Displaying posts from July, 2011

A versus B

Posted on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 by midcenturyjo

Same town, same suburb, same style of building. Equal match? Time for a Paddington, Sydney real estate stalking smackdown. Please don’t try this at home 😉 In the red corner House A

and in the blue corner House B.

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[.]com and PLEASE don’t send closeups of your pet!)

This is Jasper, my newfie, in my apartment in New York City. She was feeling sick, so allowed on the loveseat for the day.
– Jen

This is Nell, our retired racing greyhound on Pottery Barn’s Manhattan sofa. Above her is one of four original prints from 1891 issues of Harper’s Weekly – proposed renderings of the Columbian Exposition, which was built the following year.
– Brad and Melissa (Evanston, IL)

Kitty follows me around the house, but especially loves when I work in my studio so she can get comfortable on my custom made peacock chair! We adopted her three months ago from a rescue organization. When she is not laying on the chair watching me, she likes playing fetch with plastic drinking straws (for real) or pulling upholstery nails out of the furniture!
– Kate and Andries (Shanghai China)

This is Lucille, the queen of the house. She is seen here in the first 2 pictures on my mom’s new bedding (a huge change from the last “pets on furniture” picture I had of Lucille) and then in my room yawning/hinting at me that she is no longer going to cooperate with the picture taking. Clearly we are (now) a household that doesn’t shy away from colorful and dramatic bedspreads!
– Sarah (New York City)

Lulu sitting on a leather Butterfly chair in the Catskills.
– Audrey (New York, New York)

Here is Toby, my mom’s Yorkie mix, striking a handsome pose on a bench in her living room.
– Dina

Here’s my retired Greyhound Bel taking it easy on her cane sofa. She’s taken total ownership of the sofa and spends hours contemplating… whatever…. here in the sculpture-studio sitting-room.
– Lindsay (Hokianga, New Zealand)

This is a picture of our baby boy Dakota sitting on an antique wooden child’s table and chair. He wouldn’t fit on it now so he opts for the loveseat instead.
– Canace (Bloomingburg, N.Y.)

This is photo documentation of my living room, just in case I forget what it looks like in later years? I was just spinning taking pictures from a centre point in the apartment but there the little cutie, Frankenstein, is, hanging out on the most comfortable futon ever.
– McKenzie (Eugene, Oregon)

Attached is a picture of Tucker, our Goldendoodle, who fancies himself a great protector. Just a few minutes before this picture was snapped, he was laying on the futon “keeping watch” on the insides of his eyelids, but then he heard a noise and decided to snap to attention. 🙂
– Bev (Maple Shade, NJ)

After my friend Amanda had her two fluffy darlings Alfie and Andi exposed to internet fame i thought I would send through a little slice of a day in the life of my cat. His name is Ali, as in the boxer. he was named as such after being rescued at five weeks old from under the concrete floor of a boxing gym by the fire department. As you can tell by his size he is probably supposed to be a street cat (probably going by the name of Cassius Clay). As he did not grow up with a mother he is a little bit mental and sometimes lives up to his name. In fact the vet actually registered him officially as Ali Mohammed. He likes to sleep in weird places, eat and pull things off the fridge door. I am particularly fond of the photo where he is imitating a pez-dispenser (despite it’s blurriness).
– Jodie

Sydney suggestions?

Posted on Sun, 17 Jul 2011 by midcenturyjo

I’m off to Sydney this week for a couple of days. (Thanks Freedom! I can’t believe it’s time for the new season’s furniture launch already!) I plan to (window) shop till I drop. Last time I was in Sydney I blitzkrieged Surry Hills and Redfern. Vampt and Seasonal Concepts were stand outs but honestly you can’t walk a block in these suburbs without finding a retail gem. Now I need suggestions for my next design hunt and gather. The Society Inc is on the books but number one is a visit to Sydney’s hottest new shop Pure and General. Owned by Linda Gregoriou (her home sent the blogoshere into fits of jealousy) and managed by Cassandra Karinsky. Definitely can’t wait to meet Cassandra at last! But I’m greedy. I need more suggestions. Shops, cafes, hole in the wall coffee, spill the beans so to speak!.

Design Crew

Posted on Sat, 16 Jul 2011 by midcenturyjo

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don’t know what to do? You’re not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you …. that’s you lot… the readers!

Peach from the Philippines (check out her blog Grace in Full Measure) emailed…

I read your recent blog entry about seeking help for design dilemmas thru your blog. I hope you can help me out with my living room. My living room space is cavernous and the ceiling is high. My very limited furnitures look way too tiny in the space and there’s so much unused areas. I don’t want to fill it up with too much stuff but I do want to make it look homey and cozy, Pottery Barn style 🙂 Suggestions are very much appreciated.

Here is the sort of look that Peach is hoping for.

I think the pictures are a good place to start Peach. Move the furniture away from the walls and….. OK now it’s your turn DTI readers to come up with more suggestions.

Reader request – exposed brick

Posted on Fri, 15 Jul 2011 by KiM

Today’s reader request comes from Erick: I wanted to know if you could help me find ideas for designing/decorating an apartment with exposed brick wall. I think I’d like to see more of a modern take rather then a rustic one. I’m open to the industrial look also. Jo and I are HUGE fans of exposed brick. H U G E. And I think exposed brick works with any type of decor. Smooth and sleek modern furnishings add an interesting contrast to the rough and raw edge of brick walls. And industrial mixed with brick just makes total sense. WORK IT ERICK!