My review of Lifeinstyle Sydney this weekend

I had a brilliant time at life instyle this weekend, seeing all the clever products, homewares, textiles, prints, fabrics, cushions, jewellery that artists & designers all over Australia and worldwide create. As usual there was a lot to see, but I thought I would focus on a few of my favourites – can’t wait to buy/resell/recommend them for future projects…

First up Bholu. Well I got to meet the bubbly Jodie Fried in person and she was so inspirational and spent at least 20 fabulous minutes chatting about her life, her creative ventures and her schools in India. (If your read this Jodie – thank you so much!) See my other articles on Bholu textiles and her new range of wallpapers from Porters Paints which were on display! Nice!

OK next up textile designers that caught my eye was Tinker from Melbourne. They had a lovely range of hand printed items in subdued lemons, taupe and blues, both floral and geometric prints. They seemed more than happy to please and will do customised and one off sales of items for designers with cushions, throws, pouffes, wallpapers and napery items in their range:

There was a lot of bed linen and importers, makers of lovely throws, covers and bedspreads, but those that really caught my eye are from Bianca Lorenne of New Zealand. She makes a range which is high quality, French inspired and the fabrics are so soft and tactile that you want to buy them all – but you better be quick as they are all limited editions. Nice creams, whites, pale blue-grey. Very feminine but not in a flowery way that a man would groan at.

Also from New Zealand architect Andrew Johnston of Thatch was a great range of flat packed light shades…

Very quaint but also convenient to send to friends overseas as presents! Lovely for kids rooms.

Now let’s not overlook the obvious style leaders; those Scandinavians who had a lot of beautiful products and designs everywhere – how can such a small country have so many great products and designers? Or is it just that those northern European designs, lots of white and black, bright colours, clean lines appeal to me most? Things that caught my eye:

There was a lovely range of practical, functional yet fashionable products on sale from Nordic Designs Home including their Monster Collection by the clever Karin Mannerstahl whose bright colours and bold prints brighten up home all over Europe:

Jacquard fabrics by the clever Swedish designer HildaHilda. I loved her prints because they are bold but not gaudy but can adapt to both children or adults rooms. The colours are happy but lots of tinted greens, reds, blues make them versatile in the home…

 

HildaHilda distributed by Coris who also sell the bright coloured weaves of Barefoot Linen by Sri Lankan designer Barabara Sansoni.

Last but not least, the sustainable, renewable range of wonderful kitchen and home use products from Bambu. made from you guessed it - bamboo by New York designers but crafted in China:

Read the bambu blog if you want more information.

So that’s my line up of favourites from life instyle. Download the life instyle ebook to see the full range of items on display.

If you went to life instyle sydney or plan to go to life instyle Melbourne, I would love to hear about your favourite designers and suppliers too.