Interior Design Sense

If you’d like to send us photos to include in next week’s “pets on furniture” post, please ensure your photos follow our basic rules: First, the pet must be on a piece of furniture. And said piece of furniture must be clearly visible in the photo, so it takes center stage rather than your pet. (Think of it more of a photo of a great piece of furniture that you want to show off…and your pet happens to be sitting on it). And second, the photo must be of decent quality. If it’s dark or fuzzy (from a camera phone) then it may not make the cut. Thanks! (Photos, your name, location and a brief description can be sent to desiretoinspirekim@hotmail.com and PLEASE don’t send me closeups of your pet!)

“Minette, enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon in Montréal.”
- Marie-Hélène and Gaétan

“This is our 3-year old french bulldog Stella. She loves soft things to sit on, sofas, beds and humans.”
- Maria (Finland)

“We were gifted this table and chair set by family in Florida, which we quickly stripped and re-stained for a more modern look. We proudly present our 2 year old Pomeranian Yogi. He loves to sneak onto the table, hopefully with this plate setting, he’ll never do it again.“
- Nathalie and Deena (Orlando, FL)

“While photographing the lovely home of Harriet Zaretsky, her adorable puppy Rosie was happy to show off this Jonathan Adler blanket.”
- Bethany (Los Angeles, CA)

“Gordie (the little white Toy Fox Terrier) and Jack (the great white shark, I mean Boxer) love the new skylights and built in book cases in our what-not room. (Ahem, so does my husband who has appropriated the room for his guitar practice). Shortly after I took this picture, Jack took it upon himself to eat the new flokati rug. A 50lb, 5 month old Boxer does like a nice new rug. Grrrr.“
- Priscilla

“I have so many pics of my pets. But my little rescue dog BUBBA a chihuahua and Jack Russel mix always cracks me up.
My son often builds a tower of pillows in the kitchen seat and Bubba loves to sleep up there.
Bubba also loves to sleep on the back of ANY couch. This one is in the library.
Bubba in the pink chair in the foyer.“
- Jill
  

We received an email from a reader named Lauren recently…it seems Lauren wants to be a TV star. And I think she totally has potential for her own HGTV show. She sent us a link to a webisode she filmed with Craigslist TV where she posts on craigslist offering to redecorate someone’s place exclusively using craigslist to find all the design materials and furniture. Her video is alot of fun so I thought I’d share with you all. (P.S. Not only is she a decorator but an artist – find her work here.)

The last few times Kim featured photographer Rachael Smith’s work on Desire to Inspire I think I just about saved every image to my inspiration files. I think I’ll be doing the same with these three Paris homes. Fun and creative real world spaces captured in all their unpretentious beauty by Rachael. She has the eye doesn’t she? No wonder she is demand. Love!

greige
La Dolce Vita
Once Upon A Tea Time..Design Stories
Bloesem
{this is glamorous}
coco+kelley
Coco Sweet Dreams

Christmas is right around the corner and I have been desperately trying to get as much of my Christmas shopping done as early as possible, and online because I really hate fighting the mall crowds. (Etsy, how I love you). And speaking of Christmas and online shopping, if you haven’t already ordered Matthew Mead’s Holiday book-azine WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? Mine arrived in the mail a couple days ago and it’s SO gorgeous! I’m going to have this out on my coffee table every Christmas season as part of my decor. Not only is it full of fabulous photos of spaces all dolled up for the holidays, but it’s got decorating projects and recipes and a feature I mentionned way back in April about a select number of bloggers (including Jo and I!) and their holiday projects. Here is a sneak peek of what’s inside…

By the time you read this I’ll be cursing the fact I ever moved as I help lug the last bits and pieces into my house. Here’s what my living room looked like with the previous owner’s things. I’ve posted a video walk through with rambling commentary on my page. The before is always daunting! OK back to work for me!

I absolutely freaking LOVE this kitchen transformation that Ruben of Errez Design sent us (which Jo eluded to in a post she did of some of his projects back in September). In Ruben’s words: “I wanted to share with you some images of a kitchen renovation we just completed in a 1925 Coral Gables cottage. This project is a blast of color and pattern used in a fresh modern way. We used a patchwork of vintage hand made Cuban cement tiles in a variety of patterns and colors. There is also a wall of floor to ceiling chalk board cabinets. Our goal was to both accentuate the charm of the old house and to reflect the young owners’ personality.” There is nothing I don’t love about this transformation. The chalkboard cabinets are a great contrast to the rest of the all-white kitchen, the lack of upper cabinets is brilliant, and the seating area is SO FUN, bright and cheerful. I am so happy Ruben sent along some before photos as well. AMAZING!

Anne-Lise, an avid reader of our little blog, emailed us the following: “I have been meaning to send in pictures of my own apartment in Oslo for a while now. It is in a building from 1901 in a cosy neighbourhood. Crown moldings and hardwood floors are original and in great shape. The style is somewhat mixed of Scandinavian with some old finds from grandparents etc, and some things are things that I have either made myself, like the large lamp in the living room. I created that along with my father by using seven lamps from Ikea. The dining table and chairs were in a sad condition when my sister gave them to me, but with lots of love, sanding and oil they all came back to life. It is sad to me that I have to say goodbye to the place, but alas I cannot take it with me to Paris, France where I have just bought a new place.” What better way to say goodbye than to have a little DTI feature on a Friday! I can see why you’ll be sad to see this place go Anne-Lise, but moving to Paris is so exciting! Hope you’ll share photos of your new home with us once you’re settled.

Almost moved in. Who am I kidding? I have another day of moving on Saturday. This time all my artwork and the shed … the dreaded shed! I’ve been collecting inspiration photos for my new old home for months (years) and I wanted to share some work by Todd Nickey and Amy Kehoe of Nickey-Kehoe. I’ve peeped into their portfolio before (here) but I’m really getting into the “vintage meets modern wrapped up in comfort and easy care” vibe of this Hollywood Hills home. I want a home that looks good but also feels good. One that lets me live my life without worrying about the “precious” furnishings. I want to flop into a chair or snuggle up in a bedroom and feel at home. I think I could here. After the jump I’ve also included a few shots of a Long Island home they also created. Tell me what you think of the sofa in the powder room

P.S. I still have so much to do here in the new old house and tomorrow is a huge day. Please forgive if I don’t post tomorrow. I’ll be up to my eyeballs in boxes and sweat. Hopefully I’ll have the first few video walk throughs of the house. Very very “before” for sure! You’ll find them on my page as soon as I finish uploading them. I’ll say bye for now. I can’t put off unpacking for any longer.

Today’s reader request comes from Sandy: “Now I have the following “problem”: I’m about to move into my first own flat and am searching desperately for an (affordable) ceiling but modern lamp. The furniture is at the moment made from pine in the natural color but I will eventually glaze it white and add some stylish accessories so that it will turn into french style with some modern pieces (side table, chairs, lamps). So the lamps should be modern (60ies), unfortunately I have only found verner panton to be likable and out of production or affordability. Do you have some pics or ideas of studio flats with ceiling lights, which are modern, that you could share?” Sandy’s request is a tad specific, so I searched through my photo stash and found some photos of some pendants that I think look fantastic, and many of which could either be DIY projects or purchased fairly inexpensively, and aren’t necessarily 60s era (why limit yourself?). I really do think if there is a really tight budget that this is a PERFECT opportunity for a DIY. For example, check Ikea as they always have the best lighting – but maybe think outside the box a bit in that case so your choice is not the same as a zillion other people with the same light fixture. Tomorrow I will be posting a reader’s home where she created a pendant light out of several Ikea fixtures wired together. Or perhaps check out your local thrift store for a lampshade, where you can rip off the fabric and just have the “cage” hanging. (I have done that recently to a lampshade I bought for a few bucks at Habitat for Humanity, and plan to hang it on one side of my sofa). Or there is this gorgeous DIY light project that Grace blogged yesterday:

I’d also suggest checking out Etsy because I am always on the hunt for funky lighting and they have TONS of handmade light fixtures at great prices. But first, some inspiration for you Sandy, that I think will give you lots of ideas for your dilemma.

Hus & Hem	Rachael Smith
design*sponge	design*sponge
Susanna Zacke	Simon Brown
design*sponge	Hus & Hem
Mad og Bolig	Schappacher White