You may remember seeing the tour that we featured of Rachel Edmonds deliciously dark and moody family home? Well, Rachel touched at the end of her interview on how she had designed her home to benefit her autistic sons, so we asked her to do a guest post for us to expand on the subject. Rachel will not only share her interior design ideas to benefit your autistic child, but also explain how this is relevant to you, even if you don’t have a family member with the condition.
Were you aware that we have seven senses? Most of us are familiar with the standard five, touch, hearing, sight, smell and taste. The two lesser known senses are movement (the Vestibular System) and body awareness (the proprioceptive system). Well, what’s this got to do with interiors I hear you ask. I have three sons, two of whom are autistic and my main aim when designing our home is to make it a comfortable safe environment for us all. Autism is a sensory disorder that affects the way the brain processes sensory input, which in turn causes those affected to suffer severe anxiety. Designing your interiors to suit the sensory needs of your child not only reduces anxiety but can improve communication too. You might be asking yourself why am I telling you this, what’s this got to do with me and my home. The thing is that we all get anxious at times and creating a home that relaxes us can only be a good thing whether we are on the spectrum or not.
Chloe Tingle is the true embodiment of our Fabulous and Fearless Women column; she studied engineering at university, which is a fiercely male dominated environment, then left her career in engineering to start a third sector business (a notoriously hard sector to succeed in) at only 23. Chloe now runs a social enterprise called ‘No More Taboo’.
Tell us about your social enterprise, No More Taboo
No More Taboo is a not-for-profit social enterprise focused on creating a ‘period-friendly’ world for everyone. At No More Taboo, we know that if we want to change society’s views, we need to do more than just provide alternative products for managing menstruation. We are advocating for change by campaigning and providing training for organisations, NGOs and schools to help people understand period poverty and understand that there are long-term sustainable solutions that can be adopted by everyone alongside promoting the use of more sustainable sanitary products. Attitudinal change is a slow process; however, we are committed to breaking down the stigma of menstruation and the inequalities and negative impacts that stem from this taboo.
Last year, we just managed to get our rebrand finished, by the skin of our teeth, before the Christmas madness begun. But that’s meant that we haven’t fully been able to immerse ourselves in our new vision, until now. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what we’d like to. And now, I’m so excited to be able to get into it and really start showing you our new vision for Audenza.
Because our brand isn’t just about inspiring homes, it’s about inspired L I V I N G. If you don’t already know, we run a monthly hashtag competition on Instagram #livefabulousandfearless, which is not just about your gorgeous homes, it’s about YOU! We really do want to hear about your fabulous lives, your fearless stories and anything inspiring in between. This hashtag is about encouraging and empowering you to not only design a truly stunning home, but to lead a courageous life (in whatever guise that may be for you).
How to Nail the Hollywood Glam Look in your Home
16 Feb 2018
How do you sum up Hollywood Glam? With jewel colours, textures, reflective surfaces and mirrors, luxe fabrics, curvaceous furniture, contrasting colours and above all a touch of the exotic – with a dash of drama. It all sounds a bit much doesn’t it, but true Hollywood glamour achieves its look by paring everything down – too much and it becomes eclectic. And why does it work? It works because of the simplicity of the pieces juxtaposed with the richness of the colours, textures and fabrics. It exudes elegance, charisma and opulence to brighten up our everyday lives and cocoon us in a rich avant-garde bubble. Now, don’t we all want some of that in todays troubled world?
To achieve the look without veering into the pastiche, which brings on nervous laughter in your visitors (or partner), there are a few key points to remember which I will get to, but the main thing to remember is it’s your home, your style, so stop worrying about what anyone else thinks. That’s certainly our motto at Audenza as we three have varying styles and tastes!
WIN a Weekend Getaway + £250 Audenza Voucher
8 Feb 2018
Boy, have we got something rather exciting in store for you today! We have teamed up with Best Loved Hotels to give one of you lucky readers a chance to win not only a 2-night weekend getaway but also a £250 voucher to spend with us! Yes, you read that correctly… a relaxing weekend break AND fabulous goodies to fill your home with!
The winner will have a choice of unique, independent hotels in great locations that have been carefully handpicked by Best Loved Hotels.
We’ve got a guest post for you this week from our friends at Tiles Direct, who have a great selection of wall tiles for the bathroom and kitchen, along with a jazzy range of floor tiles. They’re going to give you 5 kitchen colour scheme ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Hope you enjoy it!
With the excess of Christmas behind us and a new year in full swing, many of us will be looking for ways to kick 2018 into gear – and what better place to start than by sprucing up the heart of your home: the kitchen? Whether you’re a lover of neutral shades or looking for a burst of colour, in today’s post, we’re serving up style inspiration with some of this year’s hottest interior design trends when it comes to kitchen colour schemes.
House Tour: Glam & Moody Family Home
19 Jan 2018
We do love a house tour at Audenza, well we all like a nosey around other people’s homes, don’t we? Not only for ideas and inspiration but sometimes just to see how the other half lives! For those of you looking to move over to the dark side this family home is a winner – glamorous, exciting and so sexy. And even if you are not a fan of dark and moody there is always ideas to pick up from the styling and design, such as that amazing gold fireplace. I am so in love with that gold fireplace!
The homeowner is Rachel Edmonds @raspberry_flavoured_windows, Hollie has known her through the online interiors world for a couple of years now.
We Love: Calico Wallpaper
12 Jan 2018
I’ve always loved wallpaper, whether it’s in fashion or out. How can it be out of fashion? That’s a strange concept to me as surely wallpaper brings warmth and a tactile quality to a room that paint just can’t do? Even a very plain wallpaper seems to give a room more depth and oomph, for want of a better word.
Calico Wallpaper (founded by Rachel and Nick Cope) specialise in custom fit, non-repeating murals that are seriously gorgeous, and seriously pricy. Not for the majority of use but something to drool over, and of course, high end products filter down and are recreated in more affordable designs. The initial collection was inspired by centuries old paper marbling techniques from Japan and Turkey. Unique handmade patterns have been digitally enlarged to create custom murals. Subsequent collections embody these traditions and techniques to give a truly remarkable living space.
Meet Our Newest Member of the Team
22 Dec 2017
I’m so excited to introduce you to the newest member of the Audenza family, Jess. Today, I’m sharing an interview with Jess where she tells us a little bit about herself (read on to find out about the ‘pea’ incident which resulted in A&E). If you’ve called us in the last few months, or emailed in with an enquiry, it’s likely Jess that you’ll have spoken to. With all of the many, many developments going on at Audenza HQ this year (hello re-brand!), Jess has been such an enormous help. I can’t imagine how we ever coped without her!
There is a fine balance between maximalist décor and clutter, very subjective of course, but if you are drawn to maximalist interiors how do you achieve an engaging, witty room with personality rather than a cluttered mess? There have been many studies into how clutter affects our mood and emotions and the way it can create stress in our homes and workplace, and be detrimental to our mental health. So, what’s the answer? Editing, storage and tidiness is the essence of it!
As a person who loves a home filled with memories, objects, colour, pattern and the more is more approach I do feel the need every now and again to edit it down when it becomes overwhelming. You know how it happens – you buy a new vase, a new lamp, or whatever, and instead of rearranging and moving some items out you pile it in, and before you know it there’s too much going on.
