Sabrina Raffi

My husband and I just finished a meeting with our architect and builder for our huge house project and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed - it's finally all coming together and costs are starting to come to light. SCARY SH*T. Needless to say, a meeting with someone at the bank is definitively in order. :) Thus, I am a bit at a loss for words for an intro to this post. Let me just say I was taken by the beauty of the following interior photos by French photographer Sabrina Raffi when I came across her portfolio. And I am fairly certain this is the first time I've seen suits of armour used to decorate a kitchen.

  
  
  

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Must love dogs

It's amazing what is hiding behind the most conservative of exteriors. That's why I love real estate stalking. A house full of art is close to my heart. A house with sculpture makes my pulse race even faster. But this house? The owner must love dogs! Walls are hung with doggy portraits, larger than life 3D dogs bound and bow (with ice-cream?) and it is all the more fun because of it. The doghouse of a canophilist! Perched in Bellevue Hill with a killer view of Sydney Harbour, you can find the link here while it lasts.

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Monday's pets on furniture - part 2

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 closeups of your pet!)

This is Queso, laying on an ikea chair in our cozy New York city apartment
- Nicole

Here's "Kittie" on our guest bed.  The minute I put that orange pillow on there she made it her new sleeping spot.
- Stacey (Beaumont, TX)

Hope these might work!!  All in Birmingham Alabama, with the Boston Terriers from a house in Alys Beach Florida!
- Jean

  

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Monday's pets on furniture - part 1

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 closeups of your pet!)

I am sending you some photos from an interior design job I did in Santa Monica, CA.  I brought my dog George along for the photo shoot and my photographer, (who I wanted to focus on the room!) just could not get enough of him!!  He actually took a whole slew of pictures of just my dog (of which I have spared you!)
- Emily

I don't have a pet of my own (yet - a grey staffy is on the wishlist!) but couldn't resist sending in this photo of Ruby, the house cat at the amazing Araucaria house in Byron Bay, NSW. The owners operate the house as a B&B, my partner and I stayed there over the Easter break and fell in love with Ruby who went to sleep at the foot of the bed each night. The house was pretty spectacular as well!
- Kim (Sydney, Australia)

This is Lollipop lounging on a beautiful LA day. I picked up this piece at a flea market in Austin, Texas. The seller, a woman in her 50s had retrieved it from her parents' belongings. She took off the original green upholstery (ouch, I always wished I had it with the original cover). At first I didn't like the print but I've worked it into my belongings.
- Leslie

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Bates Corkern Studio

We dwell in our homes and our homes dwell in us. It lingers when we leave. Beckons when we’re weary. It is the place that gives us comfort and ease. Home is the one place where we can simply be. Where we can find our way in the dark. Where we can identify the sounds of our children’s bare feet on the floorboards, trace the same path of sunlight across the dining room wall—from spring through the coming winter. A place that evolves with us in our journey, burnished with the patina of memories. It’s a place that we create to suit ourselves. To envelope ourselves in the artifacts of our lives and dreams. To share ourselves with family and friends. To cherish the past while it resides along the present. It’s a spot from which to look out upon the world. A place to return to. Where all our roads eventually lead. Home. - Bates Corkern Studio

Beautiful words. Equally beautiful spaces.

  

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