Something's Brewing

Iconic Designs has brought in a beautiful new range of wallcoverings. It's textured, shadowy and absolutely gorgeous. Each roll is generously sized at 1.06m x 15.6m and prices start at RM400 per roll.

The pictures are not yet available on the website, but feel free to contact us to view the actual samples.

The Other Woman - Cars

This post is specially dedicated to my husband who is a car enthusiast. Through the years that I've known him, he has on a few occasions chosen cars over me. Some women are widowed by golf, I am by cars. If my husband had it his way, he would bring his other love into our home like this:

Image via Cabbage Rose

Trendspotting in Volume 3 2010 HomePride

We're featured in the latest publication of HomePride (volume 3 2010). The word is out - bird and feather inspired designs have broken out from chinoiserie and the new look is revolutionary. The designs are for the 21st century, it's chic and they are here to stay.

Get the look from Iconic Designs

..and keep visiting as new iconic brands are frequently being introduced.

Professional Wallpaper Installation

Do you find wallpapering daunting? Leave it to the professionals. Here's a sneak preview of wallpaper professionals at work. The wallpaper model used here is Floral 100 by Florence Broadhurst.

Wallpaper strips are cut to fit the height of the wall with matching patterns on adjacent strips. 

Walls are scraped to remove loose and uneven materials.

Rough walls require a layer of skim coat to smoothen the surface. This step is absolutely necessary when mounting shiny wallpaper where ridges and bumps are easily visible. It takes a few days for the skim coat to completely dry off.

We're ready to resume work with the wallpaper when the wall skim coat is completely set. Glue is applied on the back of the wallpaper.

Some professionals may choose to apply glue directly on the wall. This method is also perfectly fine.

Wallpaper strips are pasted with great attention to pattern matching and ensuring that the strips look seamless next to each other.

Professionals know exactly how to negotiate their way around difficult corners. 

Finally, any visible bubbles in the wallpaper are removed with a plastic sweep.

The end result - instant pep and a brand new look that couldn't have been achieved with paint or any wall application other than wallpaper.

A Dream Nursery

One of my dearest friends from Australia is about to pop with her first child. She sent in these pictures of her gorgeous and newly completed nursery wallpapered in Ferm KIDS Animal Farm. The furniture chosen are mostly white to keep the room from looking too busy. Love the design of the cot. 

Look at the super neat bookshelf prettied up with little mementos. The mummy and daughter picture is way too cute. 

I wish you a swift and safe delivery. Can't wait to see more pictures of the nursery with mummy and baby.

Ho Chi Minh City

Hi! I'm back from a week long holiday in Ho Chi Minh. It all started out well until the second day when I fell ill with a viral fever and spent much of my time for the rest of the days sleeping in the hotel, leaving my husband to tour the city on his own.

We stayed at Ma Maison, a charming little Provence inspired boutique hotel about 20 minutes from the city center.

A perfectly manicured garden at the hotel's front

Guest dining area

Located a few lanes behind a block of buildings, the hotel is inaccessible by car and we were dropped off the main street . The short walk to the hotel gave us a glimpse into the homes of local folks.

The must-haves in Vietnam...

Pho (beef noodles in a delicious broth)

Broken rice

Spring rolls...so many types

Vietnamese coffee

Buildings in Vietnam are typically narrow and phone lines are haphazardly strung around the city. The infrastructure in Ho Chi Minh may appear disorganized but there is WiFi in nearly every cafe and restaurant. Great for modern kids like us.

Whether it is coffee at a chic cafe or cool drink at a roadside stall, Vietnamese folks love to hang out and watch the action of the bustling city as they unwind over their favourite drink.

I'll leave out the attractions that we visited and end it with my lasting impression of Vietnam, that is a country that has gone through formidable change from its war torn state only a few decades ago to a modern and vibrant place that it is today.