How Clean Is Your House?

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it. ~Author Unknown 

This picture by photographer Dr Ewa

Don't cook.  Don't clean.  No man will ever make love to a woman because she waxed the linoleum - "My God, the floor's immaculate.  Lie down, you hot bitch."  ~Joan Rivers

The Best Of Halloween 2009

Wooooooooooo! Scary! I want to share a bumper Halloween special with my round up from the web in what has been a trick or treat. 

The Best Halloween Photoshoot: Tim Burton's Halloween Fashion by Tim Winter for Harper's Bazaar 

The best Halloween Costumes: The Horror of Ebay

Best Halloween Pumpkin: Gagaloo The Great (White) Pumpkin! by White Lightning

 Best Halloween Pumpkin Soup: Jamie Oliver's Pumpkin Rice Laksa Soup Recipe 

Best Halloween Movie: Tomas Alfredson's Let The Right One In 

Best Halloween Design: Gas Mask Shower Head by Chris Dimino via Apartment Therapy 

The Best Halloween Story: Warner Bros. banning a Harry Potter themed Dinner Party 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN : BOO!

The Golden Rabbit

I want to introduce a very dear friend of mine.  Boing, Boing, Boing. It's a little golden ceramic rabbit made by fashion designer Paul Smith.

I bought him for my boyfriend a few years ago for Easter. We love him but our friends hate him. "What is THAT or haven't you decided to smash it yet" are generally their remarks when they visit. Every time they voice their dislike I scratch my head and think but I really love him. Ok yes I like to be surrounded by a little hint of bling so I get why some purists would not enjoy Mr Smith's bunny.


However, he will always have pride of place in our house and it could be easy to hide him in a less obvious place but why? This rabbit has meaning to me and I hope oneday my friends will recognise that.  I have no doubt a lot of you will feel the same as my friends. Perhaps the word going through your head is YUCK! But I guess what I'm trying to say is this rabbit is a little bit of me. He holds a nice memory, he has travelled with us from home to home, and he was one of the first things my boyfriend and I bought together. So don't let other people's taste edit your taste. Stand up for the things you love in your home.

Downtown Chic

There's a new book on the newstands in the UK called DOWNTOWN CHIC. Yes I know you lot in the US have had it for a while but I wanted to grab your attention about it because the super amazing, glamourous and err... well big family (7 kids in total) behind it all have been picked up by BRAVO TV as the new must watch family from January 2010. The name of the show 9X Design.

I had the opportunity a few years ago to cover a story about the hip, young artsy New York couple, Cortney and Robert Novogratz, and their six (they now have seven) children regarding their amazing home they transformed. Since then they have gained global reputation under their company name SIXX Design for their ability to develop and design many unique properties in Manhattan, New York and beyond. Rebuilding entire city blocks from the ground up, they have perfected the art of turning funky into fabulous. Using a creative mix of high and low for their signature look, every detail is considered and executed with taste, luxury, confidence, always with an unexpected twist! .

Last year I was invited by Cortney and Robert to come and visit their newest development. Their new family New York home. I was very excited to see it so when I turned up I was a little shocked. They invited me to a building site. The home wasn't built yet however it only took minutes with Robert's enthusasim to guide me around the property telling me how he had just purchased a table from Zaha Hadid, pointing down to a wet damp area where the basket ball court was going (yes there is an inside basket ball court) and detail descriptions how this home was all about family. I couldn't help but fall in love with their dream. You can only imagine how excited I have been to see the finished  poject and well here it is photographed by the very talented New York based photographer Matthew Williams.

Their first book, DOWNTOWN CHIC, from Rizzoli delves into the decade-long history of SIXX DESIGN, from their original projects in Chelsea (NYC), two homes on the outer edges of Soho (NYC, and their most recent masterpiece at 5 Centre Market Place, New York changing the entire block from a gun shop and condemned properties to a showplace of modern, urban elegance.

SIXX DESIGN took shape in 1995, where Cortney and Robert were married in Georgia.  Both from large families and both with parents who were decorating enthusiasts, the couple moved to New York.  They are the parents of seven children: Wolfgang, 12, twins Bellamy and Tallulah, 10, Breaker, 8, twins Five and Holleder, 4, and the newest addition to the family, a son, Major.

Vitra Were Here First

There's a tidal wave of enthusiasm about Todd Selby's (aka The Selby) current style of shooting. Two major corporates Nike and Habitat  have used his wonderful talents in shooting their product in real scenarios. It's Genius, Revolutionary and Refreshing! Or is it? Ok before I go on any further and start to get hate male - I LOVE THE SELBY and I've been following him forever. However, there's a company I want to raise your attention to- Vitra. I have been collecting their look books for years now. Why? Well because they have been BRAVE enough to put their furniture in real homes mixed with other product. Something a lot of other companies wouldn't dare to do. They have always had the confidence in their products to stand-out amongst the mess of everyday homes. They know their investment pieces are the objects we are going to desire and most importantly they know we don't live in a showroom so they feel happier showing us how a timeless Vitra piece would look in a real home. The best part in in all this - this style of presenting design keeps quality control in check. If us the consumers are more interested in the other products in the shoot well then the piece they are trying to sell isn't and probably never will be a classic. Oh if only a few more companies could follow Vitra's mantra. It would mean we would be free from an over-populated design market with unwanted goods

 All photos by Nicole Bachmann for Vitra

Who has been the talent behind the lens? Photographer Nicole Bachmann and stylist Connie Huesser. It's crazy for years Iv'e been trying to get Nicole to shoot for the magazines I have worked for but the Editors use to say the work was too cold and too messy... WOW how wrong they were!!!

Time For Bed

It's not always easy to get our daily dose of sleep but taking bedding seriously can help. I don't think there is anything better than heavily textured white linen that will last you for years. One of the most enjoyable sleeps I've ever had was when visiting Santa Monica's luxury Viceroy Hotel wrapped up in their designer Italian sheets. So soft, cool and luxurious on the skin.

All pictures by Ms Lotte

These days, consumers think the higher the thread count the better the sheet. Thread count can be virtually meaningless, because some manufacturers do tricks like use two-ply yarn to up the count of threads per square inch, and the feel of a sheet depends on other factors such as the materials used to make it. Make sure before you buy to rub the corner of the sheet against your cheek to test which linen feels the most soothing.

The long term consequences of too little sleep include obesity, memory loss and lower IQ. There's been a lot of bravado about doing without sleep - all that extra work and partying you can do. But after looking at these pictures by Lotte why would you want to?

How Not To Have A Bad Day

 All pictures by Amy Mortimer
Oh if only we could all pull out a Crayola like 18-year-old photographer Amy to brighten up a grey day!

Harry Potter Feast Banned By Muggles

Warning do not host a Harry Potter party for Halloween. British Newspaper, The Observer, reported that the owner of The Underground Restaurant, who uses the pseudonym Ms Marmite Lover has been banned to host a Hogwart feast.

She regularly holds themed evenings at private homes for adventurous, British foodies and for her latest event she had planned a menu of food and drink enjoyed by Harry Potter and friends in the JK Rowling stories. However, Warner Bros has written a warning that if she uses any influence of the story she will be breaching copyright laws. All a little bit different to Marmite's response when they heard about one of her themed parties to include the spread in every dish. The company was so pleased they stocked her up with plenty of Marmite and all for free. The party is continuing but the name of the event is now called "Generic Wizard Night", suggested by Warner Bros. I have no doubt the night will be still a hit and so much more fun coming up with spinoffs of the famous tale. The Underground Restaruant is a brilliant idea. A great way to meet new friends, taste great food and best of all a little chance to sticky beak around someone's home. Here are a couple of pictures from Ms Marmite's events.

All pictures via Ms Marmite

The Horror of Ebay

The evil side of Ebay is not only theft identity, sleazy thieves and buy it now. Oh no. The other scary story the online auction house likes to keep secret is the people who are creatively selling last year's Halloween costumes. Lets just say you can't get away with the quote "only in America" this time UK and Aussie folk. You have all been caught out. Bahhhahhahah! 

Batman starting bid $1000.00

Michael Myers Starting bid £20.00


Darth Vader: Starting Bid $4.99

The Incredibles: Starting Bid $62.00

Fat Ballerina $18.50

Scary Face: Starting Bid £0.99

Pirate: Starting Bid £0.99

Duck: Starting Bid $1.00

Dragon: Starting Bid $9.99

Clown: Starting Bid £5.99

Jester: Starting Bid £10.50 (Sorry has anyone else noticed how she blends in with the interiors?)

Super Mario: Starting Bid $35.00

Joker: Starting Bid £20.00