Frank is fantastic

I have to admit, I have a hard time blogging on the weekends. I'm so busy with the day job and blogs during the week that I basically only have the weekends for errands, cleaning, random blog projects, Christmas shopping this time of year, and spending time with the hubby and cats. All this whining to say I have about 5 minutes to find something for my Sunday posts so bear with me. Yesterday afternoon I came across this very small but very cool apartment on Fantastic Frank. I'm tellin' ya, the FF folks are some of the best stylists and photographers in the biz. Canadian real estate agents take note, because 99% of you have no freaking clue how to market a place like these folks do. I love the funky eclectic vibe of this apartment - and am particularly fond of the sliding mural bedroom door. FUN!

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New Style Generation Gen.Two

As promised, a look inside the virtual covers of New Style Generation Gen.Two by Iben Ahlberg & Niels Ahlberg. If possible even better than the first in the e-book series, Gen.One. Beautiful homes, beautiful images.  As Niels explains, "In Gen.Two we have collected some really great homes - not exactly main stream style wise, but still very Scandinavian with great inspirations. We have joined a couple of stories from some of Danish interior designers setting today's agenda of the main interior styles in Scandinavia in the book too. All features still coming under the heading: 'Cosmopolitans, Wilderness and Vintage'. 90 pages of beautiful impressive photos you can zoom into for a closer view, in this interactive book."

If I could crawl through an iPad screen I would. Anything to live in these amazing homes.

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New Style Generation Gen.One

Swoon! Nordic interiors. Fabulous photos. Fabulous photos of Nordic interiors! What more could you ask for? New Style Generation by Iben Ahlberg & Niels Ahlbergis is a series of e-books available for download on your iPad with iBooks or on your computer with iTunes. Like a cool coffee table book yet interactive all for the price of a magazine. Gen.One is the first in the series created especially for iPad. Take a peek inside the homes of Nordic designers and trendsetters. The details, the inspiration, the ideas. Zoom in and drink it allin. Original content. Original homes. Here's a little teaser of what you will find. And come back later for look at Gen.Two.

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Living large in a small space

A couple of weeks ago I blogged this awesome apartment in Moscow. I've got another one for you from The Village, this time located in Kiev, Ukraine. It's a small, 2 room apartment that looks so much larger (camera lens might have helped a bit too). This pad is a perfect example of how to place furniture in a small space and how to use furniture to delineate zones. The sectional sofa in this case is just what the living room needed to separate it from the dining space. The bookcases offer tons of storage and creates more of a hallway (while blocking a couple of not-so-exciting doors). I LOVE the grey colour palette (my favourite colour, always) and everything else in this apartment - but I'd lose the fish tank in the kitchen. Strange...but I won't judge. The adorable succulent-in-a-book planter idea makes up for that oddity. (And I had to use that photo first so you all didn't miss it).

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Stalking and stories

It's not weird that I stalk real estate websites hunting for wonderful homes I will never buy. It's not weird that I like to peek through the virtual net curtains to see what is inside complete strangers' houses. But is it weird that I am now daydreaming about who lives in the houses that I stalk? That I am making up stories to fit? Like this house for sale in Castlemaine, Victoria. I have a whole fabricated history of the owner.

I knew her from university days. She was younger than me by quite a few years. I was a mature age student you see. She was wild, creative, a free spirit so we were all surprised when she up and quit the course. She was marrying an accountant from regional Victoria. They had met at a party somewhere, somehow and clicked. It's strange how opposites attract.

Another friend who had kept in touch with her told me they had spoken on the phone just last week. She had 2 children. There was a third on the way. They were moving to the city. Some sort of job promotion. Hers not his. I should take a look at her house online. She was still creative, still a free spirit. Her home was just as I would expect it to be.

See? Weird! The house is wonderful though. Your turn. Who do you think lives here? (This is the link ... while it lasts.)

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