Displaying posts from March, 2012

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! This week’s problem comes from Donnet who lives in South Africa.

So my boyfriend and I are wanting to make a little dead-space/old bedroom in our house into a home-office. We live in an awesome loft apartment, and it has one really unusual feature – a curved, corrugated roof. This makes it a little difficult fitting things into the mezzanine level. We want to keep the space simple and clutter-free as our mezzanine level is all open plan and our bedroom and 2 bathrooms are up there too.

About the space:
-The space is triangular in shape and approximately 3m along the window wall x 2.5m wide down the roof side.
-It has a beautiful curved window with an awesome view that lets it a lot of light. (If we could come up with some sort of blind system for this window we would be killing 2 birds with 1 stone!)
-One of our bathrooms is right next to the space
-We would need to fit 2 work stations in the space
-There is only one corner with wall space

We would love to get some outside perspective on the space.

Thanks to Carl-Johan for sending us this link to the Swedish home of Peter Pluntkys, an antiquities expert and regular on the Swedish version of “Antiques Roadshow”. I love the quirkiness of this home, and the fact that the owners believe their home should still be practical (and not a museum), where everything can be used.

Purple Design, based in London, is an interior design firm that isn’t afraid to go bold. While their style isn’t for everyone, the glamourous, adventurous and luxurious approach is inspiring, and a nice break from the black and white Scandi vibe that seems rampant on this blog and many others.  

Rising from a gentle slope between two stands of trees is an extraordinary house. Concrete and glass, steel and massive reclaimed Douglas Fir beams. Triangles folding on each other and unfolding on the landscape. Monolithic presence lightened by walls of folding glass doors. It’s like being under a cave like overhang. Shaded and cool, protected and enclosed looking out on the world. The weight of the concrete house rising from the earth juxtaposed with waving fields of grass, echoed by the mass of trees. Manmade vs nature. Solid form vs open spaces. All magically illuminated by “glow worm” lights hanging from its cave ceiling. A family house built on rural acreage designed by Vancouver based architect Omer Arbel.

…and because I love the design of this backyard. Jared of topsy design just completed decorating and landscaping this patio in the Hollywood Hills (where they get to enjoy decent weather all year round). Casual and vintage loveliness.