won’t give too much away at this stage but very excited about the new prototypes we are signing off on.

Here we are with 15 designs and still creating more special pieces…….

Waiting in style

admin — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:21:02 +0000

My loyal Heidi is pregnant and needing those extra pillows to help her sleep better in these last few days. The whelping box has been built, the children even have toys ready for the puppies to play with!! We are all wondering just how many are in that large tummy of hers and what colour as her handsome friend (!!) was chocolate so there could be a few surprises in there!! As I sit here typing she is snoring heavily with her head resting on a luxurious piece of Ella peacock velvet!! Often we deliver our designs in time for baby arrivals. We all nest during pregnancy and need those extra pillows and bedheads for support …… I have concluded labradors’ requirements are not disimilar to ours really!!

Will let you know the colours, sex and how many in the next week…. stay tuned x

Our clients are so special!

admin — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:13:47 +0000

Recently, I met Lisa in Albury in transit on our way to QLD for our family holiday in July. Lisa had been inspired after reading Elk Accessories’ website where director Marnie Goding had blogged about her special Heatherly bedhead. I so enjoyed helping Lisa come up with her design, we just needed to deliver her order within a tight timeframe which I promised we’d meet. Everything was ready to leave our warehouse on the set date to meet this deadline but our courier did not arrive, so David, our super upholsterer, made a late (after 6.00 p.m.) dash across the city to the depot to ensure Lisa’s bedhead was on the truck for delivery as promised for the following day. I have always wanted every client to believe they are the only client that matters and David certainly demonstrated his committment to that philosophy with this result. I am very proud of my team and the committment we have to meeting our clients’ expectations.