meet melanie king of design heaven...

for todays post i'm featuring one of my favourite blogs and bloggers to boot...design heaven, owned by australian gal living in dublin...

i asked mel to tell me and my readers a little bit about herself to start off our q&a session...

Hi Custard by Design readers, my name is Mel and I run the blog Design Heaven. Basically I love writing about, looking at and dreaming about interior design. A few years ago I completed a diploma in interior design and recently started a design company, Design By KiCo with my partner. We have just released the first of our home textiles and will be releasing more products over the next few months...

Describe your work…?

Design Heaven is something I do in my spare time so its lucky I love blogging about interiors and try hard to post on a daily basis. Most of the posts are about interior and furniture design but I do occasionally post recipes for irregular Foodie Friday feature. Although my blog is all about what I like in interior design my taste is constantly evolving which helps keep it fresh. And by evolving I mean I am constantly changing my mind...

What are you excited about in the world of design today…?

An interior design trend that has always excited me is turning an old piece of furniture in to something new either through new fabric or paint or through restoration. I find most interiors that really inspire me are a mixture of old and new and the best interiors are developed over time rather than put together in a month...

What do you think about the current state of interior architecture / interior design in Ireland...?

Its great to see that the Irish design blog community is getting bigger. It shows there is a real desire for more local news in interior and furniture design. I especially love some of the new design studios such as Superfolk and love the furniture designed by Vaugh Shannon studios...

What is a website that inspires you...?

There are also some really inspiring design websites out there which are jam packed with lots of fabulous interiors and ideas. I must have about hundred blogs that I visit on a regular basis but one site you can always guarantee there will something stunning to look at has to be the Living Etc's site...

Which architect-designed hotel/house would you like to spend a weekend in...?

Generally speaking I am not a big fan of staying in hotels as most disappoint however I loved my stay in Bellinteer House a few years back. It was effortless plus the interiors are to die for. We started off with a treatment in their spa, then got ready for dinner which from memory was yummy then chilled out in the drawing room for the rest of evening drinking wine by the fire. In the morning we went for walk in the grounds and a quick splash in the indoor swimming pool before checking out. Its was a very relaxing stay...

melanie...thanks very much for taking the time to connect with me and give me an insight to the gal behind design heaven...i can't believe your not a big fan of staying in hotels - i'm a big one for checking in somewhere new and interesting and checking it out...i'm also very pleased to see your top choice is an irish hotel too...

i have to say, when i'm researching a project living etc is a must stop for me...there's is always so much inspiration to be found there...

please check out melanies blog design heaven at the link below and i'm already looking forward to seeing what new additions are added to her online store...

http://designheaven.wordpress.com/