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 me closeups of your pet!)

“My cat Moody, on the desk to be admired. He is such a poseur.“
– Marion (Belgium)

“My 5-month old kitten on her favourite chair in the house.“
– Julie (Singapore)

“Pazy, my super sweet 9 year old siamese-tortoise shell in my living room. She follows me everywhere waiting to snuggle.“
– Brooke (Calgary, Alberta)

“These are Glasgow and Bruzu. They like to stay near the Christmas tree and sometimes we think they are waiting for Santa Claus. They love to be the center of all attention!”
– Erika (Sao Paulo, Brazil)

“This is Lucy and Yorke taking over my sofa. They are both dogs from the shelter. My son rescued them and then moved to Guatemala leaving puppies with me for the time being. Gran needs her couch back. Hurry home son!“
– Sheila (North Mississippi)

Since I didn’t get a ton of entries this week I thought I’d sneak one in of my own. This is a photo I took this time last year of 3 of my boys (Felix, Cheeks and Edgar) asleep on the living room couch.

“Lenny supervising the renovations in Melbourne, Australia…“
– Rachael

“We had 4 cats in our flat in Germany. We had 5 rooms, and so they have enough place. I sent you today two picture of my favourite INDIA (black/white). Her perfect place is on the board. So she can watch everything. The second picture of India is from our last Silvesterparty. She jumps on the table and watch whats going on. Everybody loves her. The other picture is from our luckycat Paula. She also comes to the
table at the silvesterparty and watch the guest playing dart. Very funny.“
– Claudia (Germany)

“this is my 11month old ragdoll-cross “toto” lazing on a new rug i got for the lounge area. he is usually a bit of a handful but he looks like such an angel here. not to mention that the color of the rug is a perfect match for his fur !“
– Denyse (Singapore)

The Diversion Project
eldrids
RoSaLiGa
Sea of Shoes
The Brick House
Bloesem
79 Ideas
Chez Larsson
Decor Demon
Life.Style.etc.
COCOCOZY

Purple Area
Remodelista
Apartment Therapy

I have been sick with yet another cold all week, but my spirits were instantly lifted the other day when I saw that we had received an email from Fabien, whose home in France (which he shares with Frédérique) I had posted back in June of last year. It seems Fabien and Frédérique have recently moved to another part of France and although their home is not decorated completely, they wanted to share it with us. And am I ever glad I did because once again the photos are beautiful and in the world of interior design where so often it’s all frou-frou and expensive furniture and each item is placed JUST SO, it’s nice to see how “normal” people live. (They are updating their website Harmonie intérieure and it will include some gorgeous raku pottery that Frédérique is working on – a couple photos of it are after the jump). Thanks again Fabien!

Today’s reader request comes from Jennifer: “I am in need of some help with my large stone fire place! Our fire place is the focal point of a fairly large room. It is freestanding and it is field stone that has been painted white. The room has rough wood beams and trim that has also been painted white (by previous owners). I am trying to put the room together. I’d like to see some images of furnishings in rooms that have large stone fireplaces. (I am trying to figure out what kind of furniture will go best with it.)” Below is a mix of all sorts of stone fireplaces because I could not find enough with field stone and I figured why not take this opportunity to showcase all kinds of stone. IMHO, if it’s painted white I think you can pretty much go with anything. I vote for mid-century modern (see the Lili Abir Regen photo below), or a casual rustic vibe (like the Cdn H&H photo). Whatever you choose Jennifer, you’re lucky that you have a fireplace. I had one in my last house and sooooo miss it.

Aidlin Darling Design	Joe Schmelzer
Jonny Valiant	Eric Piasecki
House of Pictures	Jordi Canosa
Jennifer Worts	Emily Summers
Canadian House & Home	Francesco Bittichesu

Lili Abir Regen
Agnes Bourne
House and Garden
Lake|Flato Architects
Robin Stubbert
AJS Design/s
Lori Dennis
jugendstil designs
location78
New York Magazine
workshop/apd
Tobi Tobin Design

Every once in a while I see a home featured on a website that makes me sit back and sigh in delight. This is one of those homes. My twin sister sent me the link to this home which I think is in Finland (since the site is) and is the home of a family of 5 where the mother creates beautiful knit objects and the father is a carpenter. I absolutely adore the rustic, natural, neutral and handmade vibe of this home. I think I’m going to save just about all of these photos in my inspiration folder.