Christmas and Eames

It's July - and swelteringly hot - so in my world at least it means the Holidays have started. Last week the fireplace was lit and the house was filled with lots of sparkly decorations, a white tree, two models, a photographer (hi John Cullen!), two assistants, an art director (hey Jason Kang!), a wardrobe stylist, a hair and makeup person, plus a couple of extra folks who were roped in to lend a hand. And, we were lucky enough to have smartypants food stylist Ashley Denton on set too, who took a couple of secs in between shots to snap a few pics of the goings-on with the Instagram app on his iPhone. They turned out super-cool, so I thought it'd be fun to share them (there's more on Ash's Instagram stream here).

Yep, it's all very Christmas-y, but in that last shot you'll see something far more practical, the Eames Hang-It-All that's now installed in the front hall to handle a slew of jackets, trucker hats, dog leashes, and towels (for our occasionally mucky Whippet, Spot). It was a splurge for sure - after shopping around I found the best price for a new one on eBay - and, funnily enough, it's the only Eames piece in the house. Happy Holidays!

{that one great thing} Paul and Ashley's action figure shelves

Other than being total smartypants, illustrator/designer Paul Dotey and his other half food stylist Ashley Denton (who's work you've seen on the glossy pages of H&H magazine) are also incredibly creative outside of their respective fields. So, with that creativity in mind (as well as a v. cool collection) here goes with Ash and Paul and another post in my new occasional series - that one great thing.

Paul Dotey: My husband Ash has been reading comic books since he was little, and collecting action figures almost as long. We wanted to display them in a stylish way without being too kitsch; we figured if you collect anything you should display it proudly, otherwise why bother? 

Finding a home for sixty plastic figures wasn’t immediately obvious, but while Ash was away for a long weekend I surprised him with a freshly painted bathroom and some slender shelves over the toilet. Four narrow strips of pine from our local Home Hardware did the trick, added a couple of coats of glossy white, and the tiniest of L-shaped brackets since the figures don’t weigh much at all. Of course, the Justice League was standing proudly at centre stage. 

Ash was over the moon! It adds a lot of colourful fun to a room we’re kind of stuck with as renters. More than a couple of our friends have outed themselves as comic nerds, and after a good dinner party we always find a few figures in creative positions. Not surprisingly, almost everyone goes for Green Lantern.