Displaying posts from January, 2011

Joe Schmelzer and a fine day

Posted on Thu, 13 Jan 2011 by midcenturyjo

I’m easing back in with a photographer we really love at D2I, Joe Schmelzer. (See earlier posts here and here.) Yesterday when things were grim I promised to post something pretty today but Joe doesn’t do pretty. He does pretty fab! Enjoy!

  

  

  

  

  

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and wave of support. You had me tearing up. The water is dropping and the first stage of the disaster is almost over. Now the hard work begins. Cleaning, rebuilding, healing. We’ll get there but it will take time. Yes we’ll get there.

Susanne Schanz

Posted on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 by KiM

Susanne Schanz is a food and interiors photographer who wanted to share her work with our readers. She sent along some photos from her latest interior shoot and I also grabbed some off of her website. They are so pretty and calming and evoke a sense of naturalism. A beautiful way to end a Wednesday.

  
  
  

  

  
  
  

Design inspirations from Poland

Posted on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 by KiM

We received the following email recently from Ewelina: I am a young interior designer from Poland (Europe), taking my first steps in designing. It’s not easy in my country to change peoples’ mind and attitude as far as interior design is concerned. Many people still don’t care how they live, but hopefully it’s changing, slowly but still it is. Ewelina sent along photos of 2 of her projects which I’d love to share with our readers. (Check out the second one, my favourite, after the jump).

First set of photos is my latest project of a living room combined with kitchen. It’s an old apartment, so it required to be change almost entirely.The only thing that hasn’t been changed so much, is the kitchen. Before the renovation the kitchen had olive-green colour, so that the room seemed to be sad and dark. Thanks to the great material that it is made of (oak) I decided to change only the colour, despite it would be much easier and cheaper to make a new kitchen. All the shelves where hand-painted!. It took a lot of work form my carpenter 🙂 The living space has a silk curtains and cushions, and a silver and glass accessories, such as table and the bracket next to the door. One of my favourite thing in this interior is a crystal table lamp, it gives romantic, warm light.

My second project, it is the white kitchen that reminds me a bit of Provence. It was a completely new apartment, that didn’t demand many changes, only a good functional project. Characteristic are the scones on the wall. They are shabby chic style and were ordered from France. The kitchen work surface is made from american walnut (so it’s called in Poland 🙂 ).  **Note: I ADORE the lights over the little breakfast bar!

Dark days in the sunshine

Posted on Wed, 12 Jan 2011 by midcenturyjo

As most of the world knows by now my home state of Queensland is facing dire floods. 75% of the state is disaster affected and the water keeps rising. 36 years ago as a 12 year old I witnessed this city succumb to the last big flood. Now I am back in my old city of Ipswich and even though the rain has finally stopped and the sun has come out the flood will be even bigger than the “big one” back then.

I awoke this morning to the sounds of alarms and helicopters. We are safe on a hill but just a few blocks away the river was creeping into the business district. At 6 o’clock I ventured out and this is what I found. The waters are still rising and the peak will be at least 2 meters higher than the levels in these photos. 4000 homes will be flooded. Downstream in Brisbane, ten times bigger than Ipswich the number of affected properties is just that, up to 40000 homes and businesses inundated in some way. It is not over yet.

I wanted to post something beautiful today like every other day, a pretty picture, a lovely home but I can’t. I am so overwhelmed by what is going on around me. My head is spinning with the incessant drone of helicopters, the ceaseless stream of cars carrying sightseers up my normally quiet street to reach the lookout, the guilt that we are safe and others aren’t. I couldn’t post those pretty pictures. These will have to do. Keep us in your thoughts as this disaster unfolds. I realise now that there is something beautiful today. It’s the spirit of the people in my state. We will get through this, we will rebuild, we will be helping each other all the way.

I have power at the moment and fingers crossed I will still have power tomorrow. I am stuck in Ipswich for the next few days unable to get to work and will continue to post. Next time it will be pretty pictures I promise. If I am offline you’ll know why though. Take care everyone out there. Stay safe my fellow Queenslanders. Back soon!

Tine Kjeldsen

Posted on Tue, 11 Jan 2011 by KiM

The following stunning Danish home belongs to Tine Kjeldsen, owner and designer of homewares company Tine K Home. Her aesthetic is SO appealing to me. Lots of white, with doses of grey and bits of black and plum. This house is perfection – I might add a few pieces of unpainted wood furniture and some ethnic pieces to give a bit more natural vibe. (And I really wish I could do all white floors but my plethora of cats means I need to get that idea out of my head).