Big Red Sun
Posted on Tue, 13 Apr 2021 by KiM
Big Red Sun is a landscape and garden design studio, plant nursery, and lifestyle boutique located in Venice, California, and I am so happy to have discovered them. Their love of succulents and container gardening is such an inspiration. Makes me wish so badly that I lived in a warmer climate.
A crowd-pleasing Ottawa home
Posted on Tue, 13 Apr 2021 by KiM
There is a design firm here in Ottawa that pops up on my Instagram feed every now and then and it hit me that I should finally feature these talented folks. West of Main aims to create beautiful spaces that complement beautiful lives. Influenced by designs from around the world West of Main can assist clients in developing connections to styles inspired by culture and diversified by texture. With a belief that natural elements possess a timeless beauty, West of Main’s designs combine nature with modern pieces to create a chic, elegant and unique style. This is what everyone seems to be after these days, and why I titled this crowd-pleasing. It works for almost everyone. I’d of course add in some vintage bits and some funky mid-century lighting…..
Furniture/Decor: West of Main, Builder: Glenview Homes
A family’s refuge in the Asturian mountains
Posted on Sun, 11 Apr 2021 by KiM
The weather had been incredible this past week. It seems we skipped spring and went right into summer! I’ve been spending all of my time in the backyard and the greenhouse and I could not be happier, especially as we just started another month long stay-at-home order. Speaking of the outdoors, I spotted this home featured on Nuevo Estilo and it is located among the glorious vegetation of the mountainous region of Spain’s Asturias. The home is light and bright and warm, and the views are magical. What a sweet spot for a family retreat! (Architects: Jaime Gaztelu and Ana Fernández de Mendía; Interior Design: Noel Marichalar and Isabel Taboada of M&T Decoration; Photos: Montse Garriga)
Reader request – an exterior makeover for Sean’s 1955 home
Posted on Fri, 9 Apr 2021 by KiM
We received the following email recently from Sean:
I live in central United States, Iowa, to be exact. I bought a home built in 1955 with some very cool 1950’s charm. I am completely stumped on what to do with the exterior of the home. I don’t want to do massive renovation and remove the 1950’s charm that attracted me, however, I do want to give it a sophisticated and updated look. Is it possible for me to send you a photo? Perhaps readers would want to weigh in on what should be done to give this home new life. I believe it has modest potential. I am lost on how to draw that out. I’m mostly looking for paint and landscaping ideas, however, I am very open to any suggestions. No matter how invasive. It is early Spring here ,so, a great time to get to work cleaning this property up and giving it new life.
It is such a great house! Here are a couple more photos of it…
Here’s my 2 cents, and I have basically zero experience with an exterior renovation, aside from a complete overhaul of my current home’s landcaping so I really hope our readers will help out with some suggestions too because I’m sure you’ll have better ideas than mine.
Because that fabulous porch overhang darkens the front door area I’d be tempted to paint all the siding white. Or something very light. Very light grey even? And then black trim (or dark grey) along the roofline, front door (or maybe a fun colour for the front door if Sean is feeling adventurous) and windows. I’d be tempted to get a new garage door – one with some frosted glass inserts so that whole section isn’t so solid. If not in the budget paint it black. I’d put tall planters on either side of the garage with something tall in it. (This means house numbers would have to move). And just about anything could go in terms of landscaping but I’d start with something tall/bushy under that narrow window on the right because it’s looking a little awkward.
I had a tough time time finding some decent inspirational photos to go along with this but here’s what I came up with…
A before and after of a house that was a brown/beige and went white and black
Brie Williams via this post
How a shrub/hedge in front of an awkwardly high window results in it making visual sense
When making the exterior a bit lighter really brightens up a house, and with some basic landscaping added the result is really impactful. A sweet before and after…
Another before and after where the landscaping made all the difference
Please leave comments below if anyone has some ideas and tips for Sean. Hopefully he’ll send us photos when he’s done 🙂
A neglected centuries-old home in England gets a colourful update
Posted on Fri, 9 Apr 2021 by KiM
When colour brings life to a home that was in need of someone’s special touch. In 2018, Blyth-Collinson Interiors was engaged by a London couple to update a Capability Brown designed house in Oxfordshire which had recently been unoccupied and sadly, somewhat neglected. Saskia and her team provided a much needed boost of energy to the tired interiors; enlivening each room with colour and warmth to show-case the clients’ eclectic antique and art collections, which reflect their unique interests and their international lives and travels. Specialist paint techniques were employed so that every room tells a distinctive story. Sumptuous soft furnishings combine with wonderful carpets, art, beautifully bound books and sculpture to invigorate this lovely home with flair and a certain sophisticated, bohemian aesthetic.
