Neutral gear: Interior expert Nicola Travis and her latest design picks
Looking to give your bedroom an overhaul? Here’s how to coast through it.
Looking to give your bedroom an overhaul? Here’s how to coast through it.
FROM THE EXPERT: Nicola Travis
When it comes to styling the ideal bedroom, first decide on your theme and colour palette. Think about what your end goal is for the space – do you want to go for a trend-driven look or create a calm retreat? If you’re the type who likes to update your home with the seasons, it’s best to go for a neutral-coloured base that you can easily transform with new décor items, such as bedding, art and objects.
IN ORDER FROM TOP LEFT 1. WILDE THE LABEL 2. KINDRED ROAD 3. Calm print by MAIKO NAGAO 4. Grove dishes from CITTA 5. ICO TRADERS 6. Column pillar candles by BLACK BLAZE from HUSK HOME 7. HOMEBODY Linen cushion cover 8. Bed linen from FOXTROT HOME 9. FLOORING XTRA 10. Lo bedside table from CORCOVADO 11. THE CANE COLLECTIVE
A good night in next to nothing.
Gregory Davidson from George Street Linen says to invest in the best bed linen, your body and your wellbeing will thank you for it.
Gregory Davidson from George Street Linen says to invest in the best bed linen, your body and your wellbeing will thank you for it.
Don't wear pyjamas. That's the advice from bed linen expert Greg Davidson at George St Linen in Whakatāne. He says if you invest in the most carefully sourced and woven sheets and duvet covers, then you don't want anything else on your skin.
Textiles for life
Gregory has been in textile design for 40 years in New York, Sydney, China, everywhere! He’s travelled the world supervising the production of textiles and design.
The textile centre of the world moved to China, so he lived in Shanghai from 2003 and supplied businesses like John Lewis and Macy's with their own branded linen. He’d been living in Shanghai with 25 million other people, and in 2018 visited Whakatane. “I thought, what a cute little town with no traffic lights! I fell in love with it and saw a 1920s garage for sale, so I bought it, filled it with beautiful bed linen, and here we are,” says Gregory.
Gregory’s guide to the best fibres when it comes to bedlinens:
Au naturel
I'm a great believer in natural fibres. We use cotton, linen, bamboo, wool and merino. The benefit is that they are all temperature regulating, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer.
Cotton
Our cotton is a blend of American, Australia and Chinese. We spin the same cotton, one yarn, and we weave it in different waves. We use the same supplier of yarn as Calvin Klein uses for his underwear.
Percale
A plain weave with a smooth surface, so it's more likely to keep you cool at night.
Sateeen
There are more yarns on the face than on the back, so it's a buttery soft weave, giving a shiny effect that's very soft.
Cotton jersey
This is knitted on a circular machine. We do a reverse twist on every second yarn.
Linen
Our linen is Belgian. We like it because there is a low minerality in Belgian water that makes the linen very strong when it's processed.
I'm linen all the way, it's my personal favourite.
Merino
There are so many benefits with New Zealand-made merino, so I had a sample duvet cover made and slept in it. Total heaven, and very easy to throw in the washer and dryer. I think we are the only ones in the world, I haven't heard of merino duvet covers before.
Colours
We are seeing earthy colours like clay, olive, hazel, cypress. Mustard is being used as an accent, the shot of yellow is very popular.
See the full range at
16 George St, Whakatane
Sisters & Co, 208 Maunganui Rd, Mt Maunganui