Displaying posts from May, 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 that you want to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos, your name and a brief description can be sent to desiretoinspirekim[@]hotmail[.]com and PLEASE don’t send me closeups of your pet!)

“Sophie & Sebastian on a vintage bergere covered in Dedar Ikat fabric. Brilliantly photographed by my dear friend Ursula – www.ursulaliv.com”
– Abigail

“This is SAM, a vizsla.”
– Angie (Argentina)

“I should have know our Italian Greyhound Audrey would get the most enjoyment out of our new sheepskin fleeces! You can almost tell she’s just waiting to be booted off… I had only hung them over the chairs a minute before this picture was taken and she made herself right at home immediately!”
– Louise

“Magnolia sitting on the desk I made from 3/4″ plywood, cut to fit the bay widow, sanded then coated in white enamel and bracketed in place.  She loved sitting up there looking down at the street below in Beacon Hill, Boston Massachusetts.  Clear chair and sheep skin throw from IKEA.”
– Sarah

“Mia loves her Eames stacking chair. Sometimes she even lets me sit in it.”
– Anna (San Francisco)

“This is our boxer called Benia. As you can see in the back (no door) we are in the middle of a little make over in our living room. Befor Benia came to live with us from the shelter this red couch was completly fine and clean and pretty. Now it’s a mess, she’s treating it as her bed, she sleeps there, eats, plays and God knows what else.”
– Anna

“Our boxer Raven on her 1 yr birthday. She loves relaxing on the couch.”
– Jamie

“This is Harry and his favorite afternoon nap location!!”
– Sandy

“hi there 🙂”
– Charlotte
  

“This is my 4 year old blue heller, lab ,border collie mis Felix. The first picture is of him as a pup on our sectional couch which we have since replaced.  We just couldn’t get rid of his couch so we kept the ends and made a love seat for Felix. As you can see Felix is allowed on all of our furniture. He loves being tucked in under the blankets. As far as he is concerned he IS people and don’t you dare tell him otherwise. If you try he will give you the dirtiest look he’s got.”
– Tara

Scott Weston emailed with his latest project and as usual he included lots of pictures – before, during and after as well as his amazing presentation models in this case 4 options. Scott always writes the best descriptions of his work so I’ll let him take it away. “I thought you might like to see this jewel box of an apartment that is just 48m2 and was totally gutted and re-built within three months in Paddington, Sydney…

We fly our Contractor/Builder out from Copenhagen to do these type of quality projects as he is much more cost-effective being a jack-of-all-trades and it saves time/money (and he’s a perfectionist!). The tiniest apartment comprising existing entry vestibule, separate bathroom, living room (faces north) with small alcove kitchen and two bedrooms (one functions as an office) that both face east. We removed the wall between kitchen and study, removed the windows in the kitchen, living room and bathroom and replaced with shugg frameless sliding windows to maximise views/light. The whole apartment was gutted and the floor was partially removed and replaced then stained a deep walnut. Walls were chased for electrical and light fittings.

At concept stage we focused on asking the Client to provide a functional list of what their storage and living requirements were so we could assess and start to use these components as the main joinery pieces in the apartment. The main focal point is the ‘magicians box’ or multi-functional joinery unit (hand-painted in dirty mauve) that sits in the kitchen and straddles living room and study which acts as storage unit, light box, pantry, integrated fridge, wardrobe and broom cupboard. Other joinery items are room specific providing specific storage requirements with quirky details such as tangerine internal carcasses to otherwise bone white storage cupboards. Lighting is either plaster uplights, lightboxes, LED strip lighting or the hero piece in the living room the George Nelson bubble pendant that is dimmable. The kitchen benchtop is mauve (dirty mauve) with timber carcasses below and overhead cupboards with matching glass splashbacks. We designed a banquette that sits under the northern window that you can lounge on with pullout drawers underneath for added storage. The fabric seat is aubergine wool with fine pink embroidery as a detail. The bathroom is off white with translucent pink glass mosaics and matching pink epoxy grout and mirror cabinets for maximum storage. The Client is thrilled and I went shopping yesterday with them to purchase the all important Missoni bathroom towels and the french bedlinen as we are designing a chocolate brown velvet fitted bedspread! This project is a great exercise in not upgrading and moving to a bigger place but staying put, purging all the stuff you have collected and no longer need and allowing us to provide a truly beautiful design environment in which to reside.”

And now the befores and durings. What a transformation! What a job! What an apartment! Such clever spatial planning and beautiful bespoke cabinetry. Thanks Scott. Your work is always so inspiring.

Anahata Katkin	Smile And Wave
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… spending time with old friends

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?

• I can’t get enough of Abigail Ahern. Her home, her Atelier, her book A Girl’s Guide to Decorating, her blog. Cutting edge mistress of the darkside, she is one of the world’s most subversive style makers. Grey is the new black is the mantra we all chant (actually black is fine too just not white, never white). I fell off my chair when PR Megan sent me these lush images of Abigail’s latest venture – faux flowers. YES! Big, blowsy, almost slatternly in their voluptuousness. I have always loved the much maligned faux flower. They can be the offerings at the high altar of kitsch but they can also be simply gorgeous. Think how eco-chic you can be. You can cut out the water waste of intensively farmed blooms, the airplanes full of flowers jetting round the world, the waste of week after week replacing dead bouquets. If the feng shui of the faux weirds you out think of them as not dead flowers but little manmade works of art. Hang it you don’t need an excuse. You just need a vase full.

• Lusting after anything by Italian design masters Molteni&C. Anything. Everything. Sleek, modern, luxuriously comfortable furniture, clever stylish storage solutions. Beautiful and functional.

• Exotic tiles from Hastings Tile & Bath. The Tusk and Animal Skin collections caught my eye. Animal instincts.

• After receiving an email about Trads this week I wish I lived in a climate where cast iron radiators were needed. Look at these beauties. I feel cosy and nostalgic just looking at the images.

• Time for a little science lesson. The Science Lesson collection from Heather Lin that is. Botany, geology and anatomy. Embrace your mad scientist!

I found the 16th century retreat of Italian fashion and jewelry designer Maria Calderara on the Marie Claire Maison Italy site and I think it’s the perfect ending to a chaotic work week (not only did my fiancé and his cats move in and we had a 5 day or so heat wave but I also started a new job.) I could use a little serenity, calm and peacefulness like this home exudes right about now. Maria’s refuge from her work life in Milan is exquisite. It is white and cream and simple and relatively unadorned which is perfect in such a beautiful setting. I love that there are hints of modernity here and there providing contrast to the rustic shell of the home, with a couple Tolomeos, Arne Jacobsen Series 7 chairs and a Gaetano Pesce Donna chair.