From Down Under & Across the Pond, A Few of Our Favorite Design Blogs

Showing the love for our favorite bloggers abroad.

New York design bloggers get lots of love in print and among their peers for two possible reasons: a.) they blog within the same fishbowl and, thus, are probably neighbors below Union Square or across the bridge in Park Slope or Fort Greene; and/or b.) that fishbowl, not a very big one, happens to be the hub of all things design and media. In short, it’s a good place to blog. But what of our English-blogging friends in Australia and the UK? Melbourne is the cultural and design center of Australia. Sydney is always beachy, gorgeous and inspirational. London: well, we’re obsessed these days and vigilantly watching.

Here are the bloggers and curators we’ve been keeping our eyes on for delivering the best in design, architecture, trends and interiors from down under and across the pond.

The Design Files

Melbourne set dresser and stylist Lucy Feagins’ blog The Design Files is like the Aussie version of Apartment Therapy, Design*Sponge and A Cup of Jo combined. The Design Files has been featured in Australian publications including The Age, Design Quarterly, and Real Living and The Times (UK) called it one of the world’s Top 50 design blogs. She’s a self-confessed full-time blogger now who speaks regularly at design and publishing industry events.

A Beach Cottage

A breezy blog to source for inspiration, as we ourselves have doneA Beach Cottage became a design favorite almost from the word “renovate.” Four years ago, the blog’s author (Sarah) bought a rundown cottage on the beaches of Sydney – “tatty,” as she described, “but heaving with potential” – and started documenting her adventures in decorating (often using a hand mixed painting technique, white linens upon linens, stripes galore). Visitors from all over the globe continue to log in and comment daily on her pretty posts on re-using and re-purposing “old cast-offs” from flea markets, garage sales, the sea.

The aesthetic is vintage, better put: “the faded patina of the past mixed together with a healthy dose of white.”

Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope, authored by a graphic designer in Sydney is a color junkie’s dream fix (much like Bright.Bazaar for palette addicts in the UK). Also a heavy focus on stationary, typography and Scandinavian design.

Confessions of a Design Geek

Confessions of a Design Geek, authored by Brit blogger Katie Treggiden, is exemplary for its focus on in-depth and personal interviews and conversations with designers, eighteen of which were compiled into a book called Interviews (now stocked in London’s Design Museum and the V&A).

We Heart

By far, the top design blog (online lifestyle and design magazine) in the UK. We Heart is also recognized internationally for being a authority on design and culture, and one of the most influential curators in lifestyle, trends and all things lust-worthy.

 

Images: John Goode; Brian Costelloe; Mugley; Maistora

K. Emily Bond

K. Emily Bond is the Shelter Editor at EcoSalon and currently resides in southern Spain, reporting on trends in art, design, sustainable living and lifestyle.