Interior Design Sense

A big thanks to Nina for sending us a link to a real estate listing for a home in Sweden, and it’s not your average listing. The photos have been tweaked with an old-world treatment and the owners (I’m guessing) were asked to pose in several of the photos in costume. Nina thought the listing was lovely, and I did as well when I glanced through them briefly the first time. After a second and third look, my feelings changed towards CREEPY. It sort of reminds me of an old Hitchcock/horror movie where in the next shot all the participants will be sprawled in pools of blood. Am I nuts? What do you guys think?

Nathalie, from France, sent along some photos of her home to share with our readers. She rents the home (located in a small village 50km south of Paris) and decorated on a budget, wanting to create a cozy space inside and out. In Nathalie’s words: …je crois que les associations de couleurs, de meubles et d’idées priment sur les moyens. I think it’s charming and I am very envious of her beautiful garden (and her pooch is adorable!).

And now for the dark. If you enjoyed seeing photos of the progress going on at Jo’s place, I think you’ll appreciate this post. It’s a home bathed in black (mostly). It’s moody, modern and gives off a completely different vibe than my post earlier today. Which would you prefer?

via Groves Natcheva Architects

Atmospheric, uplifting and at times foreboding, colourful and moody but always inspiring. World class photographers John Bendtsen and Joachim Wichmann (Wichmann + Bendtsen) paint pictures with their cameras. Rooms can be rich and aspirational, hard edged and striking, simple and unpretentious but layered with meaning. These are photos that have appeared in leading design magazines, that we dog ear and tear for our inspiration files, that epitomise the gritty pretty Danish style of editorial. Stunning body of work.

Whitney sent us the following email the other day: My husband and I (along with our three year old son and five month old son) just started an interior design business in the San Francisco area. With the economy down and many people having to rent homes instead of own them (us included) we thought that designing for renters was something the market was missing. We do quick small budget makeovers while the family goes out on a date! 2 hours and you have a new well designed space. What a fantastic idea! They have a blog with details of their business, and below are some before and after photos I found there. Good luck with your new biz Whitney and Kevin!

BEFORE

AFTER!

BEFORE

AFTER!

BEFORE

AFTER!

BEFORE

AFTER!

BEFORE

AFTER!

A really long wooden dining table with a bunch of vintage chairs (and old schoolhouse looking ones to boot) = a HUGE *YES!* in my book.

As much as I love having 25 drawers in my kitchen to keep everything organized, there’s something really appealing about having every kitchen gadget and spice jar at your fingertips (although the dust and grease must be such a pain in the arse). Both photos via Freunde von Freunden.

When I hear people talking about spending their Sunday at a great big flea market, I want to cry. There is one in Ottawa, and it’s tiny, and it’s filled with antiques for grannies, or crap. This home is like paradise to me. The treasures the homeowner has found are incredible, and with an industrial flair that I am forever drawn to. It’s all a bit too white and a bit too much vintage for my taste, but I’m in awe regardless. Via Living Agency, photos by Jean-Marc Wullschleger. (Previous post featuring Jean-Marc’s work here).

About a month ago my twin sister and I carted a crapload of stuff over to our parent’s house and all of us had a big garage sale. It was a complete bust. Unfortunately my husband forgot to put up ads online so all we had were a few signs on the road. I think we sold $50. We’re attempting another garage sale this Saturday from 8-2 so anyone in the Ottawa area MUST come out and BUY MY CRAP! I’m selling just about everything I own as I’m tired of it all and am going a completely different route whenever the house gets done and we can redecorate. (On a side note, here is a little sample of how disastrous this whole project has been going. We received an email yesterday morning, about 6 weeks after our plans were submitted to the city for permits, that because our house is approx. 100 ft from the highway, our project requires approval from the Ministry of Transportation. WTF?!?!) Alot of the items are still in my parents’ garage, and I have a bunch of stuff buried in my basement that I also would part with. Here is a sampling…(and there are more photos on my page, including the ad from usedottawa.com with details).

I spent yesterday at my sister’s cottage, enjoying what is likely the last decent weekend of the summer (although I did have jeans and a hoodie on for most of the day…this time of year is SO depressing). This means I did not have time to get a blog favourites post ready. Instead, I thought I would just keep this random with some items I have on hand.

First up, some photos I took Friday since I had the day off work and decided to spend a couple minutes rearranging some pieces in my living room. I LOVE this lamp that I bought at Homesense a while back and have had it crammed in a corner of my bedroom since it came home with me. I decided to move it next to the front door alongside my black Eames leather side chair, and switch out my Mexican tin mirror with my huge beaded rosary (also picked up in Mexico). Nothing too exciting but with no renovations on the horizon for this year I’m back to giving a sh*t what my house looks like. Because that Eames chair is a favourite of Felix, he has claimed the chair in the majority of these photos.

Despite the following action being out of focus, I thought it was hilarious that I managed to capture a little brawl.

Remember Tom’s fabulous apartment that I blogged on Wednesday? Well, his apartment was filmed for a promotional video for his building and he just received a link to it on YouTube. Check it out!

One last quick item: Yesterday I came across the following photo of a kitchen that I found rather odd. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an island shaped like this before. I’m thinking a large rectangular (read ‘normal’) island would have made more sense…

via Period Living