How’s this for a reader’s reno! Lisa and her family stripped, ripped, roofed, windowed and walled. They painted and floored. Recovered old chairs and hung lights and shelves. They made themselves an attic retreat perfect for sewing and stowing, reading and chilling. Work your way down. It’s well worth the scroll. A fabulous room and it once was a “hole”. Sorry for the bad rhymes but well done Hobbs family!

Got a problem? Need some help? Just stand there shaking your head? Don’t know what to do? You’re not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you…. that’s you lot… the readers…. get to it! I have a Saturday to enjoy.

“I have a bit of an issue. I’ve just found the perfect apartment, except for one detail. My new bedroom features only one wall for my bed to go. And not only does that wall have an off centered window, but that window is very low. About a foot off the ground. I’m really hesitant to but my bed up against it when my mattress will cover part of the glass. Is there a rule about this? How can I make design sense of an off center window cut off at the bottom by a centered bed?” – Kayla

Behold the bits of Kayla’s new apartment she is not having problems with….

And now the horror that is Kayla’s bedroom….the listing photo….

And the truth….

“Here are the new pictures of the room. I apologize for the blurriness.  Also, the window is weird. It opens on a hinge, and its close to the ground. I put the mattresses in there just for size illustration purposes.” – Kayla

Come on readers. Let’s help Kayla out. We know you are a super talented and opinionated bunch. Don’t prove me wrong! (If you have a problem contact me with a link to your photos here.)

There was a time on DTI that week after week I slavishly copied images from my extensive retro interior design book collection. One day I just couldn’t scan anymore. I had come to the last one. It was a sad day. Today is a good day for lovers of the retrolicious. Thanks to the wonderful Lia we get to crave and cringe again for one more day. Images from “Schoner Wohnen” from 1976. This has reignited my retro design book addiction. I’m on the hunt for more! If you need more retro too head to my (extensive) collection of past posts here.

Seriously cool design by Serbian architectural firm Sinestezia. Clever storage, sexy room dividers and a clean modern palette. Ideas to steal here readers. A family home that adapts and changes to this young family’s needs. Love it!

Let me say first that this is a sponsored post. YES!!!!! I love a sponsored post especially if it involves a flight to Sydney, a fab city suite, a day to shop till I drop (my money not theirs boohoo) and then an invite to the launch of Freedom‘s autumn collection on Wednesday. Great design and style don’t need a great big price tag to match so I can’t wait to see what Freedom, one of Australia’s leading furniture and homewares purveyors has in store. Promise I’ll let you know as soon as I can. I’m excited!