The weight of creativity

Once it could said that Redfern Street in inner Sydney was always a little on the thin side 

for a place to take a coffee and have a chat with friends or locals. 

And then a shift occurred in the hood.

An explosion of cafes, restaurants, and wonderful new stores full of beautiful pre loved things appeared.

The cafe COFFEE, TEA & ME opened in 2011, helped changed the sense of the hood for the good, better, best.

The first inventive cafe furniture of Coffe,Tea and Me, was a delight. 

Interesting people taking theircoffees, sitting on the most charming pre loved, pre used objects that work very well _
An old wooden ironing board serves as a table for four, bicycle seats that have been placed on top of stools, kindergarten tables and chairs
all offer you a place to sit and watch the hustle and bustle of the street. 

Now one can find small tables made of old bathroom scales anchored securely to metal legs.
Yet another charming, witty simple idea. 

Coffee, Tea & Me 93B Redfern Street, Redfern Sydney.

e:www.coffeeteaandme.com.au  t:02 9008 7121

Why make it straight?

Walking through the back door of this unloved 1940’s dark brick block of flats we find ourselves in a calm serene nest.  

Is this the space of a bower? Full of shells, flowers and feathers, discarded plastic items, lamps, chairs of an eclectic nature and a beautiful piece of Murano glass.

Melissa’s holds the ability to turn negative into a positive or less than ordinary into extraordinary.

As long as we’ve known Melissa, and we’re known her for a long time, she’s always had ‘An eye’ for detail. 

For those beautiful things that others would look past. 

Each room has emerged from an unloved or discarded piece that she found, felt and fitted. 

Its about the landscape of the room which captures our delight and interest, rather than the outlook from the windows, as most rooms look onto a mirror image block of flats.    

So the afternoon we visited the winter’s sun was filtering through the windows filling the space with a sweet calm light. 

In the kitchen calico white curtains cut uneven like a cityscape framed the succulents that sit on the window-sill. 

The main bedroom had the most captivating solution to a broken fly screen – with inexpensive nylon black lace stitched onto it.  The effect was seductive.

When we enquired about the interesting, inventive window treatments Mel had created, her response was “Why make it straight?”

She is absolute correct.

Good Vibrations : Harmonious Orange

A ubiquitous colour in interior design and homewares of the 1960s,

orange is a colour that divides the world, 

ironically as it is the symbolic colour of unity and harmony.

Invite orange into your every day.

International Womens day : She always felt safe

In 2018 women all around the world are still striving to ensure that this statement will be a matter of fact rather than a shared wish.

It is up to us, the women of this world, to make this so.
But we look to the males of this world to make our task easier by becoming our partners in this incredibly important, essential shift in attitude.

Happy International Women’s Day sisters and brothers.
Peace, respect and love to all of us.

The beautiful ceramic featured in this article and the inspiration for it was created by Myfanny Gullifer.

You can see more of Myfanny’s wonderful work at King Street Gallery, Sydney.

"old school" is not a crime

There is something about a lovely, ‘old school’ sink and tiles that speak to me on a hot, hot day. ‘
'Old school’ anything can possess a charm that simply cannot be reproduced.

It saddens me greatly to see these beautiful domestic objects get ripped mercilessly out of houses during renovations, and just thrown into skips.
Never or rarely given a chance to live on, functioning as they were designed to.
‘Old’ is not a crime.

Give something that is not brand new for Christmas

Christmas is upon us and money is being thrown around like water buying new, unnecessary stuff for people who one may or may not love or even like.

But it is about giving that we are told makes us better people.

I reckon what would make us even better people that giving new things, is finding things that already exist and saving them from becoming landfill.

Go to an 'op shop', a fete, a fantastic store like Seasonal Concepts in Redfern or the Flea market in Athens and find that unique thing that has a history and is made to last.
It will be half the price and ten times the quality of today's mass produced objects.

Do it. It is fun going through those places and the satification you feel when you have FOUND IT!

Recycle, upcycle, repurpose. 

JoyDay is coming: 25th November

JoyDay is coming on the 25th of November, and as always
the key thing to remember for that day, is to celebrate
the tiny or maybe big things that bring you joy.

We focus on the negative too much (I am guilty of that) but
it is the recognised, and sometimes unrecognised, joys that surround us which can 
bring a healthy, happy boost to our lives.

This image is a shadow play I recorded in Melbourne a few years back.
I loved the image but just did not know what it was that delighted me about it.
Then I realised, it was the range of hues and tones within the shadows that
spoke to me.

So have a look into the shadows (a good thing to do from time to time anyway),
and find the surprising colours within.

A small joy but joy is joy.

A bit of wear and tear makes a thing more interesting

It is such an old fashion surface for every day objects,

but it is a breath of fresh air to see..
Even when its chipped it looks good.

Like most things in life, a bit of wear and tear just makes a thing more interesting.

Op-Shop Opportunities

Just love the look of the mixed textures, elements, objects and colours, that have no business being seen together, that are often partnered up in 'op' shops and second hand stores. 

They should be all wrong together and yet they frequently make beautiful aesthetic music. 

The advantage of this kind of accidential styling is that with a fresh or non-contrived eye one can create a beautiful and surprising environment. 

Also you can save money and the planet while you are being brave and creative. Do it!

Its only Junk, if it's not useful

Old style flatwear, otherwise referred to as cutlery, is sadly a thing of the past in most ‘modern’ homes.

Why have these beautiful pieces of silverware gone away?
There is nothing nicer than the look and feel of these bone handled knives, the curved rat’s tailed forks and spoons.

Is it that people are just lazy, and don’t want to have to wash up these pieces by hand. 
Really?? Is that true?
Or does the aesthetic of these flatware sets simply not suit the digital world and all that populates it stylistically?

 So, if you want to have a sense and connection to times past, go shopping in stores that recognises the joy of old things.  Things that have a history.  

Objects that were manufactured in times when built-in redundancy simply was not a possibility.

All washed up

One day I had a revelation when I discovered the photographic work of Bill Eggleston,
an American photographer.

He possess an eye and a sensibility which gleams beauty in every corner of

one’s ordinary world.

His work is truly significant.

I thank him.