Displaying posts from May, 2014

San Francisco firm Klopf Architecture sent over some details of their latest project. The owners dreamed of an Eichler remodel that they would live in forever. Their vision was clean, contemporary and open. Klopf Architecture would design, and reconfigure bathrooms/laundry areas and upgrade systems to be more efficient. This talented executive mother of five decorated and furnished the home herself. Such a beauty – the centre courtyard is a dream of mine…something to keep all of my cats contained where I don’t have to watch their every move. I would be out there all of the time, and the spaciousness of the interior with all of those massive windows is spot on. 

Over the years a jumble of 19th century barns were moved and remodeled, added to and almost disappeared beneath new work. Owners came and went until the current occupants engaged architectural firm Christoff : Finio to add their layer to the buildings. That’s what so many old buildings are… layers. Layers of new work and old, layers of materials, layers of lives and layers of meanings. Creating a new home from this jumble of layers doesn’t always mean stripping back to basics. Sometimes it just means rationalising, reworking, rearranging and revealing to reveal the beauty.

It may take a lot of discipline to live the minimalist life (and in this case a lot of money) but, oh, how beautiful is the simple line, the intersection of positive and negative, boxes balanced on manicured lawns, glass walls throwing privacy to the wind. Austere luxury by AABE (Atelier d’Architecture Bruno Erpicum & Partners).

Sublime. These spaces, gloriously styled and flawlessly captured on camera, are the work of Brisbane stylist and photographer Kara Rosenlund

If you’d like to send me photos to include in next week’s pets on furniture post, please ensure your photos follow these basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so it takes center stage rather than your pet. Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture that you wan t to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it. And second, if the photo is too dark or unfocused it may not make the cut. Photos, your name, location and a brief description can be sent to kim[at]desiretoinspire[dot]net. Thanks!

********* Something special you all need to see is after the jump 🙂 ************

This is our young cat Lola on our chesterfield sofa (my pillows in the background)
– Francoise

Apparently Bowie believes that taking naps on the coffee table is acceptable. 
– Sabrina (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Chilli is a Bordeaux Bull Mastiff and Coco is Abyssinian X Burmese, both rescue, both divine creatures!!!
– Marta (Melbourne, VIC) 

Sugarbear Silvertone resting in some mid century pottery on a mid century Danish nesting table next to a mid century chrome chair – very mid century.
– Jeff 

Not sure if these measure up or not.  No hard feeling if my poor photo skills and my crappy camera could not do Skillet justice 🙂  Plus, more than a specific type of great furniture (though there are some peeks to mid-century goodies) is the setting that I like.  The view from our kitchen window to our little front garden is special to us.
– Pam (Orlando, FL)
Ed: Skillet = such an awesome pet name!

Jenny from Australia emailed me about a very special pet that I had to share with you all. Maybe you have heard of Esther the Wonder Pig who lives in Georgetown, Ontario. I hadn’t, and I am SO GLAD I now know about her. As told by Jenny: Her daddies bought her as a micro piglet – but she grew. All pigs do – the micro pig thing is a myth – people starve pigs to keep them small, but Esther is part of the family so she grew! Anyway, Esther has changed her daddies’ lives and now they are setting up a farm sanctuary in Ontario. This absolutely adorable pig went from 3 lbs to now 450 lbs and is clearly the love of her dads’ (Steve and Derek) lives.

She shares their home with 2 dogs and 2 cats as well, so it’s busy and crowded! You can check out Esther’s website, and her facebook page for lots of info and wonderful photos. When they realized she was a full-sized commercial pig and had been duped, they had already fallen in love with her and could not give her up. She changed their lives – they became vegans and now their 1000 sq ft house is far too small, so they started a crowd-funding campaign to buy and run a farm sanctuary for Esther and give them the opportunity to rescue other food industry animals. Steve, Derek and Esther are amazing so please, if you can, donate to their campaign. I think they all deserve a new home, and a new start.