So here's what's going down...

... in the life of Stylish Irish.




I bought a cover for my Ipad.  It's pretty simple, you might even say low-key...







...and only cost 25 bucks from Typo.  I might still indulge in the Marc Jacobs one I blogged about before  but in the meantime, I'm pretty happy with this.

So, I've also come over all domestic goddess lately.




We had some beetroot from the vege patch that needed using up, so I made some Cous Cous with Roasted Vegetables at the weekend.

 









Of course I didn't think to take any pics of the finished product but it did look more or less like this (the recipe is courtesy of Kiwi cooking and lifestyle star Annbel Langbein).

Finally, look at this gorgeous book that arrived for me earlier today:







It's a late birthday gift from my honey and I love it.  Take a sneak peek inside:











Almost as good as the real thing... better in a way because I don't think I'll ever own more than 200 different hermes scarves!!

Now I'm, thinking I might need to buy a new coffee table to display my new pretty book on...

Laters!

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Upstairs at the dream house

So previously on Stylish Irish I was 'fantasy decorating' my dream house that's currently on the market back in Ireland.  I'd managed to work my way through main rooms downstairs, so now it's time to move on to the first floor.



Wowee!  Not only 5 bedrooms to decorate but 5, yes 5 bathrooms AND a generously sized dressing room!!!  Shall we start with the Master suite?  Here's what I'm thinking...






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I've looked to Suzanne Kasler again for inspiration here.  I'm loving lattice print right now and this neutral colour scheme is restful while also being sophosticated. 






via Suzanne Kasler
It's the interiors equivalent of a classic camel coat - luxurious and elegant without being showy.





That's my idea of style perfection.

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Thanks Goodness For GPS

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Decorating my dream house

A while ago I blogged about my dream house back in the home country.  Check it out here.  Then the other day I was reading Blue Fruit's blog (a current favourite of mine) and I was totally inspired by Virginia's 'Rescue me Please' post.  Basically, she imagined buying a diamond in the rough Art Deco house currently on the market and imbuing it once again "with dignity and drama".  Well it occurred to me that I should also embark on a fantasy redecoration project and what better subject than my dream house.





There's quite alot of floor area to play with here so let's chunk this down and focus first on the ground floor.



What's our vision?  I'm thinking classic with a contemporary twist.  As a jumping off point, I thought of this photograph by Mario Testino:





If you look carefully at the picture of the stairs in the 'before' photos, you'll see there's already a black and white tiled floor to work with in the main hall. 





I like the idea of mixing the classic checkerboard floor with a more contemporary approach.  For example, the hallway below a la Suzanne Kasler is classic but contemporary in its simplicity and lightness.  I love how fresh and unstuffy it looks.  And bye bye Mr Red Carpet on the stairs (what were they thinking)!!





The room below is again by Ms Kasler.  I'm a sucker for black and white and I think extending the colour scheme from the formal entrance to the drawing room provides continuity.





You gotta admit, it's a step up from the current arrangement.  For some reason, terracotta is a big hit in Irish interiors (yuck!).  At least the carpet is neutral but I wonder whether original timber floors lurk beneath...





Next, let's step into the dining room.  I'm thinking of a scheme somewhere in between the following two looks, one of which featured in a recent edition of Lonny and the other is by Kelly Hoppen.







via Lonny 



Once again, it's about striking the right balance between classic and contemporary.

Now, what about the kitchen? What I ask is that navy stripe about?




How about something a little more like this...






via Lonny
and this...





via decorpad
It's fantastic that with such a large space, there's ample room for both a generous kitchen and a less formal dining area.

Every home needs a comfy living area for some serious relaxing, coach potato-ing even!  So here's what I'm thinking for the sitting room that's directly off the kitchen:




Winters are cold these times in Ireland and it's hard to beat an open fire as a focal point.
And finally, the study:





Soon to follow is the upstairs.  There are still five bedrooms, numerous bathrooms and a dressing room to go so the fantasy decorating is far from complete!

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Old is Gold

Hello World....
life is a strange journey...
full of self discovery...an ongoing learning process...

I would take the example of my grandparents cos its inspire this vision of life
..
how the eyes reflect the vision of life and how the heart or mind interpret life is such a beautiful story...

when I was in my teens, whenever I would meet my grandparents they would talk about the past
or the morals or values they used to have...
I would then think that they didn't understand the new generation ...

today these conversations have taken a golden dimension...
with a new eye vision and mindset, I now perceive this life cycle...

when I was a teen, my main aim was to finish school then work then study...
most people aim is to find a good job with a good salary package...

but for my grandparents, they have reached such a stage when all those materials life aims are minimalist...

for them, their day-to-day is
life itself...
they now talk about the remaining life that they have to live...  they talk so freely about their death...

whenever I would hear them talk about their past, I now cherish these golden experiences...
why those golden moments would soon be rare......where I have learn the essence of life from them...

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The house next door...

Whether you consider it a constant source of envy or an ever present motivator, the fact is that the villa right next door to ours has had it's full makeover including a big loft-style extension.  One half of the couple who developed the house was an interior designer.  They've since sold up and the new neighbours have just moved in.  The other day however, quite by chance, I came across this article which appeared in the NZ Herald when the house was on the market a few months ago.  I thought you might be interested to see the pics as an insight into on how these villa renos go in my neck of the woods.

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Kitchens

Eventually, when we get closer to building THAT extension I've been talking about, I'm going to have to choose a kitchen.  Now I always thought of myself as a modern kitchen kinda gal and I was bracing myself for an argument with 'himself' who I know would like something a bit more ... cosy.  Lately however, I've found myself drawn to a more traditional style of kitchen - see the pics below:





Are these what you call shaker style doors?  I would just never have thought that was me!!

This interest in something a bit more traditional started I think when I saw this kitchen by Thomas O' Brien.  It isn't shaker style but it definitely marked a departure for me away from solely admiring contemporary styled kitchens.

This is from the old school house he renovated (in upstate NY I think) and I just love that entire house.


Anyway, this desire for something a bit more classic on the kitchen front won't keep me completely out of trouble with 'himself".  I know he would also like something a bit more woody and as you can see, I very much like white kitchens.  Oh well - I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it!

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