Hello Again

Is it autumn already, judging by the heat it still feels like summer.  We’re very lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

There are so many exciting things going on this year… where do I start? I guess you could say we are ‘officially’ open, our signage is finally complete. All passers-by now know who is inside that big concrete building on Gateway Drive and what we do, thanks to Chris and his cherry picker. Stay tuned for our new look website due to be launched very shortly.

I think I will need to book a holiday at home to fit in with all the travel this year both internationally and up and down the east coast of Australia. I recently visited the Trade Fairs in Sydney which were fantastic, it is essential to check out new products, so Jaye and I had a whirlwind trip to see some of our most trusted suppliers, plus a few new ones that have popped up.

Miele, one of our favourite brands, has invited me to an exclusive luncheon in Melbourne in April prepared by the fabulous Shannon Bennett of Vue de Monde. I’ve had the pleasure of his outstanding cooking before so I’m pretty excited to be included in this brilliant event to launch a new series of Miele products.

I also ventured down to Melbourne re our winery project and had a fabulous helicopter ride with some lovely friends to Levantine Hill in the Yarra Valley for lunch – great way to travel.

In April three of us have another big install in beautiful Queenstown, I’ll definitely get away from the heat there.  In May I am co-hosting a small interior design tour of LA and NYC – too much to say about that, so I’ll let you know how that goes after the event.  I have another couple of really interesting trips abroad later in the year, which I’ll also tell you about closer to the time.

We have a new team member, Claudia Poch, originally from South America, Claudia is a very experienced, savvy designer, who has moved her family from Sydney to be with us.  Pretty cool.

I am currently working on a project that we actually did some years ago, but it goes without saying that after years of abuse (did I say that?  I meant USE) by holidaymakers, we are going back in to revitalize some apartments to make sure they stay current and vibrant.  Australians are very discerning travellers and they expect to see energized spaces when they return to their favourite holiday places.  I regard refurbishment as advertising for a business, without advertising, a business will never reach its full potential, and so it is with holiday investment properties.  It is easy for us to see what needs to be done, often just reupholstering a sofa can breathe new life into an otherwise ordinary place.  I remember the chair that some clients gave me, that was sitting in their attic for years, and when they saw how we had reupholstered it they wanted it back!

All the best to you and I do hope, if I don’t speak to you before Easter, that you have a good break.

Di Henshall FDIA MBIID
Design Director
Licensed Builder
Accredited Designer DIA