Interior Design Sense

99% of the posts on this blog are published to inspire our readers. I’d say the other 1% are purely selfish posts that Jo and I post because we find something we adore and want to remember. This is one of those selfish posts. My twin sister sent me this home on Hus & Hem the other day and I went a little nuts. I am in love with the black exterior of this home. I’ve been thinking alot lately about what to do with the interior of my home, particularly the new addition we’re adding, and haven’t given alot of thought to the exterior. But after seeing these photos I WANT A BLACK HOUSE!!! The interior of this home is pretty fabulous too because it’s black and white and that’s what I’d like to do to mine, but with less of a modern/Swedish vibe and more industrial and ethnic bits thrown in.

P.S. My husband and I found 2 local architects that we’d LOVE to work with for the addition we’re planning for the house but one is too busy and the other missed an appointment with us this week. I’m starting to worry we’ll never find anyone so if anyone out there knows of an architect in Ottawa who is creative and likes to think a bit outside the box, please email me @ desiretoinspirekim@hotmail.com. THANKS!!

Colour, colour, colour! Away with the white, let’s overdose on saturated hues. The perfect way top end the week is with green and red and pink and blue. Vignettes, rooms, real and staged, shop and home. Welcome to the fabulous portfolio of interior stylist Graham Moss. I have an unhealthy obsession with that stairway gallery of mid century prints. Fun!

It’s reader request time, and today’s post comes from Melissa: “I’ve stalked your blog for years, and now that my husband and I are in the throes of renovating a funky garage/apartment into our future house, I was hoping you might be able to help. The home is 1600 sq. ft, so every sq. ft is in contention. I am a writer/photographer and need to have a home office that, unfortunately, will be placed just off of our living area. I was hoping you might be able to point out some built in home offices or some unusual alternatives to computer/bookshelf storage?” I scoured my workspace photos and found some that are small/built-in/in or nearby living rooms. Hope this helps you Melissa and anyone else looking to carve out a home office out of a small area.

Caroline Paterson	The London Magazine
Country Living	Coburn Architecture
Hus & Hem	Altitude Lofts
design*sponge	Canadian House & Home
design*sponge	Sköna hem
Lucy Interior Design	Canadian House & Home
Robert Kaner	Caroline Beaupère

I know this one! I know this one! I lusted after it when I saw it in Inside Out quite some time ago. I want this one! I want this one! Sold unfortunately. (Who am I kidding? I could never afford Paddington, Sydney prices!) The house is just fab but I’m really in a splash about that pool in the courtyard. Find it here while the link lasts.

Laura Fulmine, a London-based interior stylist and design consultant and have just finished a project in a cafe in East London called Tina We Salute You and emailed us to share some details and photos. “The installation was to coincide with London Design Week. It was only supposed to stay for one week however, it has proved so popular, the lovely people at Tina’s have agreed to keep it on for one more week! I wanted to do something small this year for Design Week and so approached this great cafe in East London who use their cafe as a part gallery, allowing artists to display their work for 6 weeks at a time. Instead of using the walls as a gallery I chose to do an interiors project and so painted all the cafe in South African wall murals.” The colours and patterns are so much fun. I love how this turned out Laura! Thanks for giving us a peek!

We received a request for help recently from Oksana: “I’m struggling in decorating living area in my townhouse. Basically, my living room is a loft type/open space with the kitchen area at the end. I have a sofa (contemporary) and would like to buy a chair (or chairs) or something else that will provide more seating space, look interesting, and feel comfortable. I’d appreciate any ideas and suggestions.” Photos of Oksana’s space are below, and my suggestions are after the jump.

Federica recently sent us photos of her home in Italy so we could share them with our readers. It’s beautiful with plenty of windows letting in natural light and was designed by her father Bruno Pogliani. Thank you Federica!

A couple of months ago we were asked to name just some of the blogs we are loving for the current issue of Inside Out magazine. Just 6 (but I pushed it to 7). How can we name just 6?!! It was torture picking just these few. I know Kim and I lurk on dozens of blogs each day. We usually divide the press questions on a geographical basis so the choice in this case was mine. If you want to read what I wrote and your eyes are as bad as mine you can see a larger size on my Flickr.

P.S. The new issue of Inside Out is a must have! One of the best.

I couldn’t get enough of David Hicks’ portfolio. Did you see yesterday’s post? Elegant, luxurious and masculine. And these fabulous girly girly designs? Why it is the headquarters of Australia’s ultra feminine fashion designer Alannah Hill …  by David. Feminine to the max but just as luxurious. If you think the head office is fab click over to Ms Hill’s garden of delights website for so much more.   

London-based interior stylist Twig Hutchinson has created some of the most memorable spaces that I’ve come across since Jo and I started this blog. The last photo (after the jump) has been a favourite of mine for ages and I thought it deserved a second posting. (See our first post of her work here). Twig emailed us to let us know she has updated her website so go have a peek. In the meantime, below are some magical and beautifully styled spaces that we haven’t blogged before. So lovely!!! (Oh – I HAD to add the second-last photo. Guess why. )