Aussie is the new Scandi

The new phase of the Scandi minimalism has been seeping into our lives for a while now. Whether it be the rye bread and cinnamon-bun filled Nordic bakery, the perfectly sparse kitchens everyone is having fitted or modern and clean fashion brands such as Malene Birger or Acne studios- it has been taking over the fashion, lifestyle and blogging world.

Trends and fashions pop up and disappear as quick as you can finish your glass of tigernut milk. Scandi style does seem to be lingering but, I have recently noticed there is a new kid on the block beginning the slow but sure take over. Our across the pond friends in Australia are leading the way in fresh and modern cuisine, fashion brands notably the best bikinis ever and their light and nature-filled interior trends. In this post, I will introduce the trend so you can get to grips with it before we're on to the next one...

Interiors

The nature-inspired and laid-back Aussie style is the crux of Australian interior design. Australia is home to 9 out of 10 of the most poisonous snakes (!!!!!) and many more wild and wonderful creatures and crawlies. The reason for their diverse wildlife is the amazing ecosystems and environment that they host. Beachy and leafy landscapes create the perfect homes for creatures and also inspire airy interiors for the perfect human homes. This green, outdoorsy vibe forms the basis of  PIP+COOP, a Melbourne based styling company created by their interiors-obsessed director, Cassie Thomson. Their relaxed and nature inspired rooms are undoubtedly home goals for any interior loving girl. They do not completely neglect the fashionable Scandi-style but instead create an incredible blend with breezy Aussie interiors.

Food

If you have never seen the Australian programme My Kitchen Rules then you need to rethink your TV schedule. In teams of two (mother, son, boyfriend, girlfriend etc) candidates compete cooking together in a 'Masterchef-esque' competition. They invent 'instant restaurants' in their homes complete with menus and decorations. The challenges are inventive and nail-biting and range from traditionally Aussie BBQs to catering major events. Not only is the programme itself amazing but the cooking style and ingredients that are local to Australia are way better than anywhere else. This for me sparked my interest in Australian cooking and luckily due to new restaurants dotted around the capital, we can now benefit from this in London!

Dickie Fitz

Open for breakfast (get buttermilk waffles with salted peanut, yogurt, fresh strawberry syrup), lunch (get wild garlic & nettle soup with goats curd) and dinner (get rib-eye on the bone, bone-marrow, lemon).

48 Newman Street
W1T 1QQ
London
0203 667 1445

Granger & co

They handmake their own almond milk and orders come in big and small plates so perfect for sharing! I would recommend definitely ordering the ricotta hotcakes with bananas which come drenched in honeycomb butter and a deliciously infused syrup.

175 Westbourne Grove 

London W11 2SB

+44 20 7229 9111

Farm Girl

Farm girl is new and 'a holistic and healthy, yet comfortingly simple approach to Australian cafe culture in the heart of Notting Hill.'  Best of all they're dog friendly! Order the no-bacon coconut BLT, you'll be surprised...

59a Portobello Rd
London W11 3DB
+44 207 536 2108

Fashion

Aussie-girls like Miranda Kerr, Margot Robbie, Elle Macpherson and the abikiniaday.com bloggers introduced the world to this new form of casual chic. Your checklist: breezy, laidback, chic, sun ready.

Bondi Beach

Sydney Streets

Check out my Polyvore here for details on items: alicerosewrites.polyvore.com

Beauty and Wellbeing

Australians and the aforementioned girls are also the front-runners in the health and beauty world. Their entire way of living perfectly gives way for health and wellbeing. In 2014, the organic sector in Australia had driven record growth in the $1.72 billion industry and has only continued to grow. Meanwhile mindfullness courses and yoga have been on the strong up. A huge campaigner for such activities and owner of her own organic beauty brand is the face of Australia to the rest of the world:Miranda Kerr. She set up Kora organics in 2009 which is now retailed on Netaporter.com and is made up of 100% Australian skincare using a blend of natural and certified organic ingredients. Just as with the rest of this Aussie style it is all about the natural- keep it fresh and organic! Get the Aussie-look with crispy with sea-salt wavy hair, lashings of mascara and a dewy complexion (thanks to moisturiser and a good highlighter). Your checklist: green tea, lots of yoga and salt spray.

ARW x

Small Businesses Spotlight: My Treasure Trove Wishlist

The one thing that I probably enjoy the most about my job is that day to day a massive part of it is searching for medium to small sized companies who are doing something exciting which we want to help them showcase to our readers.

From family run companies who redesign flea market furniture finds to the one-woman band who handstitches purses with fabrics from Morocco, my personal wish list extends each day.

In the current climate, getting word out about your small business (or blog!) can be incredibly difficult. So, here is my little nod to them to shed some light on these absolute treasures that beat the big brands any day.

Edit 58 

The Edit 58 actually came to do a sale at our office and I bought this blanket which is homed permanently on my bed (don't know if that is cheating with my wishlist). They boast a carefully curated collection of beautiful finds for your home: baskets from California, wallhangings from Nashville, rugs, cushions and blankets from Morocco. Edit58.com

Large Grey and Pink Striped Pom Pom Blanket, £115

SkandiHus

A danish ceramicist living in London throws and hand-builds each piece inspired by Skandi design. www.skandihus.co.uk

Individually Handmade and Glazed Plates, £27 

GAIA

GAIA creations are handmade by resettled refugee women in Dallas using vintage, artisan-made, & sustainable materials. www.gaiaforwomen.com

Earrings, £75

Penned Black

Established in 2014, PennedBlack's range of prints, cards, and gift tags are all designed and drawn in the illustrator's home studio. www.pennedblack.com

Print, £12

Ful Candles

Ful candles are poured in small batches in East Tennessee, nestled in the 'foothills of the Smokies'. Each candle is customised with a unique blend of essential and fragrance oils, you can even customise your own! www.fulcandles.com

Peaceful (rosemary + mint), £12 for the large

Catherine & Jean

Catherine & Jean is a luxury lifestyle brand which celebrates English eccentricity and Italian quality. Founded in London, the brand offers distinctive, elegant and creative accessories for fashion, home and travel. www.catherineandjean.com

Alexis eye mask white meadow with lavander, £20

Cozy Creative Crochets

Wife and mother Heather does what she truly loves and creates gorgeous and unique crocheted items. www.etsy.com/shop/CozyCreativeCrochets

Handmade bralet, £18.38

Hawkhouse

Inspired by nature and science, Jessica creates her beautiful jewellery using a process called electroforming. I would suggest stacking these 'raw mineral' rings up as high as they can possibly go in a variety of colours. Get me some now! www.hawkhouse.net

Stacking rings, £38

Jenni Haikonen

She works in both acrylics and watercolour, sometimes mixing the two to create gorgeous hand-done prints and cards and even creates house portraits. www.jennihaikonen.com

Birthday wishes card, £3

Your Pal, Al

Al creates beautiful slate grey concrete pots and other accessories splashed in gold. This plant pot is gorgeous but she also make pen pots, and jewellery holders. www.yourpalalcreative.com

Mini conrete holder, £5

Skin Food by AB

Skin Food by AB uses superfoods, butters, herbs and oils to create products with a purpose. These all natural products are created to heal and soothe and the packaging is simplistically perfect. www.etsy.com/shop/SkinFoodbyAB

Call me skinny coffee scrub, £14

Cozy Gal

Linda designs and makes the tees in a small studio in Bangkok. www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CozyGal

Tee, £9.99

Not a Jewellery Box

Specialists in jewellery storage solutions. They stock jewellery boxes, jewellery stands, jewellery hangers, The Little Book of Earrings Range and various ring stands. www.notajewellerybox.co.uk

Pineapple stand and ring dish, £35

Eat, Pray, Love

Frid(y)ay is always the best day of the week which is why I chose it as the day that I publish my happy edit. To go alongside this I thought I'd do a focus on some of my favourite things today. So here is a round-up of some of my favourite blog posts from other bloggers in the style of one of my favourite books and films: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Bennet.

Eat

If you haven't heard of Erin Gleeson yet, then you may be familiar with her signature style of recipes. She creates beautifully illustrated step by step visual recipes. For anyone who is a visual person like myself and strains their eyes poring over a more traditionally-wordy recipe book, this is the much easier and more modern way that means you will no longer struggle. Not only are her recipes simple and modern but so is her food. Her recipe book 'Forest Feast' is exactly that, think fairy lights and sitting on stumps of wood in a forest whilst devouring rainbow-coloured earthy salads, baked and stuffed beefy tomatoes, followed by light ricotta chocolate mousse in vintage 20s champagne glasses. She almost convinces you to, like her, trade in your city life and shack up in a little Hansel and Gretel styled cottage in the woods hosting nightly feasts for the locals and creatures. Get lost in her recipes over at www.theforestfeast.com. I would highly recommend a visit to your local market before!

Theforestfeast.com

Pray

In this day and age taking a few minutes out of your life to focus on yourself can seem pointless, time consuming and unrealistic. We all think of those gym-going, health bunnies who wake up at 5am to meditate, body brush, sip lemon water and squeeze in their HIIT. Don't get me wrong- I would love, love to be one of these people and I do once in a while wake up early and head to a spin class. However, I just find it completely unrealistic to maintain and make such a life and personality change! I just love my time in bed too much.

For the times when I am feeling particularly inspired, I do head over to www.intentblog.com. They have some amazing articles on spirituality and meditation and for me this is enough. I actually downloaded the app Headspace recently on a colleague's recommendation and although it is truly a great app, I personally just couldn't get into it. But, when I stumbled across the below illustration on Intent Blog, I don't know whether it is because as I said above I am a visual person, but I found it super easy to follow. I now try at least three times a week at any time of the day to follow this. It does really provide a few minutes of de-stress and there has been so much research on the health benefits of this time to yourself. I have set the time constraints of what works for me but it really can be done as much or as little as you find useful.

Another article I love on their site: http://intentblog.com/i-am-not-my-work-fear-and-mindfulness-in-entrepreneurship/#more-287085

Intentblog.com

Love

A study conducted by MyHarmony.com found that by 2031 half of all couples will have met online. This really points to how the channels for meeting someone have changed so rapidly in the last few years. I think that expectations have just become increasingly high, we all want that sickly-candyfloss-sweet love. When you're sitting on the tube watching the cooing couple bobbing along on their morning commute secretly thinking there's no way they are that happy- rest assured they probably met on Tinder and they totally have their problems too... Life isn't like The Holiday and sometimes we do need to put our best foot forward and get out there.

I recently went on a quadruple date and my boyfriend and I were the only ones who had met 'organically'. The other couples are no less happy than we are because of this. My best friend also recently remarked that she wanted to meet a guy naturally and for it all to fall into place, I straight away told her that whether someone is right for you or not has nothing to do with where you meet. I guess that fact is that we need to realise that there should be no stigma to meeting online- technology is something to be utilised and taken advantage of. We have so many opportunities to meet amazing people who may not have happened to be walking past and graciously caught us as we slip over like in movies!

The only thing that we need to be aware of on the internet is that you can be anyone and search for almost anything. My Domaine happens to be one of my favourite websites: it encapsulates interiors, careers and lifestyle in one incredibly informative swoop! They published this article on the traits that we all find the most attractive, and why not use them to our best ability? http://www.mydomaine.com/most-attractive-traits. Why shouldn't we put our best foot forward? After all, confidence is the number one most attractive trait

Mydomaine.com

Interiors Inspiration from a House and Garden Girl

This post is written by Ellie Smith, House and Garden, Sales Executive

I love indoor plants because they increase the supply of oxygen to a room which is good for your health! I also love this original flooring and the rustic pot contrasting with the freshness that the green of the plant brings. 

This Scandi-styled storage solution really caught my eye. In typical Scandi fashion, it is functional, sleek and adds a beautiful visual to the room. 

Scandi may be the trend of the moment but Japanese home-ware easily give them a run for their money in my opinion. I love the earthy but pretty design of these bowls. 

Why hide your food away when its dual purpose could be kitschy ornaments? Focus on healthy staples that last forever such as grains, pulses and nuts. You and your kitchen will feel the benefits!

Light drapes are the ultimate Spring clean, they make any room look fresher and brighter. I love the thought of fresh, dewy days spent in the bath with the windows wide open. 

On my wishlist...

Large Tripod planter,                        Bloomingville, Ceramic                            Desu Design, 1 line 

    Atelierstella, £72                               Barbara teapot, £25                                   spice rack, £140                

Ellie Smith is a House and Garden magazine Sales Executive, she works closely with many up and coming and well-known interior brands. Due to the nature of her work she constantly keeps herself up to date on interior trends. She has a personal interest in Japanese interiors and rooms filled with flowers. 















I do not claim to or own any included images.