Monday, 10 August 2015

Confessions of a Time Poor Bee

If you're like me, I can sometimes over analyse things like crazy and make things sound way worse in my thoughts, than what the reality is; especially when it's written down and I can re read it several times and realise it's not as scary as I'm making it out to be. It's kind of like how my life is at the moment.

I'm a little lost for motivation. There's so much going on in my busy life that I'm slightly concerned that I've taken on too much in a small time frame and kind of overwhelmed myself. At the same time I think its good that I've pushed myself in the deep end and I'm actually surprised at how I am jumping through the hurdles and making it out to the other side. But this is early talks for the moment.

I'm just shy of working three months full time plus I'm in my fourth week of my third year, second semester at uni AND my third week of learning interior design. My gosh is the work load catching up on me! I sit in class at uni some days and just think, "how can I keep doing this"? Proposals and critiques are keeping my mind away from Bali and it hurts to have it sitting at the back of my mind.

On the other hand, my design course is going amazing. All of my weekly exercises are ideas coming from my memories of Bali, colours you can't escape and textures you see around every corner. I've just got to keep on top of things and be organised. I guess this is the beginning of what its like to finally 'grow up' and live in the adult world. I don't really like it just yet. I guess you could call it "adjusting".

So I'm posting a new checklist. One not everyone will appreciate and some may call boring. But I need to post it for me.


  • Finish your proposal
  • Start your memoir
  • Do your principles and design of elements
  • Stay creative
  • Take time away to regather your thoughts
  • Don't give up on your dream
  • Drink plenty of fluids
  • Take care of yourself; you know when you've gone too far
  • Keep the goal in sight
  • Work. Money will get you back to Bali

I'll get back to Bali before I know it. There's piles of lists in my 'notes' app on my laptop, all around the main theme of Bali; the shops I want to source to sell in the boutique, locations, fit outs for the store; the lists are never ending! I need to go to Kikki.k and grab some notebooks I can write in and keep everything together. I'm also very close to announcing the name for the boutique :)
Hmmmm, I guess I do have some things to look forward to and keep me focused on the goal. Head down at uni and work - bring in the money and keep the goal alive and in arms reach!

I know it's a personal thing but if anyone has any ideas of how to keep sane and motivated, please let me in on your little secret below in the comments!




With Love,
Bee x

Monday, 3 August 2015

Shop Fit Out Inspirations

Have you ever opened a grand front door with a large iron handle of a shop and entered in awe? Being so mesmerised with what you are standing in, taking a moment to look around and appreciate the lighting, colour palette, fittings and finally, the merchandise.

This is what I want to create for every person who walks through my boutique store. (I'm still thinking of a name) I want to create an atmosphere that isn't experienced often when they visit a shop. Personally I find myself appreciating more stores in Bali than I do at home in Sydney. They seem to take more pride in the individuality of their style and the presentation of their visual merchandising in the front window displays. 

I have started my interior design diploma at Coco Republic and I couldn't be more happy. I'm learning so much and challenging myself too in what I need to learn and what I actually already had knowledge of but didn't realise. My major project involves having clients from a boutique hotel that I get to design for their penthouse. I have chosen to create a layout for a boutique hotel penthouse to be situated in Batu Belig, reflecting a decorative scheme that does justice for the local culture around the area. So using soft furnishings from homewares stores in the street and stocking the living area with ceramics from Kevala Ceramics. 




Kevala Ceramics store in Batu Belig


There's so much inspiration I take and adapt my style towards. I love linen and leather together; soft furnishings but have such different textures that just fit. Cane is another favourite, it can look hard but with the right colour of material and paired with soft furnishings, they can look luxurious and very Hampton's chic. 

Colours I always seem to go back to are neutrals. Hogs bristle, crisp whites, feather greys and navy tone are fantastic when on their own or used altogether to create a decorative scheme. 

Bali is still a fabulous holiday destination for myself apart from also being the place I want to eventually call home permanently. I like taking the local culture and views surrounding the areas into my interior scheme as well. Palm trees, coconut bowls, sea shells, engraved skulls, recycled timber, ceramics and linen are some things that springs to my mind. Blue waves, vibrant green and yellow leaves of the palms, stained wooden doors, bronzed and iron door handles remind me of the colours I envisage also.












There's so much love for all these starting points. I am so excited to do a buying trip with mum in the next few months for all these statement pieces plus a little goal and test run of having a market stall in the Northen Suburbs of what we wish to sell in the store in Bali. (Will fill you in more in the next coming days !)




With Love,
Bee x

Monday, 27 July 2015

My Top 5 Cafés I found through Social Media

Selamat Pagi,

This morning I'm at uni and just finished my first class. We've been talking about memories and how they're affected through the media. With social media being such a large platform in what seems, everyones lives, our memories are being shared more and more frequently; whether it being through a post or telling the story through a photograph.

So many of my favourite memories come from Bali and in particular its usually based around food. There is nothing I enjoy more than sitting around the café community table, catching up with friends in the late afternoon, talking loudly, with cocktail in hand and cheeks hurting from laughter. The food that arrives after is the start to a very magical evening.

Breakfast is actually my favourite meal of the day. Not because its the one we need the most to fuel our bodies for the day ahead but because it can be enjoyed at any time. There's no rule of what you must consume. There is definitely no shortage of places to tick off in Bali, to go to for breakfast, lunch or dinner. With so many cultures of diversity calling the Island home, many creative people are opening up shop and using the organic produce found in Bali to feed the hungry tummies that are intrigued to try what they're offering.

I couldn't believe how many cafés I found just on Instagram alone, that I just had to add to my list of places to try before I had to return to Sydney. These places are really using their social media platforms (ie. Instagram is the biggest) and relying on the memory that their customers are creating with a snap of a flat lay of their menu choice to bring more people in who love what they see, and want to create the same mouth drooling experience they saw in the picture.

Now that I'm reminiscing on some of the ah-mazing dishes I got to munch on, and coming back to reality knowing that there is nothing that I could put on the same level as what I visited in Bali, I'm going to make you all feel hungry by posting up some of my favourite places I found through Instagram and I ate at over my last trip. ENJOY !


1. Shelter Café


This little bungalow, sitting above Nalu Bowls is bursting with energy and has a real natural feel about it. The wooden tables are recycled, there are wall plants hanging all over the ceiling and the community table is the best if you want to get to know new people and snap in some extra plates of deliciousness. Shelter houses some wonderful organic produce with a cute view of the local soccer fields.




2. Nalu Bowls


It's just under Shelter Café and they really work as a sister store together. Nalu Bowls is like what you want to eat every single day and you don't even care that theres no eggs even though you love eggs. The Mavericks is my all time favourite but you'll have to try them for yourself to find your perfect Nalu Bowl. The granola is devine, and the acai smoothie at the bottom of all the goodness will make you contemplate bribing the friendly staff on where they buy their produce.





3. Revolver Expresso 


Revolver Café is inspired by the 1900s with old photographs and fake guns hung up on the walls. Its a little known secret they make the best coffee around town. There's two locations; the small house - is great to pick up your take away coffee in Petitenget, and then the larger café that has more selections on the menu and space is in Oberoi road in Seminyak. We were stuck looking for this one for quite a number of days before we found it. It is across from Bali Clinic down a little side street. The amount of times we walked past trying to locate it made us laugh.




4. BO$$ MAN 

I absolutely loved this place. It only opened in June this year and the craze about it was insane! Every day we walked past there was a line waiting for a seat to become available. I had the Original Gangster which was just finger licking good. It was messy with juices and homemade aoli that made me ask for more. Mum dived into the Notorious P.I.G. With its 18 hour slow cooked pork belly, who can resist? Bo$$ man are doing everything right. They do take away, delivery and even open until 4am 7 days a week for those late nights coming home from partying. It's also the best cure for a hangover!





5. Sisterfields

Sisterfields is the place to catch up for brunch with your girlfriends and definitely Instagram the flat lay of your table. It was voted most popular food destination while I was up there and they hands down deserved the title. Located next door to Bo$$ Man, it really was a tough day mum and I had in deciding what place to try first. There is almost always a waiting list but once you're seated, the atmosphere is very loud and inviting; even though you're not sharing a table, its so much like a community spirit. 






There are plenty more cafés I want to reminisce about, but I'll drop a list soon of all of them and where you can find them (including these awesome ones). I will also write up a post about restaurants too as I feel cafés and restaurants need to be placed in separate categories - so they each obtain the attention they deserve. In the mean time, drop a comment and let me know of any you've found through social media that didn't disappoint the hype created for them.




With Love,
Bee x

p.s. all photos I have used through this post can be found on each business' Instagram account.

Tuesday, 21 July 2015

The first of many checklists; Things to do in Bali

Selamat Malam,

It's so cold tonight. I'm wrapped up in my blanket my mum purchased from a gorgeous interiors shop in Seminyak, called Mercredi. If you're into homewares and interiors like I am, its a go to for some statement pieces for your home like pillow cases, throws, huge tassels and beautiful handmade bowls and cutlery. 


I'll be posting some lists a bit later on with some of my favourite homewares shops, what they stock, and where I know I need to visit on my next trip.

So while sitting here, all rugged up, I've constantly got Bali on my mind; creating lists of things that I want to accomplish on my next trip. I still haven't managed to tick all of them off, but I think if I get it out there, then it'll push me to actually do it! 


  • Yoga Retreat in Ubud
  • Cooking Classes
  • Bike ride through the rice terraces
  • Trek Mount Batur
  • Visit the Hanging Gardens
  • Start to research into my shop location
  • Take more photos
  • Teach English to children
  • Homewares
  • Be inspired... 


I took this photo in 2014 on the motorbike. Canggu


Please add more ideas in the comments if you have any; I'd love to hear your thoughts



With Love,
Bee x

Monday, 20 July 2015

A little bit about me

Hello to all,

My name is Bee. I'm a 22 year old who is studying Communications at Uni and starting a design course at Coco Republic Design School in Alexandria, Sydney. I suppose everyone needs to have a career goal; mine is interior design - however, my dream is to have my own boutique in Bali, selling unique pieces. 

My love for Bali came when my parents first took me on my first holiday to the Island in 1997. I was five and totally obsessed with everything that came to my sight. Fast forward to 2015 and 22 trips to Bali later, my love has grown even more. 

Now that I'm back in cold Sydney, my Bali Blues kicks in and all I can think about is counting down the time until I'm back on the plane to Denpasar. So my purpose for this blog is to keep you updated on my goals for the future for my boutique, what I plan to stock, how I plan to put my words into action, and also writing about cafes I have tried or follow on Instagram (FOLLOW ME), photos that inspire me, fashion in Bali (I only seem to buy for my wardrobe from Bali), lots of checklists and little bits of homewares and Interior inspirations for my design course, and little ideas for my shop.

I look forward to making many friends through our love for Bali, and sharing content for places we all need to see and try !



With Love,
Bee x