Displaying posts from November, 2010

Reader’s home – kitchen renovation

Posted on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 by KiM

Morgan of Seattle, WA emailed about the recently completed remodel of her mid century modern house and wanted to share her new spiffy kitchen. Here is some info from Morgan: “Here are a few “before” shots of the kitchen…the pictures are the fuzzy wide lens shots that realtors take…it was way worse in person 🙂

A wall came down, the 20 year old laminate floors and formica countertops came out and my dream kitchen with an island went in! We bought this circa 1956 house in Northwest Seattle last spring for its kitchen-remodel potential. Galley kitchens are the norm in Seattle and mid century houses are rare in the close in neighborhoods. When we found this house, we were so excited to have a home where the kitchen was the heart! I had a folder on my desktop full of images from desiretoinspire, ready to put to good use in our design process. Thank you for the inspiration!
The backsplash tile is Villeroy-Boch in an awesomely European large format- 12″ by 36″. After falling in love with $70 a foot tiles at Ann Sacks it was a huge relief to find this at $12 a foot! The cabinets are walnut and the countertops are white quartz.
” I love it all – the walnut cabinetry and the backsplash are HOT, and I’m a sucker for white quartz countertops. Great job Morgan!!! Check out the after photos after the jump!

A story of a farmhouse in Japan

Posted on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 by KiM

The following was from an email we received from Davina: “I wanted to share a project with you, a short documentary I am working on called MINKA, about a 250-year-old farmhouse in Japan that was restored by an American journalist and his adopted Japanese son. I’m in the midst of raise finishing funds for the film via Kickstarter and am trying to reach as many design lovers as I can. This is the link to my fundraising page.” Everything about this video is just so beautiful – the story, the farmhouse, the cinematography. I just had to share it. And I really REALLY hope Davina is able to collect the funds to finish the film – it’s a really touching story.

Here is the trailer:

“Minka” trailer from Birdling Films on Vimeo.

 

A tiny grand design

Posted on Tue, 23 Nov 2010 by midcenturyjo

It’s a tiny house with Grand Designs. This itsy bitsy 5 level Surrey Hill’s house is the creation of Woods Baggot principal Domenic Alvaro. Domenic and his partner Sue Bassett could not afford the price tag of a house in this trendy inner Sydney suburb. What they could afford was a carpark. So this is what they did. Bought a 3 car space and built up and up and up. Featured on Australia’s LifeStyle Channel as part of their Grand Designs series you’ll find so much more on their website. Befores, afters and video walk throughs as well as more clever Aussie homes. Clever design solution! Stunning views! To die for roof top garden! The steps would keep you fit!

Monday’s pets on furniture

Posted on Mon, 22 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!)

Minette, enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon in Montréal.”
– Marie-Hélène and Gaétan

This is our 3-year old french bulldog Stella. She loves soft things to sit on, sofas, beds and humans.”
– Maria (Finland)

We were gifted this table and chair set by family in Florida, which we quickly stripped and re-stained for a more modern look. We proudly present our 2 year old Pomeranian Yogi. He loves to sneak onto the table, hopefully with this plate setting, he’ll never do it again.
– Nathalie and Deena (Orlando, FL)

While photographing the lovely home of Harriet Zaretsky, her adorable puppy Rosie was happy to show off this Jonathan Adler blanket.”
Bethany (Los Angeles, CA)

Gordie (the little white Toy Fox Terrier) and Jack (the great white shark, I mean Boxer) love the new skylights and built in book cases in our what-not room. (Ahem, so does my husband who has appropriated the room for his guitar practice). Shortly after I took this picture, Jack took it upon himself to eat the new flokati rug. A 50lb, 5 month old Boxer does like a nice new rug. Grrrr.
– Priscilla

I have so many pics of my pets. But my little rescue dog BUBBA a chihuahua and Jack Russel mix always cracks me up.
My son often builds a tower of pillows in the kitchen seat and Bubba loves to sleep up there.
Bubba also loves to sleep on the back of ANY couch. This one is in the library.
Bubba in the pink chair in the foyer.

Jill
  

My chihuahua Ren (named after Ren Hoek of Ren & Stimpy) loves nestling on top of the back cushions of my mini sectional sofa in our cozy new apartment.
– Nicole (Oakville, ON)

Pic #1. Lulu on vintage cigar chair.
Pic #2. Moco on a Barcelona wannabe chair in a corner of the living room.
Pic #3. Moco & Lulu on vintage chairs in one of the bedrooms.

– Pam (Orlando, Florida)
  

I was attempting to take a photo of the quilt I finished, but Gus was offended that the camera wasn’t pointed at him.  He remedied that situation.
– Lexi (Savannah, GA)

Here are two pictures of my cats Mimi and Valentim. The first one they are on our colorful sofa and the second one show the cats enjoying the flowers and the table made by a friend!
Ivana

This is Logan showing his approval of our new leather chair.”
– Sam (Philadelphia)

Here is my adorable rat terrier, Poochi, living it up on my love seat.”
– Juliana Payne

Here’s Valentino. It’s quite a close-up of him (we don’t say “it” for our pets in Portuguese) but it’s actually a close-up of my own hand-made carpet.
– Juliana Pan (Brazil)

This photo is of my beloved dog Jakko on the bed.
Anne-Lise (Oslo)

Someone give this girl a TV show!

Posted on Mon, 22 Nov 2010 by KiM

We received an email from a reader named Lauren recently…it seems Lauren wants to be a TV star. 🙂 And I think she totally has potential for her own HGTV show. She sent us a link to a webisode she filmed with Craigslist TV where she posts on craigslist offering to redecorate someone’s place exclusively using craigslist to find all the design materials and furniture. Her video is alot of fun so I thought I’d share with you all. (P.S. Not only is she a decorator but an artist – find her work here.)