Round Up: The Coffee Table Book

    Coffee table books are such a great way to add your personality into your living space- they can complement a colour scheme or just the general vibe you're going for in a room. I like to give them as gifts for friends and family- they always hit the mark.

Here's a round up of some of my favourites I've bought over the years and a few that are at the top of my Amazon wish list!

 Bob Richardson, by Terry Richardson                                                    Guess Who, by Peggy Sirota          
      
                                         

       Tom Ford, by Tom Ford                                                  All Access: The Rock 'n' Roll Photography  

                                                                                           of Ken Regan by Jim Jerome and Ken Regan

  

Poolside with Slim Aarons                                                        Up on the Roof, by Alex MacLean          

               New York Rooftop Gardens by Charles de Vaivre                         Portraits, by Mario Testino     

   

                             Los Angeles, by Jim Heimann and Kevin Starr                 Domino, by Deborah Needleman       

                                                                                                                                

IMPACT: 50 years of the CFDA, by Patricia Mears          ART of the 20th Century, by Ingo F. Walther

          The Music Book, by Mark Seliger                                     Avedon Fashion 1944-2000, 

                                                                                                 by Carol Squiers and Vince Aletti

In Pursuit of Platform Beds

Jenny J. Norris, Domino Magazine

Guest Bedroom decorating is in full swing over here, and I'm on the hunt for the perfect platform bed  ahead of my in-laws visit in a little over a month (yikes!). It will be their first time in Australia and I want the room to be the perfect welcome to our new beach lifestyle. I'm also really excited to be decorating another bedroom.

I'm looking for a really simple natural wood platform frame- low to the floor with clean lines for the casual bohemian beach vibe I'm going for in this room. What do you think?

Gemma Cagnacci, Design Sponge

Doris Lee, via Apartment Therapy

Domino Magazine

Lonny Magazine 

                                                          John and Christine Gachot, Domino Magazine 

Melanie Acevedo, Domino Magazine

I've found it really difficult to find a queen sized platform bed I like for the right price- I'm considering designing my own and having it custom made, and also searching Gumtree.com.au daily in hopes the perfect vintage platform bed pops up!

Here's a round up of my favourite platform beds- which is yours? 

Bedroom & More, San Francisco $1,925USD

West Elm Mid-Century Bed in Acorn, $1299AUD

Kumo Low Wooden Bed in Walnut, £1,220 

Blueprint- Melbourne, price on ask

Freedom Furniture Rhodes Bed, $799AUD

King Furniture Bay Bed, price on ask

IKEA Malm

And then, there's the inescapable Ikea MALM bed. Damn you Ikea and your cheap prices and good catalogue styling... As much as K and I try to avoid introducing more Ikea into our home, it's hard to beat the shape of the Ikea MALM, especially at $359AUD. 

Maybe I'd like it better if I painted it? 

primed and painted on eye-swoon.com- this is pretty gorgeous

Does anyone have the IKEA Malm bed? Does it hold up over the years? Our guest room won't be getting use too terribly often, but I'd hate to get a bed that will only need to be replaced in a couple years. Share your thoughts in the comments! 

The Block: Season 11

You guys, I am obsessed with The Block! The show is a big deal at our house, warranting special dinners and celebratory drinks (tonight, a Tempranillo and Bucatini All'Amatriciana from Bon Appetite's recipe). Tonight was the second episode of Blocktogan and it was a doozy. Our teams were given the master bathroom as their first apartment renovation- high stakes for the newbies.
Already there are some clear front runners in Shay & Dean (Team Blue) and Ebony & Luke (Team Yellow)- but what was more clear is the hopelessness of last place team Whitney and Andrew. I'm hoping that they can work on their time management and with their trades to come through on this reno.

The Block contestants Andrew & Whitney

If I was designing for their South Yarra, Melbourne neighborhood, I would stick to a sleek palette of black and white- with gold accents and an interesting tile element to punch up the monochrome space.

I love this white cabinet vanity with it's gold handles paired back with white subway tile

    

           I'm really into interesting geometric floor tile in neutrals-black, white, tan and shades of blue. It's a great way to add design interest while maintaining a restrained color palette.

Black, grey and white geometric perfection

 My current rental has a white metal glass shower guard (hideous) that I'm thinking of painting black like in these inspiration photos

And to finish it off, gold accents with a nautical vibe.

                                          What do you think of The Blocktogon so far? Any early favorites? 

Guest Bedroom Decorating

For the first time ever, K and I have a guest bedroom! I'm very excited to do up a new bedroom in anticipation of friends and family coming over for a visit and a beach-filled weekend.

In light of our new location, I've been inspired by bright, white beach interiors- I want our guests to walk in and immediately feel on holiday!

Here are some of my favourite inspiration starting points:

Photo: Lonny.com

Photo: Brittany Ambridge, styled by Lauren Soloff

Heidi Carter's Palm Beach house, The Interiors Addict

I'm after a light bright white room with colourful accents and some great art. The room needs to also serve as our mini home office and is where the apartment's water tank lives, so there are definitely some design challenges. Anyone else done a recent guest bedroom decorating project? I'd love to see what you've done! 

For more of my favourite interior inspirations, check out my instagram @j.d.designs