Scout Finch

It’s a four-day long weekend and I’ve spent the time pottering around the house, eating many delicious goodies and going for long walks with the boys!

We’ve also spent the weekend catching up with our architect and putting together solid plans for the much-talked about home renovations.

I’m equally scared and excited by the prospect, which is hilarious given we’ve been talking non-stop about them for the past two years.

Finally, a house that we both love and not a property that we live in for investment or functional purposes. We’ve even lived in a house because it was perfect for the dog! Have I mentioned in the 10 years we’ve been together, we’ve lived in seven places?

A house that we want to live in built for us, even complete with a doggie haven: the thought of it makes me giddy.

Like everything else in my life, I have planned and researched this project to the last detail.

When I say “research”, I mean spent A LOT of time flipping through home and décor magazines and pinterest…all in the name of research.

I thought it would be a good chance to show my inspiration board behind the proposed renovations of our small three-bedroom cottage – hopefully we can make at least some of this a reality soon!

If you find this all rather boring and self-indulgent, a post about cool places I’ve scouted out is coming up very soon.

Follow me at https://www.pinterest.com/scoutandfinch/

Founded in 2000, AURA by Tracie Ellis has always strived to create uninhibited, stylish bed linen, homewares and rugs.

And for probably the same amount, I’ve had a mad crush for their beautiful items. Our house is a walking Aura catalogue. With the release of their new stock, I though now would be a great time to speak to the marvellous woman behind the range – Tracie.

Tracie is a talented textile designer who created AURA. She designs every range with her small team of creatives from her office in Melbourne. She is a bit of a workaholic but has recently become the proud owner of a magnificent country home. She retreats there every weekend with her husband David and their dog Max. She loves to cook and garden and entertain friends who live in the same country town.

See below for our small chat and check out the photos of her new release!

Tell me about Aura

Although inspired by years of global meandering, we design all our products back home in Melbourne, and while we’ve seen many trends come and go, we believe it’s our forward-looking approach that sets us apart. We have had an evolution over those 14 years, from muted textures to extravagant colour, grand shapes and daring patterns. AURA is all about fashion in the home – we love the combination of amazing colour, bold prints & the unique hand–made. Yes, AURA is a little bit Scandinavian, a little bit Indian, but AURA is mainly a whole lot of Melbourne.

How big is the team?
The Aura team consists of seven very passionate & talented team members plus our dedicated warehouse staff.

Will aura ever open a store, or happy to continue online sales and being a stockist for larger stores?
Never say never, it would be fabulous to one day have an AURA concept store. Watch this space!

What is in store for 2015?
We will be 15 years old! 15 years of fabulous homewares being launched with a brand new range of bedding, accessories, rugs and towels, all at the Feb 2015 Life in Style fair in Sydney.

Your website says the inspiration is Scandinavian meet Indian? Why those two influences?
I travel a lot, for business and pleasure, and in my travels I love to visit Scandinavia and India in particular. I have been visiting India for over 20 years and working with the same suppliers, who are not just business partners but friends.

One thing I love the most about the Aura products is the beautiful materials – my red flower (light blue backing) doona (bought 2 years ago) has the most gorgeous material – where do the team source their material/fabrics from?

That particular “Peony” design is printed on a beautiful long staple pure cotton sateen. All of our fabrics are sourced from India, China and Thailand and we only use the highest quality fabrics to ensure softness and longevity. All of our bedlinen is woven from either Pure Cotton or Linen Cotton and we pride ourselves on giving the customer great quality fabric on the front and reverse of our products. We are also very proud of our hand-made products made in India, we have a very special supplier who hand screen-prints all of our AURA cushions.

I love how you partner with great names and brands – ie Jason Grant etc. Who else do you partner with and what are the benefits?
It is great to be able to collaborate with partners in our industry – it is as a way of working with other very talented people and companies and being able to make our loyal customers aware of other like-minded brands and people, and their fabulous products. As well as Jason we have also partnered with Ergoflex memory foam mattresses – an amazing range of memory foam mattress that have only been available in Australia for a few year. Good bed linen needs a superior mattress! And we have another great partnership coming up. Watch this space for more info.

To check out their website visit www.aurahome.com.au or click here

Don’t judge me. I love my dog immensely – to the point sometimes I think I’m going to hug him too tight and he’ll stop breathing – but I get a bit bored with the whole walking-him-on-a-regular-basis thing. I mean really. Walk the dog, pick up poop, and repeat – no even general chit chat. Anyhow, I have worked out how to make it better.

And the solution came about more than a year ago when a cool shop opened near us. Ideology at Banyo is a quirky little place full of beautiful furniture, clothes, books and general knick knacks that spark the interest of the owner. Located across from the train station, it has great little finds.

So now when I walk the dog, I shove some cash in my bra and swing by the shop (which has great opening hours that work with people who work during the day) and have a squiz as a reward.

Before you get on your high horse, there is a post directly outside the shop door where I tie the dog up with a bowl of water and can see him at all times. (see, I said no judging!). Many of these little “dog walks” have resulted in some great finds for the home and the wardrobe. I have also picked up many birthday presents for the past year there.

Although it’s getting to the stage where I might have to invest in a saddle to put on the dog so he can carry the purchases home.

But don’t take my word for it, have a read of my little chat with the owner of Ideology below:

What was the motivation behind it? The residents of our little village of Banyo (and surrounding sister suburbs, Nudgee & Virginia) had limited options available to source interesting home and gift products. I also wanted to create an experience for our guests, which go beyond picking mass-produced products from shelves. We had a very meagre budget to start off with, so initiated a space to lease to local hand-craft and pre-loved clothing.. .over the last 15 months, we continue to evolve to our market’s demands.

Why do you stock so many local artisans? Ideology continues to support our local artisans (20% of our products in store are created by local artists), however, we also offer an array of unusual gift, home and personal fashion labels to suit a diverse group of guests.

Have you always been in this field? I had worked in hospitality and within the airline industry throughout my previous ‘life’.  I had only experienced a short stint in assisting at a gift shop the year prior to opening ideology.

Is this your first store of this kind? If not, how long have you been involved? This is absolutely the first store of its kind I have had the experience of developing, 15 months in the making. . . this has been a journey of self-development in the unknown!

Where do most of your items come from? 20% of our products are created by local artisans (ceramics, pottery, body products, jewellery etc), The home decor is sourced from all over the globe, naturally, I have agents throughout Australia who import the pieces, and I have the joy of choosing what I believe my guests will most likely respond well too. Our clothes are all Australian designs. We base our choices to suit all budgets and are partial to garments that fit into the ”lifestyle” category – comfortable and presentable from the beginning of your day, to the later hours of the evening. Our homewares range from ceramic hand-painted drawer knobs, gorgeous hand-stitched textile cushions, to quirky lanterns and lighting.  Prices for a treasured find in ideology starts at just $5.50 – allowing for all budgets to source a quality product.

And opening hours? Mon     Closed Tues    10 – 4 Wed     10 – 6pm (we offer our community mid-week later evening shopping) Thurs   10 – 4 Fri        10 – 4pm Sat        9 – 12 Sun       Closed So there you have it, maybe make your next dog walk a little more interesting by swinging by Ideology. If you see a black-and-white dog tied up at the front watching his owner madly darting back and forth, then come and say hello, but don’t try to get in the way of me and the glass door knobs I’m collecting.