Displaying posts from November, 2010

Anne-Lise, an avid reader of our little blog, emailed us the following: “I have been meaning to send in pictures of my own apartment in Oslo for a while now. It is in a building from 1901 in a cosy neighbourhood. Crown moldings and hardwood floors are original and in great shape. The style is somewhat mixed of Scandinavian with some old finds from grandparents etc, and some things are things that I have either made myself, like the large lamp in the living room. I created that along with my father by using seven lamps from Ikea. The dining table and chairs were in a sad condition when my sister gave them to me, but with lots of love, sanding and oil they all came back to life. It is sad to me that I have to say goodbye to the place, but alas I cannot take it with me to Paris, France where I have just bought a new place.” What better way to say goodbye than to have a little DTI feature on a Friday! I can see why you’ll be sad to see this place go Anne-Lise, but moving to Paris is so exciting! Hope you’ll share photos of your new home with us once you’re settled. 🙂

Almost moved in. Who am I kidding? I have another day of moving on Saturday. This time all my artwork and the shed… the dreaded shed! I’ve been collecting inspiration photos for my new old home for months (years) and I wanted to share some work by Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe of Nickey-Kehoe. I’ve peeped into their portfolio before but I’m really getting into the “vintage meets modern wrapped up in comfort and easy care” vibe of this Hollywood Hills home. I want a home that looks good but also feels good. One that lets me live my life without worrying about the “precious” furnishings. I want to flop into a chair or snuggle up in a bedroom and feel at home. I think I could here. I’ve also included a few shots of a Long Island home they also created. Tell me what you think of the sofa in the powder room 😉

P.S. I still have so much to do here in the new old house and tomorrow is a huge day. Please forgive if I don’t post tomorrow. I’ll be up to my eyeballs in boxes and sweat. Hopefully I’ll have the first few video walk throughs of the house. Very very “before” for sure! You’ll find them on my page as soon as I finish uploading them. I’ll say bye for now. I can’t put off unpacking for any longer.

Today’s reader request comes from Sandy: “Now I have the following “problem”: I’m about to move into my first own flat and am searching desperately for an (affordable) ceiling but modern lamp. The furniture is at the moment made from pine in the natural color but I will eventually glaze it white and add some stylish accessories so that it will turn into french style with some modern pieces (side table, chairs, lamps). So the lamps should be modern (60ies), unfortunately I have only found verner panton to be likable and out of production or affordability. Do you have some pics or ideas of studio flats with ceiling lights, which are modern, that you could share?” Sandy’s request is a tad specific, so I searched through my photo stash and found some photos of some pendants that I think look fantastic, and many of which could either be DIY projects or purchased fairly inexpensively, and aren’t necessarily 60s era (why limit yourself?). I really do think if there is a really tight budget that this is a PERFECT opportunity for a DIY. For example, check Ikea as they always have the best lighting – but maybe think outside the box a bit in that case so your choice is not the same as a zillion other people with the same light fixture. Tomorrow I will be posting a reader’s home where she created a pendant light out of several Ikea fixtures wired together. Or perhaps check out your local thrift store for a lampshade, where you can rip off the fabric and just have the “cage” hanging. (I have done that recently to a lampshade I bought for a few bucks at Habitat for Humanity, and plan to hang it on one side of my sofa). Or there is this gorgeous DIY light project that Grace blogged yesterday:

I’d also suggest checking out Etsy because I am always on the hunt for funky lighting and they have TONS of handmade light fixtures at great prices. But first, some inspiration for you Sandy, that I think will give you lots of ideas for your dilemma.

Hus & Hem	Rachael Smith
design*sponge	design*sponge
Susanna Zacke	Simon Brown
design*sponge	Hus & Hem
Mad og Bolig	Schappacher White
Bolig Magasinet	Hus & Hem

Light Locations
Alvhem
Happy Homes
Otthon
Gunkelmans
Jordi Canosa
Living Etc.

It’s almost 2 years since Kim first featured Swedish photographer Anna Kern’s fabulous work. The clarity of light, her ability to read a room and simply but beautifully capture the essence. What could possibly be better? More photos in the portfolio of course! My favourite is dinosaur as bathroom accessory. A must have this season. Hang it. A must have every season.

Jo isn’t the only one having technical difficulties. My laptop, which I love as much as my many cats, is on the fritz with a toasted hard drive. I feel LOST without it. Luckily I have a very computer-savvy husband whom everyone and their dog goes to when things go wrong with anything computer related. He was thankfully able to copy my important files off but I am without some software I use on a daily basis, and it is very frustrating. I hope to get it back up and running soon so I won’t be such a grump. In the meantime I found some photos I had stashed away of a gorgeous apartment in Madrid from the lovely Nuevo Estilo. (According to google translator I think it’s a rental and the building was from the 50s-60s designed by architect Luis Gutiérrez Soto).