Displaying posts from March, 2011

Sizzling shortlisted entry in the 2011 Australian Interior Design Awards. The Carriageworks by Hare + Klein Interior Design. I’m seriously packing my bags and planning a home invasion. Kitchen is to die for. Love the industrial vibe and the dining room, or is that workroom, is simply perfect. This is not the only shortlisted property by this talented team of designers. I may just have to feature some more!

As I mentioned in part 1 of this series yesterday, my husband and I spent 3 nights at the magical Hacienda San Angel during our vacation in Puerto Vallarta. Today I’d like to show you some photos I took in the main part of the hacienda, Casa Bursus. The main entryway features a beautiful fountain in a courtyard that is open to the sky. There is an adjacent living room, dining room and kitchen. Jeff and I opted to eat breakfast in this dining room where we could watch the cook prepare our meal and hang out and chat with Carlos – one of the staff whom we became well acquainted with. (Another bonus of this hotel is the very friendly and accommodating staff). A special perk of dining here – I got to enjoy the company of the 9 resident dogs (more to come on that in a future post). 🙂

During my stay in Puerto Vallarta, my husband and I had the absolute pleasure of spending 3 nights at a boutique hotel located in the heart of the city (a honeymoon treat). The Hacienda San Angel is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever seen and I had to share my experience there with you all. In fact, I took so many photos I may have to do a couple more posts after this one. 🙂

The Hacienda San Angel is colonial style, consisting of five Mexican villas (one is across the street from the other four), with a total of 14 suites. The first villa, Villa Bursus, was purchased by actor Richard Burton as a Valentine’s Day gift for his then wife Susan. The hacienda has been restored over time (and a huge addition is in the works) and is filled with absolutely incredible antiques, which come from Mexico and Europe and the majority are from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. When I say filled I mean every bed, dresser, painting, bathroom fixture, light fixture etc. is an antique, which means every piece is different. My husband and I were mesmerized as we took a couple tours around the entire hacienda and I photographed just about every inch of the place. Hopefully my photos do it justice. My post today will feature the suite we stayed in – the San Jose. (There are alot of photos of the bed because not only was it gorgeous, but the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on. The linen top sheet, down duvet and pillows you sink into….*sigh*)

Hey folks – there’s a design book I got my hands on recently that I had to tell you about. It’s called Design 100 (Filipacchi Publishing 2010), and was created by former features editor Michael Lassell of the now defunct magazine Metropolitan Home. The book features 100 houses, apartments, lofts or rooms that were created by the best designers and architects of our time and each holds a title, such as “Most Meditative Master Suite”, “Best Modern Makeover of a Historic House” and “Hottest Shot of Color in Miami”. I really enjoyed it and was really curious to see what homes would be featured under each category. Below are 4 spaces from the book – if you’d like to know what these were the best of, you’ll have to go buy the book (which you can do via Amazon). 😉

Be still my beating heart! Minimalist but maximizing potential, simple yet complex, feminine, warm, over scaled yet intimate. Functional and covetable, pure and essential yet just a little (actually a lot) luxe. Modernist beauty by Barcelona based Elina Vila and Agnès Blanch of MINIM. New meets old in the most beautiful way. This is definitely a must see website.