Moving Out - part one

All images of furniture/homewares belong to sellers and are linked below

In November I'll be 18 years old. It's crazy to think about that, especially because I met Ben when I was 15 and now we're talking about moving out of the house, buying furniture and paying bills. I've always looked forward to the day I finally move out, not because I don't like being at home but because I'm just so excited to have my own space. Don't get me wrong, I'll miss my family, my bedroom and Jock the dog, but I think I'm ready for the challenge of living without my parents.

We haven't fully sorted out our plans yet, in fact, we're a long way from being sorted. But, that won't stop me from planning, mood boarding and fantasising about my new home. I know that we won't be moving into anything fancy or special, but I plan to put my own spin on whatever space we end up in and make it a place I want to spend time in. I spend a good half hour on TradeMe most nights searching through furniture and homewares, mostly for fun, but now I can actually justify this habit as I'll need to buy some things to fill my future home with. So, I thought I'd start a new series here on this blog, mostly for me to look back on and keep all my ideas in one place. But maybe this will help inspire you too if you're entering a similar stage of growing up.

Green 1970s Sofa Set
This is basically my dream sofa and it also comes with matching armchairs, what more could you want?! I love this funky 1970s style and my absolute favourite shade of green. The dark timber details are also super nice and give the sofa that authentic retro look. This piece actually folds out to be a sofa bed too, which would be super helpful when having people over to stay (or until we can afford an actual bed)!

Colourful Vinyl Dining Chairs
These chairs are like something straight out of an American diner, which is very much the vibe I want to go for in my kitchen space. I like the idea of having lots of mismatched chairs at my dining table, all different colours but sticking to a general theme. I love the random nature of these chairs and these colours compliment each other so well.

Retro Gold & Orange Tablecloth
Could this be the best tablecloth you've ever seen? The answer is yes. I don't actually like the idea of having a tablecloth, I feel like it's just another thing to wash and I'm a messy eater so it would probably never look pristine. But, I think I could try and be tidy if I owned this tablecloth. I mean, could you get any more That 70s Show than this?

Yellow Floral Cane Tray
Another item that doesn't serve the most important purpose, but would look amazing in my kitchen. This tray is crazy retro and looks like it's had a lot of love already. I would use this as a tray to keep my toaster on or maybe a pot plant on the kitchen bench. Very cool.

Mid Century Vinyl Wing Chair
I can actually conjure up an image in my head of this chairs previous owner. Probably sitting with their slippered feet up, knitting needles in their hand or maybe a newspaper. Regardless, I absolutely love it. The floral seat cushion is especially garish, which I'm always a big fan of. The cream vinyl and overall shape of this chair is just an absolute dream.

Retro Orange Enamel Pot
I think I could find a practical use for this, I mean, every house needs a pot. This pot is everything I love about crazy bright 1970s design, completely kitch. Design like this makes an ordinary pot, which is generally a pretty boring thing, into a piece of art that you want to display on open shelving, not hide away in a dusty cupboard.

Retro Pontesa Coffee Set
This coffee set is so very 70s, it just speaks for itself. I can't wait to collect pieces like this from the op shops and TradeMe when the time comes. I think that with pieces like these I could make even the drabbest of kitchens very cool.

Retro Pyrex Casserole Dish
I can see myself and Ben roasting vegetables in this amazing olive green casserole dish, or maybe even a very thick lasagne. I found tons of dishes and crockery of this style at Add+Vintage and I have my eye on them! Read more about that here.

Green Floral Tea Towel
As lame as it sounds, I am going to accumulate an epic tea towel collection once I move out and I can just imagine this one in my nonexistent kitchen. Tea towels are another mundane kitchen item that the 60s and 70s made into true kitch art.

Bella 🌼

Audrey's Dance

Last week I had the opportunity to look through and take photos of this amazing retro 60s house in Breaker Bay. It's vacant but full of old furniture, bedding and light fixtures straight from the 60s and 70s. So I was in heaven, snapping away until my memory card was entirely full.

If you haven't seen my style shoot from the house check that out here. I talked briefly about the crazy cool vibes that this house has, but I think you get more of a feel for that in these photos. It reminded me so much of my great grandmothers' house in Wanganui, in fact, we were pretty sure it had the exact same carpet in the bedrooms, just a little less faded. The colourful curtains, that when pulled shut fill the room with bright, vibrant shades of pink and green. I'm also a big fan of the pink sofa and matching velvet chairs, very cool.

If you've seen Twin Peaks then you might understand the reference in the title of this post. I got such strong Twin Peaks vibes from this house and the furniture in it. Especially the fireplace in the front room. Unlike most 60s houses that I've seen, this one is fully kitted out in retro furnishings and decorations too. My personal favourite and something I really want for my own house is the bright green crochet light fitting in the back bedroom, it's so fricken funky. The owner obviously had great taste in light fittings, as the whole house is decked out with some of the coolest retro lights I've ever seen. I also loved the mustard velvet curtain in the entranceway, concealing the linen cupboard. It's such a strange detail that you just wouldn't see in modern houses nowadays.

When I move out and hopefully have my own home one day I want some crazy bright carpet, I love the mustard yellow carpet in the front room or the faded green floral carpet in the hallway. It's so cool being in a house that's essentially a perfectly preserved time capsule. Nothing is modern or out of place, it all fits one style and makes you feel like you've stepped inside an old photograph. I'm super pleased with these photos and the shoot we did of my new plaid pants in the house (see that here). The colours and styles are so unmistakably retro and so very me!

Bella 🌼

The Pink Room

Welcome to the coolest house in the world, to some it may seem old, ugly and kind of creepy but that's why I love it! This was such a cool location to take photos in and I'll be uploaded another post with some behind the scenes images of the house soon. It felt weird posing in somebody else's home, especially as it was a deceased estate so I felt like people (ghosts) were watching over me disapprovingly. Or maybe they were just appreciating how much I loved the kitch colours of their house.

These pants are so wild and some of my all-time favourites. I bought them specifically for my exhibition opening at the start of the month (read about that here). They're from Thrift and were a lot more pricey than my usual budget for pants, but how cool are they!? I love the different shades of green in the plaid material with hints of yellow and orange too, so basically all of my favourite colours. They're super high-waisted too, which is great.

My turtleneck is from Depop, a recent purchase that I absolutely love. It's super soft and comfy and such a unique and vibrant shade of green. I love the way it looks tucked into my plaid flares, giving me that 70s look I'm always going for. My orange flower earrings are MindFlowers (read about them here). Boots are vintage Doc Martens, also from Thrift, my coat is thrifted and my headband is a homemade fabric scrap (don't look at it too closely)!

This shoot and the house itself reminded me so much of Twin Peaks, one of my favourite TV Shows, if you haven't seen it then you are majorly missing out. Maybe it's that airy feeling of a once lived in house or the old faded yellow flooring in the kitchen. But I really felt like Dale Cooper was going to appear from behind the mustard curtain in the hallway at any minute. I'm super lucky to get the opportunity to see some crazy cool houses because of my Mum's job and it's even better when I'm allowed to take photos inside them. I love the overall vibe of this shoot and this outfit is one of my favourites!

Bella 🌼

Depop August Preview

It's officially August and we spent the better part of yesterday shooting all of last months thrifted purchases. It took several hours and a lot of patience but I'm super pleased with how they turned out and I can't wait to start uploading them to my store this month!

For me, the photography and presentation of my clothes is super important to my overall brand, I pride myself on having a really high-quality look and cohesive style to my Depop store. Heading into Winter, it's been difficult to shoot to the quality that I'm usually happy with uploading, as the lighting has been so terrible. The number of shoots we've done that never made it to Depop because the photos were either too dark or just didn't reach that level of quality that I'm always striving for. Yes-this is life as a perfectionist, very annoying. However, I've taken so much time and put a lot of effort into making sure these photos turned out exactly how I wanted and I think it's worth it.

This month I have tons of crazy pieces for sale that I've picked up from all over Wellington and the Wairarapa too. Some of my favourite pieces are pictured above, including some dusty pink flared cords and the most epic green fluffy bucket hat. I'm also obsessed with the fluffy slime green jumper that I'm almost tempted not to sell...

July was a great month for my store and I felt like the quality of my pieces was getting higher too, meaning that people wouldn't mind paying a little extra for super unique and funky garments. I've been a lot more picky with the clothes that I choose to sell on my store and sometimes I'll go thrifting and not buy a single thing because I want to make sure that I'm only selling what I truly think buyers will love. It's crazy to see how much my store has grown since the start of the year and how the quality of my customer service, presentation and my products has improved. So, keep your eyes peeled for some of these new pieces coming to my Depop in the month of August. As always, if you have any questions about any of the items pictured above feel free to message me through my Instagram or Depop!

Depop Store
Instagram Store

Bella 🌼