Wow! If modern design is your thing you’ll be smitten by the work of Barcelona based architecture firm YLAB – Yolanda Yuste Lopez and Tobias Laarmann. This design duo and their team create outstanding spaces with minimal clean lines, a muted colour palette, strong textural elements and clever spatial solutions. Far from being cold, their spaces are sophisticated and clever. The first apartment is a penthouse refit with a luxury hotel vibe. New space layout, new surfaces and fittings and furniture design. Cool and elegant. The second apartment is just too fabulous for words. The bathroom is a dream. Obviously Interiores magazine thought so to. The same week Yolanda shared their work with us I picked up a copy and there was their work. Watch out for this architectural studio. They’re hot!

Retro time! This week we’re taking it outside and way back to the 60s. From potting sheds to pavilions, trees in tables to houses in trees. I used to dream of having a fabulous hideaway just like the A-frame when I was a tike. Still do. Images this week are scanned from The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, Vol 13 OUT to PAR, Greystone Press, New York, 1971.

I couldn’t resist. When I find a new website it’s pillage and mayhem. Here are two more fabulous Swedish properties for sale through Eklund. The first a summer home on an island. Main house, pool, guest house and sauna out at the end of a jetty. Almost as stunning as the surrounds. Definitely house party material. The second home is a small apartment with clever use of space. A minimalist and well disguised kitchen (what do you think of the wall oven placement?), a large mirror to open up the space and a cool modern vibe. A perfect city pad especially if you knew the island home awaited you on weekends.

Here’s the weekday hang out 😉

What is it about Swedish homes and Swedish real estate websites? Look at this fabulous 2 level apartment. White, just enough old with new, obviously a great location, a balcony for more than just a couple of chairs… think party for all your friends, a brick wall to die for, cool spiral staircase (perhaps a liability with all those balcony parties) and lots of light shining in. Check out the wall of mirrors surrounding the flatscreen. Clever idea. I have a new real estate website to stalk, Eklund. Link for this apartment here. Prices will make your hair curl but it’s good to dream.

Sometimes a portfolio leaves you breathless. Sometimes it is just so fabulous you stamp your feet under your computer and whisper “yes” “yes” “yes”. Peter Fehrentz is a German stylist and set designer. Peter Fehrentz is my new crush. Don’t let these first few looks fool you. You’ll find that Peter is the master of many styles but always fresh, always inspiring and very now.