Very early on in the life of desire to inspire we received an email from Lorenzo telling us how much he loved the site and did we want to swap links. One look at his wonderful apartment and the blog that chronicles it and he was on the blog roll. I thought at first that Lorenzo and his girlfriend had to be designers. No they’re in the arts and hail from Firenze my favourite Italian city. Their recently restored flat is stark white except for the pink quartz and resin floors and amazing original 50s windows. All of this is just the stage for their stellar collection of design classics. All the greats are here – Panton, Ettore Sottsass, Saarinen, Achille Castiglioni the list goes on. Lorenzo just sent me some new pictures. Their apartment is so hip it hurts! For details on their amazing collection check out their blog HipHouse.

Amy Lau founded Forms of Design and her interiors are organised along modernist principles – balance in scale, texture and colour. Mid-century collections of decorative and fine arts are prominent in the firms work. Amy was a co-founder of Design Miami Fair an invitational design event featuring the most significant post-war to contemporary design galleries. Her interiors are so liveable and tug at my mid century heartstrings. Love this style.

Madame Sera of Sera of London, formerly Rude London, would be a very interesting woman to meet. Sera of London is an exotic and sumptuous boutique, exhibiting sensual and seductively elegant tastes in room designs and decorative accessories. Her work has been described as louche (what a lovely sounding word) and provocative. Not a bedroom my dear but a boudoir. Warning parental guidance may be required for the website darlings.

Michael Eastman’s images of the faded grandeur of Cuba give me chills. Noble and forlorn the interiors are decaying time capsules and functioning homes. Don’t miss the rest of Eastman’s portfolio here.

Ornate details, flourishes of colour, pure functional use of space. Andy Goldsborough fuses traditional decorative elements with the clean lines of minimalism.