I am smothered with alot of eye candy with my trawling through the blogs and websites looking for blog research and despite being overloaded with these visual I love it when something can capture my interest and leave me utterly smitten. That was the case the other day when I happened upon this post over on The Bedlam of Beefy, where our dear friend Beefy featured the designs of the uber-talented Los Angeles designer Alexandra Angle. Her designs are at times bold with colour, always cheerful, comfortable, unassuming, youthful and whimsical. They just really do it for me.

One of the pet entries from yesterday was submitted by Kimberly, who works for MR Architecture + Decor, a very cool firm based in New York. I went through our archives and found that Jo blogged this firm back in ’08 but I noticed many more photos on their website that I was keen on sharing with you all. This firm has a very clean, modern and at times minimalist approach which results in some very serene and sophisticated spaces, but also with the use of intriguing furnishings many are also energetic and funky. I’m a fan.

Things are moving along with the plans for my house – and on Sunday night I was ecstatic to find an email from designers Dylan and Thu (of Vok Design Group) with their ideas for the exterior. (For a recap, check out this post of the interior plans). Before I show you their mock-ups of the exterior, I snapped some quick pics of the exterior yesterday evening when I realized I had no decent photos (probably because the exterior is slightly embarassing it’s so freaking ugly and boring) that I should share.

BLEH. So uninspiring. Wait until you see this….

Here are some details regarding the materials etc.:

* dark stained lap siding or a painted hardi board lap siding, with a grey stucco above divided by a darker stucco band
* fascia and canopy are clad in a dark aluminum to match the stained siding
* windows are shown as an anodized aluminum finish
* between the front façade windows is an aluminum paneling detail in the anodized aluminum which will give the impression of one large window (similar detail on the corner windows in the new addition)
* corner windows have been set back into the wall to really emphasize the corner window detail
* door is a solid wood door with a v-groove profile
* western red cedar in a clear stain for the soffit beneath the entrance canopy and the accent pieces on the right corner as well as on between the windows on the front façade (square cut with a ½” space between the boards to create a ‘reveal’ affect in the cedar)
* for the roofline on the addition, we have come off the existing fascia line and made the peak towards the back of the home, keeping the top of the new peak in line with the existing peak and mimicking the low roof slope on the original home

So what do you guys think? We’re meeting with the designers and hopefully our architect on Thursday so feedback would be appreciated. 🙂

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!)

This is my Boston Terrier pup, Suge, on my favorite chair. The yellow armchair is my favorite in the house – an unidentifiable leftover prop from a TV shoot last year. Suge is our energetic 6-month old Boston. I would say he loves sitting in the chair, but I think he’s more into the height it gives him for toy hunting.
– Emily (Covington, KY)

This is a “stranger” enjoying sun on my wicker chair.
– Mano

Ollie, our 1year old yorkie, loves to take a nap on the couch…he also loves to hide from you behind the pillows.
– Erica (Honolulu, HI)

Just wanted to pass along a photo of my new adopted dog Kitty at our home in NYC. She is a 2 year old Maltese with lots of spunk!
– Lindsey

Our italian greyhound Flaca, at different stages of relaxation on one of our sofas.  ; )
– Maritere (San Juan, Puerto Rico)

This is Malone, my approx. 7 year old rescue pit mix, making himself comfortable on my Gus Jane Bisectional.
– Bridget

Our darling Sophiecat decided to perch in front of the TV and mess up my husband’s gaming time.  Caught her mid-yawn…she looks ferocious!
– Jessica

I recently rearranged my apartment and moved the couch to the other side of the wall. This left the my cats with no way to look out the window. Came across your solution and did the same, Thanks again. Who would know that a changing bed could become a cats heaven. I have 3, Al (the big one, part bengal, in the pic), Mini (orange tabby) and John Wayne Woo the Chicken Little Beans aka beanie, peenie or wee (calico and long story on name). Below are a few shots of them loving the new perch. I made it last night. They didn’t understand the purpose until this morning. They have been happily sitting and sleeping all day.
– Anna

This is my Florida brown dog, Pax, first having breakfast with us.  He’s peeking over a re-upholstered vintage dining chair.  And second, lounging on our slip-covered couch. 
– Megan

This was my 9 month old kitten Franklin (Ha!) lounging in the sun on a chair I absorbed from an old roommate. If you look closely enough, you can see his “mittens” – has an extra toe on each front paw. Only more toes to claw furniture with!
– Kim

1 – This is a recent photo of a sleepover Hank and Stan had with their nearest and dearest.  Sadly, no room for people.
2 – Hank, Stan and Bingo
– Leah

Here is one of our 4 pets, Luc the pug. He wasn’t completely relaxed while I took the photo. He was wondering what I was up too.
– Sara

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!)

Normally the pink throw is Lilly’s favorite spot to be but she also likes to curl up next to the pillows on my bed. It’s hard to resist a power nap when I see her laying around like that. 
– Neslihan

Please see 2 pictures of my cat Aalto sitting on a mid century modern credenza. And in one of the photos you can see Aalto sitting next to an Alvar Aalto vase. I named her after Alvar Aalto who is a favorite architect of mine.
– Andy

(Here are) pics of our vizsla Beatrice Bella who has her very own Brizvegas urban dog blog here.  As you can see from the following link she loves furniture!
– Gem

This chair was originally stained a dark ugly brown, and (unsurprisingly) it was buried in my parents’ basement for more than 30 years. Recently, though, I decided that my dining room needed a blue chair, so I painted it, distressed it, and brought it home for my cat, Roxie. Now she can sit and watch the squirrels in style!
– Andrea (Glen Ellyn, IL)

See 11 month old Jack? Jack is not allowed to sit on the furniture. See the suitcase on the green chair? Chairs are for suitcases; one-off silvered leather ottomans from ABC Home in NY are for dogs, obvs. Jack was sleeping on the silvered leather ottoman, but when “someone” reached for the camera, he woke up moving his head, upsetting his balance, and slid to the floor. Good thing there was a dog pillow on the floor next to the dog ottoman silvered leather ottoman from ABC Home. Good thing sliding to the floor didn’t interrupt Jack’s nap.
– Priscilla

This is our 14 year old cat Louis, resting on an arm chair we found on the side of the road which we re-upholstered in Ikea fabric. Lucky you can’t see how much cat hair is on it!
– Charlotte (Lennox Head, Australia)

This is a picture of our Catahoula Leopard Dog, Reggie, on his favorite chair for watching TV. The picture was taken by my fabulous friend Elise!
– Katie

Large leather chair. Larger Labrador. This is our mellow yellow, Chippewa. She spends her days moving from one resting spot to another throughout the house.
– Lizzy

Bichon Max giving a “happy it’s Friday” smile on his favorite chair
– Esther Richardson (Los Angeles, CA)