Displaying posts from February, 2008

Time to real estate stalk in my home town again. I love this townhouse in inner city New Farm. The T1 apartments are a complex of 9 designed by award winning architects Donovan Hill. I’m in love with this space. Just wish the real estate agent had included more pictures. I might just have to pretend to be a buyer so I can get a showing. It’s a shame that prices are so outrageous here at the moment.

Henny van Belkom began his career as an interior stylist, until he realized his passion was in photographing interiors: “Basically I’m enthusiastic, impulsive and a little restless: that’s my nature. But when I look through the lens and focus on my subject, I find peace. The exposure time of the camera gives me space to enjoy the moment and the serenity enables me to create atmosphere in my pictures.” I am finding peace in the photo above (LOVE that colour).

Note: Due to my painting escapades over the last 3 days, I am behind in my blog posts so this post is not about an architect or designer but about me. I should have my act together this afternoon.

I have a really ugly kitchen. Really. Ugly. And not only is it ugly but the layout is terrible and it’s driving me nuts. I am not sure when I’ll get around to renovating it so I realized when I was planning to paint the living room that I should just slap some crazy paint on the cabinets to make being in the kitchen a little more tolerable. Turns out I slapped some paint on the cabinets, the island and the backsplash. Not sure how feasible it was to paint tile but I guess I’ll just have to be less messy when I cook. I’ve always wanted pink cabinets and since I now live alone, I figured what the hell. Except I realized Benjamin Moore doesn’t make great pinks. I ended up with bubblegum pink. (It’s actually called Springtime Bloom). I think I got the effect I was after anyway – a girly kitchen that brings a smile to my face when I see it. So hopefully it’s obvious that the first group of photos includes a before on the left and an after on the right. (Note: I had nothing planned to decorate the new pink kitchen with so I ran around the house looking for “props”, such as the piece of scrap fabric hanging on the stove as a tea towel, and the curtains are a piece of fabric folded over and clipped.)

Husband and wife photographers Gentl & Hyers have a way with light that takes me back to the works of the Old Masters. Chiaroscuro, light and shade, positive and negative. The air is thick in their photos like treacle and colours have a tangible presence. It’s like the photos are caught in amber or that the white light is thick like milk. Beautiful portfolio. Their black and white work is a must see.

I haven’t been on a holiday in ages, but if I got the chance to stay in any hotel I wanted, I have no idea what style I’d prefer. Modern? Rustic? Themed? Glam? I came across a website called Boutique Getaways, which is a guide to some pretty stylish hotels located in several countries. These are some of my favourites – and apparently I prefer glam or rustic.