A chic and cheerful Christmas – Festive season styling for the modern home

A chic and cheerful Christmas – Festive season styling for the modern home

Apartment Living Chronicles Part 9

In spite of the covid cloud that has hung over us, this year has just flown by and its already time to prepare for Christmas! Let’s make it an uplifting and elegant experience this year as we look to a brighter 2022. One of the key elements of a style-conscious festive season is keeping Christmas clutter free and firmly adhering to the saying 'less is more'.

This year, think chic and cheerful. It’s usually best to begin by deciding on a colour palette. Try a base of white from which to build your perfect Christmas look. Accessorise with sage green, pale pink or soft blue. To fully embrace our antipodean location, make this a cool, calm Christmas that honours our coastal summer. Subdued greens and sand washed blues take inspiration from the coast will work perfectly to create a Southern Hemisphere scheme.

 

 

   

Traditional green, red and gold tends to look very dated but you can use them with style by replacing the gold with a rich cobalt blue and using a few beautifully crafted, minimal pieces such as blown glass baubles and wooden nutcracker soldiers.




Once you’ve decided on colours, look through what you already have and get rid of whatever is dated, falling apart or doesn’t fit harmoniously into your Christmas vision. If you have a tree already, make sure it is not looking worse for wear and will fit in with your look. If you don’t have a tree, I don’t think you can beat the real thing. Having a real Christmas tree not only looks divinely natural, it also gives your home the fresh, evergreen, piney scent that smells like the holidays. And remember, a new tree each year does not take up precious storage space.

Still keen to deck the halls? Olive branches work beautifully as wreaths and for placing around the home. Also, the organic, earthy smell of the branch adds to the clean, calm vibe. Or try winding strands of delicate foliage around handrails and curtain rods, but just remember – don’t go too OTT to avoid looking messy.



When choosing decorations, curvaceous, organic shapes will best suit our chic vibe. And less is always more. Wooden, glass, metal and matt porcelain ornaments will look elegant and organic. Beautifully scented candles will also go a long way to complement the Christmas vibe and a gorgeous feather or simple branch decoration can add a signature piece.

 

Don’t forget to wrap gifts in beautiful quality paper and wide ribbons in colours that complement your chosen theme. Gorgeously wrapped Christmas gifts will get everyone excited and make a style statement of their own. If you decide to forego a tree, they can be elegantly piled to create your Christmas centrepiece.

All of us here at Cramer wish you a wonderful, relaxing, chic and cheerful Christmas and the best holidays you’ve had in years.

The Sydney suburbs that are a foodie’s paradise – the food fest continues… Marrickville

The Sydney suburbs that are a foodie’s paradise – the food fest continues… The Marrickville Edition

Apartment Living Chronicles Part 8

There are several Sydney suburbs that have it all in the way of artisan providores and grocers, where produce is treated with the utmost of respect and food is fun and fantastic. As such, Marrickville and Surry Hills get our vote as joint winners of Sydney’s Foodie Capital. Recently we walked the streets of Surry Hills in search of our food nirvana, and now we’ll take a look at all things gourmet in Marrickville.

 
 
First stop is the Paesanella Food Emporium, which carries with it a 60+ year history. The Italian founder brought Sydney one of its first tastes of the best cheese in Italy, and now the Emporium stocks freshly made buffalo mozzarella and ricotta, along with cookbooks, pasta and imported delicacies. And if you are after a choice cut of meat or the best pate this side of Paris, try Whole Beast Butchery.



Then for the freshest groceries in the West, you can’t go past Panetta Mercato. Located in the Marrickville Metro store, the cheeses, meats, sundried tomatoes, olives, dips and much more, mean we are spoiled for choice. Create your own grazing table that will stand up to any Tuscan mid-summer spread. There are also Vietnamese green grocers offering best of Asian produce to invigorate and vary your meals.

 

Leading the way in building ecosystem health and biodiversity, Feather and Bone butchery sources from local farms. Pick up a copy of their book, The Ethical Omnivore, and learn how you can eat meat and still feel like you are doing the right thing by our planet. From crumbed lamb loin cutlets and goat and lemon thyme sausage to smoked Aylesbury-Pekin duck breast and paleo boxes, you will get your iron up at one of Sydney’s very best butchers.

If you are looking for the real McCoy in New York deli bagels, you can’t go past Brooklyn Boy Bagels Drive-Thru. With a bagel to satisfy any taste, choose from onion, blueberry, sesame and gluten free to the exotic rainbow, pumpkin and famed everything bagel. Generous tubs of luscious cream cheese come in plain, jalapeño, lox with capers, garlic and chive flavours. There’s even something for the vegans among us, with the almond ‘cream cheese’ version. You can even pick up the quintessential toppings such as lox and pastrami. If you are really not one for bagels at the end of all this, fear not, as Brooklyn Boy also make a mean sourdough, challah or rye bread or pushcart-style pretzel.

No meal is complete without a good coffee (at least in my book) and The Wood Roaster will live up to any coffee aficionado’s standards. Using their one-of-a-kind air roaster, their wood-fired artisan roasting technique is second to none. For a drop to wash it all down, pop into Where’s Nick Wine Bar and Shop (see image below) proponents of the natural wine movement who primarily source from sustainable and organic winemakers. And with Marrickville the home to Sydney’s best craft beers, pick up a bottle (or a dozen) from Sauce Brewing Co, Batch, Stockade, Wildflower or Bucket Boys Crafty Beer Co.

For certified organic, super-fresh produce, there is no better place to shop than the Marrickville Organic Markets. An Inner West institution, loyal Sydneysiders make the Sunday pilgrimage to the markets from all over the city. You can find almost anything here, from vintage goods, to seasonal fruit and veg, to fresh honey and seafood. Located at the Addison Road Community Centre, there is plenty of lawn to have a picnic after you’ve grabbed exactly what you’re craving from one of the many market stalls.

If you want to make life easier by having the best grocery stores and providores just around the corner, check out Toga's incredible village development, Wicks Place, Marrickville, being sold exclusively by Cramer Property.