I’m still battling the chaos of the holiday season and I could use another short virtual holiday right about now. Jo blogged about Greek photographer Vangelis Paterakis last year and a reader recently reminded us of the fabulousness of his portfolio (thanks Zoe!) I love the simplicity of this home and the use of stone and concrete. It’s modern yet rustic at the same time. Love that.

Anne had sent in a photo for a pets on furniture post (the first one here – and a gratuitous husband and dog photo at the end of this post) and I wrote back telling her how adorable her Vizsla is and how I loved the room. WELL, was I ever lucky that she wrote back with a link to a bunch of photos of her AMAZING home. She was kind enough to give me a bit of background that I could share with you all before I bombard you with photos ‘o plenty:
“we live in the south austin neighborhood of bouldin creek, a 20 min walk to downtown…we measure our proximity to everything by walkability since my husband, sam, spent 16 yrs in nyc prior to moving to austin at the end of 2008. the house is about 2350 sq’ and we both work from home so we have an office that occupies one half of the entire 2nd story. we spent 8 months building and around 5 months planning (i should also mention we finished the project two months ahead of schedule AND under budget!). the house is a three bedroom/three bath. we worked with the incredible architects at alterstudio who took the time to filter through our ideas, carefully considering how to incorporate our wild eclectic wish list – glass floor, reclaimed wood, loads of outdoor space, lots of windows, energy efficiency, a home office and music room and of course, a pool – with our desire for practical and efficient use of space – we wanted to interact with every room every day and not waste an inch of space – and transformed these components into the perfect expression that is our home. the result is a wonderful modern structure that feels welcoming not severe, fits seamlessly into our funky South Austin neighborhood, merges the indoors with the outdoors and provides us with a home comfortable for two (plus dog). i think the best part about our house is the light. there is so much sunlight that streams into every room and we refuse to get any window coverings. the glass floor actually serves a purpose – it allows light into the downstairs hallway from the skylight and a transom window further carries that light into the downstairs bathroom. given that this is texas and the heat in these parts is serious business, the majority of the glass faces north and south, passively heating in the winter and NOT in the summer. the one room people flip out about is the 9×9 TV room, or TV cave as we refer to it. we designed the room to perfectly fit ligne roset’s togo sofa and is the only place there is TV in the house. a large sliding door closes it off from the kitchen/dining room. most people who visit think it is our pantry.” There is so much I love about Anne’s home – I HAVE to show this post to my architect. Thank you Anne! Consider me inspired!

Christmas is only 4 sleeps away and thankfully I finally finished my Christmas shopping. Every year I say I’ll get it done early and it NEVER happens. Wishful thinking. Now I’m trying to get some baking out of the way. I made some butter tart shortbreads last night and they actually may have turned out okay. (Phew!) Anyway, hope you’re all on track with your holiday “to do” lists and have a bit of peace and calm before the big day. Perhaps I give you a bit of a break from the chaos with some soothing photos from the website of French interior stylist and journalist Sophie Maillot-Juillet.

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 me closeups of your pet!)

“My little Italian Greyhound Zoey caught in the act again sneaking on the bed underneath the covers.“
– Tracey (Edgewood, Washington)

“First is a picture of our 2 year old, 18lb orange baby Rigby in his favorite orange chair. Next is our 8 month old comedian, Magooo, a rescue from the local shelter, lounging on our Ikea bed and duvet. I guess he got bored with our photo shoot and tried to sneak in a yawn. They are the best of friends but it has been impossible to get them to be still on the same piece of furniture long enough to take a picture together.“
– Kristen (Columbus, Ohio)

“1. Grey the Min Pin likes to be taller
2. Queen B seeks out sunshine to sit in around the room“
– Golfgal

Here’s one from me. This is Edgar on my DIY sofa that I am always covering with something new. This month it’s a kilim rug. I think he approves.

“1. Ziggy my cat sitting pretty on the arm rest of my antique wooden chair. I go to her when I need a good therapy.
2. Wanted to share a photo of my Tabby; looking cute, she loves to nestled in this bowl.  She’s just a few weeks old, healthy apart from having one eye.“
– Lin (Malaysia)

“1. This is Scout, my 4 yr old Havanese on his window perch.
2. This is Toby, a friend’s 3 yr old Havanese/Maltese perched on the Donghia chair while Scout seemed to be saying ‘why is he on my chair?’“
– Debbie (Long Beach, CA)

“This is Jesse and James enjoying the new chair and ottoman.
Jesse found the highest point in the house to watch me clean carpets.
Micah thinks she’s cute.
Jesse and James says ‘we can has cheezbrgr’.  They sit at the table and beg while we eat dinner.  I know we shouldn’t but they’re so darn cute!“
– Dawn

“fellini on couch in nyc, relaxing, loves his ipad news!“
– Visnja

“This is Lily who loves to lay on our kitchen radiator.“
– Raphaële (Poitiers, France)

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 me closeups of your pet!)

“this is indiana, our 13wk old vizsla pup.  he has obviously made himself quite comfortable in the 3 wks we have had him home.”
– Anne

“The first one is of my cat Trooper who loves that old chair, it’s upholstery is a thick, scratchy wool of some sort, all the cats love to roll all over it.
The next picture is of my Great Dane, Olive. She likes to curl up on chairs that are way too small.
And the last one is of Olive and Merlin, lounging in the sun on my Ikea Karlstad couch.”
– Liane

“These are my cats, the dynamic duo, Roo and Missy on my bed. We live and sleep all together in NC.”
– Donna

“a tripod cat on a tripod mid century table”
– Caitlin (Seattle, WA)

“This is Simba, he’s a very lazy Shiba-Inu who frequents this chair in the living room. He always looks very contemplative while on it.”
– Jon (New Jersey)

“Copper is my sweet pitty who, as you can see from the first photo, was NOT supposed to be on my Old Hickory Tannery sofa.”
– Traci

“Pietra on the poof”
– Luciana

“This is Millie from Los Angeles Ca.  I think she has given a new meaning to ‘Pets on Furniture’.  She did not seem to mind that I had busted her on my Japanese chest!”
– Laura

“Lucas sleeping on the sectional sofa.”
– Becky (St. Louis, MO)