How to: Interior decor bargain shop

Everyone loves a good deal, actually, a GREAT deal. We want whatever we are buying to look authentic and to add to the emotion our home is trying to portray. But...many of us don't want to spend a crazy amount of money to spend on home decor - well I don't anyway. I like making every purchase worthwhile. So I balance it out.

For me I have a 50:50 rule. 50% of home decor should be nice unique, more expensive items that you can clearly tell are either a one off or a certain brand that you want to be seen in your home - fashionable items really. The other 50% should be non-branded less expensive items. These are like home 'fillers'.

For example:
In my living room on the dearer side I have an Ashley & Co candle, a G&E diffuser, five decorative accents, a throw and five Country Road cushions that I wanted because of their lovely texture and prints. 
On the less expensive items I have five ornaments, a planter, two side tables, a tray, photo frames, an ottoman, a rug and a lamp - all of these items are actually from Kmart NZ. 

The more expensive items are certain brands or popular items on trend, or cushions that have beautiful material. These add to the vibe of your home. The less expensive items are items that are on trend but don't need to be a particular brand at all. Their value isn't really present. For example the plant, decorative accents, a tray etc..

Here are a few less expensive items that you can get online which I absolutely love:

• Gorgeous marble pillow from ebay for NZ$16.46 (free shipping!)

• Black and white marble clock - ebay for US$29.50 (free shipping)

• Buffalo and 'Ampersand' prints - ebay (both have free shipping!)

• Black and copper or white and copper clock - ebay for AU$55.00 (plus free shipping!)
  

• Wooden block houses - ebay US$15.00 (plus free shipping!)

• Concrete and copper wall planter - ebay US$34.45 (plus free shipping!)

I hope this helped you in some way.

My love, 

Sara

Lamp Loving

Hey all,

I shared my love of different marble accents a while ago and that was quite successful so I thought I would note down a list of different lamps that I think would look great in your home.

1) Black and wood scandinavian lamp - US$26.99 from Amazon.com

2) The Louise lamp - US$204.15 from Amazon.com

3) Brass and marble lamp - US$61.99 from Amazon.com

4) Brass lamp - US$114.98 from Amazon.com

I hope you like these as much as I do. Most of these items have free shipping too! 

My love,

Sara

Minimalism - What is it?

Hiya,

For the longest time, I remember disliking any sort of clutter. I was one of those people that could not study or function in a room unless it was tidy. The messier my room was, the more chaos there was in my head.

When I was younger, I liked everything in a space to have a meaning. If I had a vase in a room I wanted it to have some sort of meaning. Why was it there? That notion has had a great impact on me even until today. I am definitely not the perfect minimalist, however I know that that particular notion is a dominant part of my life.

Minimalists will tell you that objects should be allowed to stand out, have their purpose, play a role or add to the emotion or feeling that you want your home to give. Ornaments should help tell the story that you are trying to tell in your home. However, minimalism to me, is not letting your objects dictate, it should be the material and the furnishings that stand out. If you want a certain style to stand out, for example, traditional, modern, contemporary, oriental, you can express your style in the type of furnishings or the accents you buy. Minimalism and style can actually be seen as two separate things.

The fundamental elements, for example the texture on the walls, the tiles (color and texture), the style of the kitchen sink mixer etc... are what matter. The devil is certainly in the details. The emotion within your home should come from those fundamental elements. That is minimalism- to me anyways. Additionally, minimalists can sum up what minimalism is by the quote "less is more". The minimalist approach is also said to help you feel better. De-cluttering is said to reduce anxiety, less objects means less dust, and finally, minimalist homes are usually symmetrical and symmetry can help keep you calm - so there you go, minimalism also keeps you healthy!

Here are some ways in which you can incorporate the idea of minimalism into your home:

1) Choose high quality materials and allow them to stand out

• The texture or pattern of fabrics (especially cushions) can say a lot

2) Keep in mind that minimalism only likes the bare minimum

• For example in a living room the bare minimum might be: a couch, a painting, a coffee table, a rug, a side table or two, a lamp, cushions, some ornaments etc...

3) Choose objects/furniture that are simple and pure in their design form

4) Let colors pop 

• I usually find that minimalists in interior design usually use black and white to bounce off to create a strong contrast, but it doesn't necessarily need to be black and white. As long as there is a pop of color somewhere in amongst the monochrome color scheme.
• Most of the time within the black and white you will find some greenery. This tends to add that break and that pop of color in the room in a natural manner.
• Today's fashion allows nature to dictate the pop of color in a room, whether this is inside or even outside.

5) Use colors in the same color tones 

6) Let objects breathe by giving them their own space

7) One object can say more than many tiny objects - the less decorative accents, the better.

8) Let nature dictate

I hope you have enjoyed this and I do hope that it is useful to you in some way.

My love,

Sara

Choosing a Ceiling Colour

Hello all,

Long time no post, I know. It's been crazy busy. Not an excuse but that's the reality of a full time worker these days.

Right, ceiling colors. Not long ago I went to a friends house and in his home he had painted one of the walls black. I looked up and I noticed that he had also painted his ceiling black. It was so cozy, intimate and infinite.

I had always assumed that painting in a dark color would shrink a space, however I was pleasantly surprised to see that that wasn't the case. Painting the ceiling a dark color gave the ceiling an open sky look. After all, the night sky is black but it has never felt like it was closing me in. I loved the idea! I also realized that painting a wall in a dark color, especially black, still manages to reflect light and can still be bright, depending on your home decor.

Usually paining the ceiling white, is to let it get lost and to not let it be the centre of your attention. After all, decorating your home can cost a fortune, so painting your ceiling a light color allows for the home decor to pop out against it.

While painting the ceiling a darker color can make it feel lower, it does cause that intimate cozy feeling. I realized that this is quite common in Japanese restaurants. Personally, I love the closed in cozy feeling. It is a personal choice after all.

The other design idea I saw was having a ceiling with wooden panels. I went to an award winning architecturally designed holiday home and they had wooden panels on the walls and on the ceiling. I realized that having the panels on all side walls and ceiling made the space feel much smaller. However having it only on the ceiling would surely open the space more, which was proven when another room did have the wooden ceiling panels but white walls.

I love it all, but it is up to you on how you want your home to feel. Your home should induce a feeling when you or others are there. What do you want your home to portray? Openness? Cozy? Traditional? Contemporary? So many different ideas are out there, it all depends on what you want.

I have pasted in a few examples down below. Hope you like them.

My love,
Sara

    
             

(all images were sourced from Pinterest) 

Passion

Morning,

Let me start with the point that I am a firm believer in life having some sort of purpose. In my heart I feel like everyone/everything has a purpose.

I've been thinking about a one thing lately. This is the only thing that has been playing on my mind. The question: "what is your passion?". I realised that when watching people on TV or YouTube, looking at art, interior decor, music, or anything, these have been made or created by people that are passionate to some extent about what they do. They are not your everyday job. Well not for me anyway.

I come from an Arabic heritage that treasures the ordinary job such as a doctor or an accountant and for a very long time I was striving to fit in. Until I grew up a little and got exposed to the real world. Where there are no boundaries. Everything is more grey when I was taught in black and white. I was a little disappointed if you will because for me I realised life is just so much more.

I am so genuinely happy for people that have found their passion in life even if you are a doctor or a lawyer, there are people that value such professions. What I'm saying is that I guess I wish I got to follow my intuition as to what sparked my heart. But I didn't. So now I am looking for my passion in life. Sometimes I feel like I found it and other days I don't. All I do know is that I'm constantly looking for it. It was my last thought last night and my first this morning.

Its about taking that risk. Yet I feel like I can't afford to do that. I'm sure there are so many out there too. I can't just leave my job and persue what makes me happy. I need to financially set myself up. I guess that's what it is. Finances. But yet again all those passionate people (that I know of) have become so financially stable because of what they love and believe in.

If you haven't found your purpose yet. You will. Just as I will.

My love,
Sara

My favourite Interior Design Stores

Hi all,

In New Zealand we used to be quite limited on where we can shop when it came to interior design but now I truly believe that New Zealand is becoming quite unique in its taste. New Zealand has this lovely quirk about it that I'm not sure you can quite get anywhere else.

It has a carefree vibe that allows anyone to fit in. Whatever style you have is accepted. Contemporary, vintage, beachy (an NZ fave) or Scandinavian (which is becoming quite popular now). With all these tastes, comes the responsibility of actually allowing people to express their unique style. So I thought I would list some shops in NZ that have some awesome home decor pieces. There are quite few :)

• Paper Planes - Mt Maunganui (www.paperplanestore.com)
• Freedom                                   (www.freedomfurniture.co.nz)
• Vintage Love                           (www.vintagelove.co.nz)
• Early Settler                             (www.earlysettler.co.nz)
• The Design Store                     (thedesignstore.co.nz)
• Citta Design                             (www.cittadesign.com)
• Country Road                           (www.countryroad.com.au)
• Cotton On                                 (cottonon.com)
• 
  

Hope you go in and have a look. They are such awesome stores.

Sara

Updated living room

Hi all,

I've recently updated my living room by adding some contemporary and Scandinavian touches. You can have a look at a blog that I posted called Marble and Rose Gold http://sarasloveblog.blogspot.co.nz/2015/07/marble-and-rose-gold.html. These are the types of touches that I have added to my home along with some abstract art that you can also have a look at on my blog http://sarasloveblog.blogspot.co.nz/2015/09/interior-decor-art.html.

I love what I have done but I am always looking for ways to improve.

Sara