Displaying posts from May, 2016

“Rawson House is the transformation of an existing 1900’s semi-detached cottage in Sydney. The project is a sophisticated and contemporary exploration into materiality and spatial organisation, enhancing the experience of day-to-day living through elegant subtleties.”

Rawson House is fabulous renovation and extension of an older style house by an award winning architectural and interior design firm Alexander & Co. It’s light, bright and modern with clean lines and that all important connection to the outdoors.

I love a show house. They are a dream, a fantasy, a platform for interior designers and decorators to weave their magic. All in the name of beauty. All in the name of style. All in the name of pushing the boundaries. This artful living room at the 2016 San Francisco Decorator Showcase by Antonio Martins Interior Design is inspired by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s expansion. The designer has created a space that celebrates the city’s vibrant creative energy and emphasizes the intersection of art and design. With its white lacquered walls, hot rolled steel floors, curated collection of vintage and cutting edge furniture as well as striking art it’s like a beautiful Salon, a meeting place for aesthetes, intellectuals and artists or, in our case, like-minded design lovers. Perhaps if you are in San Francisco you can visit this room and tell me how stunning it is in person. The San Francisco Decorator Showcase is open now through to May 30.

If you would like to participate in the Monday’s pets on furniture series please send photos, your name, location and a brief description to kim[@]desiretoinspire[.]net. Thanks!

This is our sweet Brooky in her favorite look out spot.
– Lizzy (Salt Lake City, UT) 

1 – One of Amae’s many hiding spots
2 – Leon’s eyes matching the rug
3 – Amae was recently lost for 7 days. We found her down the street living in a drainage ditch. This is her happy to be home!
4 – Oscar under one of my favorite paintings
– Hillary (Birmingham, AL) 

1 – Boo Boo modeling Pier 1’s Papasan chair
2 – Daisy takes a respite between chapters of Erin Gates book, ‘Elements of Style’ under the table I made out of Hawaiian Sugi pine wood and hand painted legs
3 – I am not kidding: I ordered my couch to match my cat. Less visible hair. 
4 – Daisy deciding whether she prefers West Elm’s pillows to Z Gallerie pillows, instead of her usual teal bamboo blanket above
5 – Bear and Daisy relaxing on their coastal inspired deck
– Liz (Kamuela, Hawaii)

Eli is a Beagle Spaniel cross now 5 months old, these pics were taken a few weeks ago. He’s posing on our comfy leather sofa, and on our bar stool.
– Judy (Red Deer, Alberta) 

A couple of random ones from me. It’s been chaos in my house for the past 5 weeks or so with lots of decorating projects so I have been slacking on trying to capture my cat herd on furniture. I found the following on my phone:
1 – 3 of the little monsters (Lucky, former feral Frankie, Felix) are curled up together on our king-size bed while the rest of the bed was unoccupied
2 – While Lucky isn’t technically on furniture, I really like this shot of him on a sheepskin in the home-office side of the living room. 

I think it’s a first. I honestly believe we have never featured an events complex on the blog. It wasn’t a hard decision though when the space was designed by Isabel López-Quesada. Just 15 minutes from Madrid, Finca Las Tenadas is a series of barns beautifully redefined by López-Quesada and landscape designer Fernando Martos. A fairytale setting for fabulous functions don’t you think? Makes me almost want to get married again… oops I mean renew my vows.

It may only be 5 metres wide but as the architectural firm Dan Gayfer Design explains it’s all about “… a high level of functionality, flexibility, interaction and detail in a house with high ceilings, a high roofline and high levels of natural light.” It’s also high on style. The perfect partnering of spatial design and good looks. What can I say. It really is a High House.

Photos by Dean Bradley