The creativity and boldness of South East London design firm 2LG Studio continues to blow my mind. This is a lesson on breaking all the rules, using colour in magical ways and embracing shapes. Each element has been inspired by found objects and prints from within the house as well as our own design travels. Its previous owners clearly had a passion for interiors as it had pink walls throughout, and deep green carpets. In the loft we found a stash of old interior magazines from the 50’s and 60’s as well as remnants of fabrics. As the house evolves with us, it has been through many stages, acting not only as a home, but as a backdrop for our work as designers. So far we have restored the roof and chimneys, the original sash windows and floors. We have completed the pink bathroom, updated the front door, given ourselves a wonder closet for a WC, created an entrance hallway the previous owners would have loved, we hope, and given the lounge added panelling to go with the original coving and ceiling rose, based on pencil markings we found on the walls under the old wallpaper. The open plan kitchen/diner/studio space is the heart of the project and was the inspiration behind many new product designs.

With 10 days to go to Christmas I thought I would try to add a bit more festive vibes to the blog (since neither Jo nor I partake in any Christmas decorating) with this beautiful 49 sq m apartment in Sweden dolled up for the holidays. Home of 20 year old decorator Simon Olsson, it’s a delicious melange of white, grey and black and is filled with vintage finds. So cozy and the sparse pine trees and lighting really make it special. Via sköna hem.

Photos: Carina Olander

After 30 years of stale decor and small rooms, Gramercy Design took this 1400 sq ft Lower Fifth Avenue apartment to a whole other lofty level by opening it and making it conducive to entertaining. The kitchen is the money shot. So simple yet perfectly executed in a fairly small space. Stashing that photo in my inspiration folder.

It had been a while since we heard from architect and interior designer Alex Calin of Space Casuals (there was this project), so I was stoked to see what he’s been working on lately. This 1930s modernist home in Bucharest was thoughtfully restored with attempts to maintain original details whenever possible. The whole story is about recovering and restoring an initially lost image. The small details, the kitchen table, the door fragment that became a bed sheet, another old existing door transformed into a hall mirror, the countertops of the bathroom sinks made from damaged pieces of furniture all complete this effort and the care to preserve and restore. 

Photos: Madalina Ciobanu

Sharing some Christmas cheer from Brenda of Toronto-based Izen Architecture. Last summer we completed the construction of a renovation for which we designed both the architecture and interiors. Soon after, the client reached out again and asked us to design and install Christmas decorations throughout her house to surprise her husband!! This is one of the most thoughtful surprises I could ever imagine and we  brought on a couple of stylists that we had worked with during a previous shoot to help out.