Displaying posts from January, 2016

Dark bathing beauties from the Danish masters of minimalism Norm.Architects. The en-suite bathroom in this old townhouse in Copenhagen features concrete, dark porcelain tiles and customised bronzed fixtures while family bathroom continues the dark, cave-like luxury.

Yesterday was a veeeeeery long day. I’m actually writing this last night after many hours of work and then many hours of dealing with a delivery of immense proportions. Having decent appliances is very important to me. On day 2 in our current house we bought a new washing machine because I was horrified at the age and condition of the machine that came with the place. The fridge and stove are another bone of contention. The stove is a cheap electric annoyance that takes forever to get the burners going (typical). The fridge was about as cheap as they come these days and one of the plastic shelves cracked after a couple of months in. I will even share a before photo taken not long after we moved in.

The other day I decided I had enough and the husband and I went to our favourite appliance store and picked out a new fridge, similar to the one I had bought when I renovated my last kitchen. 7 years later Fisher & Paykel appears to continue to be one of the few brands that sells streamlined, minimalist fridges that doesn’t cost a second mortgage. We went with a French door style (still not sure I’m into this but we’ll see) with water/ice dispenser and freezer drawer on the bottom.

I swear I wanted to burst into tears of delight when we pushed the fridge back and it fit PERFECTLY into the ridiculous alcove that a former owner built on the back porch. (That’s how small my kitchen is – it doesn’t even fit a fridge so it was relegated to the porch). We had a little hiccup when we plugged it in after 2 hours and tried sliding it back into place but couldn’t because the outlet was on the right side and the plug stuck out too much. Luckily I have a very handy husband who took off to the hardware store and came back with an inset outlet that worked like a charm. OMG I am dying over a freaking fridge! I LOOOVE IT!!! I cannot recommend Fish & Paykel fridges enough. Not only are they sweet looking on the outside, they are all counter-deep and have thin glass shelves. THIN! GLASS! SHELVES!

Sorry the photos are crap but it was late and all I could manage. In a couple of weeks our tile guy is FINALLY showing up to install the flooring in here and in the foyer and vestibule, and my little backsplash and fireplace tile. So once that’s done and we hopefully get gas hookup for the Jenn-Air range we found on Kijiji for $300 I will be able to take proper photos of the kitchen. As you can see, I went dark blue. More details on that to come. Now I need to get some sleep.

Back in June ’14 Jo featured the really beautiful Hicks Street townhouse by New York firm Kevin Darkan Architect. I thought today I would share the Hicks Street carriage house. This totally changes my perspective on what a carriage house is. This ain’t no outbuilding! WHOA! The painted brick, exposed ceiling beams, skylight, and ah mah gawd the kitchen!! What a dream home! (Speaking of dream homes, I’m trying to convert mine into something I can maybe call a dream one day – check out my next post in a few hours. Slowly but surely I’m filling it with things I love.)

Voluptuous. It’s the only word I can think of to describe this room. The punctuation of the rug, the curve of blue velvet disguised as a sofa, the mid century chairs and brutalist sconces all toy with the 19th century bones of the room, the ceiling, the gilded plaster, the wrought iron. And to top it all off a ridiculously large and “casually” arranged vase of elephant ears in a vase. Appartement Rue Jean Goujon, Paris by Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty, the design duo behind the architectural firm Studio KO.

I’m stalking a house I’ve featured before, the Balmain House by Fox Johnston, only this time I think I like the real estate photos better. The house seems to have mellowed, grown into its modern extension. Great to see a floor plan. Link here while it lasts.