A teeny tiny apartment in Pohořelec in the Castle area of Prague by A1 Architects. A mere 57 square meters in a 19th century building. Designed as a long term rental (and hence I’m assuming its somewhat spartan decoration) it offers clever ideas for small space living. By incorporating the kitchen into the hallway and opening it through to the combined dining living area the space seems larger than it is. Love the splash of lime green adding life to an otherwise white canvas.

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing 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! Carolina needs some suggestions this week.

I emailed you a few weeks ago telling you how much help your blog has been to us on decorating our new home. Here are a few photos of what we accomplished so far. We are stuck at finding the perfect dining chairs for our custom dinning table. Maybe you can help us get a little inspired. The chairs we had originally picked are not available (the factory closed). We are thinking about chairs in different colors since our walls are all white.

Now here’s the table (and it is a beauty, oh be still my beating heart)…

And here are some other shots of Carolina’s house in progress. There’s still a way to go but what a great start.

Know the perfect chair? Jump right in with your 2 cents worth. Links would be lovely too 😉

It is no secret to regular readers that Kim and I have a “thing” for church conversions. Today’s remodel is amazing. A minimalist conversion of a stunning stone-built Grade II-listed former Methodist chapel (1868) in peaceful countryside on the Dorset/Wiltshire border. A once austere house of worship is now an austerely beautiful house to worship. Designed by Gary Tarn and for sale through The Modern House Real Estate Agents here, the price will have you selling your soul but oh my what a home! (Many thanks to professional house stalker Selina for the introduction to this website.)

Sarah emailed to share her house.

We have just finished (but not completely styled) a renovation of our 1880s workers cottage in Adelaide, South Australia. As a bit of an amateur designer, I drafted a plan and gave it to an architect whose house I’d seen at an open inspection 5 years previously. I tracked her down (Sophie Fielder) and when we met for the first time couldn’t believe our eyes when we discovered we had the same photos in our scrap books! We even had photos from the internet of houses in other states! Due to budget constraints and the love of a challenge, I project managed the job with our builder and we’re thrilled with the result. We wanted to create a home with a slightly industrial/warehouse/barn feel that was practical and didn’t waste space.

The garden is yet to grow but already it is a sanctuary with birds and chooks (over the back fence!) waking us up each morning and we absolutely adore the  50 year old olive tree right outside our bedroom window.

I’ve already informed Sarah to expect me any moment, bags in hand, because I’m moving in. What a wonderful marriage of old and new.

The house before they started and a few demolition shots.

Before

A lot of us know the problem. A new house, a perfectly serviceable but very tired kitchen, a limited budget and… well.. you know you really can’t justify a complete gut because even though those cabinets aren’t really your taste they are just too good to rip out and throw away. Sydney-sider Sarah from everydaythingsetc had just that problem and being a sensible woman she decided to work around what she had. After all even though she hated those oregon cupboards she knew that whatever she got to replace them, with her budget they would be nowhere near the quality. Paint the cabinets, new tile, a new benchtop (the old one was peeling away), more paint on the walls and done. Done in stages that is 🙂 Thanks for the pics Sarah.