: ARTIST OF THE WEEK :: Claire Desjardins

Claire Desjardins is passionate about contemporary abstract art--in particular,

the relationship between colour and form. Her work can be found in both private and

corporate collections, in North America, Europe and North Africa.

Claire comes from a long line of artists in her family, and embraces the multi-cultural experience,

traveling whenever she is able to. Much of her art-oriented family is spread out across Europe and in Quebec.

She grew up speaking both English and French and her personal mantra is that each of us is the maker of our

own destiny, and her bold, colourful work exudes this energy.

We are so in love with her bold acrylic artworks!

She has also recently been scouted

by anthropologie.com... very cool.

Follow Claire on Facebook here

And check out her blog here

Urban Blue

In the City

City Lights

Restored chair :: DIY love!

DIY time!

... Chairs are so fun to DIY ...

A bit of sandpaper, cream paint, reupholstery, natural coloured twine and...

voilà!

French Country Chic!

:: { cozy corner } ::

Cushions are one of the small luxuries of life. They add warmth and inspiration

to any home and are a great way to introduce colour into a neutral room.

Whether they are grouped together or used as individual highlights,

cushions make your living room so much more inviting.

Interior decorators LOVE using cushion because they have

the ability to instantly change the look of a room. We have a seriously

unhealthy obsession with cushions too, our homes are filled with them....

and we still want more! In a practical sense our back aches without one,

really.... it's true, we NEED cushions!!!!

Our favourtie right now is without a doubt the crochet cushion!

It adds texture and accentuates furniture throughout your home...

you have to have one if in the kid's room!

COMING SOON TO SKY PARLOUR!

We are completely obsessed with these amazing

aztec inspired towels and we couldn't resist giving you a sneak peek!

Produced by a tight-knit family of artisans with many years of experience

in the craftsmanship of fine textiles,

these oversize turkish beach towels have been developed

with the intention of offering unparalleled quality and one-of-a-kind

designs for the customer possesing a sharp eye for luxury goods.

The highest quality of cotton and dyes are used during the production process.

Made with 100% long staple Turkish cotton,

all the products are pre-washed and pre-shrunk,

ensuring the towels plush demeanor and ease of use.

Put them on the wish list... we will let you know when they arrive!

... COMING SOON TO SKY PARLOUR ....

hello yellow!

HELLO YELLOW!

We've always loved using yellow pieces in our interiors...

which is why we produced our yellow coffee table!

(shown in the first pic)

Yellow creates such a nice bold contrast to any room.

We're starting to see it being used in interior

decorating a lot more and we think it is genius!

Yellow is the kind of colour that can be used with any neutral palette;

either with colder neutrals like white's and greys ....

or it also works amazingly well with

warmer neutrals such as beige and mushroom.

We especially love yellow pieces when used

in contrast with timber floorboards and furniture!

The only thing we will warn you about?

Be careful not to mix it with too many bold colours,

Yellow is a colour that is strong enough to lift a room

on it's own... so keep it quite neutral!

In saying that we think everyone should have

at least one piece of yellow in their home this season!

It's just so fun!

before & after!

- M A K E O V E R -

The word makes us think of bad reality tv shows and we admit...

it is a little cringe worthy!

BUT once you see these 'makeovers' we think you'll

start to appreciate this little word!

: it all starts with a vintage school desk :

Turn the desk upside down, add a drawer and a planter box

and it ends up being a stand for

beautiful little succulents and other gardening tools!

SO CUTE!

We have a few more of these up our sleeves and they get even better!

Make sure you follow us on blogspot and like us on facebook

so you can be kept up to date with these cute little

'makeovers'

xx

Ladder Love: Recycle and repurpose!

We love recycling ideas because it's environment conscious,

it gives the best rustic aesthetic and it's oh so cheap...

TRIPLE SCORE!!!

Here are some interesting ways to convert an

old humble ladder into an interesting piece of furniture...

It's actually a really ideal way to hang your pots and pans,

laundry and even pretty hurricane lamps to jazz up

your outdoor setting! So smitten and in love!

So if you need a new shelf or hanging feature in your home,

get your creative juices cracking, look for a shabby weathered ladder

and give it a new lease of life... you may already have one in your attic!

::like a deer caught in the headlights/

We love different lighting features especially

ones we can attempt to create ourselves!

So our obsession?

* * A N T L E R L I G H T S * *

Since antlers aren't so easy to come by where we live,

we are attempting to recreate these out of tree branches

as shown in the first pic...

Seems easy enough and we love that they can double

as an amazing table feature pieces!

We'll keep you posted on the outcome!

yes we were very spoilt!

Before the celebrations are well and truly over for another year

we thought we'd show off some of our amazing christmas

presents from our KK that have just arrived from Anthropologie...

we just can't get enough of their product range!

Our favourite piece is the Amazon Dreams pincher... so beautiful!

:: it finally feels like summer ☼

A very Happy New Year to you all!

Hope everyone loved their holidays as much as we did....

Although we don't want this break to be over,

we are really excited to put all our plans into action

and lap up all the opportunities 2012 holds for us at Sky Parlour!

Wishing you guys a happy, healthy and successful year!

Happy Holidays :)

laundry room loving!

The laundry room without a doubt is the

most overlooked room in any house...

Doing the laundry is hard enough! So we think

it's time to give our laundries a make over and help

take some of the stress out of this painful chore!

Whether you have an entire room or a small closet you can transform

any space that holds your washer and dryer into a beautiful room

that gives you the functionality that you need too......

Cute storage is the secret!

Use tin or wooden boxes, baskets and jars

to organise and hide laundry detergent and all the other messy stuff

you don't want your visitors to see!

The key here is to assign everything its own space

for easy use and more importantly a quick clean up!

How clever is this laundry riser/pedestal

that lifts your washer and dryer to a comfortable height and also

gives you space to store your laundry baskets in!

Our next project is to build one for ourselves...

and then show you all how to do it too!

:::Wall Gallery//

Wall Galleries are a great way to

put everything you love in a frame, on display for all to see!

We love mixing realistic watercolour paintings with

bold typographic artworks, along side delicate illustrations,

old photos, cool quotes, serious potraits, vintage maps,

collected postcards and pretty much whatever

else you can find to stick on a wall!

They best thing? There are no rules to this one!

Sky Parlour framed art are a great way to start your own wall gallery!

AUD45

Don't forget Sky Parlour quote coasters to add in as well!

AUD30 for a set of 4

Here are some styling ideas for you wall gallery!

You can also achieve a cool gallery look with mirrors!

(featured 3rd row down on the right)

If you are interested in purchasing any Sky Parlour products

please email us your order at info@skyparlour.com.au

our dream work space :)

Home office spaces are always so boring and uninspiring!

So we thought we'd share a few that made our hearts skip a beat.

On the top of our christmas wish list?

This french doored weatherboard cottage

in the middle of a lush garden...

Now we just need to find someone to make it for us?

Surprise us santa... please!

Of course one can dream and we realise the cottage is a little unrealistic...

so... we will settle for the ones below :)

Adding an industrial vibe to your office is always really effective.

Storage ideas? Find some old black lockers, industrial steel filing cabinets...

Team them up with black pendant lights with visible cording,

a retro chair in a contrasting material (timber, acrylic or leather)

and add a nice rustic timber desk top and cabinet.

For the desk top search for some recycled timber and panel it together-

when sanded it has a nicer finish and

you're saving the environment at the same time!

For an extra cool touch paint the lockers

or one feature wall with chalkboard paint!

DIY window frame cabinet!

. D . I . Y .

WINDOW FRAME CABINETS!

We are totally obsessed with art deco window frames.

Their diverse styles along with their geometric and rustic

qualities are something that you don't see very

often in modern window design.

They are also great for turning boring old wooden boxes into

cute window framed cabinets!

To achieve this look for your home:

Find an old window frame, you can try ebay or

second hand furniture stores...

Make or buy a panelled wooden box without a lid

(we especially love the look of old wooden

fruit carts with text on them)

add a few shelves on the inside in line with the

panelling of the window frame...

attach the window frame on a couple of hinges

and you have your own very cute, unique styled cabinet!

christmas at my home :)

I've been SO busy lately that I haven't had time to

decorate my beautiful christmas tree...

I may be bias but even without decorations I think it is the most

amazing looking and smelling christmas tree I have ever seen!

This weekend we have finally gotten around to decorating and I thought

I'd show put up a few snaps of what christmas looks like in my home...

- karina

putting the final touches on the tree :)

dear september moroccan cup with candy canes!

steviie coconut candle

sky parlour gran stool with ripple crochet cover

our amazing xmas tree :)

We hope you all have a very merry christmas

full of love, health and happiness xx

@home with AGYNESS DEYN

We are used to seeing Agyness Deyn's distinctive style splashed

across fashion magazines world wide...

however we are not used to seeing this side of her!

We are not too sure what to think about this one...

there are some elements that we love

and some that we could live without...

what we're definitely sure of is that there is

A LOT going on in this Brooklyn loft!

Deyn's home puts a whole new meaning to the word eclectic:

If we could take bits and pieces to add to our collection of goodies

the first thing we would take is the hot air balloon chandelier!

AMAZING!

Although there are a lot of clashing prints, era's, colours and trends

we still think it's not a bad little collection for a 28 year old!

If you are a fan of the loft... it is up for grabs for a measly US2.5million

... beaming ...

We love the way exposed ceiling beams can create a

homely, rustic, cottage feel.

If you're lucky enough to have a cathedral style roof in your home

add some rustic white symmetrical ceiling beams to create a

geometric wonderland

::: aztec aspiration ✝

We L.O.V.E eclectic, aztec inspired homes.

NB: to fully achieve this look you will need to have a little bit of hoarder in you!

::: Collect bits and bobs from flea markets :::

overload on candles and decorative cross collections

raid your granny's house for some old pigeon hole shelves

add a rustic, wrought iron mirror

team it all up with some recycled wooden furniture

and throw in a few crystal rock clusters...

Necessities for this look?

A sun-bleached animal skull...

If you're an animal lover or just don't like the

thought of animal skulls,

timber deer heads, resin, ceramic or metal skulls

are a great substitute!

❂ ❄ ❅ Christmas Styling ideas ❅ ❄ ❂

There's no denying we love the look

(and most importantly the smell)

of a freshly cut, lush, green Christmas tree!

However for those of you who are a little sick and tired of the same

old festive look we have put together a few different ideas that

you can easily replicate in your home this Christmas!