Displaying posts from March, 2012

Instead of doing my usual blog favourites of late post today, at the last minute I decided to instead feature one really inspiring blog instead. I heard about 47 Park Avenue a while back via an email from one of its creators, Michael, an owner of London based locations company Shoot Factory. Michael and his partner Jonathan purchased 47 Park Avenue in May of last year, a stunning home (with 3 reception rooms! 5 bedrooms!) that was desperately in need of some wallpaper removal, paint jobs, walls knocked out and pretty much a complete overhaul. They’ve been working very hard to get their home out of the 50’s and into the new millennium and while still a work in process, what has been accomplished so far is incredible. The vintage furniture and lighting they have sourced is all TO-DIE-FOR, and everything being painted black and white is just right-on. And their dogs are too cute! Their blog and the progress on their home is a must-follow. (I had to include some before photos so you get the full effect of the transformation).

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.  

Just wanted to give a quick but proper mention to my first ever design-related competition for Urban Barn, because it’s a pretty cool idea… 5 bloggers across Canada got to pick a chair, some fabric and extras, and you vote (which gives you the opportunity to win your own custom chair or some Urban Barn gift cards). The chairs will be auctioned off at the end, and each blogger got to choose a charity. I chose the Country Cat Sanctuary – who were kind enough to lend me a trap for my recent stray cat rescue operation and helped cover the cost of vet bills.

So that’s my chair above. I had initially selected a slipper chair with houndstooth fabric with pink piping but they had no bright colours in stock so above is my second option. Go vote for your favourite (hopefully mine!) here.