Today’s reader’s home is that of Cassie Potts, a designer/writer from Coburg, Victoria, Australia. It’s quirky, certainly eclectic and very cool. Here’s some info from Cassie: I moved into my small one bedroom apartment with my Pugalier ‘Duck’ and Beagle x ‘Seb’ only a few months ago, after returning from 4 years in London. It required a lot of imagination to transform the suburban family home into a distinctive, contemporary space for a young professional (yes, that would be me, I suppose…), which is the growing demographic of this increasingly him Northern suburb. Fortunately, the rooms are large and numerous, and besides exhibiting many quirky design characteristics of the 1950’s, it was still a fairly neutral space which enabled me to make a feature of my collection of eclectic trinkets, artwork and mid-century furniture collected on my travels. My interior design aesthetic for this home is about creating a juxtaposition between the colourful chaos of ‘kitsch’ and a serene sense of minimalism and restraint. A style which this 1950’s house of the Melbourne Northern suburbs perfectly both accommodates and typifies. Even though there is barely an inch of wall or floor not adorned with a brash curios from Mexico or some graffiti-art brought off the street in East London; white walls and shelving help to show-case the bold techni-colour décor whilst not creating a sense of claustrophobia or overwhelming aesthetic-chaos.
Remember this post from last week of an office with wallpaper samples on the wall? Well, Pam of RetroRenovation.com thought our readers might like to see what she did with her office as it has the same “patchwork” going on on the walls. Her new office is SO FUN, and she has in fact inspired me to do something with all of the vintage wrapping paper I have stashed away that I bought on Etsy a couple years ago. I’m thinking of cutting it into pieces and gluing it to the island in my dressing room. 🙂 ANYHOO, she sent along some photos and info on her office remodel. Check it out:
I needed to renovate my office principally to add more insulation — it’s in the basement. I am a fulltime blogger now — and the time had come to make this space truly comfy cozy and my own. I also wanted to add crafting space — I love to collage. And, I had a hoard of vintage wallpaper — from the 1920s through the 1970s — I’d collected over the years — often, in onesy-twosey rolls that were not enough to paper a room. Also, I am just more color crazy than EVER and wanted to create a space that appealed to me just me I don’t care what anyone else thinks! Put these all together and you get my crazy patchwork quilt office. I used nearly 300 12″ x 12″ squares — I cut each and every one. My friend Denise (pictured me in the American Gothic photo) helped me put it up. She is a decorative painter and has a great eye. While it might look “insane” at first glance, there really is a rhyme and reason to the papers chosen. (cough cough I have more). The principal field is sort of acid yellow and acid green patterned with off white or soft white… and there are also softer yellows, greens and oranges, also in patterns with soft white. From there, we added complements… “pops”… of purple, rusty red, and that very strong, more solid lime green. The crafting space is Ikea Trofast children’s storage with Herman Miller! Countertops found at the Re-Store. I had recessed storage built into the wall above my crafting area. The trim also comes from the Re-Store. I kept the wood as-is: Not Perfect is the New Perfect. The foofy white trim around the shuttered window (orange shutters were my mother-in-law’s) I painted glossy white. Ceiling trim (also from Re-Store) is a grass green. I added a pretty mirrored medicine cabinet. Because I could. Track lights around edge. Vintage wagon wheel light in center. Oh, and I sent you a shot of my vintage Sunbeam Appliance Center, which I installed for fun but also for a little bit of light on the countertop.
… if you will. I have always wanted to find an old cottage, some place that hasn’t changed in all the years it has stood. A time capsule. The simple life. A few spartan rooms stained with history, heavy with memories. A place like Railway Farm just outside of Malmsbury in Victoria. I have been real estate stalking and found a rough gem. This 3 room hut, let’s face it it’s hardly a cottage, was built around 1865. Slab and tin, brick floor, walls paper in old newspapers, hot in summer, cold in winter and wonderfully beautiful in its own way. A pioneer hut unchanged except for ever thickening coats of paint on ceilings and walls. 56 acres of land, a well, stone walls and no electricity. Perfect for weekend getaways for those who crave the rough luxe… minus the luxe. Perhaps I can bring that along each weekend. Dreaming of how I would furnish it. Thank for indulging my daydream. Back to normal programming soon. Link here while it lasts.
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! This week’s problem is from Julie B and to begin with I need to say that we are all jealous that this is the problem that she has… sigh… got that off my chest 🙂 Secondly these photos are from a real estate listing and the furniture is not Julie’s but the previous owner’s.
I just bought a cabin by the sea in Humlekjær in Norway. I’m willing to spend more money to improve it. Here are the areas I want to improve:
– The inside plan and the facade looks a bit messy, partly because of the windows in different sizes. So Im thinking of having a big panorama window in the front where the balcony is, to open up or something else?
– The balcony is not very elegant, it looks very old and grey, what can I do with it?
– I would love to get more suggestions on improvement from you.
Thank you so much…
Carolina had sent in an entry for a pets on furniture recently (her pooch Ella is the first pet featured here), and thought our reader’s would like to have a peek into the rest of her home. Here is a bit of info: It’s been 6 months since I moved and every corner in my place has been planned with love. I’m a graphic designer and a typography lover, so my home kind of portrays my personality. I live in Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil. The apartment was a “group project” between the architects Luiza Kroeff and Claudia Neumann, who designed the furniture and me and my mom Maria Araci, who worked on the interior design. Carolina’s love of typography is evident in her home, and her graphic design background too as her apartment has great punches of colour and impact with white or dark walls that make furniture and artwork pop.