GREEN THERAPY - THE ART OF APARTMENT GARDENING

Whether your outdoor area consists of a small balcony, a courtyard, a side passageway or no outdoor area whatsoever, you can beautify your world and fill your air with oxygen by creating a garden that’s right for you and your lifestyle. Start with potential spots to place plants and work out whether you require containers. Is the spot sunny or shady, is it outdoors or inside. Don’t overlook windowsills. These make wonderful mini gardens which can serve to enhance an otherwise bland outlook.

For a balcony, you’ll need pots or planter boxes. You may already know you favourite plants and what suits sunny or shady spots, but you may be a gardening novice in which case you need help from the experts if you want to be sure that what you buy actually lives and, even better, thrives. Your local gardening centre will have a great assortment so it can be quite overwhelming. Approach the hopefully friendly staff and let them know your requirements and they will be (almost) sure to point you in the right direction. From there you can choose what appeals to you aesthetically but don’t forget to use your olfactory capabilities and have a good sniff. Beautiful scents can enhance your environment substantially.

Don’t overlook unattractive walls that can be beautified with creepers. Bougainvillea grows brilliantly in direct sunlight and is gorgeous to behold. Chinese Wisteria, White Potato Creeper, Clematis and Madagascar and Star Jasmine are also gorgeous and grow profusely. If you want substantial growth, buy a planter box and insert trellis behind it and with a little care, you will have a verdant vertical garden in no time.

Edible gardens are very motivating. If you can look forward to adding fresh, home-grown produce to your meals, you will be likely to want to care for them to reap the rewards. Generally speaking, a sunny spot is required. If you have a courtyard or exposed ground area in your apartment, you can go to town with this. Balconies and window sills also yield great results. Herbs are so easy to grow and tend to just keep on keeping on. My favourites are parsley, mint, rosemary, basil, coriander, dill and chives. Certain fruits and vegetables are also hardy and grow pretty easily – tomatoes and peas (again have a bit of trellis for these), lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, spring onions and garlic.

Purely indoor gardens are possible no matter how much sun you get. They add colour, scent and oxygen and make you and your home healthier. Potted plants can be placed on floors, window sills, shelves or pot plant stands, or suspended from a ceiling hook in pot plant holders. Always make sure you have a ceramic pot plant saucers or sandstone with a cork bottom under the pot to avoid staining surfaces. Cyclamens, African violets, polyanthus and orchids are gorgeous things and bloom beautifully. If you prefer to stick to green, Madonna lilies love the indoors and bless you with the occasional white flower, then Devil’s ivy, Philodendrum, succulents and rubber plant also grow fantastically well indoors. So get out your gardening gloves and head to your closest nursery and let the fun begin!

Images sourced on Pinterest

STYLING YOUR HOME IN THE AGE OF INSTAGRAM

Technology is affecting almost every aspect of life, and your interiors are no exception. Our aesthetic is becoming increasingly design-oriented, and the days where a clean floor, a nice bunch of flowers and a feature wall cut it in terms of your open house are long gone. With Instagram and TV lifestyle programs showcasing designer furniture, homewares and renovations, we are exposed to so much interior beautification that we need to apply at least some of this to our own property if we are to make it seem attractive and get our best price. The good news is you do not need to hire a stylist and have a fortune. With all the resources at your fingertips, and even budget brands producing designer-looking products, you can create your own Changing Room.

Ideally the best way to go is to have quite a blank or at least neutral canvas. You just can’t go past white walls. Rooms look larger, lighter and airier when they’re white. And this universal tone is universally liked. Then rather than going out and buying things, unless you have a mind like an interior designer and can see the way everything will integrate, start up a Pinterest page and experiment with different products. Accessories can change the vibe in your home, especially when set off by a white background. Trending at the moment are green botanicals, in greenhouse prints, indoor plants and exotically boxed candles and soaps. But always remember to go with your own tastes. You have to live there, and no matter how fashionable green botanicals may be, if you don’t like the colour green, you won’t feel at home in your trendily styled house.

So you have your mood board ready and brimming with great design ideas, now you need to source the products. Firstly, always let your fingers do the walking and shop on-line. Don’t be restricted by budget either and don’t turn your nose up at Kmart, Target and Ikea. If you look through their on-line catalogues, they actually have a lot of great homewares. For those with healthier and perhaps heftier budgets, check out Matt Blatt, Shack, Country Road, Orson and Blake, Totem,  Coco Republic, Papaya, Chee Soon & Fitzgerald, West Elm, Great Dane and Macleay on Manning. For Vintage items try David Met Nicole, Dust, Elements I Love and Mitchell Road Emporium. On second thoughts, you really need to go into the Vintage shops to get the vibe of the homewares as the on-line presence is generally a bit austere.

Whichever way you choose to shop and style your home, make sure you take on this task with an open mind but keep to your own general style and make sure you have lots of fun whilst doing it!

SHORT ON SPACE?

Just think smart and you’ll feel like you’re living large.

Studio living is an increasingly growing prospect for people who are needing to scale down their living space size to accommodate the increasing cost of real estate in Sydney. But there are studios and there are studios. Just like any property, the variation in size and layout is extensive. Ideally, a studio has a large main room, a balcony, separate kitchen and bathroom, and a car space if you are very very lucky.

White always makes a space seem larger, so paint walls white throughout to create a clear canvas to work with. Use bold colours to brighten and liven the space. Ideally you will have lots of light in your apartment, and this also creates a greater sense of space. Having a balcony off the main room really extends the living area. Take advantage of the extra floor space and place a table and chairs out there so you can dine al fresco whenever weather permits. Place plants on planter racks on the wall to maximise floor area. A pot plant in the corner is fine as this is usually dead space anyway and it is important to bring life to your living.

There are ingenious ways to deal with transforming the space from living to bedroom. Try getting a couch that has moveable sections so you can create a couch by day and a bed by night. Consider a fold out table attached to the wall and wall mounted hooks for chairs, so when you want to dine or work on a computer, you can set everything up simply and easily, then when you don’t need a table, you have an open floor space.

If there are window sills, take advantage of them to put on potted plants. Also an indoor plant in a floor pot is a great idea to beautify your home and create more oxygen, just make sure you have a waterproof mat under it if you are placing it on carpet. With bathrooms and kitchens, again, white and bright is the way to go. If you have windows in both, you are really in luck as this creates more of an open feel. Cupboard space is often limited so think attractive and practical storage units from Ikea or Howards. So with close attention to detail and thinking outside the square, a studio can feel spacious.

Images sourced via Pinterest

GET COZY FOR WINTER

With winter upon us, now is the time to prepare your home (and mind) for the chilly months ahead. Many of us are not great fans of this cold season and just want it to pass as quickly as it comes upon us. But getting winter-ready allows you to make the most of the shorter days and actually start to look forward to them.

Firstly, think cosy. Look at your stock of blankets and throws and if they just don’t seem up to another stint, then out with the old, in with the new, I say! Check out the gorgeously sumptuous new ranges of snuggly blankies at your local homeware stores and chose your favourite colour. Now is not the time to hold back in the colour department. Winter is dull in itself, so brighten your world. If some of your old blankets are salvageable, then wash them according to instructions with Eucalyptus oil and they will be dust-mite free and literally ready to roll. A word to the allergy-prone, though… avoid wool like the plague as this is one of the rare occasions where synthetic is better, for your breathing anyway.

If you’re feeling particularly decadent, go for fur. Personally I only go for fake, but I won’t preach, it’s up to you. Having said that, check out the faux fur rugs at Temple & Webster. Then building on the decadent theme, imagine cosy nights to come, cuddled up in your throw, curled on the rug with beautiful scented candles and the odd ambient lamp light glowing tranquilly. Then add to this a partner, or a book, or a glass of glühwein (or all three if you are greedy) and Bob will most certainly be your uncle. (By the way, that is honestly how you spell gluevine – the German spiced wine that was made for winter nights.)

On a more practical note, (sorry to drag you away from the previous mental picture) check your windows and doorways for draughts. So much of the heat in a home is lost through tiny cracks and crevices. In the case of windows, rolling self-adhesive weather-stripping (felt, vinyl, rubber or silicone) down the side of a window works wonders. Where gaps are around non-moveable places, window and door frames for example, use some gap filler (caulk) and a caulking gun. And for under draughty doorways, you can’t go past a good door snake. Again venture into colourful territory here. Please note, if renting, you’ll need permission to put on the weather stripping and gap filler, so be safe, not sorry, and ask first.

Back to beautification, make sure you have a few indoor plants that will add colour and oxygen. Cyclamens, African violets, polyanthus and orchids are gorgeous things and bloom beautifully throughout winter. If you prefer to stick to green, Madonna lilies love the indoors and bless you with the occasional white flower, then Devil’s ivy, Philodendrum and rubber plant grow fantastically well indoors. Also many herbs will grow on a sunny window sill and can be added to your hearty winter dishes. For walls, search on-line for an uplifting print (try The Print Emporium for heavenly pieces.) All you need now is some great food and wine – non-alcoholic cocktails even better – and you’ll be wishing winter would never end.

Images sourced on Pinterest

Interview with Jessica Iliffe, Stylist, Interior Designer, Architect

Interiors by Jessica Iliffe

What was your style brief for The Ann & Dale – Real Thing Apartments?

I have worked for my client Ramsay Property in the past. Their general style and brief is a cross between a Retro and a Mid-Century look. Keeping that in mind, when I selected the furniture and soft furnishings I wanted to add current on-trend items amongst classics as well as unique retro pieces. This way I was able to incorporate the feel of the 1970s and make it relevant in a 21^st century context.

Mid Century (50s/60s) style

70s Mood Board

 

Styling in progress

What inspiration or mood boards did you draw from?

Working with Cramer’s brief for the Ann & Dale retro story and using the colour palette from the building exterior, I wanted the apartments to feel bright and happy without being too literal in the shade of colours used. It had to feel welcoming and entice prospective buyers to relate to the space and be able to envisage it as their own home.

Who is your designer of the moment?

I bought a lot of pieces from in-the-moment interior designer Greg Natale. I used Greg Natale cushions in the living and bedrooms using colours of the season mustards, terracotta, red, and blush to create vibrancy, black to create drama, as well as whites to offset the moodiness of the colour. Soft greys, aquas and navy softened the rooms. I also dropped in hints of brushed metal from a variety of stores to add a bit of depth into the whole story.

Do you believe in Feng Shui? 

Feng Shui believer

Yes, absolutely. I tend to use some Feng Shui elements when I style, adding the wood elements in the materials, fire in the colours, earth in all the green plants and water in all the grey and blue hues. It gave the whole space a nice homely energy as you walk through.

Which brands did you use and from which stores did you buy the key items?

Greg Natale cushions for One Duck Two

Greg Natale cushions $110 from One Duck Two

French Linen from Adairs

West Elm Martini side tables (navy with brush gold top) are a great buy $159

West Elm cushions $129

Freedom Rugs were great purchases to give the rooms a lift

Matt Blatt Walnut TV cabinets were very sturdy and really anchored the rooms as they created a solid piece.

Kmart for all the accessories – I chose budget items that worked with the premium ones.

What is your advice to anyone styling their new home?

I find the key to styling any home affordably is to just have a few high end pieces and the rest of the accessorising can be done inexpensively. Don’t be afraid to shop at Kmart or Target. They have some gorgeous items that look expensive even when they are not. You don’t have to pay a fortune for everything to achieve an amazing result.

The Apartments:

Jessica x

Why not see Jessica's styling for yourself, visit www.therealthingapartments.com.au  to book an appointment to see the Ann & Dale Apartments reveal!