…this living room? office? I’ve posted it before but whatever it is I am in love, and it needs it’s own post. I have been thinking alot lately how I need a proper place to put my collection of shelter mags. They are currently piled in my office and in a bookcase in the dungeon basement. I’m thinking of some type of unit in my office to replace the revamped wardrobe unit I have in there currently, or making the wall in my bedroom opposite the bed floor to ceiling shelving. The magazines in this photo just look…beautiful. A little bit of mid-century modern always gets me going – and those tulip chairs are perfect in the space. *SIGH* I’m definitively loving this.

Altius Architecture

My new Asian-style kitchen has heightened my love for spaces designed with an ethnic vibe. This love grew even more when I came across the portfolio of designer Stephen Falcke. His work has taken him around the globe – South Africa, France, Australia, Greece, Israel…and these gorgeous locations have clearly inspired his designs. “I derive a lot of my inspiration from nature and think of my style as a melting pot of various worldwide cultures.”

A Flickr contact and fellow Ottawan Liz has been VERY busy over the last couple days. She has completely redone her bedroom and I had to post about it here because she did a fantastic job. I am also completely jealous because all I have done to my pale yellow (barf) bedroom is rip out the closet, leaving a gaping hole in the floor and chunks of drywall missing, and it is really starting to get on my last freaking nerve. Anyway, here is what Liz had to say about her bedroom makeover:

“I can’t tell you how much I love our new bedroom decor. Thomas and I have been planning this room since we moved in over a year ago and now that it’s done, I can’t even imagine how we put up with the bland walls for so long! It took us 2.5 days of painting and building IKEA furniture. We still want to replace the outlet covers but that will have to wait until one of our dads can help us because that involves electrical work. The closet doors in the photos need to also be replaced but we need to save up more dough for that because it’s going to be pricey! Also we will eventually do new base moulding and some crown moulding in white. The pictures in the white frames are going to be changed, we just haven’t found the right ones yet. We just couldn’t pass up the deal we got on the frames so we decided we’d just ditch the ugly pictures inside :)”

I love everything she has done to her bedroom – the colours, the symmetry, the use of white furniture that stands out so beautifully against the walls, the painted headboard….YUMMY! Liz has gotten the decorating part of my brain going (more than usual) and I am so going to get my ass in gear and start planning my bedroom.

Here are some details of her sources: “The paint we used was Aura by Benjamin Moore. The headboard is painted on the wall using a matte and a semi-gloss finish in the same colour (Bittersweet Chocolate). The accent wall blue is Caribbean Blue Water and the rest of the room is Sea Star. White furniture is from IKEA except for the white ottoman which is from Bouclair Home. Accent pieces are mostly from Homesense and Winners.”

I will be posting over the next few days my favourite photos of the year, by room type. The bathrooms from this year (and by this year I mean that I’ve saved on Flickr after Jan 1 ’08) that have inspired me are below.

Reasons I love these: old world beauty, most amazing tiles EVER, fun wallpaper, sleek and simple, copper tub (OMG), mosaic tiles, glamourous, quirky in white, insane view, dramatic, earthy, oversized artwork, dark and moody, bold colour…

OMFG! Jo and I are VERY honoured to be among the top 8 blogs nominated for Apartment Therapy’s The Homies. Not only are we honoured but also surprised at how far we’ve come in 2 years. Thanks so much for the nominations everyone, and though we don’t usually like plugging ourselves I’ll make an exception for this. We’d LUV your votes so if you think we are worthy, here is where you can vote. We’re seriously just stoked to be among the list of such amazing bloggers. It’s a great way to start the new year. So on behalf of myself and Jo, have a rockin’ New Years everyone!!

(Below was supposed to be a photo of me with the cats but that was too freaking difficult to manage by myself – getting 6 cats in a photo is tough enough. Of course, I had to bribe them with some salmon which is why they are all looking at the floor).