I love colour and quirkiness, age and good design. I am married to a very nice man who is rather pragmatic and logical. So says Anya who takes us to a place of lurve for her Valentine’s edition of Colourswatch…
I love colour and quirkiness, age and good design. I am married to a very nice man who is rather pragmatic and logical. So says Anya who takes us to a place of lurve for her Valentine’s edition of Colourswatch……
I have always been a woman who knows her own mind. Certainly where what I like is concerned. I love colour and quirkiness, age and good design. I am married to a very nice man who is rather pragmatic and logical. These are qualities I love in him dearly, and that are sometimes lacking in my own skill set.
Many years ago we came to an arrangement where I tell him what I would like him to buy me, and he does. It works well for us both. I get what I want (a rather nice jacket from Zambesi), and he doesn’t get to see my disappointed face when I unwrap a practical (kitchen scales for instance) present for Christmas.
One year though he decided to surprise me. He duly accepted my gift option, and I assumed he would just go get it. He didn’t. Instead he went to op shop after vintage store looking for a little something. It took him a couple of weeks, but in the end he found the perfect thing. In the end he also gave me what I had asked for, but wrapped up with it was his other gift. It was a small china lemon squeezer in the shape of an upside down lemon. It sounds weird , and it was, but it was also quirky and colourful (yellow) and is the best-designed lemon squeezer I had ever used. And it still is. It generally lives somewhere in my kitchen that I get to see it most days – because it is a gentle reminder to me that sometimes we actually don’t know EXACTLY what we want, and it also reminds me how much my Husband quite likes me. I should mention at this point that going into a vintage store for him would be like pulling teeth for the man.
So for this month’s column, I thought I would do a bit of a different take on Valentine’s day. A column you could send to your Beloved to say – Get me THAT lovely thing. Or something to give your teenage daughter maybe. Or of course something you might just have to buy for yourself, because really Valentine’s is just an excuse to spoil ourselves, or our friends and partners…
Flowers of course are the go-to gift for Valentine’s. And I truly have nothing against roses, other than I am sure we can be a tiny bit more thoughtful than just falling back on the old standard of red roses. Not to elevate my Husband to demi-god status or anything, but my best flowers from him where a 6 foot high bunch of sunflowers that I got from him for our second Valentine’s Day together. I still remember getting the things delivered as they could only just fit through the front door of my office.
Sunflowers still make me a bit sentimental. As an engagement present my sister painted said sunflowers. I guess what I am saying is you just don’t have to be predictable, or obvious… there are so many flowers that could be used as a substitute. Hydrangas are just coming to the end of their season, but there are still some around. The pink is especially divine (but I would say that). My absolute all time favourite flower is the Dahlia. I don’t think you can buy them commercially, but they are a good old-fashioned staple that your Grandmother might have in her garden. They are going in my new garden (when I finally get round to it). If you are feeling really flash – a vase for the flowers make the thought last a lot longer. I adore the work of ceramic artist Jonathon Adler, and these vases of his are stocked here in New Zealand at www.mondegreen.co.nz. This is the Utopia Caesar/Cornelia Vase priced at $121. It has a different face on each side just to add to the interest. It has a wonderful 70’s, handmade sort of vibe to it which is right on trend. For the fun at heart…
For the girl who has everything, this is the perfect bag for you. I am, of course, a complete and utter sucker for fuchsia pink. It is my favourite design colour – and is the colour in the world that makes me happiest. So imagine having a bag hanging off your arm of this delicious shade of Barbie pink. The bag is called the Mini Mr Fill N Zip from Deadly Ponies. It will retail for $555 and will be available from the middle of Feb – just in time for Valentines Day. For the fabulous at heart…
For the teenager in your life (or the hopeless romantic like myself), Valentine’s Day is the perfect time for a bit of light fantasy reading. Fallen in Love by Lauren Kate might just be the perfect answer. It is a collection of short stories, all centred on different characters in the Fallen series. Briefly the series is about the tortured love affair through the ages of the earthly Luce and the heavenly Daniel (he is an Angel rather than a Vampire). I started reading them after I finished the Twilight series for the fourth time and for a bit of light reading happiness, they are just perfect. The book is published by Random House. It is $24.99 and is available now. For the romantic of heart…
Ooohhh… I just love this next wee thing. I have a great love of red, and I thought as that is the usual colour associated with Valentine’s Day, that I would have to put some in somewhere. So, a birdcage it is then. Not exactly a birdcage – more a decorative piece that LOOKS like a birdcage. This particular one is available from Father Rabbit which is a wonderful website with lots of delicious items with a very simple, pared-back aesthetic. This birdcage is actually on sale at the moment so grab it while you can. You could put flowers in it, leave it just as it is, or have candles hung from the ceiling in it. They were $99 but on sale they are just $59. Find them at www.fatherrabbit.co.nz For the quirky of heart…
It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without including jewellery of some kind. My Husband is exceptionally lucky that my heart does not generally flutter about jewellery. I know most for girls it is something that sets the pulses racing. But generally not mine. If I did have my ears pierced though, these little beauties might just tempt me. With their simple shape and pretty proportion they are just too gorgeous to resist. The Mini Bow Studs are from Karen Walker Jewellery, and the gold retails for $279. But just to make you really happy, they also come in silver and retail for a tiny $79. They are available at a Karen Walker store/stockist near you but also online at www.karenwalker.com For the girly at heart…
I have to put something in with a vintage slant to it, just to round everything out. Having just discovered The Vitrine in Grey Lynn, I just had to include something I had purchased from there. This beautiful old preserving jar from Eastern Europe (I think) has just such lovely proportions. It is lovely and tall, and I just love the colour of the glass. Much as the most obvious thing to do would be to use it as a vase (which I most certainly will), I think it is going to be just perfect to hold one of my ‘collections’. I’m not exactly sure what yet – but I thought photographing it with my Daughter’s knitting in it might just be a slightly different way of using it for now. I also found a vintage potato basket which I am will sure for shoes at the front door, and two old battered cabinets that will become the base to Theodore’s (our littlest’s) bed. Very happy with my purchases. Vintage Preserving Jars cost $150 and are available from The Vitrine, 1a Grosvenor St, Grey Lynn. Go hunt for other vintage/antique treasures from France and Europe in their huge old warehouse. They have lots of lovely old chairs and tables, lockers and filing cabinets. You won’t be disappointed. For the vintage at heart…
I like to leave the best bits for last. I have no idea why I do that – but I just like to. It’s a funny thing about design ideas – even with all the ideas running around in my head, I can still run a bit ‘dry’ at times. I get to look at lots of different books, and magazines etc, but at the moment a lot of them feel a bit same old, same old. A Girl’s Guide to Decorating by Abigail Ahern has helped ‘fill the tank’ as it were. The book is written by the fantastic Abigail Ahern who is the hottest young thing in the UK at the moment. She combines a “bohemian artiness with craft” – but I just love her Victorian, Gothic darkness, mixed with punchy, vibrant colours. She uses a lot of wallpaper, and texture with her fabrics, which all adds up to visually balanced, and colourful rooms. She isn’t afraid of using black – and does so with great abandon. The book is divided into sections – all very practical at first – with Planning, Texture, Lighting and Practical Stuff. All through the book she gives you incredibly practical tips on painting floors (which I am about to do to a whole house), making shutters, transforming an old lampshade into something fabulous and a whole range of other things. All things we are perfectly capable of doing if we put our minds to it. Aside from the satisfaction of doing the job ourselves, it is a great way to keep costs down on any renovation (however large or small) we are attempting.
Of course I love the book because of its incredible use of colour . She is amazingly confident (and liberal) with her use of pink. It has inspired me to paint the wall around my pool Hot Pink. Yes – Hot Pink. I am very happy with it. It has taken a space that looks very boring and ho-hum, and transformed it into something that makes me smile every time I walk out there. A Girl’s Guide to Decorating by Abigail Ahern is published by Quadrille; distributed by www.bookreps.co.nz here in New Zealand. It retails for $34.99 and is available now. The perfect Valentine’s gift for yourself… for the practical and gorgeous at heart.
By Anya Brighouse, 2 February 2012.
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