Displaying posts from January, 2010

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so it takes center stage rather than your pet. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s REALLY dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos can be sent to desiretoinspirekim[@]hotmail[.]com and PLEASE don’t just send me closeups of your pet!!!)

“Love your pets on furniture entries. Here’s my two… (considering a tub is a piece of furniture ; ) This is our adore bulldog, Tottenham. He’s obviously King of the Castle.”
– Shannon

“Please find attached two images of my new puppy, Ruby, on an ‘upcycled’ chair made by a friend and her new business called S.H.E which revamps old, unwanted pieces of furniture in Sydney. Ruby is an Australian desert rescue dog whom we’ve had for only a week and who isn’t actually allowed on the furniture (which is why she’s looking at me quite quizzically!) but she colour coordinates quite well, don’t you think? Ruby was found as a newborn in a rubbish bin (hence her name) and was rescued by a Chilean woman who runs a dog rescue programme in an Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory (www.warlu.com). Image two also shows my grandfather’s Saratoga trunk and a bowl by well-known New Zealand potter Royce McGlashen.”
– Jane

“Here are two pics of our dog, Maizey, and her couch. She’s recently given up her Poang chair & upgraded to the couch where, if she’s not sleeping, she’s standing on the arm looking out the window.”
– Ashleigh

“So, this is my Brussels Griffon, Mac. He’s on the ottoman that matches the sofa you can see in the background. We live in Sandringham, Auckland. The sofa is made by a local manufacturer, Forma, if that is is any interest!”
– Melinda

“Charlie the cavachon is the queen atop her plush throne…also known as a couch. She often slips through the cushions or goes head first looking for a lost bone. She also likes to survey the room from the top of the recliner.”
– Christi

“This is Aurora (a Shiba Inu) enjoying her cow and her perch on one of our awesome thrift store finds.”
– Cassandra

“I’m sending these photos in honor of my cat, Cooper, who passed away on December 22.  Here he is testing out my new (at the time) Eames chair.  He couldn’t get comfortable, so he soon gave up and returned to his favorite spots on the couch.”
– Erica

“I saw this post on Martha, sorry about her yellow eyes in the sofa photo…they are actually hazel 😉”
– Jaime

“Here is a picture of our adorable chihuahua Henri sleeping on the bed. Hope to see him next Monday on your blog, he’s a big fan (plus I’m really proud of the bed itself that I have found in the middle of nowhere in a farm!).”
– Maryse

“Doggies and white do not match nor do they coincide but I guess in this situation it does!”
– May

“This is my love of life, Louis. He loves seating on the nicest chair of the house.”
– Mimi

“We have finally lifted out ‘no pets on furniture’ rule. We had to sacrifice one chair to our Rhodesian Ridgeback Hank. You can walk right by him in this chair and never notice he is there. He just blends in. And our Border Collie Emma claims the loveseat.”
– Misty

“Not only is that my bed, but it’s MY pillow! I especially like Marvin’s expression – ‘um, excuse me…I’m trying to sleep!’ I have noticed that most of my pictures of Marvin are of him on the furniture. Dogs these days 🙂”
– Nicole

Christian (who’s cat I featured in last week’s pet post) sent us an email explaining how the LA Times ran this story a few days ago about how desperate the shelters in LA are for donations to pay for food, as they used to rely on corporate donations which are pratically non-existent now with the recession. To raise awareness he’s posted the photo below of his dog Mona on his blog and provided some info as to how dire the situation is. So please check out his post or the LA Times article to get details on how you can help all the poor animals (over 4,000) that are likely to be euthanized for no other reason than there is no money to feed and care for them. Thank you.

Oh my! I have a photographer crush and it’s bad, really bad in the best way. I have seen Andrea Ferrari’s work over the years in all my favourite magazines. Hey in the bad old days way back in the beginning when we used to feature scans from magazines with no credits (we were young so please forgive us) I unwittingly featured more than one or two. I honestly can’t find an image in Andrea’s impressive portfolio that hasn’t made me gasp. All the elements are there. Spectacular lighting, clever composition, an understanding of colour and depth of field and lashings of talent. These are seriously great photos. OK the rooms are drop dead gorgeous, the homes simply stunning but Andrea Ferrari brings them to life, transports us there. Take the time to get lost in an amazing portfolio.

Lockette	Lockette
bentemiltenburg	Green Wellies
kimhas7cats	Little Chrince
risulinna	][\/][
wood & wool stool	miel bakes/madhu
odwyerpainting	Arty Smokes

bruce bigtimber
i can ask elsker?
abeachcottage
craft.junkie
ddaarryynn
maliburachel
themullett
thevintagelaundress
ultrascott
m a r c a n t o n i o
electronymous
fensterbme
ishandchi

… in the shops already!

WINKS – weekend links. Here we list what has come in during the week, things we’ve found and things we think you’ll want to see. If you’d like to see your blog or website featured email us and if we think it fits with our readers we’ll link you. So what’s in this week?

• Treasures and curiosities and all things delicious. I love these vintage one-of-a-kind Ralli Quilts from Pakistan. Colour, pattern, hand embroidered, comforting, cosy and lovely. See more gorgeous goodies at Pergolina.

• Found or made in the USA. The antithesis of the big box, cookie cutter look. It’s all about the meaning and sense of a space. It’s American Furnishings and I want almost all of it! Wonder if I can have it mailed over in small boxes to save on postage?

• Really loving the playfulness of the pattern and colours of these carpets, part of the Whimsy Collection at Tufenkian Artisan Carpets. Beautiful. A room is never complete without a rug. Ah if the budget only stretched to these. Yum.

• Now this is a perfect valentine! Anything from Madeline Weinrib. Rugs, pillows, a pretty pink purse. Oh honey are you reading this? I know I’ll be getting a bunch of flowers and maybe a chocolate heart and all your love but a girl can dream.

• Colporter – vintage finds, salvage, antlers, Hungarian grain sacks, old trunks, Routemaster bus blinds (always fabulous when real… I’m addicted). Catherine scours flea markets and the French brocantes for her website.  Signage? Old advertisements? Maps? Yes please.

To end of the week I thought I’d show some photos of one of the best designed hotels I’ve ever seen. The Firmdale hotels includes 6 London locations and a new one that opened in SoHo in October. “Firmdale Hotels’ owners, Tim and Kit Kemp believe that ‘hotels should be living things, not stuffy institutions’. Kit Kemp has designed all of the interiors in a fresh contemporary English style. Her mixture of colour and texture, modern and antique together with an impressive art collection, has combined to create a unique look and style.” The colours and patterns are gorgeous and these rooms look SO comfortable I want to crawl through my monitor and into one of the beds.