This delicious book combines her love of interior design with her signature whimsical, feminine style and features over 30 rooms and fashionable accessories to match. Leave a comment here for your chance to win a copy - full details are below.



THE ECLECTIC CHAIR
There's one in every family. The oddball that doesn't quite go with everyone

else and, ironically, that's exactly what makes them wonderful. I believe every room needs one eclectic chair. Ideally, it should be from a different era or style to everything else in the room. The brilliance of the eclectic chair is that it breaks up the design style of a room and gives the entire space character. It also opens up the path for other, smaller eclectic items to filter through.

Over the years I have fallen in love with several eclectic chairs. The first was a velvet, buttoned, Edwardian number in pale blue, which I found in a second hand store. It was completely falling apart and looked as though it had given up on life many years ago.

Despite its shortcomings, I couldn't take my eyes off it. There was just something about it that begged me to give it one last chance. After much deliberation, I decided to have the framework repaired and the chair reupholstered.

Instead of finding a similar fabric to its original and traditional style, I opted for something completely different in vivid pink tropical linen. When I first looked at the chair on completion, it looked like someone from the eighteenth century had landed at a 70s pool party. It was brilliant, unexpected and it just worked. It has never matched any of my furniture but then that's exactly what I love about it. An eclectic chair will always sit proudly in a room, never matched and always admired.



THE SIGNATURE WALLPAPER
Everyone went crazy for wallpaper back in the 70s, then spent the following decades tearing it down in embarrassment. Clean, white, inoffensive walls were the only way to go.

But now wallpaper is back, with a vengeance.

The options are endless and in the end you I think you should choose a design that makes your heart sing. It doesn't have to match anything else in the room; you just have to love it. It could be subtle in pattern, or loud and tropical with palms and sunsets that make you feel like you're on vacation every time you look at it. When renovating my apartment, I decided the powder room needed a bolt of inspiration. I mounted an antique mirror to give the room depth, hung a crystal chandelier to make it sparkle, and yet it still felt like something was missing. Enter the signature wallpaper. I've always believed that it's all or nothing withdecorating, I'm not a big fan of the in-between. So with this mind, I went searching for the ultimate wallpaper for the powder room.

I searched every wallpaper shop I could find. I would sit for hours flicking through the sample books, trying to find the perfect pattern. Exhausted, I decided I would look in one more book and if I couldn't find the elusive print, I would just paint that wall.

And then I saw it: 'Paradise at Dusk'. A tropical scene from the 50s, in dark charcoal and hints of gold, with overlays of gold leaves, elegant birds and swaying palms. It was completely over the top, lavish and mesmerising. Everything I'd been searching for.

And of course, that little powder room is now the best room in the house.



THE VINTAGE FIND
There's something satisfying about finding an unexpected piece of furniture that is in need of a second life. Anyone can walk into a store and buy designer fittings, but it takes a curatorial eye to pick a diamond from the rough at a second-hand market.

It's the thrill of the chase, the anticipation of discovering that one-off piece that will transform your home and the smug joy of seeing the beauty in something that no one else can see. I'm usually exhausted after a trip to the furniture markets because my eyes have been scanning up and down every stall looking for that elusive item.

My greatest vintage find was an oval-shaped, gold, antique mirror. It was so old and dusty that it was a horrible, dirty brown and sat uncomfortably in a box surrounded by an old boot brush, a creepy vase and an assortment of crusty-looking hats. I pulled the mirror out from the pile and gave it a quick wipe around the rim and across the glass. To my sheer delight it revealed the most beautiful antique piece I had ever seen.

Regardless of it being covered in dust I clutched it tightly, not wanting to lose my prized find and desperately wanting to give it a new life. The purchase was swift and my excitement was contained, I didn't want the seller to see its real beauty and have second thoughts about selling.

After a thorough clean it was proudly hung on my bedroom wall. Like any vintage find, a sense of victory washes over me every time I look at it. All that scanning was worth it.



THE CREATIVE VASE
Vases are wonderful objects to have. From Georg Jensen to Fornasetti, the options are endless, and I believe that you can never have too many flowers in a home.

Among all the vases that you possess I think it's important to have at least one creative vase in the mix.

The creative vase is one that began with a different purpose in life. Perhaps it's an old jug that dreamt of bigger things. Or a Champagne bowl that never sees sparkling wine but holds flowers beautifully. It could be your favourite teacup that's tired of tea and wants to proudly hold a little bouquet of roses.

Over the years several vases have made their way into my home and become treasured pieces. A white porcelain headless dog vase is my absolute favourite and it brings a smile to everyone's face when they first see flowers blooming from the dog's sturdy little body.

Other vessels that fill my home with joy were not originally vases. Such as the enormous crystal decanter that always felt far too heavy to pour from but works perfectly with a huge bunch of flowers. Then there's the beautiful vintage perfume bottle that I found on my travels. I imagined this delicate little bottle would be a feature piece on my dressing room table, filled with my favourite fragrance. To my utter disappointment I discovered the lid was broken and unusable for perfume, but the bottle was the perfect size for a little vase. Every week it gets a new little bouquet and it is, just as I intended, the feature piece on my dressing table.



THE RESIDENT PET
By far the most important addition to any room is the resident pet. For some it's an Italian greyhound called Levi. For others it's a French bulldog called Chateau. Perhaps it's a Persian cat called Dorothy or a Cockatoo affectionately known as Larry.

For me it was a Cavalier King Charles spaniel called Harry. Sadly he is no longer alive, but for many years he was the unofficial mayor of our home.

He was a gentle spirit but he could get quite worked up about how we decorated each room. If I placed a new throw cushion on the sofa he would first look at it in quiet deliberation and then either bark with disapproval or lovingly try to steal it for himself.

He would lie on the sofa watching me trying to decide where to hang a new piece of art. He would stay completely still but follow me around the room with his eyes as I moved from wall to wall. Eventually he would close his eyes in disappointment that I had taken so long to decide where to put the piece.

Some days he would pick a room and stay there for hours on end. On others he would follow me from room to room, hoping I would do something interesting. In winter he would sit at my feet in the studio and keep me warm as I worked. In summer he would stretch out sunbaking on the deck all day long and I would wonder how I could swap lives with him.

A resident pet is something to be cherished. And unlike a piece of furniture, the resident pet will never go out of fashion or clash with the blinds. They will forever rule the roost and the throw cushions will just have to get in line.

 Find out more about Megan at www.meganhess.com or follow her on Facebook and Instagram @meganhess_official.

To win a copy of 'Fashion House' by Megan Hess, leave a comment here on the blog before 5pm (AEDT) on Monday 13 January 2014. You must be a member of Temple & Webster to enter, and you may only enter once. We will choose our  favourite comment, and will notify the winner via their Facebook page or at the email address attached to their Temple & Webster account (if we are able to ascertain it) by Monday 20 January 2014. If we are unable to make contact with the winner via either of those methods within 30 days, we'll choose a replacement winner. Good luck! 
Competition closed.