Displaying posts from November, 2010

New addition to the DTI family

Posted on Tue, 2 Nov 2010 by KiM

The last couple of days have been quite eventful and I unfortunately did not have time to do a regular post for today. Let me briefly explain why. My younger sister Jennifer gave birth on Sunday to a totally gorgeous and rather hefty (9 lbs 6 oz) little girl named Gianna. Both are doing pretty good considering Jen had to have a C-section and Gianna is jaundiced. I was at the hospital yesterday afternoon snapping as many photos as I could (luckily I did because she then had to be placed under blue lights for the jaundice which didn’t make for great photos) and spent the evening trying to tweak them to perfection (and dealing with some blog duties). So today I do not have any room porn for you all to enjoy, but some photos of Gianna. (Regular scheduled posting from me will resume tomorrow).

Clever, clever, clever. Australian architects just have the knack when it comes to blurring that line between inside and out. Sydney architectural practice Chenchow Little have designed ingenious spatial plays on interiors and exteriors. These contemporary houses employ savvy passive heating and cooling principles that are also standout design features. Award winning Australian architecture at its best.

  

Monday’s pets on furniture

Posted on Mon, 1 Nov 2010 by KiM

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, location and a brief description can be sent to desiretoinspirekim@hotmail.comand PLEASE don’t send me closeups of your pet!)

This is Gabe. He goes to work with my wife at Jonathan Adler sometimes and there are many many beds and couches for him to take naps on. I sent you one more that technically is not on furniture but it is still in the store and just too funny not to share.
– Rob

This is our puggle Honey. She thinks she is a human, seriously. To sleep she requires a comfy spot AND a pillow. She puts a smile on our faces daily.
– Adrianne (Phoenix, AZ)

This is Lady Moneypenny, our 3 year old Airedale girl—sitting on my Great Grandfather’s Chair. She thinks she’s as fancy as the chair is.
– Jessica

My husband, Jon, and I own Perch Furniture–a little custom furniture studio in Portland, Oregon. Our labrador, Domino, comes to work with us every day, and he has never once tried to get on a sofa. But this little chihuahua, Daisy, stopped by one afternoon,  popped right up on sofa and made herself comfortable. So cute!
Willi

This is my dog, Garcia, having an afternoon nap in our Brooklyn apartment. The couch, and Garcia, have moved with me four times during the last six years.
– Kristin

This is my 8-yr-old cat Gizmo sitting on a beautiful chair that I inherited from my grandmother.
– Lindsay (Atlanta)

Hope these pics of my Granddogs who recently relocated from Michigan to Switzerland (along with their two people) and favorite chair appear some time soon on your GREAT blog. Pics are taken in Switzerland, proving home truly is with those you love & a well-loved chair.
– Jo Anne

I bought this chair for $5 at a yard sale and my mom reupholstered it for me 15 years ago.  I love the sheepskin over the seat and so does my new little kitty Titi.
Cindy

This is Max. 1.5 yr gray tabby. He lost his sister this year (we think a coyote took her) and he has been so lonely since July.
Robin

These are my friend Joanne’s bichons on the sofa in the family room.
– Barbara

Ike Bahadourian

Posted on Mon, 1 Nov 2010 by midcenturyjo

Ike Bahadourian emailed us to share his Met loft remodel with custom furniture (Love his furniture designs! You’ll find more on his website.) It’s a spartan space but just right to spotlight Ike’s beautiful rustic furniture pieces. I’ll let him explain.

“The material choices and the layout were guided by the architecture of the space itself. As an open, rectangular loft the existing plan, fixtures and exposed ducts suggested at a linear layout that led your eyes to the balcony, to a view of Staples Center and LA Live. This meant the orientation of the bed, tables and couch would go accordingly. To complement the exposed ducts and pipes, as well as the cement walls, I chose reclaimed wood for the primary pieces of furniture to build with. A ten and a half foot cedar slab against the south wall simplifies the space by combining to serve as both a desk and a tv stand. Next to the table, stacks of the client’s recycled wall street journals served as a stand for the dvd player. A reclaimed oak palette was cut in half to serve as a coffee table, with a piece of glass on top and subsequent cubby holes beneath for magazines or books. Six more reclaimed palettes were used to lift as a platform an area, or notch in the wall, that was designated for the bed. This lift separated it as much as possible from the rest of the space and created the only real break in the flow of the small apartment, and a bit of hierarchy. Half circle poplar wall mounts that serve as hangers hung across a Sevak Karabachian wood cut print in the sleeping area. Other pieces included Cb2 biloxi linens, west elm industrial lamps, and a gilbert chair from Ikea.”

Couldn’t leave it there. I had to share some of Ike’s furniture. Love the rustic with the smooth!

Getting down and dirty with SWAD

Posted on Mon, 1 Nov 2010 by midcenturyjo

Want to follow architect Scott Weston’s latest project from scratch? Scott has generously shared his work with Desire to Inspire for a few years now. Today he is taking us from concept model to build and promises to share the finished home soon. As usual he describes his work the best. I’ll let him take it away. (After the jump you’ll also find a sneak peek at a project he has just finished. Just a few teaser snaps because it’s being shot for a major magazine and will be published next year.)

(This is) a great home in Rozelle where we demolished the back half of a three bedroom pokey workers cottage (May 2010) and are now well over six months into construction (mid-October) with handover beginning of December. The brief was to provide open plan living, dining and a linear kitchen that intersected the dining room, separate laundry, guest wc and bathroom. Provide three bedrooms (office/study) to the ground floor and a fourth bedroom and secret ensuite with timber staircase up to the first floor.
The concealed ensuite is located behind a full height wall of joinery that you access by walking into the wardrobe and the Client request for a bath to lie down in. We built the ground floor addition so that it faces a northerly aspect and specified commercial aluminum sliding doors (plus operable louvers) that stack back from the corner point of the house thereby creating an outdoor room. We have a flush timber deck externally and retaining walls with the westerly wall to become in a few weeks a 5 metre long timber barbeque unit with turquoise cracked glazed tiles to the benchtop and a steel and timber sunshade structure over protecting from the harsh western sun. The next stage of the project is the bespoke joinery, quietly sitting in the joiner’s factory at the moment and is spectacular with each piece individually designed right down to the brass ball catches of the concealed walk-in lilac pantry.

  

  

  

Again the devil is in the details and even the children’s wardrobes are full height gloss metallic white, orange anodized handles with drawers graduated in ‘flavors of green’ and internally the wardrobes are pomegranate in colour for the wow factor. Next week the floors are to be sanded and stained deep brown, commencement of  joinery installation and the coloured grouting of tiles has just begun (mixing paint base to white oxides) to achieve matching grout to tiles colour… great tilers! Beautiful steel screens installed to the face of the staircase stringers are finished in bronze wet-spray and will provide a backdrop to the living room wall. Santas helpers are working overtime to ensure the Client has the house pre-Christmas so that they can settle in and enjoy their new home over the January holidays.

  

  

  

  

I thought I would give you an update (on) the Point Piper apartment… I have emailed you earlier during it’s progress (you can see our post here)and finally we have just completed the dining room table and the finer soft furnishings (joinery pelmet sand silk curtains). We designed all the built-in joinery that harks back to Art Deco but with our usual whimsical touches and the Client has now hung their artwork and provided that next layer of making it feel like a glamorous home. It’s such a joy to hand a project over to a Client that is not afraid to come on a journey with us and allow exploration of cost-effective materials ($20 glazed tiles) and laminate internal carcasses in rich colours (aubergine). I will let you know when it comes out… early next year.

Yes please Scott!! I love seeing the process but I always LOVE seeing the final rooms in all their glory!