Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Peaceful, earthy tones interiors

First of all , I want you to know, dear readers and blogfriends, that I am so busy this week, that I really don’t have so much time to blog! So to my blogger colleagues, I would say : ”Sorry that I didn’t comment your posts these days, but I will be back within a few days to read your blogposts” and to all my readers who emailed me : ”Sorry I didn’t emailed back to you yet, but I will within a few days.”!

I am working on a project and today I was going through my files, searching for inspirational images !

I thought it could be nice sharing some of the images which inspired me for some reason.

The images are all of very peaceful interiors and you will notice earthy and sandy tones.

I hope you will be inspired as much as I am!

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1. Alessandra Home Interiors

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2. Alessandra Home Interiors

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3. Alessandra Home Interiors

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4. Bates Corkern

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5. Source unknown

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6. Alain & Brigitte Garnier antiques

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7. Source unknown

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8. Veranda Magazine

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9. Things That Inspire blog

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10. Bates Corkern

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11. Bates Corkern

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12. Alessandra Home Interiors

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13. Axel Pairon

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14. Alexandra Siebelink Interior

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15. Alexandra Siebelink Interior

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16. Axel Pairon

I always love to read your comments my friends!

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Monday, June 28, 2010

Clever Gambrel






Another lovely home by Steven Gambrel. Imagine sitting there on the water's edge like that. So gorgeous.

More Small Space Living Inspirations - Color Me Small!


This small 228 sq ft apartment in Los Angeles is designed by L.A. 
based interior designer Kenneth Brown.  Kenneth Brown is a very
talented and established designer in southern California.

He really shows what you can do in such a small space and how
one can really punch it up with fun colors and patterns.


When you have a tiny space, to keep obstructions to a minimum and
to make a space look more open, Brown advises not to purchase any
furniture with arms.  It's a great piece of advice that visually makes
total sense in a small space. 


Again, this chair has no arms and the console doubles as a desk.


Ken took wall paper rolls and just hung them up on a wall to give 
more visual interest.  It doesn't get simpler than that to give a room
a punch of color.


Keep the shelves skinny and to a minimum.  Here, picture shelves are
used so there is a place to put up photos with the shelves not taking up
much space.


When you have a small space, it's all about function.  Function, Function,
and more Function.  In this case, this ottoman can also serve as storage
space.


A great way to hide away things without needing a door that swings out
is to use curtains.  Ken added a patterned curtain on on the inside for 
additional color - lots of fun!


The Bar (Crate and Barrel) serves a dual purpose as the TV stand as well.
Wouldn't have thought to use a bar as a TV stand - but why not indeed?


In the small dining area, armless faux bamboo chairs are used.  You can
also throw seat cushions with color and pattern on if you want.


Here's another great book for ideas when it comes to living 
in small spaces.  I hope you enjoyed the tour of this small
228 sq feet apartment.  Amazing what you can do in such a
small space.

Photos from Better Homes & Garden

My Life Right Now


My life has been pretty hectic with the arrival of little Max. The life I knew which was that of a working woman with one child, a husband and 2 dogs has changed. I used to purchase my favourite magazines and be able to sit down on the sofa and read them that night. I used to have time to do my own thing. But not these days.

I have had the new Country Style magazine sitting on my bedside table now for a few days and I haven't even had the chance to open it.

I actually glanced at my bedside table tonight and thought I would take a photo of it to show you.

It consists of the Country Style magazine which I am dying to open. It also consists of that pink fabric which, even though I had ordered the yellow colourway on Friday, I changed it today to the pink. I don't usually change my mind once I've made my mind up - what is happening to me? It also consists of a book I purchased on Amazon which I think is very applicable to my life right now - Just Let Me Lie Down Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom by Kristin van Ogtrop. I also love the colour of it's cover. Today Harry made me the origami swans which you can see sitting there. I love them. Brad and Harry brought me in a bowl of Harry's favourite treat - ice-cream with coke bottle lollies on top just now to try to cheer me up. It worked.

I'm sure tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow our container full to the brim of Stuart Membery furniture will be arriving on our doorstep. Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day.

xx
Anna

Friday, June 25, 2010

Weekend announcements

 

Susan from the blog LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE  launched on her blog a few days ago, a serie called “Her Personal Space…At Home With…”. She asked some bloggerfriends -even me-, to participate and to send her some pictures of a room or a space at home they love to retreat, to take a break.

Past weekend she posted about the favorite spots of Vicky at Room Service~Decorating 101 and about my favorite ones.

If you are interested in discovering my favorite spots to retreat, you should visit Susan’s post HERE.

More blogger favorite spots to see this weekend at Susan’s blog!

The Green Plum Susan

Susan and her dog Sam, nestled at her favorite home spot.

You  will love Susan’s blog! She gives us a lot of decorating ideas!

 

As this panel with a wall light installed behind.

Love where you live decorating idea

 

Or the use of this lovely kitchen wall paper!

Love where you live

Thank you so much Susan for giving me the opportunity to participate in this serie!

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And there is another Susan I want you to meet! Susan at TWO MAISONS blog. Susan lives in France, in a beautiful village in Provence!

Can you imagine! This postcard view is from the window of Susan’s bedroom!!!

 

When I saw Susan’s post about her kitchen redo, I was so excited about it, that I wanted all of you my readers, to see it!

This is a picture of her beautiful kitchen door!

Two Maisons kitchen door

Please go to see this ‘before and after post HERE !!! You will love this post and you will certainly love Susan’s blog!!

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This week I discovered a new Italian blog , called  MAISON CHARMANTE.

Unfortunately Ididn’t found the name of the author yet. But I enjoyed her posts!

Maison Charmante headerThe author is living in Tuscany and tells a lot about the work at her home in progress .

Maison Charmante house in progress

The author’s house in progress.

And she write a lot of posts of dream houses!

Maison Charmante One of the dream house posts pictures.

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And a totally different subject I want to bring up today is about young piano players in my family!

Yes my family counts a lot of piano players. My mother plays the piano, my father did, my brother does, my uncle does,…

And now I want you to meet the youngest two piano players of our family:

My nephew Alex, who is the son of my brother and my youngest nephew Justin, who is my sister’s son.

Both of them have to do their examination within a couple of days! By posting a picture and a video of them on my blog I would encourage them and wishing these boys good luck with the examination!

Alex piano

Alex, who is 14 years old plays the piano for about 4 years now.

Unfortunately I have no video clip of Alex playing the piano.

 

If you love piano music , then you will enjoy this video of Justin, our youngest piano player in the family!

Justin who is 11 years old plays the piano for 2 years now.

Good luck boys!

 

And to all of you a wonderful weekend!

xx

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Thursday, June 24, 2010

Friday Flowers


It's been a while since I have posted some Friday Flowers. Mum arranged this foliage for me last weekend and in amongst our lovely old garden we found a passion fruit vine so we picked some and plonked them in another vase as above. I'm planning on a quiet weekend pottering around the new house. Hope you have a lovely weekend.

xx
Anna

Small Space Living Inspirations - A 431 Sq Ft Apartment in Paris


This magazine article was originally published by French magazine
Cote Maison and picked up by Apartment Therapy.  It's a fantastic 
example of small space living.  We're talking a family of four and 
a dog living in a 430 sq ft apartment.  Amazing isn't it?  We never
think about it living with space is definitely a luxury.  A luxury that
Americans are used to but not necessarily all places in the world have.
 
Your average apartment for a family of 4-5 in Hong Kong is around
400 sq ft.  This isn't because they just happen to love living in small
spaces - there isn't any available land and square footage is seriously
expensive.  Most families simply cannot afford more space.  There's
a saying in Hong Kong that real estate is worth its weight in gold by
the square Inch!  The above bedroom very cleverly utilizes the tiny
closet-like space very well.


Every available amount of space in the apartment 
is  used. Isn't this cubby in the ground great?


A Tibetan tapestry hangs in the doorway.  The cupboards
and built in storage space is from the ground to the ceiling.


Here's the kitchen area with a dine in table.  
Notice the stairs going up to another room.


Those same steps are actually built in drawers.  Now this is what
I'm talking about.  The Japanese also design in this incredibly 
functional way as your average living space for a single person in 
Tokyo is often no more than a small room.


What a lovely dining and living space.  The windows almost extend 
from floor to ceiling.  I just love the exposed brick like floor.  Hanging 
curtains from floor to the ceiling creates the feeling that the room and 
ceiling is higher than it actually is.  Also using clear furniture like the 
glass table is a great way to expand a space visually.


Here's the other side of the room which also leads into the kitchen.


The living and dining room double as the master bedroom.
The bed you see is a Murphy bed which is folded into the wall.



 
Here is the floor plan to this incredibly functional space.
You can see the dotted lines where the Murphy bed pulls
down for the living/dining room to become the Master 
bedroom.



I recently purchased this book which I love!  What's great about
that it showcases real homes and apartments that are small and 
what owners and designers have done with their space.  I highly 
recommend it.  

As of late, there seems to be a trend to downsizing and 
living with less space.  What are your thoughts?  Less is
more?  Or more is more?

All photos from Apartment Therapy and Cote Maison
Photos by Alexandre Bailhache