An old hand in the design world but much revered, Paul Fortune believes in accommodating the history and material integrity of the buildings he transforms with his signature look. When you view his portfolio you’ll see what I mean. Beautiful buildings are brought back to life with classic and livable interiors. It’s all in the detail. Beautiful beautiful detail. My favourites? The fireplace in the bathroom (or is it a dressing room?) and honey gold timbers with the midcentury classic furniture. If knotty pine looked this good all the time I’d be cladding my walls in the blink of an eye. (Special thanks to Gosia for introducing me to Paul’s work.)

Youthful, chic, modern mixed with traditional, the rooms created by Manhattan based interior designer Sara Gilbane are casually elegant, practical yet fun. Love the patterns. Love the crisp blues and whites. Love the comfort. Far too many beautiful images on her website to include here. Make sure you check it out.

Today’s our last look at Inside Today’s Home, 4th Edition by Ray & Sarah Faulkner, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1975. What a treasure trove of “interesting” 70s rooms it’s proved! Can’t get enough of these old design books. What about you?

I hate my kitchen. It’s 80s grey laminate with chunky wood trim and it’s ugly. Alas I rent and what makes it worse is that I rent in Australia, land of the “can’t do anything to your apartment” rental laws. I’m in the process of sewing a new roman blind and looking for handles to swap out the chunky wooden ones (which of course appear not to be of standard size – sigh!) but I thought I’d cheer the place up by painting my fridge. No new shiny fridges were harmed in this exercise. I don’t have a new shiny fridge. My old faithful has been with me for a while but the seals are good and it’s energy efficient(ish) and I just can’t justify a new fridge. I shop for fresh food everyday (love doing this) so I don’t need a big gee whizz bang refrigerator. This one will do me just fine. The chalk sayings have changed almost daily as does my “favourite” postcard art. Decal from here.

WINKS – weekend links. Here we list what has come in during the week, things we’ve found and things we think you’ll want to see. If you’d like to see your blog or website featured email us and if we think it fits with our readers we’ll link you. So what’s in this week?

• • Kimberly McCabe of Curiouser & Curiouser Designs emailed to share these new prints in her Etsy shop. Kim are you paying attention. Perfect for your chick wall. Love the boho Marie Antoinette feel of these!

• • Georgina Manghi is a chef and blogger from Argentina. She passes on her fabulous recipes on her blog and recently started writing in English as well so now I can follow the recipes instead of just salivating over the pictures. Check out her website Buenos Aires Pastry and dream of living round the corner from her boutique restaurant.

• • Shelley emailed to introduce her website Bohemian Hellhole. Lots of eye candy, ideas and sources. Thanks for sharing Shelley!

• • Claire Eglizeaud and Paul Moreau, a designer and a graphic artist from Bordeaux developed Bonjour mon coussin in 2007. They’ve created a wide range of cushion covers which are inspired by old found documents or elements of their lives. Too cool! Check out the whole range here. Thanks Paul and Claire!

• • Here’s one out of the box! Live in L.A.? Join the crew from Ghettogloss for The Bronx Zoo every Saturday afternoon at La Cita from 2pm to 8pm all summer long starting June 28, 2008. $5 cover at the door and drink specials inside. But wait there’s more! Every hour, on the hour there will be an APE ESCAPE where 4-7 bikini-clad girls in gorilla masks will be released to pose for quick figure drawing sketches. Get out your sketch pads and don’t take it seriously. Just let those creative juices flow!

• • Emily and Laura the creative dynamos behind OrangeBeautiful have their gorgeous new line available in their Etsy shop. I’ve got a thing for typography and these letterpress note cards are just too cute!

• • Jaime (super blogger Design Milk) emailed to introduce us to the next print in her chandelier series: Salmon Birds on Crystal Chandelier. Limited edition so rush over to her Etsy shop.

• • Something a little exotic and Moroccan but definitely not traditional. Dar en Art is the gateway to contempory Moroccan furniture and accessories. In French but English coming soon.

• Angelica emailed us. “We’re getting out the vote…for some talented student photographers who’ve imagined Karastan rugs in some original and clever settings. It’s part of a photo contest, ‘Rug-ged America’, celebrating Karastan’s 80th anniversary. Some of the top photography schools from across the nation have been asked to ‘make a statement’, and, as you’ll see, they’ve really risen to the occasion.” Check out the photos and vote for them here.