For this edition of the Jones List we asked our founder and owner Jennifer Jones to tell us what been jumping into her lockdown shopping cart. Over to you Miss Jones!
This lockdown saw me clicking Add to Cart more than normal! With so much time at home I had time to review what we needed plus what we could throw away. It also gave me time to do lots of strategic analysis before purchasing. Too much time? Never!
Cushions
I was photoshopping like mad before I finally decided on what cushions to purchase! For a while I was leaning towards an overload of prints, patterns and fabrics. But as our living room is already quite busy with artwork I decided to go for a plain velvet cushion story with varying sizes and colours. The best cushions I found on the market for this was Hommey. I just LOVED their offer, the quality, the packaging, branding and the customer service. They accidentally sent me the wrong colour and allowed me to keep it and the correct colour arrived two days later. I love a generous brand and these guys are generous in both spirit, size and stuffing!
Table Setting
One thing my husband and I did in lockdown was set a nice table at least once a week and pretend we were in a fancy restaurant (with our daughter playing waiter!) I love the idea of a linen tablecloth but then thought it might look a bit like a crumpled bed sheet in real life. So I went with a maximalist print from Utopia Goods. I love their prints which are inspired by exotic Australian botanicals. All of their fabric is printed by hand and you can definitely see and feel the quality. I also feel they are such kindred spirits with their saying – life’s too short for grey. Agree 100%!
Artwork in the living room
As we just moved into our new house in Bondi late last year we have got a lot of walls to fill! And there’s nothing like staring at blank walls in lockdown to drive you on an art craze. Whilst I love original art my budget can’t stretch to that all the time. So I mixed it up a bit!
For our staff Christmas dinner last year we went to Café Paci in Newton and I loved their over-the-top supersized posters! They are by a great Italian company called My Poster Sucks and are fun illustrations about the love of wine and food! So up my alley! They come in varying sizes all the way up to 100x140cm. I bought a poster of a man screaming, “I AM WINE!” It’s a fun look and gives the whole room a joyful energy.
Artwork in the bedroom / home office
As I work a lot from bed I wanted something soothing and beautiful to look at in our bedroom. We’ve got a pink and mustard vibe going on and I felt like this room really called out for something original and small on the wall next to the big window. I discovered Nicole Nelius on Instagram and love her work. It’s whimsical, nostalgic and uplifting. I messaged her directly although I know she sells through fantastic stores such as Fenton and Fenton. She lives close by so we arranged a sidewalk artwork pick up! I love the painting which is a stack of fruit – a melon, watermelon slice and a lemon. I spend hours staring at it from bed.
Above: My Nicole Nelius artwork on display in my bedroom.
Artwork in my daughter’s room
For my daughter’s room I wanted something super fun that would cover most of a wall. I found these great blankets by Slowdown Studio in my new fav design book “Every Room Should Sing” by Beata Heuman. They are such a great vibe and I sourced the fabulous tiger one from local store Koskela.
Creating a mini gallery in the laundry room!
Have you all heard of Artfully Walls? If not, prepare to lose hours and hours of your day! It’s a brilliant site of artprints curated into different gallery walls, collections and even specific picks by designers. You can search by collections such as Garden of Delights or Global Scouting or search by interior style, room, colour, medium or orientation. It is fabulous fun! I bought a few fun prints from here for the laundry room where we created a mini art gallery. My daughter loves drawing and painting so we found a mobile framer who came to the house to pick up some of her pieces to frame. We created a super fun mini art gallery in the laundry room / powder room combining her homemade art with other pieces from Rachel Castle and Artfully Walls. It is one of my favourite corners of the house!
Above: The gallery in the laundry!
Active wear and trackies of course!
The one thing I will be grateful for in this last lockdown is discovering yoga. Finally at 45 I get what all the fuss is about! (BTW, I used the Down Dog app streamed to the TV) After lots of pulling up my leggings during Warrior pose I finally was convinced by the great advertising of LNDR. I must say these leggings are the CHAMPIONS of all leggings out there. They sculpt to your body, hold you in all the right places and most importantly do not roll down. Worth every penny! They also do the best trackpants for post work-out. These are the softest pair I have but they also keep their shape, are the perfect length and have a great waistband without any cords.
I also invested in a new yoga mat which only took about seven hours of online research… Did you know you could spend $300 on a yoga mat?? My old one was a $5 Kmart one and my new yoga mat by Gaiam is a middle-ranged one but makes so much difference to my grip plus cushioning on the floor.
A collar for my dog, Arthur
One guy who benefited the most from lockdown has got to be Arthur our Airedale. He had all his humans at home and itching to take him on yet another walk. One thing we did notice was all the other dog owners complimenting us on his collar. It did take me quite some time to find a thick leather collar that could withstand the water as he’s always in the ocean. I love the one we got from Hunter as it has a chic red cross design which looks like the Swiss flag. We joke that he is Switzerland in our house; he never takes any sides!
Summer is here!
No one wants to see themselves in a swimsuit at the end of a lockdown sourdough spree. I was very nervous to try my new one on. But thankfully it wasn’t as bad a car crash as I thought! I love the swimmers at Andie. They are simply very well-made, well-cut suits with no bells and whistles. You just look like the best version of yourself. This is my third Andie swimsuit and I have worn the other two to death and they still look brand new.
Thankfully — for both my sanity and credit card — lockdown in Sydney is over. So I can now give my credit card a rest and enjoy all the lovely, thoughtful purchases I made over those 115 days! Until Christmas that is.
