Photo File: Missoni Hotel, Edinburgh

Missoni, Missoni everywhere. Gorgeous fabrics all over the room.

I’ve always loved Missoni, the Italian fashion label founded in 1953 by Ottavia and Rosita Missoni. Their colourful, woven knitwear and fabrics, now walk the runways and adorn luxurious homes around the world. And a whole hotel in Edinburgh. I had a spare night in Edinburgh recently so it was perfect timing for a night of luxury at Hotel Missoni.

Check in was a treat with staff wearing funky Missoni kilts – the guys looking particularly hunky in their long socks. It was quick and seamless, the check in that is, and I was up exploring the room in record time. There are Missoni fabrics and prints everywhere in the room, which you’d think was quite busy, but it all worked to create a calming and sophisticated space. The wooden floorboards were a nice touch, you don’t normally see those in a hotel room, and as an asthmatic, I love them.

Complimentary San Pellegrino and local Scottish sparkling is a lovely touch.

Beautifully printed Missoni coffee cups and wallpaper

San Pellegrino mineral waters and Scottish sparkling water are complimentary, as is the coffee – complete with espresso machine. The coffee cups are so gorgeous, I wish they were complimentary too, but you can buy them in the lobby. The bathroom does a lot with a smallish space – the walk in shower is great, with the added pleasure of Missoni gowns. The slippers are heaven and I’m still using these at home.

Wrap yourself in these gorgeous Missoni gowns. You can buy these from the gift shop.

Very generous portions of Missoni toiletries.

These comfy Missoni slippers are still on rotation at home.

I’d already had a few nights in Edinburgh, so I opted to have dinner in house in the Italian restaurant on the first floor. Great decision, even as a solo diner. Sometimes you can feel like a bit of a goose solo dining, but the staff here were fantastic – all Italian boys – and very interested in food and wine. I have some great conversations with the sommelier about the wines I try, even a few sneaky sips of some wines he wants me to try, and extra bites from the waiter. I walk away feeling like I’ve had dinner with the whole group of them.

Semi-private privacy curtain mutes the view.

A new building in an old, old, town.

The Royal Mile of Edinburgh, tourist lifeblood of the city and a step back in time.

The walk up Arthur’s Seat is a great way to work off the haggis.

The view over Edinburgh from Athur’s Seat.

In 2014 Scotland welcomes the world to join in the exciting Year of Homecoming. Visit Scotland are encouraging anyone with Scottish heritage or a passion for Scotland to head to the homeland for a visit. My night at Missoni was courtesy of Creative Holidays who can put together great stopovers – flights, accommodation and activities.

Mat Knobel talks all things SpringOut

 

Mathew Knobel is the Canberra based owner and director of Typeyard Design & Advertising and committee member of Canberra Pride who organise the SpringOut festival each year. In the light of the recent Marriage Equality Act, I spoke to Mat recently about SpringOut and why it matters to the local community.

Why is an event like this significant for the Queer community of Canberra?
SpringOut brings in to focus the Queer culture of Canberra. It is a festival for everyone. It will showcase more than 20 events and reveal as many facets of queer culture as possible. It not only celebrates Canberra’s GLBTI community, it informs, educates and inspires. It’s one of those festivals where people reunite; bringing them out of the suburbs and bringing them together at social events rather than the local token gay bar. It holds a special place in the hearts of the community and its significance in that respect is major.

The thing that’s unique about SpringOut is the community aspect. In larger cities, you don’t get that sense of ownership at a festival, you’ll always be a guest, whereas in Canberra you get a sense of ownership of this project. SpringOut connects with Canberrans.

What is the history of the event? How did it start?
Launched in 1999, SpringOut Festival began with, literally, two volunteers, and now has an enthusiastic team of six, who spend about four months of each year planning. This team has brought a renewed sense of optimism and celebration to the festival. From 1999 to today, it’s become a more mature festival and this year the festival is bigger and better than ever before. There’s a real sense of excitement within the community.

What are your highlights for SpringOut?
Topped and tailed by signature events Fairday this Saturday 9 November and Bushdance on Saturday 23 November, the two-week festival is crammed with events for people of all ages. Highlights include dance parties, bake-offs, a talk by Sydney barrister and author Mark Tedeschi regarding transgender issues, and a performance by ARIA-winning pianist and former Canberra girl Sally Whitwell. Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr, who met his now-husband at Fair Day, leads a tour of wineries in the Canberra region. Check out the details at the end of this post.

How did you get involved in the Spring Out festival?
I was passionate and eager to be more involved in the community and through my business, Typeyard Design & Advertising, offered the SpringOut guys the prospect of rebranding and designing materials for the promotion of the festival. From there, I was invited to be on the board of Canberra Pride (responsible for the managing and developing of the SpringOut festival and the rest, as they say, is history! I’m pleased and proud to be involved in the development of what I call ‘an organic beast’ – each year the festival changes, continues to grow and becomes its own creation. It’s very exciting!

What is the Queer community like in Canberra?
Our community is very diverse. Not only that, but proud. There’s a renewed optimism in the Canberra community, especially since the passing of the Marriage Equality Same-Sex bill in the ACT Legislative Assembly in October. I would also say that it’s a very close-knit community that always shows support and kindness.

Canberra has its own gay bar, a local gay mag and several other LGBT-owned businesses and social networks. It’s a very friendly gay scene.

Any tips for people coming along to the events?
Book, book, book! LOL…We encourage people to book for the events like Sally Whitwell, Wine Barr, and the cinema events. An Evening with Mark Tedeschi will also be popular so we encourage people to book early for this event as well.

Fairday will have food and beverage stalls but feel free to bring a picnic and sit on the lawns of Westlund House and enjoy the day.

We are so proud of this year’s festival. The range of events we think will cater for many groups in Canberra’s GLBTI community. We encourage everyone to come along to some of the events and see what Canberra’s Queer culture is all about.

Fairday 
Saturday 9 November Set in the leafy and shaded grounds of Westlund House. Colourful stalls, musicians, artists and fabulous food stands are spread around the green lawns of this hub for Canberra’s queer community.

Victor Victoria 
Tuesday 12 November Screening of the classic 1982 musical comedy about gender perceptions, discrimination and the battle of the sexes.

BAKE 
Saturday 16 November Deliciously good and heaps of fun! Grab those aprons and make a difference in the kitchen. Canberra’s inaugural LGBTI charity bake off.

Big Gay Champagne Breakfast
 Sunday 10 November Eat, drink and be merry on a beautiful spring mooring with all your fabulous friends. It’s on again, the FUSE SpringOut big gay champagne breakfast.

Wine Barr
 Sunday 17 November at Tilley’s Devine Café

Sally plays a gig 
Tuesday 19 November Concert by pianist Sally Whitwell whose most recent album of music by Michael Nyman won the 2013 ARIA Award for best classical album.

QUILTBAGS: a queer night of storytelling 
Thursday 21 November Queer; Unidentified; Intersex; Lesbian; Transgender; Bisexual; Asexual; Gay; Straight. A group of generous Canberrans captivate their audience through the timeless tradition of storytelling.

Galaxy Club Retro 
Friday 22 November – Galaxy Nightclub, Casino Canberra A fun night of dancing to 80s and 90s retro classics. Madonna, Kylie, Pet shop Boys, all designed to have you dancing the night away with friends. Tickets are $10 at the door.

In conversation with Mark Tedeschi 
Saturday 23 November Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi talks about one of the least known criminal trials in Australian legal history.

Bushdance 
Saturday 23 November A fun night of dancing with people of all flavours. There is a bar, BBQ and a live band to lead you through those dances that you might remember from primary school – like Strip the Willow, The Waves of Bondi, crazy polkas and some more genteel promenades. By the end of the night you’ll have danced with everyone, caught up with old friends, made some new ones and helped raise cash for the GLBTI community.

For more festival information head to the SpringOut website or check the listings above.

La Vie Magazine: State of the Art Interiors

“Striking new lobbies, light-filled guestrooms, warm and welcoming colour palettes, all-new conveniences. You won’t recognise many of Accor’s recently renovated hotels if you haven’t visited recently.”

Accor Hotels have a great online magazine called La Vie, and at the moment you can see a piece I did about their renovated hotels. It’s a gallery, so take a look here. How gorgeous is the bathroom in that picture, I can imagine a very long bath with bubbles of both kinds. Bliss.

Late Wednesday Link Love: Design Blogs

Oops, this is a day late. I’ve haven’t been sleeping on the job (in the bed above from Design Every Day) but I wanted to make sure you all saw my post about Alex Nagle and the work he is doing for The Wayside Chapel.

But now it’s back to business and share my favourite design blogs. There are loads out there and for my money, they are the best designed blogs around. No surprises there.

Yellowtrace is my favourite design blog, by Sydneysider Dana Tomic. I had the pleasure of interviewing Dana a few years back and it was great to hear how Yellowtrace had developed in leaps and bounds quickly over the previous six months. A trained and practising interior designer, Dana has a knack of finding design curiosities and beautiful interiors.

The Design Files has been around for a while now and markets itself as Australia’s most popular design blog. Lucy Feagins explores the homes of creative people, which I love, features products I mostly describe as whimsical (ugh, hate that word!) and now seems to be bridging across into art as well.

Design*Sponge is a product and DIY heavy site featuring some awesome little gems, like the Gilded Terracotta Pots, my next home project!

Pinterest. If you aren’t on it, I would almost suggest not signing up as it is such a beautiful time sucker you may possibly become addicted. It’s like having beautiful things delivered to your eyes every day. Bliss.

Desire to Inspire is the work of Kim from Ottawa, Canada and Jo from Brisbane, Australia. They have never met, but found each other via Flickr. I loved their spread of writer Nikki Gemmel’s home, especially her left-handed chair! Love it!

Anna Spiro runs both her blog Absolutely Beautiful Things and Brisbane design store Black & Spiro. I particularly love her appreciation of patterned fabric.

I like interiors that aren’t perfect and Gild and Grace seems to feature spaces that I think, ooh I’d live in that room.

Tina Roth Eisenberg, runs Swiss Miss blog and design studio from New York. Quirky, political and great design.

Where do you go for design inspiration? Share your favourites in the comments below. 

And the winner of the Everplaces travel apps is “Sharking for Chips and Drinks” for sharing that Laos is the place he can’t wait to travel to. Me too! Send an email to stephaniewilliams_78@hotmail.com to claim your prize Sharking.