I recently moved home and before doing so I gave away a whole load of my old household belongings. I decided I needed a fresh look for my new place which had 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms. I needed new crockery, furniture, bed linens, cushions, vases, utensils and all sorts of decorative objects for my new home.

I decided the bathrooms would have a coastline/beach theme with turquoise blue, white and soft golden colors, after being inspired by the New Zealand Herald. My bedroom would be furnished with soft colored items in pinks and greys of all shades. I also made a choice after reading another article from the New Zealand Herald have one feature wall as I wanted to add texture and character to it.

My living room had a fireplace and two bookcases on either side, so it was fun finding items that I could place outside the fireplace. It also had a large wooden mantle, so I decided to put a couple of candlesticks on each end which really looked nice. I bought some things from less expensive shops, but certain items such as cushions, vases and accent pieces I decided to spend a little more on as I wanted a luxurious look and I decided to buy items made with silk and velvet to get that soft-touch feel and look which they would give. It was a fun process and there are so many stores, like Nathan + Jac, to choose from.

I love to be able to see, smell and touch items to see what they are made of, the quality of the work and envision what they would look like in my new place. It was interesting to see how each of the shops I visited had different ways of displaying the items, some in an eclectic manner and others consisted on everything on display in the room which usually consisted of accessory pieces so you just buy whatever you see in the room which can be a budget saving process and gives you an upfront vision of what each room would look like and is great because the items have been chosen by a stylist who has expert experience and understanding how pieces come together and work within a space.

I also went online to buy some of these homeware items, which took a lot of work out of it, as I had the items delivered straight to my home which was especially helpful with some of the larger pieces. I found that many of the companies have different trends and themes they sell during the year which makes it easy to decide if you want to go with a trend or be eclectic in choice. Choosing online allowed me to compare prices quickly. But at the end of the day, I made up my mind to buy certain items that showed quality workmanship and had intricate details to them. All these new homeware items really make my new home special and beautiful.