Displaying posts from September, 2012

On Sunday I had the honour of another personal tour of a home that is part of the Glebe House Tour this year. This home is quite a bit different than the last one (featured here and here) in that the structure of the original home was kept (but gutted) with a large addition in the rear. While I adored the first home I toured because it’s modern, this one is the best of both worlds – a mix of old and new. Kellie Major and Warren Newberry are the owners, and have renovated/built 6 homes of their own so far. They’re so good at it they left their jobs to start ReNew Homes, where they provide residential renovation project management and on-site support to homeowners who wish to renovate or build a custom designed home. (Maybe my husband and I should think about hiring them!) Kellie and Warren were awesome, their house is awesome, their dogs and kids are awesome….so why don’t I just get to the photos? (Note: The tour is this Sunday so hurry and get your tickets!! My husband and I can’t wait to tour them all.)

The lower level of the addition is an apartment (currently a temporary home for Kellie’s mom).

The balcony leads off the new master bedroom.

My husband fell in love with this shed (clad in Kellie’s favourite colour – teal).

Kellie and Warren have used these glass garage doors in 3 of their homes and love them. I always thought the climate here was too cold for these but now I’m sold. 

Now for the first peek of the interior. I took too many photos for one post so for now the dining room, kitchen and living room. Later today I’ll show you the remaining spaces. 

When you walk in the front door, the dining room is to the left. Love the large niches that house a keyboard, cabinets for dining table paraphernalia and a desk….and it leads right into the kitchen cabinetry. The floors are engineered hickory. The house has no furnace (crazy, I know) but is heated with radiant floor heating which is why they went with engineered wood.

There was a support beam in the middle of the space, so a curved wall was created to house it and it turned into a chalkboard for the weekly meal plan. 

Behind the wall you can see stacks of boxes – tile for the master bathroom. Hopefully it’s all done for the house tour so I can see the final product!

I guess I was enjoying the tour and conversation too much to get any decent photos of the full kitchen so my apologies that I only have a few of bits and pieces.

They have a really cool Miele range hood (they got at a serious discount because the store was closing) that moves up and down at the push of a button. Great for this couple who are tall, and short. 🙂

The cute retro chair was purchased at White Monkey – a local vintage shop I adore. They carry the coolest art deco pieces. (The fireplace is a work in progress – the tile it will be clad with is going to look SWEET!)

One of the 2 garage doors  (you can see the other in the background). Fantastic!

Wood from the walls that were torn down were used to make barn doors. I am SO doing this when we wreck our house – the wood behind the drywall in my home looks just like this. 

The mud room is beyond this barn door and is used as the main entrance (for the residents). 

More to see in a bit so stay tuned!!!

It is the end of the week and a girl’s mind turns to gardening. Well this girl’s does. As the days grow longer and the temperature rises, the leaves burst forth on the branches and long forgotten bulbs shot “surprise” as they pop out of the soil, my day dreams of a lush and lovely backyard may just come true. They would that is if I left them in the creative hands of Sydney-based Secret Gardens. Perhaps a bright yet shady backyard retreat like this first garden in Randwick? Or a more sophisticated and casually elegant garden that marries contemporary landscape with a traditional home in Kensington? Either would be perfect.

Britt Crepain, Stefan Spaens and Joep Debie are the super creative architects that make up CSD Architecten, based in Antwerp, Belgium. I love all the funky details in each space – especially the steel, deep ledge windows of the slatted wood home. 

I’d like to introduce you to a very talented interior and product design firm based in Sofia, Bulgaria called Fimera. They excel at creating modern spaces that are classy and perfect for entertaining – and living. And anyone who uses a Maarten Baas for Moooi Smoke chair in their spaces is A-OK with me. 🙂

The beginning of the week saw me stalking small country cottages. Today I’m wandering the streets of inner city Melbourne. Two worker’s cottages caught me eye. The first is in South Yarra, Melbourne. (Link here.) The second in Fitzroy, Melbourne. (Link here.) Two homes small in footprint but big on style. When you are surrounded by all the temptations of inner city living a home is more of a base for exploring and experiencing what is on offer around you than a mega McMansion in the ‘burbs where the house itself is more the destination. (Dare I say to almost theme park dimensions in some cases… then again I always was an inner city girl 😉