Happy Island Styling.

Image: Pinterest.com 

A gorgeous Flip Flop Friday to you all.

To help celebrate the end of the week and the start to a fabulous weekend, we are rolling out our Oceania Island hospitality with a beautiful coastal inspired luxury Island Collections tablecloth giveaway competition – Aloha that one!

This paisley patterned tablecloth comes in 3 beautiful colours, its 100% quality cotton and measures 130cm x 180cm – a great size that will fit most dining table sizes and would also look stunningly beautiful in an alfresco setting.

I love it, it has such a fresh appeal and will brighten up a space instantly. You can create so many gorgeous coastal inspired settings with these tablecloths. I think it’s such a classic design, so appealing  - a great little addition to your home.

This is a brand new item from Island Collections and is not yet in their store - so it’s also a fabulous sneak peek of one of their new collection items. Island Collections have more gorgeous new items in their online store soon, you’ll love them I’m sure.

And here’s another great part of the giveaway, the lucky winner gets to choose their favourite colour in the paisley tablecloth collection with blue, red or green colourways to choose from.

So for a fabulous chance to win one of these beautiful tablecloths all you need to do is become a subscriber of our gorgeous Oceania Island Living blog journal, through our e-mail subscription or you can join through Linky Followers.

This is a super way to join us on our Oceania island.

And in true coastal island spirit we are also offering entries to our current subscribers, we want everyone to have a chance of winning this gorgeous prize.

Entry is open now for you all to get in quick for a chance to win.

Let your friends, relatives, colleagues, associates and anyone else you can think of know about our lovely competition and you’ll score yourself a double entry!

Aloha, aloha, aloha.

And finally don’t forget to take a beautiful coastal peek at www.islandcollections.com.au for fabulous coastal inspired homewares and accessories that are affordable and adorable. Island Collections deliver across Australia wide and internationally, so everyone can indulge.

Happy Island Styling and Good luck Island lovelies.

 (Image 1 from Pinterest.com)

Today we want to let you know about our passion in supporting talented and stylish coastal inspired Aussie businesses.

There are many small businesses out there in our local communities who are trying to stay afloat in a turbulent time in retail and building at present.

 So I’m asking that you all help in getting behnd these beautiful people and their gorgeous businesses and show your support.

We’ve created a new modern Aussie coastal inspired sign (above) and are proud to exhibit this – please feel free to copy and paste on your site to show your support too, thanks.

Here at Oceania Island Living we also celebrate and applaud those amazing businesses who go to great lengths sourcing only the very stylish coastal inspired homewares and accessories from around the world.

Australian designers and stylists are amongst the very best in the world and internationally our creative reputations are held in high esteem.

So I encourage you to re-think coastal inspired homewares and accessories. There’s no excuse now for buying tacky seaside souvenires, plastic frangipani and dreadful sea-shell encrusted toilet seat covers ever again.

We have the most fabulous homes in Australia, the best light in the world to illuminate them and the best coastal locations to be inspired by, celebrate and bring back into our homes to connect us with our gorgeous island home.

The new wave of coastal inspired homewares are in stores now and they have never been more beautiful or well priced in quality before.

You’ll find all kinds of stylish coastal inspired ideas to suit you and your lifestyle, so I encourage you to re-evaluate coastal style, visit your local online coastal stores and start celebrating Australia’s world class and envied stylish coastal style in your homes today.

Become Oceania Island Living’s dedicated partner in bringing real Coastal Style back.

Happy Island Styling.

Todays Flip Flop Friday inspiration is such a classic paradise shot, perfect for lifting the spirits and re-energising us all ready for the weekend.

We also want to say a huge welcome to our newest sponsor, the gorgeous girls Faith & Evanthe from Island Collections. We’ll have more information about their beautiful online coastal store soon, so in the meantime do pop on over and have a look at their beautiful coastal inspired homewares and accessories, they’re just so gorgeous.

Speaking of lifting spirits and adoring all these beautiful blue images, Bombay Sapphire has to be the most gorgeous coloured spirits bottle around. I use mine as a vase, I’ve even seen jewellery and light pendants made out of these bottles. That blue glass is to die for!

G & T anyone?

Have a beautiful weekend everyone.

Happy Island Styling.

 (images via Pinterest.com & Island Collections)

(image via Pinterest)

Today, we are inspiring you from the gorgeous St. Barths and to let you all know about the amazing coastal offer this weekend only at Plumeria Coastal Home.

To celebrate Easter and the long luscious weekend, Sam is generously giving $20 off every order of $50, and for every order over $200 you’ll receive the beautiful Seaside Style vol.2 coastal book by Angelika Taschen absolutely free – that is an awesome deal!

So what are you waiting for?

 Go have a browse now at her lovely store and score yourself a beautiful coastal bargain!

www.coastalhome.com.au

Happy Island Styling & Coastal Shopping.

We’re kicking things off on a creative note today as we explore a couple of cute ways you can display your coastal treasures.

When I first showed this creative concept last Christmas it was an instant hit, so here it is again transformed.

I bought an inexpensive plywood jewellery box that has 9 cute square compartments and all contained with a glass lid on top – perfect for a tabletop presentation box or you could hang it on the wall as a gallery style shadow box, either way I love it because it’s small, interchangeable and keeps the pesky dust at bay. Effectively it takes India Hick’s printers palette idea one step further.

This time around I have added some of my own island treasures, shells and pebbles collected along the way over continents, countries and shorelines. I love the contrast between the light coloured shells and the rich, dark chocolate of the stained wood.

It gives this small natural collection an historical feel that could easily sit within a grand plantation home or a small beach style cottage.

Now, lets take this creative concept a step further. Many of you will have seen the pletheura of ornamental bird cages out there. Our dear little tweeties homes have so been in vogue.

Well, what exactly do you do with an empty bird cage?

Well I tried adding shells. An interesting mix for sure and a complete and utter experiment. My little bird cage is only 10 x 10cm sq, so this concept is on a small scale trial, however, there is something about it that is strangely curious and interesting at the same time.

It would be interesting to see if anyone else has tried to experiment with displaying shells, other than the ubiquitous hurricane vessels, baskets etc.

I hope I’ve inspired you all a little to get creating, think outside the square and push those coastal bounderies!

Happy Island Styling & Creating.

So, we are delighted it’s finally the weekend.

Have a fabulous one.

(image via Pinterest)

I just adore the glorious riot of hot pink bougainvillea, from the classic Mediterranean picture postcard scene to the delightfully ethereal scattering found throughout tropical and beach weddings.

This image is so beautiful and absolutely stunning against the white staircase.

These next images celebrate my love of this amazing paper like flower in all it’s wonderful magnificence. Even just a hint of this wonderful hot pink evokes an exotic and tropical touch to any decor.

Close up of a bougainvillea flower, so delicate and stunning against the cobalt blue.

This image of Audrey Hepburn is amazing, set by a wall of cascading bougainvillea, it’s stunning.

I love the use of bougainvillea now being used throughout wedding and interior styling with great effect.

A beautiful table setting with both pink and coral flowers, gives the look a sunset ombre style.

I love this idea, bougainvillea as natural confetti, a gorgeous take on tradition.

A bougainvillea bouquet, just delightfully gorgeous and simple.

Scattering bougainvillea on the sand to create a hot pink carpet, glorious and striking.

Look at this vignette, how amazing does the spray of pink bougainvillea look against the exotic Moroccan decor?

The classic Mediterranean courtyard, so summery.

I love this image, it’s divine, the pink, mint green and white are just perfect.

Just a hint of pink, says it all – tropical wonderful!

Frida looks amazing in hot pink with bougainvillea in her hair, she certainly understood this amazing powerhouse of a colour.

I hope these images have you falling in love with the striking pink of wild bougainvillea, have a stunning week.

(all images Pinterest)

Happy Island Styling

 Close up of living wall mood board

I also get to showcase my Art Directors skills (yes, I was an Art Director in London) and my Stylist skills – because both super compliment one another in visual storytelling.

 Oceania’s living mood board on my study wall, as you can see I’m having an AD ball with Coral Paintshop.

Lets take some more peeks…

 Treasured airmail letters from my Nanna.

 Mushroom coral sitting atop a Tiffany box – classic.

 On my desk sits this beautiful pink conch shell with a vintage copy of Ian Femmings Thunderball – very James Bond.

 A collection of pebbles found at the beach, Charlie my exhuberent puppy just loves these.

 Although I do love tropical, I’m also a sucker for vintage particulary if it’s in my signature colour.

 I love these Martha Stewart boxes, big enough for all kinds of wonderful delights.

 This ceramic pineapple was a gift from Island Collections. I adore it and quite like this purple rendition.

On Oceania’s door hangs an unusual natural palm wreath from Wheel & Barrow, I had thoughts on decorating it but I love it just the way it is – natural

 My study is full of baskets, this little hand basket sits on my shelves because it’s just too cute to be stored away in the wardrobe.

My vintage Hawaiian dress, picked up in Glebe, Sydney for an absolute song, now makes a great wall hanging.

 I told you I love this pineapple.

I have pots, jars, baskets, containers just about everywhere, this one sits on my desk and frequently gets raided by my 7 year old!

So as you can see I had a ball this afternoon snapping happily away to give you all an insiders peek of where it all happens.

So if my quirky work catches your eyes editors, art directors, stylists, magazines, TV etc. out there drop me a line – I love doing this stuff!

I’d also love to hear from you all on what details make up your special study area.

(all images are copyright Zoe Milburn)

Happy Island Styling.

I’m re-christening Autumn.

With only 2 real seasons in the tropics I’ve had to re-set my dial and become accustomed a new way of living.

Growing up in England meant 4 season living. The need for change and renewal is so very important in life, and mother nature has such a creative way of expressing this that well, it’s easy to miss the diversity.

Living in tropical Queensland, the idea of only 2 seasons in a year to celebrate calls for some new re-evaluting, particulary when it comes to projecting the changing climate on my homes habitat.

Having only 2 seasons calls for ingenuity and creativity to help keep things fresh, exciting and interesting. So I am officially re-christening the traditional sense of Autumn/Winter (I say Winter tentatively as it’s not really Winter in the snow topped sense) with a new tropical season called Late Summer.

Late summer takes the best of summer living, as the days are still hot, but adds a touch of cosiness and lashings of texture as the nights draw in slowly and a refreshing coolness helps calm the days.

I have to admit as a local islander, I do love late summer. In England, if the weather stays fine past September it’s called an Indian Summer, how romantic a concept is this to gently say goodbay to a season so well loved?!

In late summer the headiness of holiday living disapates, the tourists return home and the locals once more inherit their towns back to walk freely, park easily and enjoy the sites and sounds with ease.

As a child I remember this feeling vividly. The grand old seaside town I grew up in would almost take it’s sun hat off and sigh in relief, happy in thought that Summer was a success and Autumn meant a good peaceful rest in a deck chair with only the seagulls for company.

I think it’s the same wherever you go, the coastal towns are flocked in Summer and then released peacefully back to Autumn. This happy coastal swing in life, the ebb and flow of living on a beautiful coast remains an interesting part of daily coastal living.

Late Summer for me holds such wonderful elements to celebrate and indulge in, and I enjoy nothing better than introducing these through my coastal home, to celebrate a new season and set the scene of a home in harmony with it’s new surroundings of romantic Late Summer living.

The main elements of Late Summer are so gorgeously tactile, taking their inspiring cues from Autumn.

Texture has to be the number one element in coastal living. Re-creating the beach lifestyle where sand, sea, salt, shells, linen, straw and driftwood create a striking interplay that’s both warm, welcoming and natural.

Here’s just a few of the stylish ways I celebrate the beautifully romantic Late Summer season.

I love to pour my shell findings into large bowls, glass hurricanes and place the best and most prized specimans found around the home in a meandering coastal trail.

I source natural baskets from closets and cupboards to add magazines in for an afternoons read or to keep my office organised.

I bring out the soft and cosy throws to wrap around a sofa’s arm, perfect for when a quick nights dash into the garden is called for to watch amazing sunsets or stormy skies light up an evening over palm trees.

Scented candles are placed on tables as a special treat to light up when the house is quiet and a good book is found to indulge in.

My English cookbooks and vintage crockery get an airing too, as food in Late Summer is a delight to indulge in. Each day reflects a new mood – nostalgic afternoon tea, a romantic supper, a fine Sunday roast or a hearty asian broth.

There’s something wonderful about cooking in Late Summer.

I also adore Vanilla and find it’s exotic warm heady fragrance perfect for Late Summer indulgence, from candles to cupcakes, Vanilla is just the perfect spice.

There are many more ways I celebrate Late Summer.

I’m sure over this next few months I’ll be delightfully sharing them with you all.

So how do you celebrate Late Summer?

I’d love to hear from you, and from our Northern friends who have escaped the Winter chills and are now delighting in Springtime

- drop us a seasonal line.

Happy Island Styling

 Images Pinterest