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 sister’s family dog, Harry Potter Grey, enjoying the morning sun at our cottage on the U.S. side of Lake Erie. Junk shop chair & Ikea shelf. Halloween bandanna from the groomer….”
– Martta

“Bruno is our love! He is a Balinese boy, loves glamorous furniture and he lives in Sweden.”
– Tina

“Peanut is such a snob.  After we got our new sofa, he wouldn’t even think about going on the old loveseats.  😉”
– Julie (Minneapolis, MN)

“Magnolia Celementine soaking up the sunshine on her princess bed, her favorite spot in our house!”
– Alexandra & Olivia (Richmond, Virginia)

“Here’s my buddy, on top of the couch. I had stripped it to clean the slipcovers. It was two pile high with cushions. And he managed his way to the top.”
– Cathy

“This is our schnauzer-poodle mix Auggie, perched on the back of the couch.”
– Kelly (WA)

“This is Mini, my 7-year old toy poodle, who likes to sit on the edge of the chair in the living room and look out of our 4th story window onto the street below. Not sure what she is looking at in the picture, but perhaps it is something tasty-looking.”
– Jackie Huba (Austin, TX)

“1- This is Lily when she was about 2-1/2 years old, perched on her favorite pillow on our “Dogbone” sofa from ABC Furniture. Sadly, we just bid farewell to our dear girl. We had 15 great years with her, and she spent much of her time curled up on this sofa.
2- I remember meeting this dog and taking this picture 7 or 8 years ago, I think in Portugal, but I don’t recall the name of the dog or who its people are.”
– Andrea

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!)

“Kitty loves to curl up for a nap or sit on the back of the sofa in our living room. We love the mid-century feel of this charcoal sofa – even if it doesn’t hide her hair all that much.”
– Matthew (Nashville, TN)

“The pet is our cat called Taxi and the piece of furniture is my cheap white Ikea-seat that I have for more than ten years now. The kid is our daughter, Esmée. This picture is taken in July 2009, a few days before her first birthday. Although this scene suggests otherwise, Taxi and Esmée get along fine.”
– Alexandra (Antwerp, Belgium)

“Tessie taking a siesta after a big swim in the coy pond.”
– Dan (Brookline, MA)

“I saw this sweet pooch one day while I was at our local rock quarry getting some nice stones for our aquarium. This is the waiting room.  I don’t remember his name but the owners assured me that no one else was allowed in the chair!”
– Rebecca (Portland, Oregon)

“This is Mike my 4 years old Boston Terrier.”
– Julia (Venezuela)

“This is our beloved cat, Hampus. He is 1,5 years old and was a homeless cat once. But now he is just fine – and he really appreciates almost all the furnitures that we have…”
– Emöke (Malmö, Sweden)

“This is Stella sunbathing on our mid-century modern ottoman (the ottoman was my grandmothers and I used to take naps on it as a kid, a tradition she now keeps alive) I also like to think she has good taste in furniture.”
– Kevin (NYC)

“Miss Bee finally fell asleep after renovating a few items in our house. It is all new to her and she thought the forbidden couch was her style.
Miss Bee enjoying an afternoon snooze on my flea market chair. I recovered the chair with a funky quilt.”
– Marilyn (Regina, Saskatchewan)

“Here are my babies, Hudson and Arnold.”
– Jessica

“Ashes has the priviledge to sleep wherever she wants and she really likes this cabinet my grandfather built for me. Judging by the look in her eyes, she didn’t really like the photo session.”
– Jelena (Novi Sad, Serbia)

It seems I’ve been a bit busy around the city these days, despite the fact that I’m about ready to hibernate from yet another dreadful Ottawa winter. First there was the Third World Bazaar that I visited (a couple of times) last week where I scored some awesome finds, and then this week there was an opening of a lighting store that I was SO excited about and an annual fabric flea market (to benefit the Cambridge Street Community School) that I anxiously await each year. Let me start off with the lighting store. 

There once was a store called Found Design. It sold mainly vintage mid-century furnishings and lighting and I loved to visit this store whenever I was shopping around Bank Street. I of course made some purchases there every now and then (a Panton-esque lamp, a repro Componibili storage unit, a vintage Eames shell chair, some retro fabric and a Witco wooden cat, and a bamboo screen). Sadly Found Design is now only a web-based shop BUT in it’s place is Modern Light! They carry all sorts of brands I’ve always admired and drooled over such as Modernica, Flos, Jonathan Adler, Lotte, Luceplan, Studio Italia, Moooi and others. They don’t just carry lighting but furniture, accessories and artwork (much from local Ottawa artists which is really cool). Modern Light’s grand opening was Thursday night and I had a great time attempting to take photos of lights in a artificially-lit store at night. (LOL) So you’ll have to excuse the mess of some of the photos below but I had no clue how to deal with the lighting situation. So here are a ton of photos from the opening of what is now the absolute coolest lighting shop in Ottawa.

**Many more photos of Modern Light and my fabric finds after the jump.

And as I mentionned in my intro, below are photos of the results of the fabric flea market. I went with my twin sister Julia and the first 3 photo shows everything we both came home with. The last photo shows my finds (I have these photos on Flickr – check details like sizes and prices there).

It’s been a bit of a trying week, and I thought I’d keep things simple for today’s post. I’ve always been drawn to spaces with lots of rustic charm, and there are so many wonderful rustic homes featured in the French magazine Art & Décoration which I manage to find at a couple book/mag shops here in Ottawa. So to end off the work week, sit back, relax, take a deep breath and enjoy the following photos…

Reader request time! This one (actually 2) comes from Malou: “My husband and I are constantly inspired by your posts. We’re hoping you can help us with ideas for:1. kitchen backsplashes for an all kitchen with white cabinets and dark gray floors   2. home office with tables in the middle“. Simple enough. So here are some white kitchens, most with grey floors, that have some ideas for backsplashes. After the jump are some offices with tables/desks in the middle of the space.

Sköna hem

Åsberg Interiör & Styling
Hus & Hem
Katie Ridder
Living Etc.
White
Hus & Hem
Hus & Hem

Jeff Von Hoene	Sunset

Clive Tompsett
Hus & Hem
Jeff Andrews
Jeltje Janmaat
Bolig Magasinet
Sköna hem
House Beautiful