Retail Therapy, Baby!

It all started on Sunday when LM promised me an adventure. We were lying in bed at the time, so he is forgiven for not seeing what the weather was doing. He does this with some frequency – the adventures, that is. He’s a pretty good adventurer, too.

The first thing we always need to establish is whether or not our adventure is to be dog friendly. Sunday’s adventure, it was agreed, was to include the pup. Initially, this adventure was going to consist of brunch at Swell – a great wee dining institution at Bronte complete with a view of the water – followed by a walk along the coast to Coogee – arguably one of Sydney’s most scenic walks along the sea wall.

From the comfort of our bed (more on that later), LM made a reservation for an outdoor table (no pups inside restaurants). We rose and prepared only to step outside to find reasonably heavy rain…

Intrepid urban adventurers that we are, we continued onto Swell. They’ve changed the menu since we were last there. We reckon it’s better. Outdoor heaters kept us toastie and there was plenty of cover from the rain. However, it was mutually agreed that walking to Coogee was a foolhardy endeavour. LM proposed Plan B…

Perhaps it was time for us to check out the very fabulous new Spence & Lyda showroom in Chalmers Street, Surry Hills? Of course, we knew from experience that the S&L team are very puppy friendly, especially towards poodles! An easy decision, then.

Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this most swoon-worthy outfit, Spence & Lyda was established in 1997 and quickly become a standard in the retail design industry for its use of colour and pattern. Their product range spans all the areas of life, including feature lighting, loose furniture and textiles, through to area rugs, soft furnishings, bedding and accessories. They also specialise in the manufacture of custom-made furniture and living pieces. So, as you can imagine, in terms of price-point it’s not like heading to Ikea for a few essentials.

At this juncture, I feel it is appropriate to confide a few personal things:

– I am the daughter of an accountant and a German. As you might imagine, I am fond of planning and order.
– LM is an impulsive kind of guy. He trusts his gut. He rarely examines price tags.
– For quite some time, we have been talking about the idea of purchasing a new bed. Ours has a rather large bump running down the middle of it, affectionately known as ‘the Hill’, as in “Oh, I see you have scaled the hill to kiss me good morning”.

Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a coloured pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling. (Gilbert K. Chesterton)

With those things in mind, and remembering that we had not planned to buy a bed that day, let me show you a picture of the bed LM purchased approximately ten minutes after walking into Spence & Lyda, while I was still talking poodles with various other parties…

Designed by Matthew Hilton, the Hepburn Bed is available in solid wood – American Black Walnut or American White Oak – and a range of fabrics for the head-board. Once I had picked myself off the (very nice) showroom floor, we chose the black walnut and dark grey felt head-board for our new bed. You’d think that I would be used to LM’s largesse by now.

I will give you that it is GORGEOUS. As the brochure says – “an elegant lightness of appearance, its slender body raised upon wishbone-shaped timber legs. Innovatively borrowing from traditional chair joinery, the leg joints have maximum structural integrity due to the lone grain connections throughout. Optional side tables connect intuitively to the underside of the bed.”

There’s just one teeny wee thing. I don’t want to seem ungracious. Truly. I’m looking forward to the day we don’t have to negotiate ‘the Hill’ like you wouldn’t believe, but take a look at that image. There’s no way you can have anything stored under that bed. You’ll ruin the lines of the design. I have a lot of under-bed clearing to do before my new Hepburn arrives…

For you out-of-towners, Spence & Lyda have an online store. You can find it here.