Displaying posts from August, 2021

“From the exterior, the black front gate and refreshed white façade of the villa hide a transformation inside. A self-described ugly duckling, with tinges of 1960s villa, has been transformed into a cohesive, light-filled family home that embraces the clients’ love of cooking and collecting.”

A neutral colour palette, natural materials like terracotta tiles, rattan and stone as well as a reconsidered layout, these design solutions have see the ugly duckling become a swan. The Bowerbird Home by Beatrix Rowe. But why bowerbird. Well that’s the homeowner and their penchant for collecting.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns

Layered and lavish, liveable and lasting, lush and luxurious. LOVE. This exquisite four-bedroom apartment overlooks the banks of the River Thames from Chelsea’s esteemed Cheyne Walk. It is situated on the coveted west and south-facing first floor of Carlyle Mansions and exceeds 2,250 sq ft internally, with rare step-free lateral space and the convenience of an on-site porter. Currently for sale through Inigo.

The essence of this garden derives from the manner in which it synthesises the indigenous, the traditional and the contemporary with an immersive understanding of the historical, architectural and landscape context of the Val d’Orcia. The design is conceived as a sequence of rooms, each with its own specific atmosphere and sense of place. Moving within and between the different spaces of the garden offers encounters not only with a variety of planting, but also with contrasting expressions of perspective, proportion, volume, rhythm, junction and threshold. Framed by hornbeam hedges and with a pergola of wisteria and roses set along its central axis, between beds of vegetables interspersed with flowers, the orto draws on influences from the medieval hortus conclusus and the English vegetable garden tradition.  Water running through a steel basin adds sound and reflects light. After the refined demarcations of the courtyard and orto, the Mediterranean garden organically colonises the territory between buildings, layering flowers, shrubs and aromatics bedded into gravel, to create dynamic waves of delicately various colour, texture and structure. YES. I am really at a loss for words this is so incredibly beautiful. And landscape designer Luciano Giubbilei describes his project so eloquently that I’ll just leave you with these photos….

I couldn’t just share one project from Barracuda Interiors. This stylish cabana is home to a French family, their coastal getaway. Once again the eclectic mix of “20th-century furniture, Portuguese decorative objects – particularly ceramics – and pieces Alexandre Neimann designs himself that act as a bridge between the architecture and the 20th-century pieces” appears so simple yet so chic.

“The project consisted of a long process of research to create a harmonious arrangement of colours, materials and forms while adhering to the budget. Neimann was inspired by the place and by the person. Above all, he wanted to give the house an identity through eclectic decor and handpicked objects, mixing 20th-century furniture in general – with pieces ranging from the late 19th-century all the way up to the 1980s …”

Paraíso. It’s Portuguese for heaven. Not just the location but this beautifully rustic but oh so chic Comporta cabana by Lisbon-based Barracuda Interiors. Be still my beating heart!