Displaying posts from May, 2010

… the roof was rotten. On to the next house.

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?

• Sleek Identity – just launched an online boutique offering modern furniture and home accessories from up-and-coming designers from Europe. Stefanie Gelinas has personally scoured all of the artist studios from Berlin to Amsterdam to Paris to bring together new and independent designer’s wares. Stephanie told us “I search for objects that are original, intelligent and have a sense of humor and I buy directly from designers or small manufacturers.” Love the Lampe Vapeur by Inge Sempe, Big Game’s Bold Chair and Thomas Edison Alva Tea Set wall sculpture/coat hangers from a young design group from Berlin, llot llov. Oh and so many more. It’s plain to see the passion Stephanie has for independent design. Love!

• I love the ritual of a good breakfast and I think I need a set of these cork trivets/coasters called Toast It! by Patricia Naves of the Brazilian Design Studio OITI. Humour, tea and toast. What a way to start the day 🙂

• Art Syndicate is an online art gallery promoting young designers particularly from Poland. Michał Chełpiński turns his focus on furniture, ceramics, glass, lights, carpets and original art. Fresh modern design. Covet it all, add it to your wishlist, it’s dream design.

• You don’t have much time but until Monday 10th May if you order any current posters from Ink+Wit they will include their popular letterpress print Pommebirds for free. Fab prints. Young, vibrant, fresh and fun. Yum!

• Lovin’ the reuse, retro/modern vibe of indie furniture maker Anderson Modern. Jacob’s pieces are a cross between brutalism and minimalism, throw in a shake or two of Shaker influences and you get the idea.

Are you all as excited that it’s Friday as I am? I have the day off today from my day job (WOHOO!) so it’s the start of a long weekend for me, which is very welcomed because my fiancé and I need to get working on the renovation of my dressing room (which was suuposed to start last weekend) so he can fit all his clothes when he moves in to my place in a couple weeks. It’s going to be a fairly simple job – rip out the existing ancient shell of a closet, re-drywall where the closet was, replace the UGLY laminate floor with the new maple floating floor we purchased (that is not ready for us to pick up yet), paint, hang bars on one end of the room and floor to ceiling shelving on the other, and then DECORATE! Did I say that was simple? Maybe not. Time consuming for sure so I had better get cracking. To end off the work week and speaking of renovations, I thought I’d feature a couple I found on Country Home. The first is a makeover that modernized the kitchen in a Connecticut Victorian built in 1873 (and adjacent ‘keeping’ room and entryway). It’s all black and white – gotta love that! Further in is the gorgeous renovation of a 1923 Craftsman bungalow in Des Moines, Iowa.

Wow! If modern design is your thing you’ll be smitten by the work of Barcelona based architecture firm YLAB – Yolanda Yuste Lopez and Tobias Laarmann. This design duo and their team create outstanding spaces with minimal clean lines, a muted colour palette, strong textural elements and clever spatial solutions. Far from being cold, their spaces are sophisticated and clever. The first apartment is a penthouse refit with a luxury hotel vibe. New space layout, new surfaces and fittings and furniture design. Cool and elegant. The second apartment is just too fabulous for words. The bathroom is a dream. Obviously Interiores magazine thought so to. The same week Yolanda shared their work with us I picked up a copy and there was their work. Watch out for this architectural studio. They’re hot!

Jo and I have a thing for church conversions. The creativity to turn a structure like a church into a home is pretty inspiring to think outside the box. I came across one last night while I should have been doing other more important things (like finally getting my tax paperwork together, late of course). This conversion (found here) is of an 19th century Protestant church in downtown Cape Town, South Africa. It’s painted all white with wood floors left in their original, rough state with modern furnishings to liven the place up. And the enormous suspended frame with blinds is a great way to delineate the kitchen from the living/dining spaces.

Retro time! This week we’re taking it outside and way back to the 60s. From potting sheds to pavilions, trees in tables to houses in trees. I used to dream of having a fabulous hideaway just like the A-frame when I was a tike. Still do. Images this week are scanned from The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, Vol 13 OUT to PAR, Greystone Press, New York, 1971.