Displaying posts from August, 2010

Ever imagined what heaven looks like? Maybe just a little bit like New Zealand. And when the scenery is so spectacular then Te Kaitaka, a retreat located on the shores of beautiful Lake Wanaka in the South Island is the perfect design solution. Inspired by folded paper it is by architects Stevens Lawson. Te Kaitaka has just been announced as NZ Home of the Year, the third win by Stevens Lawson. Their’s is a quest in design to respect the site, to explore the genius loci and the cultural values.  “Architecture of humanism and spirit.” So true.

Marija is an architect and interior designer from Lithuania who remodeled her apartment last summer and wanted to share it with our readers. The space is only 60 square metres and due to the economic and real estate crisis, her grandiose plans needed to be downsized so she opted to spend only 700 EUR and do the work herself (well, with one visit from an electrician and one from a carpenter) – in six weeks. I am blown away by every single thing she has done to her place and the little touches here and there that came it really special. It’s a spectacular transformation and I am excited to show it to you all. I’ll take you on a tour of Marija’s home room by room, in her words.

The living and the dining room. I peeled away the prior floor sheets and I painted the floor boards in white and ivory colour strips according floor board step – that visually made space wider and brighter; renewed and painted the ceiling; two doors leading to bedrooms were repainted in black chalkboard paint. I also decided to have a ‘window sills’ above the window and two alcoves in opposite wall – now their serves as an exposition space for wooden sculptures  storage space and a curtain-rods holder for curtains to mask the storage in alcoves and decorative curtains beside the window.

The kitchen. In the kitchen, I had to peel off four layers of old vinyl coverings:) The unimpressive back wall of the TV table that did not fit anywhere I covered by the plexiglass cover and applied a wall décor sticker and it has transformed into my favourite kitchen island. The similar sticker appeared on the entrance door and small refrigerator. The rest of the doors of the room were painted black with chalkboard paint to be covered by chalk drawings.

The bedroom. When I started removing the old wallpaper, I found out fragments of previously used paints that seemed to me very attractive. Thus I scrubbed two walls to uncover the previous décor. And decorated the other two walls (which were built in later years and there was no hope to find any interesting decors on them) with diluted cotton and silk wallpaper mass. I also renewed the ceiling and painted the floor boards that were previously covered by carpeting.

A child’s room. In my son’s room I also renewed the floor, the ceiling and the walls, though for wall decoration I’ve chosen a simple method – I painted white the existing brownish rugged wallpaper. Instead of the carpet we used a stencil of a stylized whale while my son got creative and decorated the legs of the old stool in the same manner.

Marija also included some photos of her bathroom, one of her amazing light fixtures and a floor plan.

Imperfect and aged, decrepit and beautiful. A house’s history seems to be hot right now. Layers of life left not hidden, stripped but not shunned. Debra Cronin is creating spaces less ordinary. I love this crumbling home that she has brought back to life and where she now runs an underground dining experience Bite Club with partners David and Virginia. As they say on their website “Think Alice In Wonderland meets The Addam’s Family”. Dinner group anyone?

It’s been quite some time since Jo blogged about New York interior designer Shawn Henderson, who designs “interiors that feel comfortably sophisticated, rich and relaxed, personal and original.” I recently happened upon his website and discovered more classic yet cool spaces that captivated my immediate attention.

P.S. Just wanted to quickly wish my twin sister a very happy birthday. Sis, here’s hoping your life at 35 is a bit less chaotic and stressful and preferably more “normal” than it has been of late.

Why is it that every time I pick up a European shelter mag I find the name Heidi Lerkenfeldt under the coolest features? Is it because this Danish photographer is JUST SO GOOD?!!! I can’t say too much. I’m in awe of this woman’s work. Stellar just doesn’t crack it as an adjective for these shots. White light never so thick, darkest highlights and some of the most bookmarked pictures ever. I may never be able to splash out 10K on a Finn Juhl sofa but hey I dream about that picture like so many of us thanks to Heidi.