Art Deco jewel

Scott Weston has sent photos of his latest project. It's finished, the client is in and it's a little jewel.

Well, we have literally walked out the apartment door comfortably satisfied with that age old saying that "A place for everything and everything in its place." In this waterside apartment the client brief was to store precious objects such as this Art Deco necklace.

The list goes on and on and the apartment elegantly sits there like a grand old dame in Elizabeth Bay......................................

We have felt lined drawers to store precious jewelry.
We have raspberry lined soft closing drawers to the bedside with adjustable tolomeo lamps.
Walnut timber joinery.
Kenzo 100% raspberry linen.
Pearlescent concertina wallpaper.
Gilded display boxes to house special treasures.
Silver leaf shelves for our Client's extensive shoe collection.
Concealed doors that house silver bevelled mirrors.
Hermes orange quartz bench-top and matching overhead cabinets.
Liberty fabrics and bespoke velvet cushions.
Black laminate internal cabinetry all with soft closing drawers or doors.

These aren't stylist preened and primped photos. These are just how the lucky client will live in her Art Deco jewel box. Lucky lucky woman .... I'm lusting after that wardrobe!

More from Scott Weston

Our fav Australian architect (OK fav everywhere architect) Scott Weston has sent us a peek at his latest project. This Elizabeth Bay apartment in Sydney is nearing completion but Scott promises to send more pictures when it is finished. It's all about bespoke joinery. Timber veneers, hand painted cabinetry and gilded finishes, display boxes and shoe shelves even a secret dressing room. Scott no one could accuse you of being colour blind! Brave choices per usual. As Scott knows I go weak at the knees for good joinery. Can't wait to see the final shots.

superkül

I finally got a chance to flip through the latest issue of Canadian House & Home that's been sitting on my kitchen counter tempting me most of the week, and I was excited to find a Canadian architectural firm in the magazine whose work is mesmerizing. Based in Toronto, superkül is the award-winning firm of Meg Graham and Andre D'Elia. A modern cottage retreat that they designed is featured in the magazine, which some photos can be found below, but first I wanted to feature a completed renovated home I found on their website.

Formerly a blacksmith's shop, then a horse shed and then an artist's apartment and studio, they did amazing things to turn this into a single family home, despite regulations that no additional openings in the walls were allowed for more light. In this case they had to get it from above. I am completely in awe of this transformation.

Here is the cottage I mentionned, a 2000 sq.ft. modern stunner on the Georgian Bay. (Photos by Tom Arban, superkül and Lorne Bridgman)

James Webb

Last October I posted the minimalist Amsterdam apartment(s) of James Webb. He wrote to tell us about some exciting news: "a funny thing happened that I was contacted by a dutch fashion house (the fashion guy Jan Clemens Hoek mentioned that he had seen the apartment on your blog) and they wanted to use my place for a fashion shoot. it was very exciting and my glimpse into a very different world. they used a top dutch model nimue smit and the photographer was viviane sassen (also a big name in dutch photography circles)". How cool!! Here's a photo from the shoot...

James was given a print from the shoot and it now proudly displays as the first completely non-functional addition to his apartment.

After this the national newspaper called James and he was featured in their magazine about his style (a friend of Jan Clemens Hoek is the fashion editor of the paper).

!!!! I've got to say a BIG congratulations to James for all these exciting events and his new-found fame!

What I didn't realize is that James is an uber-talented architect and he wanted to share a villa near Amsterdam that his firm Gabriels Webb recently completed. It's modern, spacious and spectacular. Here is some info of this project:

This freestanding villa on the new island of IJburg provides for a family to live both independently or together. A lowered childrens level with kitchenette and bathroom can be accessed from the street, while the raised ground floor provides the communal living zones that proceed to the canal side garden. The upper level contains the parents’ studio space, bedroom and bathroom. The internal levels are demarcated in the facade with white bands and horizontally laid western red cedar boards further striate the volume.

project credits are as follows

commission:
private residence: IJburg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
architects: Kirsten Gabriëls James Webb
project architect: Kirsten Gabriëls
artist façade panel: Yvonne Kroese
contractor: Bouwbedrijf Stadswerk BV, Hoofddorp
design: 2006
completion: 2009
gross floor area: 285m²
photography: Marcel Van der Burg

May I introduce you to the Ijburg house.

West Chin

Simple clean lines, minimalism with a human touch. It's difficult to live this lean and stylish but sometimes I crave it. Architect West Chin and his team including wife Roseann Repetti are like sculptors. Their rooms are dramatic yet functional, light filled and spacious. A place for everything and everything is its place. Yes disciplined but definitely dramatic.