I just arrived back home from shooting another episode of Let’s Shop and this trip we hit Miami and have I got some great design ideas to share. One of the greatest blessings of travel is that not only can you hunt and gather fun products and pieces for your design but you can also gather suitcases full of inspiration.
Miami is a hot bed of product, creativity and hot designers, in fact, as I was chatting up the proprietor of one of Miami’s hottest design stores Nici, in walks Juan, straight out of Paris’s top 10 Designer list. How fun was it for me to watch him and his client pick out and order about twelve items in less than ten minutes. “One of these, two of these tables and eight of these rock crystal vases and one of those oversized prints……”. Traditionally when we think of Miami we think sun, sand and of course South Beach but nowadays Miami is sooooooo much more.
I love colour and in Miami there is no shortage of fabulous colur and it’s truly a treat to see the return of colour to our rooms at home. Bright woven rugs, glass bowls and vases, chandeliers dripping with turquoise, amethyst and hot bright beads were amongst my top picks. Other notables in the lighting department were chandeliers dripping with barnacle’s – omg I’m in love and a chandelier is something that could change with the season. At one high end, all-Italian designer shop I saw outdoor ornaments such as two foot turtles, dog sculptures and strange kitchy pieces all painted in matte bright hues, blue, red, yellow and green. One of these pieces would look super beside the back yard pool or next to a patio chair, so much fun! Garden stools are also a fun find; you can find them in metallics and fabulous summer brights. I love the look of three in a row or even set a single metallic stool in your shower.
Air plants, succulents and terrariums are all the rage in Miami, not only do they look fabulous, living art literally but they are so easy to grow, mist regularly and enjoy. Living sculpture, and oh so summer!
Oversized was also a notable trend, oversized and fabulous photo prints were very sexy especially when paired with a bright tangerine, yellow or a turquoise wall. Oversized glass bowls and vintage floor lamps made me drool and it was more than apparent that gold is certainly a stronger trend than silver right now and looked amazing with these bright summer hues. Photo prints also looked brilliant upholstered onto the backs of some very sexy one of a kind chairs-think about this: a wonderful high gloss black frame, black leather seat and then bam, a super pigmented photo (think Alexander McQueen) transposed onto fabric as a chair back upholstery. If you have the chance to visit Miami, be sure to make the Design District a must-go shopping destination, when I travel I also like to visit a few show suites to see what’s going on and to undoubtedly bring home some great home fashion inspiration.
THIS AND THAT
This weekend plant is an Aloe Vera plant, not only are they a sexy summer plant but they are useful. Aloe Vera plants are fabulous savers for a summer sunburn, addition to a cool tea or sparkling water cocktail and they look terrific on a patio table as plant art. Keep the planter simple and let the spiky elegance of the plant make the statement.
On the weekends I have to admit that we are a little obsessed with dye these days. When we were shooting in Rivera Nayarit, we met up with a few amazing artisans who were hand-dying cotton garments. They were brilliant and now several of these dresses are my go-to travel and resort wear outfits but liberating this idea, Sam and I have created amazing drapery panels by dyeing the bottom third of the drape with a tie dye effect. Absolutely love the way we allowed the dye to softly bleed into the base colour. We are just launching a Rock House summer pillow collection which includes tie-dyed throw cushions for all of our favourite outdoor rooms. The tie-dye fabrics looks brilliant and when I’m in China next week I plan to bring home some silk that can be dyed and then stretched onto frames and hung for wall art.