Beautiful Coastal Wedding Inspiration - Joy & Me

I just have to introduce you all to the gorgeous and inspiring Lisa from Joy & Me. Lisa is an event stylist and a very clever and talented girl at that.

Here are just some of her gorgeous creations to enjoy, have a thoroughly beautiful Thursday.

Details from a Hampton's style wedding.

Beautiful boutonniere.

What a gorgeous idea, sea glass in small bottles as favors.

The detail that went into this children's party is amazing.

These look so delicious, sea urchin inspired cupcakes.

 I just love these Coconut cups, perfect for any cocktail!

To see more of Lisa's gorgeous work head over to

http://www.joyandme.com.au

Happy Island Styling

Castaway Christmas - The Present Appetiser

No one really knows the true origin of the Christmas Stocking.

Popular European legend has it that St Nicholas overheard villagers telling the story of a poor man who had 3 daughters who he could not afford for them to get married.

St Nicholas wanted to help so at midnight he crept into the house to give the 3 daughters each a bag of gold, looking for something to but the bags in he found their stockings, placed the bags of gold in them and when the daughters awoke the next day where over joyed (as you would be).

(image John Lewis)



Today stockings come in a myriad of decorative styles and no longer look like a real stocking or sock. I recall my mother & father telling me that they used to get an orange in their stockings in the 60's and this was a real treat - how things have changed!

We have stockings as part of our family Christmas tradition for the children, these are opened first before the 'big' presents. Call it an appetiser before the main event. It's always fun and I'm preparing myself for a 5am wake up call to witness these Christmas present hors d'oeuvre's.

Here are a few more gorgeous coastal inspired stockings - how gorgeous.

I really like this idea as an alternative to the traditional stocking shape.

Its beachy and easy - perfect.

I love this last one.

(all images Pinterest, unless stated)

Merry Happy Island Styling.

Special Guest Post - Design Shuffle talks Coastal

Hello my island lovelies, hope you're relaxing with a good cup of coffee as we have an absolute special first from Oceania Island Living.

We're so extremely happy to introduce you to Design Shuffle and bring you this exclusive guest post all about Coastal Inspired Interiors.

Warmest island welcome to Design Shuffle...

Hi, I'm Susi, a writer for Design Shuffle, a wonderful online community of designers and design lovers from around the world. I'm lucky to be visiting Oceania Island Living today as a guest blogger; it's such a lovely blog. Inspired by the gorgeous coastal style of Oceania Island Living, I've picked eight of my favourite coastal rooms from around the world to share with you and your readers. I hope you enjoy them and discover lots of interesting decorating ideas! Thanks for letting me and Design Shuffle stop by to visit.

Coastal design elements and artwork create a beautiful room that makes us long for a seaside vacation. Typical coastal colors are white, ocean blues, sandy neutrals, and sea glass green. Love the sophisticated coastal style of this room.

This chic coastal bedroom has a bit of Hamptons style with the Chinese Chippendale style black headboards. The blue and white linens really pop against the black.

Tropical style is all about natural materials and easy, breezy comfort. Love the woven chair and ottoman in this crisp space that has great tropical design.

This galley kitchen has a coastal and nautical feel to it. The small footprint recalls a ship's galley and exterior lighting fixtures used indoors, often seen in coastal kitchen designs, also have a nautical feeling.

With the white shutter style headboard and a mix of sea greens and blues, this bedroom exudes Southern coastal charm that recalls Hilton Head Island or the Outerbanks of North Carolina. Grasscloth on the wall is a perfect choice for this space.

California modern coastal style is all about easy, casual living. Nods to the beach are subtle like the seaweed and coral inspired art; they don't dominate the space.

British Colonial style is a popular coastal style that is inspired by the British West Indies. It's tropical and traditional combined into a beautiful coastal interior design style as seen in this bedroom design.

Another British coastal style is more traditional and is based on the seaside resorts of England. With strong nautical influences, this coastal style has a lovely nostalgic feeling. Images [ 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 ]

If you liked this post on coastal rooms, then come check out Design Shuffle! You can connect with interior designers around the world, including Boston interior designer, San Francisco interior designers and more!

Thank you so much Design Shuffle, we love those images.
Be sure to check this wonderful site out for lots more.



Happy Island Styling.

Trick or Treat - Stylish Creepy Coastal

I absolutely adore styling, but unfortunately I rarely get the time to do any of this good stuff at home.
So today spurred on by my very excited 7 yr old who was dressed in pink tights with black witches on them, I indulged in some spooky styling, just in time for ye ole Hallows Eve.

I really enjoyed playing around this morning creating a spooky yet stylish Halloween inspired trayscape. Trayscapes are my adopted invention, they are genius for styling in a real home, need space just move the tray off the table and your creative vignette is still intact - marvellous thing for a designer at home.

So here are the results of my spooky stylin' Sunday escapade.

My spooky inspiration was to inject some stylish and romantic Gothic elements into the mix.

I played with the images in Coral Paint shop and love this effect.

It's edgy, hard, masculine and a little eerie.

My main aim with the spooky styling was to abandon all the cheap Halloween rubbish out there, so only the stylish remained, tricky bit is to do this in a coastal setting.

I  love the way the silver pineapple has replicated in this stylised image, I think I've just invented a new twist on Halloween - Spooky Glam.

Come on girls, lets set this new trend!

This was an experiment - I have a zebra inspired rug and I quite like the contrast of the smooth white coral and black bat on the contrasting stripes, very Film Noir.

This is an overhead shot of my trayscape, I quite like the orange filter over the black and white image - very Tim Burton. 

Whilst searching around home for props I looked at the India Hicks Island Night candle I have.

How perfect it is for a coastal Halloween with its Gothic silver coral sprawling around a dark glass holder.

The final image, my stylishly spooky coastal trayscape.

Mixing Coastal and Halloween elements is not an easy thing to do, but I'm happy with the results - what do you think?

I'm very excited about this new take on Halloween decorating that a lot of you are creating and sharing online.

Let me know what cool creepy coastal creative you've styled recently in your home.

 

Happy 'Spooky' Island Styling.

 

(All images by Oceania Island Living)

 

 

Flip Flop Friday - Around the World

Living in Australia we are a head of time, literally.

(image Pinterest)

(image Oh Dee Doh)

And living in the Southern Hemisphere, geographically, I am half a world away from my original home, the UK.

So, in tribute to being half a world away and hopefully a little bit ahead of time, I bring you this cool upcycle of a globe being transformed into 2 pendant lights - what a bright idea!

Let me know what cool world globe/map inspired craft you've encountered or created.

Have a wonderful weekend to you all, my world wide coastal lovelies.

Happy Island Styling.

Cushion Queen

Confession: I am a cushion queen!

It's an occupational hazard and a strange phenomenon to most men who just don't 'get it'.

Cushions are one of the cheapest, easiest & effective ways to change an interior look. I love their versatility. A pop of colour in a cushion is literally like a face lift for your room.

So when the latest catalogue from Kas cushions arrived on my desk, I went into a tail spin.

Their latest summer edition is divine - let's take a peek.

I love the Kelly green, so fresh & vibrant and the pineapple design is terrific.

Such a cool laid back 'Byron Bay' feel to this shot.

Classic neutrals on a cool verandah.

I love this shot, its got such a cool surfer kind of feel, a real young coastal vibe.

I wonder how many of you lovely coastal girls out there love cushions as much as I do?

Drop me a line and let me know your cushion antics!

Happy Island Styling.

Exquisite Ocean Botanicals

This months edition of Australian Vogue Living has the most enchanting article on 'ocean flowers' or seaweed as most of us better know these mysterious ocean botanical.

I just have to share this with you, because it's too good to hide.The article is stunningly styled and art directed, a work of art in itself, so thank you Vogue Living for creating and bringing this to us.

I know you'll all be as delighted and inspired by this ethereal article based on the romanticised Victorian love and fascination of the humble sea flower as I am.

(all images courtesy of Vogue Living)

Happy Island Styling