Wall art

'Scary bat' vinyl cut and applied to wall.

Are you an empire builder or an explorer? I was debating the merits of each with a colleague this week.  I wish I was an empire builder, but it looks like my big bro got that handy profile. By now I am reconciled to my peripatetic tendencies veering as I do from graphic design, to writing, to communications in any given week. I guess they don't call me Zigzag for nothing. But, believe it or not I've been wondering whether I might be able to slip on one more hat. Could I add interior designer into that mix?

I've written before about how I daydream about cushions. I like rugs more than is strictly necessary. One of the things I miss most while I am at work is the lack of tactile contact with objects (my Mac doesn't count). So it was very gratifying this week to find my secret inner life (interiors) and day job (graphic design) aligned with my other passion, my monkeys (in this case Otto).

After summer's success in rearranging the kids room we've been wondering what to put up on the walls. I am resisting the loud cries for "graffiti". But I like the idea of wall graphics, even though the available ones are usually a bit NQR. I like the idea that the kids get to see their own work up. Then I found this drawing from October, part of the Halloween collection of drawings floating around the house. I put it aside and this week I scanned it and had it cut in vinyl.

Otto is pretty chuffed to see it beside his bed. I know what you are wondering, was it expensive? It was so cheap it was free.

I think it's safe to say Shane, my contact in the world of vinyl, is not an empire builder. But from one explorer to another, thank you.

Meowww

Laziest credit line in magazine universe? I'm loving [insert...this bed, table, chair] right now. Every time I read it I want to throw some coins in a jar. That way I know I'll get to the Bahamas by Christmas.

But for this cushion I will make an exception. Love it. Love those clever Harvest girls and love the fact that with two of these on the couch I could have pets in my home.

I'm writing this with one eye on the couch and another on my new plush rug wondering, could I get away with it. If the room has a flavour, it's Pacific Pop. The new rug – bold black and rust orange stripes – is taking it in another direction. It's introduced some tertiary shades into the equation. Can it take flouro? Here's hoping. Because, did I mention I love these?

Harvest Textiles
40 cm across $70

Back to cushions

In the face of emotional stress, some people drink and dial; I drive and cry. When it comes down to it, my adrenal system has been totally overloaded of late. It hasn't taken much to send my fight-or-flight mechanism into action. I know some people complain of an 'inner critic', that is a feeling of being self-critical. When I lose my equilibrium I'm pretty democratic; I generally hate myself and everybody else in equal measure. Happily, I turned a corner over the weekend. I know I am back (to myself, the world at large) when my thoughts return to soft furnishings. You know that moment in a day when you are not preoccupied with anything urgent and your thoughts drift? Some think kama sutra. My mind wanders to rugs, cushions and blankets. Like this cushion by sweet polka Marion. How pretty is it?

When I stop to think about it, I don't really know what the soft furnishing obsession says about me other than I am a comfort hog.

Holding it flooded me with feel-good hormones.