Displaying posts from May, 2012

Do you like peeking into homes from around the world? If you are like me you certainly do. Scandinavian countries, Brazil, Israel, South Africa and more. Today is our first Taiwanese home. reader Yin lives in this ground floor 100 square meter apartment owned by interior designer Lin of RHdesign. I love the serenity of Yin’s home. The rainbow of floor cushions in their own little niche is a clever introduction of colour to the otherwise neutral space. It’s clean lined contemporary take on apartment living.

I have a ton of cleaning and blog research to do today so because I don’t have much time I thought I’d show you some small projects around my house and other things that have been going on here lately. 

First up, some shelving I acquired that needed a bit of work. A couple of weeks ago we went to hang out at my sister’s cottage and my husband got to work repairing the shed that houses the ride-on lawn mower (the top half of the back wall had collapsed over the winter due to the weight of the snow). In the process we took everything out of the shed that had been left there by the previous owners. We found a bunch of metal bins/shelving in the shed and outside the shed holding rusting cans of leftover paint. My sister took 3 of the good ones and I offered to take the rusting ones that were outside. They were in pretty bad shape but I figured I could sand them and/or spray paint them. I tried sanding the rust off for a couple of hours but it turned out to be a daunting task so I opted to sand them quickly and spray paint them. I had bought neon yellow and pink spray paint a couple months back and decided to use the pink since I hadn’t done anything with it yet. I kind of like it! I thought for now they’d work great as shoe storage in my dressing room. 

A few weeks ago we replaced our front door with one from a friend who had remodeled her front entrance and replaced the door with a new one (ours was old, ugly and falling apart). I had painted the outside of it Chinese red and the inside a sort of chartreuse/apple green. It looks fantastic and really brightens up the living room compared to the old one (photos of it in this post). I found some photos of when I was in the process of painting the door a few years ago (we weren’t going to bother installing it since we are planning to wreck the house and rebuild but decided to anyway).

That’s pretty much it for projects around the house. I did acquire some new items lately, and here are a couple of them. 

This was going to go in a parcel I sent to Jo last month but I realized the candles would likely break in transit so I decided to keep it for myself. 🙂 It is by Dansk Designs (made in Denmark).

I also got my hands on some more antlers, shipped from a farm in Alberta (where my sister’s former co-worker lives). He finds alot of them in the Spring all over his property.

There is another piece that made it into my home lately but I’m not sure when I’ll have time to get decent photos of it so that’s for a post in the near future. To end this, I thought I’d show a couple photos from the cottage, since I have been going there for a day each weekend to try and relax and plan to for the rest of our short Ottawa summer.

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 is from Sue May.

Hi! I wanted to share this dilemma with you guys. I have a set of two lovely fairly big windows but due to a recent break-in at my neighbor’s house we decided to place these awful iron bars. I truly feel like I’m living in a concrete jail.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to make them less hideous. I’m going to make two plant boxes for flowers and herbs. But besides that I’m lost.

Tim Clarke, Interior Designer in Santa Monica, California, is well known for creating sophisticated, unique spaces inspired by modern classicism. At once relaxed and timeless, Tim’s modern elegance and vintage luxury translates into inspiring sustainable interiors. Tim’s signature coastal-influenced aesthetic became highly sought-after by clients who wanted a new interpretation of a modern beach home. These creative rooms encourage freedom and lightness without sacrificing style. Call me crazy but I think Tim’s portfolio is a welcome break from the usual Scandinavian and modern approaches to design we feature so often here. And on that note, happy Friday everyone!

Hanging from the edge of Signal Hill in Cape Town is a house for the 21st century, Head 1843 Fresnaye. Breath taking views are captured from a luxurious pool terrace. A fantasy for the entertainer with pavilion, pool and alfresco dining area. Perhaps the show stopper is the cantilevered fireplace shelf. No I take that back. The show stopper is the infinity pool with views to… well, infinity. Antoni Associates have refurbished a SAOTA designed house and taken it to a new level. It’s conspicuous wealth but oh my it’s sexy in a James Bond parasailing from the pool edge, explosions and pouty Bond girl left pining pool side sort of way.