… viewing this house may be harmful to your health. Your pulse will race and your heart will flutter. You may even feel butterflies in your stomach. Anki (thank you thank you) emailed a link to this wonderful home. “This house was in my local paper and I thought you might like it. It’s a summerhouse on an island in the Gothenburg archipelago. It’s got a very Danish feel and it’s furnished with a nice mix of Scandinavian design classics, IKEA finds and stuff the owner bought while travelling.” Gorgeous!!! (Photos by Martin von Brömssen.)

And Anki has an interesting story to tell about Alvhem. “Gothenburg is also the home of Alvhem and a friend of mine sold his apartment through them. Most apartments are emptied and then completely redecorated before being put on the market. It’s a fascinating process, a bit like the process of storytelling in the advertising world. They (Alvhem and my friend who works in advertising himself) decided that the apartment that previously had housed a family of 4 with small kids should be inhabited by a woman in her 30s and then they styled the apartment with this in mind.” That’s why the apartments are always so perfect… had a suspicion didn’t you!

Moody and marvellous. It’s the shadow play and shafts of light that bring these photos by Jason Madara to life. There is almost a sense of suspense, a tension. Beautiful interiors with a touch of mystery.

Love the work of photographer Alexandra Rowley Actually we’ve featured her work here and there on the blog over the past couple of years but now it’s time to shine the spotlight on her extensive portfolio. Her sense of light and clever composition raise her photos to another level. These are truly covetable spaces masterfully captured through her lens. Her work is at times painterly and it’s no surprise that she studied art. Take the time to enjoy her images. It’s a lovely way to start the day.

Guest post from interior designer Jason Martin who has just launched his e-design venture DIY+.

First, I would like to say thank you to everyone who sent in his or her design challenge. I appreciate the time it took to photograph and write about your spaces. It is always enlightening to get a peek into the homes of others. The rooms that I picked to highlight are spaces that represent questions that came from multiple readers so I hope that there will be ideas to help everyone. Just a side note, out of all the entries we received I didn’t see one bedroom! Is that because everyone has a clear idea of how they live in their bedroom or is it that we lead such busy lives the bedroom has become the place we spend the least amount of time?

Week 1. Living/Dining – Two different spaces with similar problems-

Adrena’s Living/Dining

Adrena has a good start but needs help bringing it all together. Like many out there, she has a combined living dining space that is long and narrow. She is having a hard time making the space multifunctional and comfortable at the same time. I think showing Adrena how to complete this space will help others with this dilemma too.

Rali’s House

The design needs in Rali’s living/dining area similar to those at Adrena’s house. She wants to find a way to make the best use of the space and create a family friendly beach house. Rali, like many people who move into a new house, is struggling to make the new space feel like home.

Week 2. Corennei’s Dining Room

Corennei’s dining room is the prefect example of a room that is 90% there but just that illusive extra 10% to feel complete. It is a case where a fresh perspective is the only way around the design dilemma. I hope the design work we do for Corennei will help others to look at their own home with new eyes.

Week 3. Roeshel’s Living Room

Roeshel’s living room is a good example of working too hard on a space. Often when we are graced with a room as detailed as this it can be more daunting than figuring out what to do with a charmless “white box”. With built-in shelves, a fireplace, staircase and French doors this space is a great example of understanding how to respect all those elements and still make room for you and your family.

Week 4. Maggi’s Apartment

Maggi’s apartment is representative of many of our homes. She obviously loves design and has no problem getting in there and working on her space. However like many homes what Maggi’s place needs is an editor’s eye. I have a feeling a lot of readers out there will find the info in this post very helpful.

Week 5. Mariana’s house

If only we all had the problem Mariana has- How to make an amazing house in Brazil feel cohesive and comfortable. Outside of the location Mariana’s home is similar to a lot of new construction these days – large open floor plans with high ceiling. As nice as that is it creates some design problems with paint, furniture layout and general flow of a house. We will address all those topics in Mariana’s house.

Kim and I are really excited to welcome our new sponsor Castle. It doesn’t seem like only a few short months ago we were the first to feature Rachel Castle’s stunning bedlinen range and she’s gone on to take the blogosphere by storm. But Rachel designs more than stylish contemporary sheets, quilts and pillows. Castle has a stunning range of original screen prints and graphic embroideries. Young, funky and fresh, no two the same. So click on over and be inspired by Castle’s range (… and fab styling – great inspiration!)