Nothing Really to Report BUT....

Hey Guys

OK so to be completely and utterly straight up and honest I've nothing particular to report on the old renovation game this week. Of course there is a most excellent excuse however in that in the last week we've celebrated mother dearest's birthday as well as my birthday and from lunches here, dinners there and of course a bit of a BIG NIGHT OUT in town well not much has been achieved. Oops!! Oh well I have to say

it has been a blast!!

In saying all that though there has been a multitude of new product lines dropping in and are on display instore and online now (www.raptonline.co.nz) and many of these new lines are quite inspired by the design line I think we should take with the renovation so I thought we could take a look at them. In all honesty I'd love to see some of em' in my house too.....hmmm we shall see haha!!

The first exciting new piece that I just love love love is this Tripod Lamp available in a table or floor lamp style. It's so funky incorporating a retro look with a modern twist. It's a lamp that really makes a statement without being overbearing an I love that simplicity. My concern about using this lamp in the first renovation room is that as it's black and we are dealing with a

room that naturally is not flooded with light I'm wondering if it is just too dark, once we get our colour scheme sorted we can look at the options as there are I think 1 or 2 other colour options for these lamps.

This Lamp May in fact be a better option for the room dependant

on the final style decided. This is a deceiving lamp and when you see it in real life you'll be surprised by the size of it!! I think it's a great option for a bedroom however so I think this is a definite possibility. We've gone a little lamp crazy lately as we are amazed at the pure lack of choices out there in the market!

Lamps and clocks are things one really must consider when restyling your house. Clocks are such a fashion statement if done right and lamps are so important as lighting is what sets the scene, what creates a feeling and makes a home your home!!

So to look at some clocks this is our absolute top selling clock. It's that retro neutral style that adds a bit of funk and it's BIG!! When it comes to clocks these days anything under 30cm will generally not suffice and anything around the 40-50cm mark is generally

ideal. Of course make sure they don't tick loudly.....nobody can stand the ..tick...tick...tick of a ticking clock although often this will come down to cost, the cheaper the clock the more likely it is ti TICK!!

The Clock I would like to see incorporated into the renovation

is this one, The Wooden Cut Out Clock. The photo doesn't really do it justice but this clock is modern and funky but still has that earthly homely feel with it's wood grain look!

I'm gonna have rather a hard job getting this one through though Ithink...it's probably Mum's least favourite clock in the range haha!! I guess you can't account for taste....hehe...she's gonna kill me for the one hahahaaa!!

Anyway I'm outta time so will have to bid you all farewell!! Till next time!!

Anj :)

PS: I'm so keen to hear your comments and feedback so follow the blog and lets talk design!! :)

The Weekend Brings Design Inspiration and 1 Million Questions...

Hey Hey it's Monday!

And despite the fact I am sooo cold I feel

like my fingers are going to drop off I am on the old blog trail again. Have to admit I am kinda enjoying it, it's a little like writing a diary :)

So over the weekend I spent some time with Mum & Dad at their house in Dannemora and we threw around some ideas about what design style we should be heading in. Of course this is always an interesting task as I am quite bold and out there with my design style and probably generally speaking as well (hehe) whilst Mum & Dad definately err on more the conservative side of home design so neutral calming colours etc is kind of where it's at. I've taken some pictures of the first room (one of the spare rooms) up for a restyling as it is now so you can start to picture where we are at and where to from here...you can see that it's quite homely and simple and it is a nice room for guests to stay in and of course this function of being a guest room must remain as we often have Nana, Grandad or other rellies staying.

The real reason for the redesign is that the house was built about 11 years ago and nothing has really been done to it since then so time for a bit of an update and a tidy up. The house itself is quite an English styled red brick place so it is all very homely but of course a modern twist on a traditional style these days is always nice to come home to so time for a bit of a change and a bit of a freshening up.

We spent some time going over wallpaper samples and boy oh boy where to start, there's just soo much to choose from and I was amazed at just how textured the papers are these days, it's all about heavy texture, strong lines and in alot of cases very 'statement making design'.....of course we won't be heading down that particular line!! We've decided wallpaper is the option we will redo the walls with as oppose to paint as the walls are currently painted (a custardy yellow sort of colour) and of course with 11 years wear and tear there would be alot of prep work in painting not to mention the difference in finish between spray painting as it was done originally and brush painting as well as the consideration of having to protect other furnishing and carpet etc etc, plus wallpaper is kind of the 'in' thing at the moment with patterns and funk back on the

design agenda. It's nice to see home design really starting to represent peoples personalities again as oppose to this minimalist 'show home' look that seems to have been the 'thing' for the past decade!

Here are some of the wallpapers we looked at, mainly sticking around

the taupe and cream colour palate it's always a safe bet as you can dress the room with your personality whilst keeping your home soft and serene and perfect for resale should you move on at any stage. Now the big question is 'to feature wall or not to feature wall'......is the feature wall still a design must have or is

it now becoming quite outdated?? What do you think??

The other question is whether you keep the same paper/paint throughout the house of change for parts of the house or every room, whats your preference, what do you think??

One idea I particularly like is to go a soft blue/turquoise colour in the bedrooms, I find it to be such a relaxing soft colour it really adds a sense of security and relaxation when tucked away in your bedroom which is of course perfect. Here is a lovely paper we

found that encapsulates that relaxing soft feel that I am talking about. You could of course use this as a feature wall and do the other three walls in a plain colour or you could in fact do the whole room in this and either maintain the soft colours in the furnishings or pick up a stronger colour

and use that as your feature colour for the room to give it a bit more punch!

Well I think at this stage we'll keep talking and looking at the options as in all honesty with the cost of wallpaper I think we'll be waiting for the next big sale haha!! Once we get to that stage I think we'll run a little competition on what you think it'll cost to do the wallpapering and we'll give away some free stuff to our 'followers'- yay!!

We also need to consider the use of the room. The problem with spare rooms is that they are often set up for guests which is of course great but it means they don't get used for most of the year and sit there as a desolate room....I think every room in your house should have a use and

not be shut of for months at a time so as part of this project I want to add life to rooms in the house that are otherwise dead.

I'll update on the next stage soon but am really keen to hear your thoughts on colours, design styles and feature walls etc so tell me what you think :)

Talk soon,

Anj

PS: To 'follow' this blog either just sign in on the top right corner with your google account or click the same sign in button and then you'll come to this page where you can then create an account or just hit the 'follow' button and create a google account, either way is fine. By'following' this blog you will get a little notification a new blog is published as well as be eligible for all our give aways and competitions and you'll of course be supporting us and our business RAPT so follow us today and hopefully we can entertain and inform along the way!! www.raptonline.co.nz

NEW INTERIOR DESIGN BLOG COMING YOUR WAY!

Hiya

OK so it's fair to say so far I haven't exactly gotten on board with this whole blogging lark. In fact it's pretty much been non existant but actually today a little lightbulb went off and I have the coolest idea for a bit of a blog theme laced of course with gossip, fun stuff and a bit of yarn haha :)

The BIG PLAN is to do a 6-12 month warts and all take on the renovation of my parents house in Dannemora. We'll have video and photos, design guides, opportunities to vote and win stuff etc etc so all in all I think it will be great fun and something that hopefully will keep you the audience interested and inspired!!

We'll bare all, you'll see us good and bad and hopefully enjoy your own little local design based reality show haha!!

Each week I'll post up the latest news including video of ...yes you guessed it...putting up wallpaper, choosing artwork to fit, creating floral arrangements and so on and so forth. I really do think it'll be heaps of fun and hopefully it'll give you guys some great ideas for your own homes :)

So here's to an exciting new blog time.....watch this space and please follow the blog and get your friends to follow it so we can build a big interior design community together, share ideas and get Mum & Dad's renovation look pretty darned spanking!!

Enjoy your week and we'll talk soon!!

Anj

PS: In the meantime if you have any ideas questions or queries drop me a line at info@raptonline.co.nz and for our great range of gifts check out www.raptonline.co.nz - see ya soon!!

Retail All Over the Show

Hi Guys

In this market it is so funny how you get asked all the time...how's business? The truth is as I'm sure it really is for everyone, business truly is all over the show. We have entered unchartered territory of financial crisis meets mass world disaster and so not only is the a true economic undercurrent but it is further fueled by pure fear felt by every nation in the world.

Since both the Christchurch and Japanese quakes we've had some of our best and some of our worst trading days since taking over approx 4 years ago and what does tomorrow hold....well who knows?

The interesting part of such a turmultuous market is that in many ways you think that your average dollar spent would drop and yet we have found that in stocking the higher end items it has helped us get through. This is of course totally against everything you hear but a fact for us here at Rapt. Gifts are not a necessity but they are something special about our human nature and therefore at this time many people have gone and bought a gift for a friend or relative affected by the recent disasters just to cheer them up a little.

Like they say I guess when one door closes another opens!

I really wish you all the best and lets all keep our fingers crossed for some better news on the horizon!

Anj

Crosley Deal the Best in NZ!

Hey Guys

Isn't it funny - products come onto the market and generally we all think they retail for a similar price - right? WRONG!!

Recently we have been astounded to see many products we sell retailing far above what we retail them for - I mean we all know retail has been tough and particularly the gift industry has had a hard time however fairs fair for consumers we reckon! one instance was one of our top selling products - the Russian Doll Measuring Cup Sets. We retail them for $29.90 and yet a competitor just around the corner is retailing them for another $10 at $39.90 - we could not believe it! The funniest part of it all was that they had a 'SUPER SPECIAL' on and had it discounted to $33.90.....now if that's not a little misleading then I don't know what is!! Unfortunately though retail is rife with this overpricing and then discounting as it's all about setting an expectation of discount and unfortunately all of us consumers, myself included expect a discount these days and a BIG one! Sadly retailers can't survive on such small margins, not with what running a store costs these days so these issues are a little forced.

Having looked at all this pricing discrepancy and the amazing differences in regularly stocked items we've decided to make our price of $495 for the Crosley Autorama a standard discount, usually we retail it for $595 and to be honest we've seen all sorts of higher prices around but when you buy from us you can be assured of the best price in NZ at $495!!

It's just us looking out for you and making it work for everyone really!!

Cheers Guys!!

Anj

Hey Everyone

Haven't we had a crazy couple of weeks of weather. The funny thing I always find is that whilst I'm here whinging and moaning about the cold snap many of my friends are out there lapping it up with an extended skiing and snowboarding season so I guess you can't win!

Well this week for Rapt & RaptOnline has seen an abundance of Christmas stock arriving with it all online in the next couple of weeks so view it at www.raptonline.co.nz , I'll tell you what there is nothing more quite exciting as opening the Christmas order, whoever said Christmas starts too early.....baaaaaa humbug I say. The longer the better if you ask me! Christmas brings such an enormous sense of goodwill to others and with the number of events still to happen this year I'm already scheduling and planning my annual Christmas Party.

This will be the first year the website has been up and we are really excited and I guess a little nervous to see how it all goes. It's really quite nice though to get the feedback we have had so far and even just talking to new people about it I am enthusiastic it is going to be a huge success. Just this weekend gone I was talking to a local photographer and we had a great conversation about how it is lovely to be able to support small kiwi businesses. I think as a small nation it's something that is actually really important to us and it's really really great!

Anyway I guess that we will see how things go.
Until next time,

Angela

Christmas is Coming

Hey There

Isn't it crazy there are just 74 days until Christmas! I really wonder where this year has gone! People always tell you that time speeds up as you get older and to be honest I don't think you believe it until you're creeping into that 30's age bracket and things start to literally speed up. Now I talk to people in their 60's and admit that things are speeding up to hear them tell me it just gets quicker and quicker......ahhhhh....acry stuff! I just can't comprehend where this year has gone and yet so much has happened.

I have to admit though I love Christmas, to me it is the icing on the cake, the wrap of the year and a great excuse to really enjoy peoples company and spoil them at the same time. So for me buying my gifts now or even a month ago is not unusual and I did just that last weekend, I bought my first Christmas gift for the year. It's wrapped, it's ready to go and my plan is to buy 1 or 2 gifts every week and that way the cost is spread across and there's no rush or hassle getting it all sorted.

I think the trick to great gift buying is really thinking about the person you're buying for. I actually pay attention to my loved ones months out from something like Christmas or a Birthday and hear what they want and see what they need and then when I'm ready to buy that gift I know they'll be stoked. Mind you novelty gifts are always fun and there really is so much on offer in the way of novelty that really provides hours of fun or pleasant memories of childhood.

Despite the economic crisis and the pressure the world has faced financially I reckon this Christmas will be great. People just need to think ahead and buy smart. There are some great sales and great value gifts out there so take advantage of them while you can because you know in those last couple of weeks in the lead up to Christmas it'll be slim pickings when it comes to a good deal and hey who needs the pressure right?

If you want a great range of gifts wrapped and delivered to you whenever you state (that way you don't have to worry about hiding it from the kids!) log onto www.raptonline.co.nz and check out the range. We are just one little old NZ family servicing the nation the best we can and we think you'll be pretty pleased with the result.

Till next time, happy Christmas Shopping!
Angela

PS: If you would like a personal shopper this year just email me at info@raptonline.co.nz