I am head over heels in love with the landscape design of this California home. The bold orange/red painted exterior accents really make everything pop and add a modern touch. Lush gardens hug this 1905 national historic register home in Palo Alto’s Professorville neighborhood. Vibrant homeowners wanted to create a landscape that engaged the neighborhood and featured layered gardens with a Bay Area sensibility. The landscape is now defined by a series of outdoor “rooms”, with flexibility for intimate family gatherings and large social events. Water-use is concentrated in the public facing areas of the site. Highlights include custom recirculating water features, hand-made clinker brick walls, a charming vegetable garden with custom chicken coop and mature perimeter plantings. Designed by Boxleaf Design.

If you would like to participate in the Monday’s pets on furniture series please send photos, your name, location and a brief description to kim[at]desiretoinspire[dot]net, or hashtag your photos on Instagram with #dtipetsonfurniture. Thanks!

Some from me. Bernie coming over for some loving on the living room sofa. This is a fav spot in late afternoons when the sun shines through these windows. Next up is Felix, Mimin and Milo in a line in bed. And lastly Lucky living his best life in the she-shed, which the cats have taken over DAMMIT.

Oh how I would love to enjoy a dinner out on the town again, and to transport myself to Vancouver and this fabulously designed tapas bar & restaurant. Como Taperia is a nod to the classic, centuries-old, standing-room-only tapas bars in Barcelona’s Poble Sec or Madrid’s La Latina quarters. These spaces are tight, acoustics are loud and you may or may not be offered a place to sit, favouring conversation and community over intimacy and comfort. Our access point to the materiality and colour strategy came from one particular reference, Jardins de les 3 Xemeneies, and its three brick chimneys that backdrop the bustling Poble Sec–the only remains of an early 20th century power station built by the Barcelona Traction, Power and Light Company ( a Canadian utility company that operated light and power utilities in Catalonia, Spain) locally known as La Canadiense for the old company’s Canadian electricity production. Opening a tapas bar in Canada, this history acted as a leeway into exploring the vernacular of this neighbourhood, allowing Como to become a contemporary materialization–an homage to all we love about Spain. The rest was an exercise in keeping things simple and fun and letting a few other cool points of inspiration stand out against this backdrop like the punches of cobalt blue reminiscent of Miro and the art program taking Jean Arp’s work as a point of departure. Designed by Ste. Marie.

Photography by Conrad Brown
Styling by Kate Richard

Beamed ceilings, large windows and nothing but neutrals. This home is so bright and airy and soothing. Designed by Heaton+Williams.

Photos: Thomas Kuoh

Within the refurbished château/farmhouse of designer Pierre Yovanovitch in Fabrègues, Provence is the marriage of rustic and sophistication. Plasterwork, stone and wood form the backdrop to modern and vintage furnishings and artwork. Each room more beautiful than the next.