Savon Noir & Goodbye Detergent

Not a lot of spare time for photography lately.  Have been forgetting to take the camera to the shop for renovation updates but will do so tomorrow. 

Great, clean table and clean Thunder Stones!!!

Some new arrivals from TADE. 

The gorgeous wonki ware pudding bowls.

Great October light.

Favourite book, Bailey's Simple Home.

Product of the week!  I am always sceptical about new cleaning products, but I have been trialling several  of the eco friendly "Goodbye Detergent"  products lately and they are very effective.  Well deserving of their awards. 

SAVON NOIR : 

• Add 5 to 10 drops of citrus essential oil with cleansing properties to black soap before cleaning your floors.
• In a spay bottle, combine a tablespoon of black soap, 1 litre of water and around 10 drops of citrus or rosemary essential oil : this homemade household cleaning product is practical to use, environmentally friendly and economical.

Second product of the week!  SAVON NOIR.

Shown here in its paste form but is also available in liquid.  Savon Noir is a natural and pure product for sealing and maintaining absorbent surfaces.  Savon Noir has been used in the Mediterranean for centuries to seal terracotta and other masonry surfaces.

Derived from black olives, this pure soap is produced in the South of France and has a history spanning thousands of years.

Interesting other uses include in brief (will post in more detail soon):

Organic gardening - diluted with water and sprayed onto infested plants

Cleaning:

laundry  -  washing clothes, stain removal 

BBQs - removes grease

cars, bikes, boats etc  

paint stains - removes from fabric

windows

floor and tiled surfaces

kitchen -  surfaces, cookers, dishes

leather - cleans, maintains and nourishes

pets - a natural and conditioning shampoo

copper and silver!!! yeah ok, who cleans copper and silver?



Personally I have found Savon Noir great for sealing our limestone bench and the outdoor table shown above, for cleaning leather boots and car seats, and for cleaning stainless steel range hoods.  This slightly addictive product is available now on our website and will be in the shop very soon!!!

SAVON NOIR carries the "Good Environmental Choice Label", so if you are after green ratings for building projects, it's perfect for sealing concrete floors, benches etc.

busy

There have not been many spare moments to update the blog lately.   When there has been a moment I have taken to the garden for some therapy!!!

Things are looking hopeful for a late November first week in December opening.  Stock has been continuing to arrive so we are now officially packed to the rafters! 

renovation update

 The suspended slab for the first floor will be poured on Monday, we should have windows and a door on the ground floor shortly after that. 

This is the new space on the ground floor. 



decisions decisions decisions

1001 decisions to be made when undertaking a renovation, no wonder people seek help!!!  Don't you just hate those last few agonising minutes before you make the final decision on a permanent item such as a bench top or a window frame colour, even though you have known what you have wanted for 12 months!  It is final, no more thinking or visualizing to be done.  Move on to the next decision!  

I am designing all finishes and colours for the shop and the apartment around our first colour palette.  Murobond have a beautiful range of timber stains, so I had already decided to use the white limewash on hoop pine ply for all the joinery doors and the shop counter.   We have concrete floors upstairs and down, and at this stage I think that will stay natural as opposed to have a wash of colour.   After looking at some concrete bench samples this morning I think the benches in the kitchen will be left natural concete colour as well.

Throw in a little natural linen here and there to soften the look and we should have an easy to work with neutral base to build on.   Important to me is that we use hardwaring surfaces and nothing too precious!

These are the wonki ware pudding bowls and salt dishes with some of the Murobond colours from the first colour palette together with samples for counters and the apartment kitchen.

wonki ware

Our shipment of wonki ware has arrived from South Africa, and at least one set will be lucky to make it to the shop shelves.   Sold as a set of 6 or as individual pieces.  Pieces include dinner plates, side plates, soup bowls, pudding bowls, large and small salad bowls, salt dishes and jugs.

What is the wonki ware story, I hear you ask!?!

Wonki ware is handmade in South Africa, it's tag reads, "Keeping the Art of Pottery Alive".  Di Marshall, the creative person behind wonki ware employs local South Africans to handmake the pottery.

Why is it so Good!?!

Wonki ware is chip resistant, dishwasher and oven proof.  The dinner plates are a generous 30cm +, all pieces are handmade so each has it's own characteristics, hence the name wonki ware.   And, of course it looks and feels devine!

Who loves wonki ware?

Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson both love to 'plate up' on wonki ware.

Why do I love wonki ware?

It has a very relaxed, down to earth feel, while still being of exceptional quality.  I know the story behind what I am buying and I know that the people who made it enjoyed doing so and were paid fairly for their efforts. 

Where can I buy it?

Wonki ware is exclusive to ecoco in Tasmania.   We received a limited amount of complete dinner sets in this shipment (which by the way did an unexpected detour via Madagascar) along with 24 large and small salad or fruit bowls in white and blue/grey.   Dinner sets come in all white or sand, which is white with a sand coloured edge.

So to all the foodies out there, if you are in the market for some new dinner ware, wonki ware is a must see and feel!

Contact us via the website if you are interested in having a sneak peek or would like pricing information.

renovation update - slab day

Today the concrete slab was poured....

The guys had an early start this morning, when I arrived at 8.30 most of the slab had been poured.

By lunch it was done!!!

This photo is taken from the back of the slab looking through the new opening in the wall towards the front of the shop.  Block work walls will start going up on Monday.  Hope the boys enjoy their slab!!!

Looking for Inspiration

style files

interior eye candy style files

Lake House in Montauk NY

Pinch design London



Most inspired by...... indoor outdoor furniture, concrete floor and the rough rendered wall.