I planned a southbound roadtrip to scour the vintage & junk shop I had spotted down the south coast from Sydney. A nice combination of work & fun! I took the scenic turnoff from the highway toward Stanwell park which revealed some naïve ships in a bottle & other bits & bobs. Although not packed with shops, the road & scenery are easy on the eye and a stop at the Berry sourdough bakery off the main road for a lunch break (or coffee) is a must. The other main stops are Ulladulla & Milton with a highlight at Turnball Bros.

After a hard day of driving & shopping, the reward at the end was my very good friends beach shack to stay at for the night. His thriving fruit & vegetable patch rewarded us with tomatoes, basil, parsley, figs, passionfruit, cucumber and peppers.

The shack is the perfect combo of casual laid back sand-on-your-feet attitude, and sink-yourself-into lounges, put-your-feet-up furniture, pull-the-indoors-out style. Wicker, linen, oversized knits, shells, stripe-y terry towelling, coir, cane, painted wood and easy sweep wooden floors made for the most enjoyable stay- Thanks JH.

Look out  for my nautical fish-y props at The Fish Shop & Amateur Fishing Club at 22 Challis Ave Potts Point.

On preparing for my last workshop, Styling vs Decorating, I picked up these glorious persimmons on the branch from Mr Cook, they begged to be photographed. We had just picked up these beautiful Australian cedar doors from auction – that do not as yet have a doorway – so are the backdrop for my e-shop pictures for now!

As the fall settles in the southern hemisphere, it is time to pull out all the tactiles & the textures of the season: leathers, knits, cashmere, linen, quilts & the rest. For inspiration, here is a pic that did not appear in Nomad (I believe my brother may have missed this one). Don’t limit your bed layering to conventional options. Use skins & hides as a caveman would have.

I have always loved sleeping in linen sheets. I like how they crease & how they are not slippery like cotton sheets. I was once a white fan, but now discovering Bedouin Societe sheets I cannot decide which is my favourite: from coal black to nutmeg. The colours are just so good. The sheets are so soft, but hold their body, they crease oh-so perfectly and don’t even worry about tucking them in. I featured them at my last workshop, Styling vs Decorating held at The Bite Club, with great success and enthusiasm. We will be selling them at The Society inc. but in the meantime email: info@bedouinsociete.com for stockists.

It is time for some fresh new windows at The Society inc.! We love our window displays so much sometimes it’s too hard to part with them. So to ease the pain we’ve decided to have a sale of all the pieces in the window – & make way for the next magical worlds through the glass. These pieces I used to build sets for my next book, The Biography of a Bowerbird, out this October. This is your preview:

(If you want to buy anything before it gets snapped up – just call us on 9331 1592) x