elements i love...

Autumn arrives…

Brooke — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 01:16:45 +0000

As the month of March quickly became April, we were kept busy with both Elements i love.. and our big brother warehouse Architectural & Antique Elements – some days are a little more chaotic than others! I thought i would share a few instagram pics, for those not following us…

The warehouse looked gorgeous last week as floral arranger extraordinaire, Sean Cook from mrcookflowers used the space for a photo shoot and showed us what you really can do with flowers. It was fabulous to see buckets of flowers transformed into a really beautiful floral arrangement – can’t wait to see the finished images in an upcoming flower book…

autumnal magic -mrcookflowers

Interior design work has kept me rather busy too, as the new house of a very passionate client (!) starts to come together. I have been working on this project for quite sometime now and as it is built around a broad selection of architectural antiques, the installation & finishing of these pieces is essential to the whole look and feel of the place. Its exciting to be at this stage opposed to working around a set of plans and waiting for the excavator to get out of the way – more of this later….

Since opening our store Elements i love… in Surry Hills we have been approached by a number of small specialist companies hiring items for vintage weddings and special events ~ if you are planning a soiree or an event that has to have that je ne sais quoi – we would love to talk to you about the possibilities…

Another facet of our ever expanding world of Elements i love… are the serendipitous meetings and connecting with like minded people and how we are able to utilize the beautiful space at our store or warehouse to showcase their unique wares, be it artwork or bespoke pieces of jewellery.

At present we are delighted to have some pieces from the recent Martyn Thomspon exhibition Falling in Love at the Institute, these limited edition still-life photographs will take you to the South of France at first sight and are perfect amongst the French pieces in the Surry Hills showroom..

Still-life photographs by Martyn Thompson

Last but definitely not least is the ‘ little bit boho, a little bit rock n roll’ range of jewellery and leather goods range by Republic of You. Nicolette has put a personal stamp on each piece by naming them… Remember, Adorn, Bygone Blue – all come beautifully boxed with hand cut fabric swing tags – a lovely gift for YOU or something groovy for mothers days! (just around the corner)

Remember- Bangles by Republic Of You

By-gone Blue-bespoke & handmade

~ You can find other select pieces at Elements i love… that you might like to give a loved one for any occasion …a new home, an engagement, a girlfriends 21st or those big birthdays the 30th, 40th or 50th - there’s a great range in-store and our hope is to keep it ever changing, beautiful & sneak in a few quirky objects that make you smile ~

Have a great weekend!

Sambhali Trust – Part I

Brooke — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:39:51 +0000

One of the great joys of our job is the travel, and in particular to incredible India. It is here, like so many other traveler’s – that we see the best & worst of humanity, side by side, each and every day & often in very confronting ways.

We have been looking for some time now for a way to help the least fortunate in this amazing country & we have settled on the SAMBHALI TRUST. This grass roots NGO in the heart of India seeks to empower, educate & protect some of the most vulnerable Indian women and children.

We spent a day with many of the girls & founder Govind Sing Rathore, on our last trip to India – and were inspired by the work of the trust, the women themselves and the role it has in changing the circumstances of a future generation of young girls from very underprivileged families in the heart of Rajasthan.

Elements I Love… will contribute a proportion of all sales of Indian pieces to the trust account. Each piece in store will have a distinctive pink & gold tag attached to it, indicating the amount your purchase will contribute to this wonderful cause. At Elements I Love… we have kick started this commitment with an initial donation of $1000 – this is enough to support one young girl for a whole year covering the costs of health care, education, accommodation & food!

Tim showing the girls the finer points of surfing on his i phone – they were enthralled!

The organisation has many branches as it tries to assist the most needy girls but also the ones who have the strength and aspiration to be part of the change that makes a new generation. The three girls here are attending a local private school, which the Sambhali Trust pays for as well as a small mini bus to take the girls to and from the school – it is not safe for them to walk the streets at their age without a male person as they are not married.

And this happy and mischievous looking group of girls are from the boarding house – the Trust has been integral along with a lot of support from some local families to create and provide a safe environment for these girls to live, be cared for and go to school each day. The boarding house also has a program where self funded volunteers come & live in India and help the girls with homework,their daily lives as well as teaching them a range of other skills.

At Elements i love… we are excited to be offering our support to the Sambhali Trust and look forward to following the girls and the challenges that they face along the way. Thanks to those of you who have already bought a piece from our last shipment & encouraged us with your kind words of support.

If you would like to learn more, talk to us in store or visit Sambhali Trust for more info.

Indian Shipment in store…

Brooke — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:07:14 +0000

Finally our Indian shipment is in store…here are a few quick pics for inspiration – its hard not to love India, the crumbling architecture, the chaos and colour, the smells, “the best worst” – its a fun collection ~
If you are in Sydney tomorrow (21st Feb)come in for a wander through – we will open the doors at 10 am, i am guessing slightly unorganized! Better still come later in the day after 5 pm and join us for a drink when we hope to have it all organized & we can enjoy it too…

Maybe the White Horse Hotel on Crown St, Surry Hills is looking for something a little vintage for the bar…?

this shipment, we have gathered a slightly more colorful collection of candle sticks…

And i love that the colours of these fine porcelain votives from Belgium

sit happily alongside our Indian finds…

Sign up for the blog, instagram or Facebook for all the news….(vintage enamel signs just arrived)

a beautiful set of doors we photographed down a dusty side street….

We will be open all weekend – Saturday 10-4pm & Sunday 11-4pm, hope to see you !

a Paris post…

Brooke — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 01:04:22 +0000

Just back from a very quick trip to Paris – i posted a number of pics along the way via instagram but was too busy walking, talking & taking photos to do a post! I spent some very long days at Maison & Objet , always good to see what’s new, and the strong trends heading our way (& hopefully find a lovely new product or two?)

When i arrived i was lucky enough to have a stunning blue sky day, slowly it faded to grey and then to pure white snow – very beautiful! Being an avid photographer its hard to put the camera away in Paris so i am only just looking through reels of pics…here a just a few images that might inspire you to plan your next trip…

Pont des Arts bridge lots of snow, but not many people…

a view from above, snow on the Rue Saint Louis en L’Ile

It was great catching up with (ex- Australian!) Carina Okula, a very talented photographer living in Paris who never leaves the house without a massive camera or two in hand… the night the snow started falling we were out until our hands were frozen capturing some beautiful images around the Louvre & Pont des Arts…to see more visit Carina’s website and facebook page…

We warmed up with vin chaud at Le Fumoir, the place was packed & everybody was in good spirits as the snow tumbled outside

Now its back to reality, see you soon… (A bientot!)

a few favourite things…

Brooke — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 15:11:48 +0000

19thC Glass domes with vintage clock faces

So enjoyed seeing the store with fresh eyes after a few weeks away, such a nice reminder of how lucky we are to work & play amongst such a beautiful space…it’s always good to buy pieces that you love, even small things – take time and care to display them and you will surprised at how much you will enjoy looking at them

Our book shelf is expanding as we find some great titles…& some lovely gifts for you or friends

Beautiful set of 19thC doors & French marble top cafe table & chairs

Looking for the prettiest French marble top cafe table & chairs?

An in house recreation – makes a fabulous interior or exterior iron mirror & Indian niches have just arrived…

Arched Indian niches have just arrived – only a handful came in…lovely for summer

but i am heading directly into winter, next post from Paris!

I Love a forecast of snow showers…esp the day i arrive!

as Audrey says ‘Paris is always a good idea’

Happy New Year…

Brooke — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 07:37:48 +0000

We ended the year with a shipment just arrived from France and start the New Year with one from India…and a few thoughts to guide us through 2013.

Colour and texture is a good thing…

bright pinks, saffrons and reds of India always lift my spirits - they are saying be positive & live each day to the fullest…

Value the artisans of the world, hand-made is good regardless of country of origin…

Buy things to keep not to throw away…

Embrace texture, pattern and real wood…

and don’t forget to breathe…

Elements i love… will open this Saturday 5th January 2013 hope to see you!

Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays….

Brooke — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 21:28:00 +0000

Wishing you all a safe & healthy christmas & a happy new year wherever you are!! Hope you have escaped (like us) to your favourite spot on the coast…..

A French Christmas

Brooke — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 23:22:07 +0000

Its been pretty busy here of late… the good news is our French collection is coming together and not a minute too late! (We will be closed the 27th & 28th November setting up) We had a lot of fun buying this trip and we think it shows – there is a great mix of furniture, decorative, retro and what we call ‘brocante’, fun pieces like the pastis bottles.

And because Christmas was looming we added a small selection of hand picked Christmas decorations from Belgium & some beautiful ‘nouvelle’ things that you might like to give to family or friends, or just take home for yourself… see our newly created page Nouvelle Elements…(we love)

a few xmas decos…

Lovely French club chair & more…

: Very groovy pair of metal sprung armchairs, tres comfortable..

Timeless French textile boxes from the north

Good set of 6 -ORIGINAL tolix chairs..

French leather boots & lasts

Officially in store from December 1st but if you are keen pop in on Thursday or Friday – we will still be working on it and the doors will be open!

a few french finds…

Brooke — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 10:57:24 +0000

Cute set of French skittles

It can be fun buying antiques, especially in France where there are many eccentric and quirky dealers living the dream all over the country side! We see lots of things that we love and many things that we don’t… & then there are other ‘interesting’ finds that bring a smile to my face but i have to think – who would buy that??

Early French wrought iron balcony panel, coming soon

Love this set of oyster plates…also on board

We visited our favourite haunt in Paris, a hardware shop that was founded in the 1930′s, stocked to the rafters with knobs in every colour & style imaginable, hinges, door pulls, studs, screws etc

& there propped up amongst the boxes like a piece of theatre is the famous kiss photo by Robert Doisneau, click here for the story behind the image…

Its only a few weeks until our French shipment docks – in the meantime this lovely little hand-made set of 14 drawers has just arrived at Elements i love… quite possibly made for a hardware store to house screws & tiny little nuts a long time ago.

Elements i love… is now on Facebook & Instagram see links below …if you like us or make a comment you will be in the running for our French shipment give away – a roll of Scrapwood wallpaper RRP $330. And thank you Natalie Walton for featuring us (well me really:) on her fab blog Daily Imprint.

Merci! Brooklyn Tins – love this wallpaper

Brooke — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:51:44 +0000

Fresh out of Paris and following hot on the heels of the Scrapwood Wallpaper (loved by designers around the world) is NLXL’s latest creation ‘Brooklyn Tins’……a collaboration with the fabulous Parisian store Merci. This Wallpaper collection is an ode to the tin plated panels that once dressed the ceilings of New York, capturing the aged beauty and irregularity of the original tiles.
We were lucky enough to see it first hand on our recent buying trip to France and our samples have just arrived in store + some selected stock is not far behind – contact us for more information. Fabulous as a feature wall, a ceiling, a bed head or cupboard doors…possibilities are endless!

Limited edition pattern, perfect for a small wine bar…

& a BIG ”Merci” to all of you who have mentioned, LIKED, found and supported our new store Elements i love... we have just passed the six month mark!

mr jason grant IshandChi Broadsheet Concrete Playground Urban Walkabout & thanks to Belle, House & Garden, Vogue, Inside Out & Home Beautiful…