This and that plus a design tip.

Happy Friday!  Not a normal day of posting but it has not been a normal week.

I apologise for being awol with posts, but you only turn 40 once and I certainly have been doing it large.  It's been such an amazing week and I have been showered with well wishes, parties, love and pressies!  I don't know what I was dreading!  

I'm also heading away on Sunday for some well deserved city action in.... New York!  

It will be a heady mix of work, play and instagramming.  Any last minute tips?

Sooooooo there will no posts until 23rd Sept.  You can keep up with my design finds via facebook or my instagram feed.  

Also - can I say another HUGE thank you for the suggestions and feedback about the blog.  There is much change in the air for AFD and it really has helped cement some ideas that have been brewing.  YOU have all made what's about to happen possible, so I just want again say thanks.

Oh and another thing - make sure you check out the latest Your Home and Garden.  There is a ditty from me about 'Directional Design' - don't worry I had to google that too.

Cover shot by Ken Downie

Forgot to ask - anyone watching The Block NZ?  Need to talk about that too when I get back...

In the meanwhile I wanted to leave you with a design tip.  

Images from Wood and Wool Stool and the rug is from Bobo Chases

Put a rug on a wall.  Nothing new but what a great alternative to traditional framed art.  It's nice and big (depending on the rug of course) and you get the bonus of it being textural and something a bit diff.  And we all love a bit of diff.

See you all soon.  Excitement is abound.

What a bunch of winners!

You lucky ducks.

Congraulations to all of you that entered! We have some winners...

Castle Yellow Pennyround Cushion, worth $95, is Rach from 'In the Naki' Blog (entered on my blog)

Castle Pink Pennyround Cushion, worth $95, is Annie (entered on my blog)

Castle 'Rainbow' tea towel, worth $59, is Sarah McFarlane (entered on my facebook page)

Castle 'Coconut' tea towel, worth $59, is Bridget Glasgow (entered on my facebook page)

Well done team - you have provided me with much info to help me improve my content for your enjoyment.

Please contact me via email with your address details and I wll get these specials out to you asap. 

Yours in colour,
Alex

Spotting: Endemic World Prints

Blown away - just blown away by the feedback for the Rachel Castle giveaway - good luck everyone and many thanks for the amazing suggestions you are all making!

  Kind of lost for words and super excited about what is ahead for me and the blog.  

Today's post is about something that has come up quite regularly - local resonablity priced art.  Well first stop is the lovely peeps, Elliot and Kate, over at Endemic World.  

They ARE "art prints and graphic curated in New Zealand".  

Garden Party Print by Inaluxe - available here

Ampersand Print by Mash available here 

Pink Clouds by Oslo available here

Cosmopolitan Print by Terry Chisholm for Design Assembly available here

AND they do a great little ditty on their blog called Print Pairs.  Mixing art and spaces is just the ticket to start that interior inspiration.  Clap clap clap.

Find them over here and here

Giveaway: 'a penny round for your thoughts' giveaway with Rachel Castle cushions and tea towels

Here's something to brighten your Monday morning!  

I'm excited to tell you that I have not one but TWO Rachel Castle penny round velvet cushions to giveaway to you. A pink and a yellow one.

I'm a long time fan of Rachel Castle and her colourful home wares world so it's super cool to be able to share that love.  

To enter I would like to give me 'a penny round for your thoughts'.  In the comments section here on the blog or on my facebook page I would like you to tell me your thoughts about the content or stuff you want me to deliver and read about.  

I'm in the throws of making over Alex Fulton Design and it would be really helpful to get some feedback on content and direction.  I started this blog as a tool for me but as I grow bigger with more readers I felt it was only fair to see what you want.  I want to make posts you want to read - so go on, help a girl out...

Now is your chance to let me know and therefore go in for a chance to win one of two amazing penny round cushions! 

There is also two runner up prizes of Rachel Castle teatowels - 4 prizes in total so the odds are good my design friends!

* This will be drawn on Friday the 30th August 2013

* All entries are drawn from a randomiser

* Extra entries for a 'share'

You can purchase you own piece of Castle from Small Acorns online or from their shop in Wellington.

Photography by Chris Warnes, Jason Busch and Maya Vidulich

Good Prod: Catherine David Designs - Josefine Bordello Wall Sconce

Oh I've found a good prod all right.  

It's a wall light.  

Not just any wall light.

It's colourful and has a contrasting fringe.

You hang, you plug and you go.

I'm in love.

Which one would you choose?  

I couldn't choose so I brought all three (for the Studio of course).  Come visit them and me and I will sell you one if you can wrestle them out of my hot little hands...

Catherine David Designs is a New Zealand designer that has provided us with some most excellent prods in the past (and still does) but these exceed all my widlest dreams.  

You can find and buy all her goodness here.

Colourama: Marimekko Spring/Summer 2014

Hello Spring/Summer.  I can feel you peeping around the corner and boy are we ready.  

I often blur the lines between fashion and interiors and quite oft get my inspiration from the pattern and colour marvens - Marimekko.

Please take a front seat, don your dark glasses and ignore your goodie-bag.  It's time to get some inspiration from our finnish friends.

Clap clap clap.

All images from Marimekko and spotted over at super scandi blog Hunajaista.

It's not about faces, just places, spaces: Weekend home of Bradford Shellhammer

It's been a weeny while since the last 'It's not about faces...' segment and it's come back into town like a band of colourful gypsies firing off confetti guns.

This home is a goodie.  It's all that is good in the world and it's just for the weekends.

Probably the best stop-in-your-tracks image I have seen in a while.  Get that red trim looking all cute as you like next to that nasty matte black.  Pop on top bright plates and a turkey head and BAM.  Magic.  There's no kitchen unit - just an upcycled of a retro piece.  Well played Mr Shellhammer.  Spot blinkin' on.

Ahhhh - more black matte maddness which could not be a better backdrop for the primary colour showcase.  And showcase it does.  I love you.

Carpet tiles replace a conventional rug in a mixture of black/white/nad multi. 

High fives for keeping the wood too.

The owner, Bradford Shellhammer is the Fab.com creator and his home really represents what his company is all about - fun, whimsey and colour.  I love what he has to say about decorating your home...

“At Fab, we’re on a mission to rid the world of boring beiges—not get rid of beige altogether, per se, but to give people permission to explore and bring life and fun into the world they live in.”

Heck yeeeeahhh.

Not usually a fan of b.board but in this context it's good.  Relaxed and cheeky - just like the rest of the house.

Thanks to Jonathan Lo from Happy Mundane for posting this home and Lee Tran Lam of Inside/Out for featuring this gorge-beast-of-a-home.

All images by Trevor Tondro