I found the following home on the website of French magazine Le Journal de la Maison last night and HAD to blog it. I adore homes like this one. Quirky, rustic, vintage, eclectic, colourful, mid century. Blend all those together and I’m completely smitten. I even love that fact that one window pane in the living room is partially painted pink. (Styled and photographed by Dana Van Leeuwen)

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about my huge home renovation and addition project and my need for finishes for the bathrooms (and the almost non-existent budget we will have). Well, I am in the same boat with flooring. I would like hardwood flooring (could be engineered wood) throughout the house with the exception of the front entrance and bathrooms which will be tile. The flooring is another aspect of this renovation where we may be stuck with subfloor for a while if there are no funds for flooring materials – which is why I am hopeful that someone out there can help us out with a great deal on flooring with blog mentions etc. in return. I am thinking I would like to do something fairly light. I am a huge fan of Scandinavian/mid century/industrial styles and hope to mix these in my new home with lots of greys, black and white. I also have SEVEN cats and refuse to do white floors (been there, done that, didn’t work out so well) or really dark floors. Both of these would be a complete nightmare to keep clean. We can always go back to the flooring we recently put down upstairs that you can see in this post.

I found some inspiration in my stash of photos, and my favourites are below. I did include one sort of dark floor (Luce Rosso) which I would reeeeeeeally love but if it were lighter. I love the idea of a light grey stain to show off the wood grain. And it’s a bit unusual instead of typical clear sealed natural hardwood. If anyone has any suggestions for sources of flooring, or types of flooring you think would work, I’d love to hear about it in the comments or via email (desiretoinspirekim@hotmail.com). Thanks!

Bo Bedre	Sköna hem
Bolig Magasinet	Luce Rosso
Maison	Deko
Sköna hem	Katarina Malmström Brown
Vårt Nya Hem	Guts to communicate

Elle Interiör

Hus & Hem

Per Magnus Persson

Magnus Marding

Hus & Hem

Indenfor & Udenfor

Sköna hem

Allt i Hemmet

Oak Management

Sköna hem

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our 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 want to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it. And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos, your name, location and a brief description can be sent to  desiretoinspirekim[@]hotmail[.]com and PLEASE don’t send closeups of your pet!)

I designed this chair and it has become the perminant nap spot for my dogs Oliver (left) and little 9 month old rescue Chihuahua Henry (right). Dogs know furniture! There is never room for me on this piece. After 8 months, Oliver, now age 14, is finally allowing Henry to share it with him. Henry is now a very proud little dog with the best seat in the house!
– Patricia (Dallas, TX)

A photo of my Lions Head Rabbit, Harriet, on our vintage velvet chair. It is her favorite spot in the house.
– Brit

Lily from Austin, Texas.  🙂
– Elise

Photo 1 is my American Bull Dog, Stella. Photo 2 is my mom’s Frenchie, Annie Baby. Photo 3 is my Frenchie, Georgie. Photo 4 is our English Bulldog, Gus. !
– Doub (Philadelphia, PA)
  

This is our cat “Jacky” some years ago and nowadays. Meanwhile she’s an old lady, already 15 years sharing our family life.
– Mano

1. This is a photo of my five month old kitten, Slouchy sitting on my new chair which I found on a nature strip during hard rubbish! In good condition, I thought it would be perfect to keep my handbag on. My other cat Eva, is looking on.
2/3. This is Slouchy and Eva hanging out in our bedroom. They love to sleep on the bed because the heating duct is in the roof and blows directly down. Very comfortable during winter. This is my favourite patchwork quilt cover, by PIP Linen.
– Georgia (Melbourne VIC)

Attached are photos of my cats approving (or rather, indifferently noticing) the new Eames-style chairs gracing my dining room.  I have no design sense at all, hard as I may try, so I am mostly sending this on the insistence of a dear friend who does have style and got me hooked on Desire to Inspire.  I simultaneously love and fear color, but these orange babies were love at first sight.  The wide-eyed tortoise-shell kitty is Linus (he can do the Puss’n’Boots big-dewy-eyed stare that can melt steel) and the black kitty is Cimarron (a fierce foster cat who has a thing for sleeping on people or my violin case).
– Mugino
  

This chair can fit two people. It’s Archie’s favorite chair. He’s a 3 year-old Giant Schnauzer/Italian Spinone mix I adopted from the ASPCA. Or maybe he adopted me?
– Wendy (Manhattan)

I HAD to include this “entry” from Lolita: I just came across this picture on craigslist and thought of (bad) Pets on Furniture.
(Thankfully the seller was offering this chair for free)

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our 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 want to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it. And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos, your name, location and a brief description can be sent to  desiretoinspirekim[@]hotmail[.]comand PLEASE don’t send closeups of your pet!)

We bought a leather couch just because of our dachshund, Tucker.  We wanted to avoid the vomit, snot, and other liquids that seem to seep out of our animal from ruining our furniture.  Success!  Now if only we’d thought of the damage his nails would cause.
– Michelle (SLC, Utah)

This photo is my 5 year old Shih Tzu, Oscar, on my Grandmother’s antique orange velvet chair.  You can also catch a glimpse of her beautiful record player next to it. Oscar always makes himself right at home; He has never met a chair he didn’t like!
– Melanie (Austin TX)

In the past few years since moving in to my downtown Toronto loft I have made many furniture purchases. I often take a photo to track the transformation of my space or share with friends and family. My bengal cat Argos is usually the first to make use of any furniture in the house. This is the new sofa and area rug, cat approved.
– Michael

We rescued Mon when he was a puppy. He loves this armchair, which can be rotated so he can keep an eye on us at all times.
– Juan José (Sada, Spain)

Maxwell, our chocolate lab, is not supposed to be on the couch. Sometimes Maxwell is bad.
– Donna (Boulder, Colorado)

I’ve sent in a little pic of my two furry babies Alfie (left) & Andi (right)… loving life on the faux fur throws we use to ‘snug-up’ our King Furniture leather lounges during winter.
And couldn’t help but include a pic that truly highlights Alfie’s love of sitting atop any throw/scatter pillow he can find…. no matter it’s shape (or more challengingly for me – it’s value !)
– Amanda (Bar Beach (Newcastle), Australia)

Locksley thinks, ‘She REALLY needs to get this chair covered.  AND hang this picture!’
– Cyndie

I’m sending you some pics of my lovely ginger girl – Pannacotta.
– Justyna (Warsaw, Poland)

Here’s a picture of Cocoa-Puff on the Lazy Boy – how appropo!
– Maggie (West Palm Beach, Florida)

Happy Canada Day to all of our Canadian readers out there. I hope you enjoy the day off and partake in some typical patriotic nonsense like an overload of beer consumption, food and fireworks – all at someone’s cottage on a lake. The weather is supposed to be GORG here in Ottawa which will be perfect for the aforementioned activites – and coincidentally Wills and Kate’s visit. 🙂 In the spirit of Canada Day, I thought I’d feature some spaces decked out in red and white (like I did this day back in ’09)- and while red is probably my least favourite colour, it is a quick and easy way to inject some drama and energy into your decor.

Folio

Hus & Hem

Jake Fitzjones

Darren Chung

Lonny

Design*Sponge

Domino

Domino

Hus & Hem

Magnus Marding

Agent Bauer

Apartment Therapy

happy homes

houseworks ltd

Vanessa Hadaway

Apartment Therapy

INGRAO

Murray Fredericks