Upside down style

Image of DC Espresso Coffee Shop besthouseinterior.com

Remember that fantastic 90's craze of Magic Eye books.  Full of bright kaleidoscope like imagery that made you go cross-eyed (and I do believe that was the whole point) only to reveal an amazing shape that jumped out from the page and played tricks with your eyeballs!

Electrolux wine pendant light by seeingdesign.com

Well being the curious bunny that I am I decided to venture off the beaten track and celebrate an intellectual yet challenging kind of style.  

Image: Sky Planters from Boskke

Upside down, back-to-front, whatever you call it a great interior needs to have a sense of quirk to challenge the norm and still be stylish - like these clever and slightly odd sky planters.  A work mate brought one of these as a gift for his sister the other day and I think they are the 'bees knees'.  In NZ you'll find these at The Department Store in Takapuna or online at Boskke.

Indeed there is a fine line between clever and just plain weird but there is something so intriguing about reworking a standard object to become something else altogether, something just as interesting and stylish.

Versatile dress by butterbynadia.com

In fashion you would liken this kind of creative style to the versatile dresses that can be worn 50 million ways, or the 'wait there's more' jackets that can be worn inside out and outside in.  An adorable brand we have in NZ that often pushes the boundaries of versatile style is Taylor boutique as seen below.

Versatile wrap tunic from Taylor

Now for a tutorial: Fancy you're own little slice of juxtaposed style (for the ladies), try this funky upside down braid - it's B-A-N-A-N-A's.

Upside Down French Braid 

I don't quite know how I got so intrigued by this quirky take on style.  But I think it has something to do with one of my favourite shows at the mo The Block NZ .  Aussies will know this concept but for those that need a synopsis it's like The Amazing Race for house renovation - but with less contestants (and no world travel). I probably haven't talked it up well but it is a great watch (trust me;-).

In week two my fave team Ben and Libby created this amazing feature wall by reusing their old Matai floor boards and as you can see this is pretty inspirational.

The show announces the winner tonight so fingers crossed that by this time next week they'll be the winners (haha).  Nonetheless they've inspired me (and this blog post) and hopefully you have been inspired too.

Til next time...