Natural modern interiors on Desire to Inspire

I came back from a lovely day out and picnic yesterday and checked into my blog's stats page. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw that I had over 1000 page views on Sunday alone!

I looked into this and was so excited to find that my natural modern interiors blog had been mentioned on Desire to Inspire's blog list for the week. Click here to see the full post as there are some amazing blog sites listed this week.

click here for post

It's so nice that they mentioned such a young blog like mine.
Thank you again Jo and the team at Desire to Inspire!

Natural modern design by Lisa Coulburn

Design Refuge has posted their October challenge... What is your design style?

When I design interiors for my clients I always design for their own personal design style so this is a lovely opportunity to share my own design style with you.

My style can be described as natural modern with an eclectic traveller twist and a strong connection to the outdoors. As an interior designer I am also inspired by recycling old materials and the use of non-toxic and natural finishes.

These images (courtesy of photographers Richard Powers & Rhiannon Slatter and Linda from Oeke design) are a collection of natural materials and textures, reclaimed wood and objects that tell stories of past memories and experiences with different cultures. They really sum up my own style which reflects my life, my travels and my connection to nature. They will also be the starting point for my own dream home. 

What's your design style?

Hand printed organic fabrics :: Thea & Sami

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with Thea from Thea & Sami at her amazing screen printing and design studio. Thea & Sami create hand printed natural and organic fabrics for the home.

It was a great opportunity to see the variety of designs, feel the quality of the fabrics and get an appreciation of the scale of patterns and designs.

Thea & Sami

I fell in love with these natural linen peacock party cushions. As the national bird of India they reminded me of my past travels through Rajasthan and North India. In addtion to the fabric prints Thea also creates custom-made furnishings like these lovely lamp shades.

Something else that also caught my eye was Thea's printing table. With many years of print pattern overlapping across it's surface it is a piece of artwork in its own right! If you are interested in getting creative Thea also runs screen-printing design workshops at her studio. Click here for more details.

Thea, thank you so much for your time. It was lovely to meet you and I look forward to seeing your future designs.

Natural interior design ideas :: Narrows Escape Rainforest Retreat, Montville

With all of my interior design projects I tend to use my camera quite often to either record the current site or room conditions, for shopping trips for furniture and finishes or for interior design ideas and design inspiration.

These leaves were gathered on a rainforest walk in the Sunshine Coast hinterland prior to me working on the interior design for Narrows Escape Rainforest Retreat, Montville, Queensland.

When you think of a rainforest colour you normally think of the colour green. As you can see from these leaves there are many more colours to be found in a rainforest.

I used these colours and textures to help build up a mood board to communicate the inspiration and interior design ideas below.

Here are some photos of the finished interior design and renovations.

We kept the living space and kitchen lighter in tone to allow the bedroom to feel more cosy and inviting.

Warmer colours are used to make a smaller room more cosy.

Keeping the walls, window coverings and decor within the rainforest colour scheme.

A fully glass shower unit maximizes the indoor outdoor feel of this bathroom.

This full glass shower recess creates the feel of a larger bathroom.

Great rainforest views from the deck.

I would love to know where you find your inspiration and interior design ideas from. Have fun.

Interior design workshops Brisbane

Earlier this year I presented an interior design workshop in Brisbane on "Discovering your design style". It was a great chance to meet some lovely ladies and to help them answer questions regarding specific interior design and decoration issues.

images by Porters Paints, Designer's Guild & Udessi

I have found that many people underestimate the amount of time and what is involved to create their desired room look. The challenge is knowing where to start, what to do, how to prioritsie things and who to call. Also, with so many choices in the market in can be quite confusing to make decisions.

I had great feedback from that workshop and now plan to run a series of interior design workshops next year and would love to hear what topics you would be most interested in. The topics could be:

"Discovering your own design style"
"How to decorate - the first steps"
"How to use colour in the home"
"How to design a bathroom"
"How to design a kitchen"
"How to create a healthy, non toxic & eco friendly home"
"How to style a property for sale"
"How to design a French inspired room"
"How to design an eclectic Asian inspired room"
"How to renovate for profit"

I would love to hear your feedback so I've have created a poll in my sidebar. Please feel free to vote for your preferences for the workshops and in which location.

If you would like to know any further details feel free to email me here or if there are any other interior design issues you would like to understand please leave a comment.

Thank you for your guidance and have a great week.

Lavender ideas :: How to make lavender sachets

Yesterday I had the chance to spend a lovely sunny afternoon tending to my garden. Last year, against local advice I planted some lavender bushes in my front garden. I was told that they would struggle to grow in the Brisbane climate, however, mine are growing wild and are in need of a bit of a trim.

So I started looking for ideas on how to dry my lavender flowers and stumbled across these pretty lavender ideas and images.

image by herb companion

image by wikihow

image by dog island farm

I then started to look at how to make lavender bags and found these great ideas. These printed little linen fabric bags with stamped owl images look great for children's wardrobes.

images from Meridian Ariel

images from alphamom

Also, these handprinted lavender sachets by Alphamom are just the perfect thing to make with children. If you would like to know how to make these lavender sachets just click here.

I would love to know if anyone else grows lavender in Brisbane? Have fun.

The Prince Hotel :: Melbourne, Australia

When I am thinking of an urban escape and a room with iconic original furniture, natural textures, soft hues and a great use of natural light, I always think of the rooms at The Prince Hotel in Melbourne. The Prince is a luxury boutique hotel with 40 unique rooms, located in the heart of St Kilda and a stones throw from the beach and a great selection of restaurants.

Their design philosophy is an eclectic mix of art, textures, fabrics, scuplture and designer furniture. If you wish to know what the original Swan and Egg chair by the designer Arne Jacobsen is like then this is the place to try it out.

This hotel feels like a home. What I love about the living room and bedroom designs are the use of a soft neutral palette combined with natural textures and the use of rattan and raw timber. The use of natural day light also creates a a fantastic atmosphere.

The bathroom design ideas are very simple with the use of small mosaic tiles, cray pots lights, white marble and a clever use of natural day light.

The final touches belong to the spa area and the outside dining area surrounded by a walled herb garden.

images courtesy of The Prince Hotel

Hope this gives you some ideas for when you are next in Melbourne.
Have a great weekend,

Bathroom design ideas :: natural modern design

Just popped into the Reece showroom in Brisbane this morning and have seen this beautiful new Latis range of basins and baths from Omvivo.

Inspired by the craft of spinning clay and traditional trestle tables this range bucks the usual trend of solid cabinetry that has become the standard for bathroom design and instead brings back quality and character to the bathroom experience in a natural modern design.

omvivo

These basins come in a range of natural stone finishes, white solid surfacing and softskin. The lovely trestle table also comes in an American oak timber with the option of matching timber, natural stone, and white solid surface lower shelf.

omvivo

The bath also has the option of coming with matching timber end shelf. A great place to rest your glass of wine and a book!

If you would like to know more about how to get this great look just drop me a comment. Have fun.