My Home - Gill Kapferer

A random turn of events introduced me to the gorgeous Gillian Kapferer and her beautiful family. We met in the special care nursery as both our bubs decided to enter the world early. Coincidentally our husbands had been friends in school but grew apart and hadn't seen each other 17 years! We all share similar interests and our love of design and style could keep us chatting for hours. Gil’s gift for interior styling is evident in their family home. From the white washed floor boards to the wallpaper in her baby’s nursery, you can see that each element has been carefully considered. I asked Gill to take a few moments away from her new born, Edi and almost 3 year old,Uli to share her home with us. 

How would you describe your style? I am really inspired by Scandinavian style & nature.

How did you approach decorating your home? Did you use mood boards or clippings? Initially I found a lot of ideas through magazines and interior design books, but recently have discovered Pinterest & blogs, and have become a bit addicted!Some favourites are: scandinavianretreat.blogspot.com ; babyspace.net.au; followstudio.blogspot.com.au  

What items do you like most and where did you source them? Probably the Ivar shelves from Ikea, we have them in just about every room. 

Gill has painted the Ivar shelves white to add to the scandinavian theme  

When you’re at home we’d find you…..? Feeding Edi & on Pinterest at the same time!!

Where would we be without iphones!

  

Favourite retail shop/s? Ikea because it is so affordable, but I love visiting Koskela , Ici et la, Mark Tuckey & Les Interiors.

Gill is also a fan of online shopping. Some fav's are: etsy.com; boden.co.uk; littlebabycompany.co.uk; larkmade.com.au

Websites you like to visit for inspiration? Definitely Pinterest where you can get access to great blogs and online shopping.

Gill's pintrest profile can be viewed here  

If you weren’t an airhostess you’d be…? Interior Stylist, without question!


Below are some photos from inside Gill's home on Sydney's Northern Beaches

Fabric letters from memidesigns.com ; Wallpaper from fermliving.com

Nursery furniture from Ikea (Ivar shelving painted white); Lightshade: Norm 06 by Simon Karkov for Normann Copenhagen from royaldesign.com

Artwork from yumicha.bigcartel.com & etsy shop honey cup

Rabbit lamp from I am Kidz

Uli, Gill's 2+8mth year old loves her special room

Uli and Edi's room share similar elements, yet each room feels distinctly different 

The old wooden box filled with Uli's books was found at an antique store and painted white

Birds wall sticker www.lovemae.com; bed linen by Castle and Things

Uli's room is filled with lots of special finds

Cloud mobile from Etsy shop - leptitpapillon; Edi's first shoes from R.M.Williams

"One of my best friends loaned these cardigans to me to keep Edi warm this winter. They were her grandfathers from Germany."

Gorgeous Uli

Tipi from Cotton On Kids and shelving unit from Ici et la

Kitchen from Ikea 

Wreath from Les Interiours

Laundry sink from Ici et la 

Bedding Castle and Things and Gill made the pallet bed (Gill sent her husband to a pallet manufacturer in Campbelltown, NSW to find these pallet's for their bed)

Cheeky puppy "Millie" 

Storage boxes from Ikea and baskets purchased from a shop in Rozelle 8 years ago. 

Elements hanging in the hall contribute to the natural/breezy feeling of the home 

House cushions from Megan Park and crochet rug from Alimrose

Angel wings from HoneyBee Homewares; Poster from Isak

Welcome Jack Angus Turner

It’s been a very eventful 6 weeks since my last post. Almost 24 hours after I finished writing my last entry, my waters broke and I went into labour. I’d booked in for a planned caesarian on the 19^th April so I never thought I’d experience contractions. [To all those women out there who have endured hours of labour, I take my hat off to you. My contractions were 7 minutes apart and only lasted 2 hours and that was definitely enough.] A few hours after my waters broke I was in hospital having an emergency caesarian.  Then entered the world Jack Angus Turner at 1.31am on Tuesday 27^th March, 5 weeks before his due date and weighing 2.34kg (5.1 lbs).  

Being a premature baby he was taken straight to special care to help regulate his temperature and I was stitched up and sent back to my room. It was heart breaking not having him with me and my first cuddle wasn’t until the next morning. 

Jack remained in special care for 2 weeks while I commuted to and from the hospital delivering expressed milk and doing breast feeds. It was a very tough few weeks. You feel so empty going home without your baby, especially when you still need to wake every 3 hours overnight to express milk on a machine!

It was a very exciting and daunting day bringing our little man home from the hospital but 6 weeks have flown by and I love being a mum. I can’t imagine life without him. Jack now weighs 3.3kg (7.2lbs) and is healthy and happy.

I’m starting to get back into blogging in-between feeds/sleeps and look forward to sharing some inspiring posts with you soon.

Cookies in a Mason Jar

Nesting has started, with just over 3 weeks to go until our little man is cooked! I’m not much of a baker, however given my motivation for domestic duties I thought I’d try out the Mason Jar Cookie Company’s mix that I got for Christmas.

My sister-in-law is living in New York and personalized a few of the cookie mixes for Christmas presents. It's a start up company based on an old tradition of gifting recipes in a jar. You order online, starting off with a cookie base, then you can get creative by adding in ingredients like Oreo’s, peanut butter chips, M&M’s etc etc (all very American cookie treats). At the end you can customize your cookies by giving them a name, and then adding a personalised note on the jar.

My “Kell’s NYC Cookies” used the oatmeal cookie base, and had rice bubbles, almonds and coconut added.

Instructions were a little different to how you’d normally make biscuits here in Oz, however they turned out great and my trusty taste tester went back for seconds….. I have to admit I just downed another “for the baby”.

Sweet dreams

Since visiting Love Adorned in Nolita, NYC, I’ve been a little obsessed with dream catchers.

I love the sentiment behind the catcher, filled with elements from nature, intertwined around a circle to ensure only the sweetest dreams find us while we’re sleeping…..

I would like to make a dream catcher for my impending baby that will include pieces found from around his home – pieces of driftwood and shells from the beach, native grasses from the sand dunes and some feathers (if I can find any from the local birds). I’ll also need suede lacing, and a his birth stone to catch the sun (maybe aquamarine if he’s an Aries) .

I thought this would be a good substitute for a baby mobile to hang above this cot? It might help to ensure that his new life, outside of my belly, will be filled with lots of happy sleeps!

There's lots of images to inspire the design and this is one that I love from designer Hitomi Matarese.

Instructions can be found on google and I've saved this tutorial for my own reference.

I look forward to sharing my finished project with you soon!!

Hello.

Feb 2012 - 30th bday and 29th week of pregnancy

It’s been a hectic 5 months since I last posted. I’ve had a trip to NYC, celebrated my 30^th birthday and I’ve been incubating a little baby boy, who is due on the 19^th April 2012. We are also moving house (at 30 weeks this isn’t an easy task!) so my sewing, crafting and general creative endeavours have been on the back-burner. All the while I've been thinking and planning my next creative projects and I thought it was about time to share some of those ideas with you.

Summer Looks 2011-12

I've collected a range of images to inspire things to wear and make this summer (you can view them by clicking the below link). Have you started thinking about your wardrobe? My must haves include Lace (shorts, tops, dresses, anything!), red pants/shorts, floaty florals, bright bold colours (in tribal style prints). What are your must haves??

View my summer look book here

Lace Shorts - Inspired by Sincerely Jules (Blogger)

I’ve been inspired by the styles of blogger Jules from http://www.sincerelyjules.com/. I fell in love with an olive green and black lace skirt outfit that she had on and decided I needed to whip up something similar (see above image).

Using some non-stretch lace I had at home, I bought a gold zip and some stretch poplin for the lining. I’m so used to putting in invisible zips that I had a lot of trouble putting in this standard zipper (a bit of unpicking involved and a couple of you tube videos got me through).

I cut out size 6 but it was a little too small around the hips so I just reduced the 1.5cm seem allowance to 1cm.

The pattern didn’t have lining but due to the sheerness of the lace I had to put some in. I used cotton because I find that standard lining in summer is too hot and sweaty in Australia and cotton is much more comfortable.

It’s a really simple pattern and if made without the lining would only take 4 hours to make.

The Estate of the late Alina Galasso – Auction this Sunday 3rd July 2011

A friend of mines auction house, Theodore Bruce, has been entrusted with the giant task of auctioning the exquisite contents of one of Strathfields finest federation residences at 72 Redmyre Road Strathfield, Sydney on Sunday 3rd July 2011.

Belonging to the late Alina Galasso – model, restaurateur and local fashion icon, the collection includes imported hand crafted Italian furniture including Vitrine, Sideboards, Sofas, Beds, Tables and Chairs. Fine Antiques including Victorian Rosewood Games Table, Georgian Chest of Drawers, Artworks by Lindsay, Anna Corsini, McDougal, Bronzes and Sculptures, rugs and fabrics.

The proceeds of the auction will help fund The Alina Galasso Trust which will provide three anual Scholarships to encourage and support students to achieve thier best whilst studying fashion and costume.

On View Saturday 2nd July 10am to 4pm and Sunday 3rd July from 10am
Fully Illustrated Catalogue online http://theodorebruceauctions.com.au/about_auction_news_view.php?article=374
Online Live Bidding will be available for this sale see links on our website

Simplicity "Project Runway" Mini Dress

I fell in love with the cotton Brocade before I decided what I could make with it. It's been sitting a home for a while so thought I'd pair it with some black linen to make a mini dress.

This mini dress was made from Simplicity pattern 3507 from the "inspired by Project Runway" collection. I used a black linen for the bodice and facing and then used cotton brocade? style fabric for the main section of the dress. I used the brocade scalloped edge as the hem. To do this:
1) I measured the exact length I wanted the dress before cutting
2) Lined up the paper pattern for the skirt part of the dress so that the hem would be sitting on the scallops.

This dress does not have lining.

I cut out size 7/8, but it ended up being a bit big. I’d recommend tissue fitting the pattern first before cutting to ensure a good fit.

I’m planning on wearing the dress as a tunic in winter over the top of a turtle neck and as a dress in summer.

Handmade Leather Jacket... by me!

the finished product!

My leather jacket is finally finished after months of pattern making, adjusting, cutting, sewing and finishing.

It’s been a great adventure. Leather is beautiful to work with… a nice change from the slippery slide sewing of silk or nylon. Leather stays put and doesn’t require the finer finishes of softer or sheer fabrics.

I used a combination of patterns for this design. Starting with inspiration from this Muubaa waterfall jacket mink. I then used McCall’s pattern M5937 to give me a basic shape. I incorporated a block pattern I’ve made previously to give me a close fitting sleeve and made many adjustments on the dummy to get the lines I wanted. It’s lined in a matching colour and facing was done in the same leather as the front.

Leather was sourced from NSW leather Co. and I needed about 5 skins to complete the jacket, costing about $120 AUD.

I think I’d change the collar if I re-made it, but for the moment I’m content with wearing it the way that it’s turned out.

Ox

jacket in detail

Launch of STUDIO2103

Design Detective Diary has now launched a sister blog to house a collection of projects for the craft minx. I wanted to have a location that would catelogue a range of inspiring and contemporary creative projects in video and step-by-step format for people who like to create. Whether you have 1 hour, 1 day or 1 weekend I hope that STUDIO2103 will have a project to satisfy your creative hunger.

How far will $150 go at Kirribilli Fashion Markets?

Left to right: Seduce top $5, Zara skirt $10, new Portmans top $10

Left to right: black ankle boots $15, new Witchery suede wedges $30, RMK heels $15


Left to right: wool/silk dress $10, Top Shop lambs wool cardi $10

Bangles $5 each

Hitting the secondhand clothing market circuit is one of my favourite pastimes. It’s so much fun! The thrill of fossicking through trash to find treasure, haggling for bargains and coming home with bags of goodies for a small amount of money. It’s definitely the most economical way to shop and you can usually find unique pieces from High Street designers.

One of my favourite markets is the Kirribilli Fashion Market, which I visited last Sunday. With $150 in my pocket I was on a mission to find shoes, party clothes and some winter pieces. The day did not disappoint! For $115 I bought 10 pieces including shoes, tops, accessories and a skirt. I’m already planning my shopping list for next month….!

My Green Thumb - Making a Terrarium

My terrarium - I would have like a vessel with a glass lid but this glass vase was only $10 and the one with a lid was $80.

Steps for making a terrarium (see below for full instructions). I found the chopstick rather helpful to create small holes in the soil to poke plants in.

Apartment living is not the best for the avid gardener, especially when your balcony is the size of a pea (like mine!). Hence, I’m always looking for ideas to improve the greenery around my house without sacrificing space. I’ve fallen in love with the concept of terrariums, little mini plant worlds that can live inside a glass jar, as a way to expand the garden at home. Today I finally had a go at creating one and I was pretty happy with the end result. I’ll post another photo when the succulents have settled in and they start to take a natural shape.

It was really simple to make:

Buy a glass jar/vase/vessel

Buy a selection of dwarf succulents

Put down a layer of horticulture charcoal

Then put some succulent/cactus potting mix on top (it’s more sandy than the normal potting mix)

Break up the succulents and start designing your landscape!

Water you terrarium….. presto! Fingers crossed it grows.

If you want more inspiration, there are many how-to tutorials on the web, this is one by design sponge http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/08/made-with-love-found-terrariums.html

I'd love to see or hear about your terrariums so please email me or post a comment!