Displaying posts from June, 2013

Considered, pared back, eclectic contemporary. IF Architecture takes a holistic approach to their designs with an emphasis on the marriage of exteriors and interiors, architecture and interior design. Their houses tell a simple story of good design, good use and a good looks. But it’s not all clean contemporary lines and a minimalist aesthetic. Their commercial work reveals their showman side. Statement spaces that speak of drama and style.

Sometimes less is more. In this case it’s not less house, but less detail. This is the Cube House by Marcio Kogan of StudioMK27. Amidst the lush grennery at the edge of the city sits this cube, and it needs no more. Indoor/outdoor living to take advantage of the views, the pool, the property. Less is definitively more. (P.S. More projects by StudioMK27 here and here)

A Brazilian reader named Mabel was fortunate enough to spend 4 days last month at this magnificent hotel in Porto, Portugal called Casa do Conto. It is a restored 19th-century bourgeois home that has been modernized and simplified. It is stunning. Shades of grey, white and black, concrete and unembellished walls. I would love to stay a while in a hotel like this, to see how I would feel in an environment this modern and minimal, imagining it as my home. I adore spaces like this but am not quite sure I could live like this long term. In any case, if I ever have the opportunity to visit Porto, I would gladly stay here. 🙂

I so want this space as my studio/work room/office. Fine old architectural bones. Tick. Great big window. Tick. Loads of shelving, cool furniture, Achille Castiglioni Taraxacum light (my all time favourite)and a boucherouite rug. Sigh. See more of this amazing house by Undercover Architects here.

Mix me a martini while I kick off my kitten heels. Bossa nova on the turntable and Bitossi on the shelves. Fabulous for more than 50 years this midcentury dame just needs her make up tidied up, her do back teased and she’ll be a smoldering all over again. The North Caulfield, Melbourne house I mean. Not me. Sold hopefully to someone who loves the house not just a developer who wants the block. Link here while it lasts.