Not too long ago I blogged about a mid-century style California ranch designed by Charles de Lisle. I find his work and the photographs in his portfolio so impressive and since I’m taking a lazy holiday week here on the blog while gallavanting around Prince Edward Island, I thought I’d feature another of his projects. This time a mountain retreat in Montana. I wouldn’t mind a little vacation here either.

I am trying to get some posts done to publish at the end of the week while I’m still on holidays, so I thought I’d slack off a bit and just use this post to showcase more photos from one of my favourite websites (particularly for small space solutions) Du côté de chez vous.

I recently came across the website for interior design firm SemelSnow, based in Chicago and run by Arlene Semel and Brian Snow. Their look is seemingly contemporary but a second glance reveals some global and modern influences which counterbalance each other very well.

Chris Cushingham is a 24 year old recent design school graduate who emailed us to share his downtown L.A. loft – his recent project. He completed his loft in a hurry and on a really tight budget and I am loving the results. It’s modern, functional and industrial with unique furnishings. I am a huge fan of anything with an industrial vibe so I’m saving this one in my inspiration folder. Great job Chris!!! Might I add that Chris is part of the cast of a new HGTV show called “Design School” airing here in Canada, and is hunting for a job at a creative architecture or design firm so architects/designers – scoop this talented guy up! (Check out his blog here, and photos by Sean Stiegemeier and Dirk Mai).

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!)

“Hi! My name is Brecht Maes and this is my cat. Me and my cat are from Belgium. His name is Smitty and the Barcelona chair is his favorite to sit in.”
– Brecht

“This is our 2 yr old Pit/Lab mix, Blue, on the newly revamped vintage day bed that (as you see from the extra image) he destroyed earlier this month! It was all original before, but now I actually like it even better! He looks terrified because he KNOWS he’s not allowed on THAT couch in particular ever again! I love this little couch–the whole thing swivels around and the backs fold down to make a twin size bed!”
– Kristine (Albuquerque, NM)

“I don’t know if windows can be called “furniture”, but I nevertheless love them! They’re from our summerhouse in Småland, Sweden. The cat is my family’s, and she’s called Silla. And she love those windows just as much as I do!”
– Karin

“This is my dog Buddy on the platform bed that my husband made for our guest room.”
– Grace

“The first photo is our tabby Soren when he was a wee kitten perched on our antique rocking chair. In the second photo of our favorite red-leather chair you can see that in his old age, he has grown an appreciation for lounging over perching (as well as quite a belly)!”
– Beth & Brian Weiss (Little Rock, AR)

“Our black cat (Womble) can be seen lounging on our Wegner “Papa Bear” armchair footstool (which is in dire need of reupholstering, but our cats don’t seem to mind.) Our Siamese cat, Poppy, blends well with the sofa cushions behind her (unintentional.)”
– Charlotte

“Sleeping Princess Norkadora!”
– Elizabeth

“Attached is a photo of JoePa and his sheepskin chair. JoePa is a Shetland sheepdog, so we like to think he loves this chair because it brings him back to his sheep-herding heritage 🙂”
– Sarah (Philadelphia, PA)

“This is Shadow, more commonly known as Tootsie. She is always very interested in any kind of change in the house, so when I bought this red chair recently, she claimed it as hers immediately and hasn’t left it since!”
– Caroline (Colorado)