Its a very good morning from me today despite the fact that I think I maybe coming down with something, (sore throat, sneezing, etc) however outside its the most beautiful light. Its damp and murky (my favourite conditions) and the light is so soft that inside the house almost feels as if I am working within a Vermeer painting. There' are shadows and depth and  intriguing little corners that softly glow- I love it. Plus I dashed out early this morning as I noticed a newish cafe right near me is now serving St Ali coffee. St Ali is a rather renowned coffee house in Melbourne which we discovered whilst there in the summer and the coffee is darn good - I won't bang on about my coffee obsession but its the one thing that drives me crazy - serve me bad wine, food, water anything just NOT coffee. How Costa and Starbucks get any customers is beyond me!
Enough about coffee - lets get professional and talk interiors more specifically a trend I noticed in all 4 cities I travelled to over the summer (Melbourne, Sydney, New York and Paris). The animal trend is getting bigger and bigger- am I'm not talking about my lighting. I mean the trend for ethnic patterns and animal prints think spots and stripes. Zeebra prints, faux fur, sheepskin rugs that kind of thing. Here's the hard part when crossing over to the wild side what we are after are rooms that are sophisticated not slutty right! My secret is to not go overboard. As a general rule animal prints are best as accents so think cushions, rugs, throws maybe the odd lampshade. I'm obsessing about some sheepskin rugs I've seen to sling over my dining chairs in the softest palette of greys this winter - when coupled with candlelight a stew on the stove, a roaring fire thinking they could look pretty amazing. The great thing about sheepskin is that its pretty timeless soothing on the eye and if anyting becomes more tacktile with age and its a lovely way to add texture and softness to a space.
But I'm also pretty obsessed with zeebra prints - sling a zeebra on the floor and its pretty impactful stuff plus it works in traditional and modern interiors alike. I have a cruelty free rug crafted from wool and you will see in a mo how it literally jazzes up my space.
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Instant zing is what a zeebra rug will do to your space. Enlivening the floor and adding that element of levity which I am always banging on about.
The interesting thing is it can work in any interior - check out this county pad
Or this super cool high voltage NY pad
Isolation is the key over do it and things will tend to look a tad cheap - but used sparingly animal prints completely and utterly take a room to another level.
