On our recent trip to America we visited the Disney Concert Hall in LA designed by the renowned Frank Gehry, a highlight of our trip! As one of the most acoustically sophisticated halls in the world it provides both visual and aural intimacy for an unparalleled musical experience.

The conception of the hall was initially developed by Lillian Disney who generously gifted $50 million to build a world-class performance venue as a gift to the people of Los Angeles and a tribute to Walt Disney. Since then, other gifts and contributions bring the total Disney family contribution to over $100 million and together with the County of Los Angeles the Concert Hall was financed and built.

Unto This Last is the title of a book written in 1860 by John Ruskin. He advocated a return to the local craftsman workshops, having a few doubts about the human cost of the Industrial Revolution.

‘Unto This Last’ is a shop with a purpose. It offers you exquisitely crafted furniture at affordable, wholesale prices. So instead of visiting a warehouse, you can now visit this shop which is located near the city centre and order your choice of furniture there.

The products of this shop reflect consistency. They use a highly automated method of designing and creating furniture. They use a special birch ply composite, which is optimised for design by using software and digital tools. They use the same material for creating all their products. In order to eliminate the cost involved in packaging, they only deliver to locations in London.

We recently had a tour of the many vintage furniture shops on Regent Street , right now Redfern is quite the place for retro style furniture shopping and vintage finds, concentrated in a few hundred meters there are about 5 great shops.

Our favorite is Graham & Graham Design,a family run business that specialize in beautiful mid 20th century design, furniture, ceramics, lighting and custom handmade lampshades.

A beautiful bright blue glazed ceramic vase was what caught my eye and after talking with the owner we found out it’s in fact a retro piece from Italian brand Bitossi.

Our latest find on Etsy is a very peculiar shop, like no others: White Faux Taxidermy is the creation of Marcos and Paislea, a couple from Colorado brought together for their love of animals.

They create resin animal heads to hang on walls, the heads are in white resin and they can come with colored horns for a funky twist.

We came across WFT while searching Etsy for ideas on what to hang on the portion of wall above the television. We didn’t want any artworks or prints on that wall and while I like the idea of a deer head wall hanging I find the real thing a bit creepy….but a white resin version is just perfect, it’s new but with a vintage feel; we love the deer head with colored antlers, you can choose the colour you want to match your décor.

Some of the heads are entirely painted and some others are even glittery!

The heads come in different sizes too, you can put a couple together to create a feature wall.

There are plenty of styles available, deer, bison, moose or elephants too meet anyone’s taste.

Prices are very affordable and they ship to Australia!

Two new gorgeous designs are now available online!

Stegosaurus, pterodactyl…..does your little one love dinosaurs? If so they are sure to want these gorgeously illustrated dinosaurs wall stickers on their bedroom wall.  The range comes in a variety of colours which will ensure that it complements any existing décor and will be a delightful feature on any child’s wall.

If dinosaurs are not your thing have a look at this fun pirate themed wall decal: the set comes as separate pieces so you and your child can chose what pirate scene you would like to depict – ghostly ships, sunken treasure and pirates galore!!

It's free shipping for all orders over $100 in Australia and overseas!

The Mason Jar was invented and patented in 1858 by Philadelphia tinsmith John Landis Mason.

They are made of molded glass and commonly used to preserve food. Such a common item in the past, they are now sought by collectors, and are bought and sold through antique stores or auction sites.

Nowadays these glass jars make great decorations around the home. Their timeless and versatile nature make them perfect for any room or setting. Not only are they great for your own home but would be perfect for gifts.

We love these Etsy sellers who have taken some glass jars and transformed them, hope you love them too!

Boots n Gus – make beautiful mason jar chandeliers and up-cycled lighting!

LITdecor – make charming Moroccan inspired glass jar lanterns, candles, and lamps. These are so bright and colourful and will light up any home!

Cdlwin – a selection of hand painted and distressed mason jars perfect for dsiplays, home decoration, vases, and more.

Vinyl Design happens to share a studio in Surry Hills with very talented designer Sophie Cooper from Scoops Design, an Australian brand focused on handmade, colorful lifestyle products such as perspex jewellery, cushions, mirror sets, cards and more.

New products and designs are constantly added to her collection, on the blog today we talk to Sophie about Scoops, her products, inspiration and goals.

1) Tell us about Scoops Design, how it was born and what inspires you
Scoops Design was born at the end of 2005, when I started making brooches for friends as Christmas presents. At first it was a fun side project from my day job as Art Director for Channel 7. It grew from there and I got approached by the National Gallery of Victoria to make custom jewellery for exhibitions and was featured in lots of magazines and blogs. Towards the end of 2010, I decided that I really wanted to concentrate on Scoops and make it my full time work and I’m still going. All of my products are designed and made in Australia and the range now includes cards, mirrors, artwork, jewellery and cushions. Scoops can be found in over 50 shops around Australia and also online.
I love anything to do with design- architecture, interiors, products, graphics and animation. I have always gravitated towards simple shapes, strong bold colours and retro styling. I get inspiration from everywhere- the beach, Japanese pencil cases, talking to friends and also my 2000+ design books!

2) How would you describe your style and what is your creative process?
My style is very much influenced by the design I grew up around, such as Miffy, Meg and Mog, Astro Boy and Marimekko. I love bright colours and anything that has a bold graphic style.  
I like to spend a time researching what I’m going to make and looking at different materials. I usually start sketching and draw lots of doodles with crazy ideas before I go onto the computer. This is probably due to my background in graphic design! I will sit and think about how different shapes and colours work together for hours. I have way too many products as I really like the creative process and coming up with new ideas.

After 11 years of producing stylish, contemporary and affordable home wares in the US, Sydneysiders finally have the chance to see West Elm products in their home. Launched in 2002, in Brooklyn, New York, the ever-popular furniture and home wares store, West Elm, has finally opened in Sydney. The new store in Bondi Junction and the soon to be opened Melbourne store, are the first by Williams-Sonoma opened outside of North America.

The company prides themselves on designing authentic, approachable and affordable products for you to use in whatever way you like in your home. By creating clean, simple products for modern living you can mix and match pieces from different collections in order to create your own individual style in your home.

West Elm, said to have been created to market to space conscious New Yorkers, make products that are perfect for those space conscious apartment dwellers in Sydney.

We love West Elm and have our eye on some of their beautiful pieces, such as the Mr White Wall Clock , the Stripe Sheet sets, Box Frame Coffee Table and these Modernist Serving Bowls.

A new trend in home wares has emerged on the scene brightening up our homes and minds. Typographic prints such as the ones above can lift any room. Depending on the type of print, it can add a friendly reminder, a cute message, humour, colour, and much more.

However the trend can be overwhelming, due to its popularity there are an enormous amount of prints to choose from. So to help you, we have picked out some of our favourites from Etsy!

Wall Envy Art – these prints are eco friendly, using recycled unwanted books, comics and sheet music together with their signature hand drawn font. Some of the quotes feature The Great Gatsby, Jane Austen, and Oscar Wilde as well as other famous quotes.

Quotational – these digital prints are cute, fun, inspirational and will brighten up any home!

Simple & Serene – these are great hand lettered quotes and doodles

Whimsy and Spice Prints – these beautifully designed prints are great for those who love to cook! They feature anything and everything relating to cooking

ColorBee Design Studio – another cute set of prints, these are certain to lighten up any room

The Green Boat - these prints are sure to inspire!

During our trip to California we spent 2 nights in Palm Springs, a mecca for modernist architecture and retro design.

Palm Springs is a surreal place, it’s hot desert surrounded by rugged mountains, cactus plants, palms and blue sky.

It can be the most amazing place if you’re into design, architecture and relaxing pool side or the worst place ever if you don’t care about those things because there isn’t much else to do apart from architecture tours and drinking and lounging pool side.

We stayed at the Horizon Hotel, a small boutique hotel of only 24 rooms and adult only.