Displaying posts labeled "Traditional"

I’m always a fan of style mixin’, and in this apartment in Gdańsk, Poland it starts with some some classic moldings, chevron hardwood floor, a clawfoot bathtub and some exposed brick. This is all modernized in bright white with added built-ins, mirrored walls (storage perhaps?), contemporary furnishings and lighting and some funky tile work. A very dynamic and stunning space designed by Anna Maria Sokołowska. (Photos: Fotomohito)

Atlanta designer Nancy Braithwaite‘s key elements of design are as follows:

Architecture – Design at its best is often a collaborative venture. On successful projects, the architect and designer learn from one another, support one another, and enhance each other’s work. Architecture for me is always the important beginning of each project. It is the sculptural skeleton.

Composition – Composition is one of the many techniques a designer can use to achieve the unpredictable — that unexpected choice that so often makes a room memorable. Repetition establishes an interior rhythm, directing the eye around and through a room in an orderly, measured way.

Proportion and Scale – With proportion and scale, as with composition, I work from the grandest strokes to the most minute details. Increasing the scale of a design element to the anticipated proportions — and then pushing it beyond — carries with it the thrill of risk taking.

Color – Nothing in design is more mysterious, compelling, or personal than color. Combined with pattern, texture, and finish, it changes qualities yet again. So complex at all times, so ambiguous always — the potency and possibility of color is like nothing else in design.

Pattern – To avoid visual noise, patterns need to be chosen carefully, mixed purposefully, and artfully applied. Under no circumstance should a pattern overwhelm a room or its architecture, nor should it disguise the object to which it is applied. To do so negates the point.

Texture – Every object, material, and work of art reveals an essential part of its character through its surface. Texture is the dimensional aspect of that surface. It intrigues and draws the eye as it simultaneously invites the touch. As such, texture is also a form of pattern, and that is how frequently I use it.

Craftsmanship – Artisans of the highest caliber carry on the great decorative arts traditions and forge new paths. They are the keepers of custom and the enhancers of craft. They bring beauty, educate the eye, and create heroic singularity.

OMG! I want, I need this kitchen. All the boring everyday stuff hidden behind sleek, minimalist doors and a stunning table as counter setup with espresso machine plumbed in. So simple, so chic, so impossible to fit into my small kitchen space but, hey, a girl can dream. Part of a beautiful renovation of a traditional home by New Zealand design studio Hare Interiors.

Bright yellow walls, grahic patterned curtains and stripes add some pretty bold and playful touches to this other wise fairly traditional home in California. Julie Goldman of J.Latter Design took things up a notch. Several notches really.

More from Julie here in case you missed it

Jo featured this home quite some time ago but as it is one of the most magical homes I have ever seen I wanted to share it again, with more breathtaking photos. Welcome to Dennis Severs’ house.

Dennis Severs’ House at 18 Folgate Street, Spitalfields is more than just a time capsule. It is both a breathtaking and an intimate portrait of the lives of a family of Huguenot silk-weavers from 1724 to the dawn of the 20th Century. As you follow their fortunes through the generations, the sights, smells and sounds of the house take you into their lives. It was Dennis Severs’ intention that as you enter his house it is as if you have passed through the surface of a painting, exploring with your senses and imagination a meticulously crafted 18th Century world.